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Rodney Scott’s BBQ: As-Seen-on Netflix

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Mr. Handsome recently got hooked on the Netflix show Chef’s Table. During the BBQ Series, he learned about chef Rodney Scott and was thrilled to find out that Rodney has a restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, which is only a couple hours from Nashville.

Rodney Scott grew up cooking hogs for his family’s store/restaurant in South Carolina, where they used the old-fashioned technique of smoking whole hogs over real wood coals. It’s a very labor-intensive technique that involved Rodney chopping wood, preparing hogs, and monitoring the huge smoker pits for hours in order to keep the temperature consistent and create a delicious smoky flavor. Rodney eventually started his own restaurant and continues to use the same techniques that his family has used for generations. He won the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast Award in 2018.

While driving through Birmingham recently, we had the opportunity to visit the restaurant. No, that’s not quite right. Here’s what really happened: We were looping around the outside of the city, on our way to the beach, when Mr. Handsome suddenly exited the interstate and parked at the nearest gas station. Taking out his phone, he announced that we absolutely had to eat at Rodney Scott’s, even though it was 3:00 in the afternoon.

Mr. Handsome was giddy with anticipation as we pulled into the restaurant. As soon as we opened the car door, we were hit with the smell of BBQ smoke wafting across the hot pavement. Little Buddy could sense the excitement and exclaimed, “I’m hungry like Daddy!”

The restaurant had a window where you could see the large BBQ pits and watch the chefs work. Little Buddy loved watching and proudly stated, “Look Mommy, there’s a fire.”

I enjoyed the BBQ, although it ended up not being my favorite style. They use a vinegar-based BBQ sauce, which is the traditional South Carolina style, while I like more of a sweet sauce (Kansas City style). Mr. Handsome, on the other hand, loved the meat, and Mommy and Little Buddy loved the fries, green beans, and coleslaw. So we all had a great experience.

Touring the Carter House

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Carter House Franklin TN

For several years, I have we wanted to tour the historic Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, located about 20 minutes south of Nashville, and we finally go around to visiting for my birthday. It’s an incredible place, not because of the size or grandeur of the home, but because of what happened there almost 160 years ago.

The house was built by a man named Fountain Branch Carter, who was born in 1797. He and his wife, who passed away in 1852 at the age of 46, grew the farm from 19 acres to nearly 300 acres. They had 12 children, although only eight survived until adulthood. By the time the Civil War broke out, most of the kids had a moved away to start their own families.

On November 30, 1864, the Battle of Franklin (technically the Second Battle of Franklin) took place on the Carter Farm. By that point, the house was bursting at the seams, as some of the daughters whose husbands were fighting in the war had returned to the farm with their children temporarily. The Carter family, as well as their slaves and a family from across the street (whose house, the Lotz House, still stands today) took refuge in the Carters’ cellar for 17 hours, as the battle raged around them.

The battle that took place around Carter Farm resulted in nearly 9,000 casualties. The hand-to-hand fighting was some of the worst in the war and occurred right next to the house, within earshot of the civilians huddled in the cellar.

On the tour, you can see bullet holes in the sides of the house and other buildings on the property. There is also bullet damage to some of the furniture inside the house. One might wonder why the family didn’t repair the bullet holes after the war. The tour guide explained that when slavery ended, the Carters were nearly broke.

My favorite part of the tour was the view from inside the farm office. How incredible is it that this wooden building has survived 157 years?

My second favorite part of the tour may seem small and insignificant, but it really helped bring the story to life. These contraptions, which sit outside the house and all the outbuildings, were used to clean the mud off one’s boots before going inside. Through pictures, historians were able to confirm that they were there on the day of the battle. These tiny pieces of metal sure have been through a lot!

See Rock City

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I’ve been meaning to write about our quick drive down to Rock City since early fall. Little Buddy is taking a nap, and I’m enjoying the quiet, so I thought it would be a great time to tell y’all about it.

