I arrived in Nashville on the night of the 2nd to a very welcoming Herd family home and a trip to surprise my father at the airport. I hadn't gotten to see either of my parents in about four months so it was so nice to get to see my dad. We went back to Terry's and hung out for a little bit, then I had to go to bed, because I was still an hour ahead. The next day we headed to Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Military Park in southern Tennessee and Northern Georgia. It was about a two hours drive from us and was of course where the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga were fought during the civil war. We went to the visitor center in Chickamauga first and saw a really impressive display of hundreds of rifles and muskets (although I don't know the differnece). It was even impressive to me and I really did not understand the evolutionary chain of technology that was displayed in front of me. The above picture is of regiment memorials (they have one for every reginment that fought in the battle). I think all of these ones were from Georgia, but I can't remember for sure.
After the visitor center and museum, we did a driving tour which showed in very good detail the battle and how it progressed. Throughout the woods were blue and red signs describing that place in the battle. The blue ones represented Union troops and the red ones represented the Confederacy. It was really a phenomenally comprehensive display of how the battle progressed. The driving tour showed us all the memorials, the monuments built for nurse cabins and the Union headquarters. We didn't drive down missionary ridge which had more driving tour. Instead, we headed to lookout ridge where the "battle above the clouds" took place. The view below is on lookout ridge with my dad. They hauled cannons like the one seen above all the way up this rediculously steep ridge. Granted it gave them an advantage, but seriously?
There was a lot of strategy about taking this position, especially with the river right below as controlling this ridge essentially gave control over the flow of supplies via the river. The view below is of Moccasin Bend. There wasn't a ton of history on the Native American tribes of the area on our tour, but we did learn a lot about the battles. The battle in Chattanooga is largely credited to ending the war sooner. It was a really interesting piece of history and as you can see from the picture below, the day and the view were pretty awesome!
The next day, we took a little trip to Columbia, TN to see the last remaining residence of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States. The house was really cool, and it was fun to see my dad so excited and knowledgeable about the president. He matched a very smart tour guide in knowledge of the man and seemed to know all the right probing questions to ask. I learned a lot, and maybe it's cynical, but Sarah Polk wore black for the 42 years she outlived her husband, and I hate to say, I think that may've been a little overkill! But, she seemed like a very intriguing and intelligent woman in spite of her mourning choices. Who am I to judge?
The rest of the time we got to hang out, Terry's daughter Amy took us on a tour of the neighborhood today. We got to see Alan Jackson's old house, Dolly Parton's house and a pretty cool neighborhood pond. To top it all off, it was snowing! I love my snow. We visited a lot and although not a much as my last visit, I even learned a bit about bluegrass, from the bluegrass master himself, Terry Herd. It was a really great visit. It was really good to see Terry and his family as I've been gone for so long; we haven't really crossed paths in depth for about 10 years. It was also so good to see my dad. I'm excited to see all my family for Christmas. My road trip is getting pretty close to it's conclusion and I'm glad my dad and I could cross paths in the middle of Tennessee. Next stop... Narlins.
I arrived in Nashville on the night of the 2nd to a very welcoming Herd family home and a trip to surprise my father at the airport. I hadn't gotten to see either of my parents in about four months so it was so nice to get to see my dad. We went back to Terry's and hung out for a little bit, then I had to go to bed, because I was still an hour ahead. The next day we headed to Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Military Park in southern Tennessee and Northern Georgia. It was about a two hours drive from us and was of course where the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga were fought during the civil war. We went to the visitor center in Chickamauga first and saw a really impressive display of hundreds of rifles and muskets (although I don't know the differnece). It was even impressive to me and I really did not understand the evolutionary chain of technology that was displayed in front of me. The above picture is of regiment memorials (they have one for every reginment that fought in the battle). I think all of these ones were from Georgia, but I can't remember for sure.
After the visitor center and museum, we did a driving tour which showed in very good detail the battle and how it progressed. Throughout the woods were blue and red signs describing that place in the battle. The blue ones represented Union troops and the red ones represented the Confederacy. It was really a phenomenally comprehensive display of how the battle progressed. The driving tour showed us all the memorials, the monuments built for nurse cabins and the Union headquarters. We didn't drive down missionary ridge which had more driving tour. Instead, we headed to lookout ridge where the "battle above the clouds" took place. The view below is on lookout ridge with my dad. They hauled cannons like the one seen above all the way up this rediculously steep ridge. Granted it gave them an advantage, but seriously?
There was a lot of strategy about taking this position, especially with the river right below as controlling this ridge essentially gave control over the flow of supplies via the river. The view below is of Moccasin Bend. There wasn't a ton of history on the Native American tribes of the area on our tour, but we did learn a lot about the battles. The battle in Chattanooga is largely credited to ending the war sooner. It was a really interesting piece of history and as you can see from the picture below, the day and the view were pretty awesome!
The next day, we took a little trip to Columbia, TN to see the last remaining residence of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States. The house was really cool, and it was fun to see my dad so excited and knowledgeable about the president. He matched a very smart tour guide in knowledge of the man and seemed to know all the right probing questions to ask. I learned a lot, and maybe it's cynical, but Sarah Polk wore black for the 42 years she outlived her husband, and I hate to say, I think that may've been a little overkill! But, she seemed like a very intriguing and intelligent woman in spite of her mourning choices. Who am I to judge?
The rest of the time we got to hang out, Terry's daughter Amy took us on a tour of the neighborhood today. We got to see Alan Jackson's old house, Dolly Parton's house and a pretty cool neighborhood pond. To top it all off, it was snowing! I love my snow. We visited a lot and although not a much as my last visit, I even learned a bit about bluegrass, from the bluegrass master himself, Terry Herd. It was a really great visit. It was really good to see Terry and his family as I've been gone for so long; we haven't really crossed paths in depth for about 10 years. It was also so good to see my dad. I'm excited to see all my family for Christmas. My road trip is getting pretty close to it's conclusion and I'm glad my dad and I could cross paths in the middle of Tennessee. Next stop... Narlins.
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