In 2016, I posted about our Valentine’s Day trip to Chattanooga. We stayed in an old train car at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel and visited the Tennessee Aquarium and Ruby Falls. This time, we visited Rock City.

Have you heard of Rock City? It’s an attraction that everyone in Tennessee knows about because they do an incredible job of advertising. On the two-hour drive from Nashville to Chattanooga, you’ll see dozens of “See Rock City” signs painted onto barn roofs. The owners have used this advertising method since 1936. According to a sign inside the park, in the 1950s, “See Rock City” was emblazoned on more than 800 barns across several states (as far away as Michigan and Texas).

The rock garden features a one-way path created by founders Garnet and Frieda Carter in the late 1920s. The current owner is a third-generation descendant.

Located at the top of Lookout Mountain, Rock City not only boasts unique rock formations, but also incredible views.

It’s an outdoor attraction, which was perfect for social distancing. Guests wore masks and stayed well more than six feet apart, and entrance numbers were limited, so we felt very safe.

We were grateful to be able to support a family-owned business that is committed to following health guidelines and providing a safe experience for guests.

My favorite part of Rock City was Fairyland Caverns, a large, drafty cavern with miniature displays from popular fairy tales. The bright, larger than life colors made it truly magical! Entrance was controlled, masks were worn, and social distancing was followed by all.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

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While we were in the Great Smoky Mountains a few weeks ago (see my photos from Parrot Mountain), we visited Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. I was surprised to learn that it is owned by the same company that does the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not books, comics, and TV show.

Mr. Handsome and I have somehow become aquarium and zoo people. I didn’t grow up spending time at either, but since we have been married, we have visited quite a few (Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Chattanooga’s Tennessee Aquarium,  St. Louis Zoo, New Orleans Audubon Zoo, and Memphis Zoo). We also went to the Knoxville Zoo on our way home from the Smokies. We both agree that going to a zoo or aquarium isn’t the absolute most exciting thing that anyone could ever do with their time, but we love how relaxing and therapeutic it is to walk through the exhibits and watch the animals. You can allow yourself to lose track of time for a few hours.

The aquarium has a huge shark tank, where you can see the sharks from above water and then walk through a glass tunnel and watch them swim above you.

Gatlinburg Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies shark lagoon

Gatlinburg Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies shark lagoon

The creature in Shark Lagoon that fascinated us the most is not actually a shark, although it looks like one. It’s a sawfish, and while it can cause harm to prey with its “saw,” it is not aggressive towards humans (unlike actual sharks). It also has what looks like a human face on its underside.

Gatlinburg Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies sawfish

Gatlinburg Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies sawfish
The penguin exhibit was my favorite, and it was hilarious to put Little Buddy up to the glass and watch a swimming penguin try to grab his swinging pacifier.

Gatlinburg Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies penguins

The stingrays were also pretty neat and reminded us of our honeymoon on Grand Cayman, when we swam with wild stingrays at Stingray City. Mr. Handsome enjoyed seeing the jellyfish, but he now unfortunately wants one as a pet.

Gatlinburg Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies

Florida with Friends–Santa Rosa Beach

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30A Santa Rosa beach

One of the great perks of living in Nashville is that it’s only a seven-hour drive from Santa Rosa Beach. Mr. Handsome and I got engaged on St. Pete Beach (near St. Petersburg), and during our first year of marriage, we spent a few days in the Fort Myers area with friends (their relatives had a condo, so it was free). But until last year, we didn’t know about the beautiful beaches of the Florida Panhandle. It’s no wonder why it’s the top vacation destination among Nashvillians.

We weren’t planning on taking a trip in September, but when our Sunday school class planned a weekend getaway in Santa Rosa Beach, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Ten young couples rented two beach condos, and the cost per couple ended up being surprisingly low–about as much as you would pay to stay at a roadside hotel for three nights. We were expecting an older beach house several miles from the shore, and we were thrilled about it. But when we arrived and found this, we were blown away….

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Fort Phantom Hill

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Fort Phantom Hill Abilene Texas

While in Abilene, Texas, visiting friends, we stopped by a historical site called Fort Phantom Hill. The sun was just about to set on the Texas plains, and the lighting was perfect for photos. Fort Phantom Hill Abilene Texas

The fort was built in 1851 out of necessity, to manage increasing hostility between settlers and Native Fort Phantom Hill Abilene TexasAmericans. (The area was called Phantom Hill because it seemed to disappear when approached from the nearby river.)

The Fort was only occupied for a few years before it was abandoned and burned in April 1854. Although the wood structures were destroyed, the stone structures provided shelter to various individuals over the next thirty years. …

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Final Photos from Cades Cove

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Last month, I shared photos from our trip to Cades Cove, a historic settlement nestled in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. I also posted pictures of the vibrant fall colors that we came across on our trip. Below is the last batch of snapshots from our journey through Cades Cove.In one particular part of Cades Cove, we came across some especially unique buildings. The first was a barn with a space in the middle. The idea was that two workers could pull a wagon in and easily throw hay up into the lofts.

The second was a cantilever barn, which has an overhang on one side for animals and equipment storage.

Nearby was a grist mill (a mill used to grind grain) that was built around 1870 by John Cable.

Then there was the Gregg-Cable House (circa 1879), the first frame house built in the Cove. At that time, the sawmill was brand new, which was a big deal for the residents of Cades Cove, who had not previously had access to lumber.

By this point, we were most of the way through Cades Cove. On our way out, we made two last stops. The first was the Dan Lawson Place, built in 1856. The house has a rare feature for Cades Cove–a brick chimney, constructed using bricks that were made on-site as the house was being built.

At that time, it was not uncommon for families to have multiple outbuildings, such as a smokehouse, a woodshed, a granary (for storing grain), a corn crib (for storing corn), and, of course, a barn.

Our last stop was the Tipton Place, built in the early 1870s. The owner was a colonel in the Mexican-American War, and the original inhabitants were his daughters, who were teachers in Cades Cove.

Fall in the Smokies

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A few weeks ago, I posted photos from our recent trip to the Cades Cove historic settlement in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I have a few more snapshots from that day, but I first want to show you some other pictures I took.The drive through the park was simply beautiful with all the vibrant colored leaves.

Every turn we made, there was another stunning view.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

Fall in the Smoky Mountains

 

Autumn in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

Smoky Mountains in autumn

On Saturday of our weekend trip, we ventured over to the start of the Roaring Fork Motor Trail (southeast of downtown Gatlinburg) and parked at the Rainbow Falls trailhead.

 

It was a difficult, 5.4-mile roundtrip hike, but the views were worth the trek. Just as we had at Cades Cove, we saw the smoke-like fog that give the Smoky Mountains their name.

Smoky Mountain fog smoke

As we climbed higher, we passed an area that had been burned by the devastating wildfire that tore through the Smoky Mountains in November 2016. We are thankful that the area has been able to rebuild and that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are still as busy as ever. Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones and property.

With a 1,500-foot elevation gain, we had to stop and rest quite a few times, especially as we neared the end.

After a 20-minute period of rain, we finally reached our destination…the beautiful Rainbow Falls! You’re probably wondering what Mr. Handsome is wearing on his head. (That is the first question people ask when we show them this picture.) It’s his sweatshirt. He got tired of carrying it.

Rainbow Falls Gatlinburg Tennessee

Tour of Historic Cades Cove

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In early November, Mr. Handsome and I made the short drive over to the Smoky Mountains for a weekend getaway. We had met a like-minded couple at a conference a few weeks prior, and they had invited us to stay at their house.The fall colors were at their peak, and the scenery was just incredible. We were also able to see the “smoke” (aka fog) that gives the Smokies their name.

On day one, we explored Cades Cove, a mountain farming community founded in the early 1800s. It is no longer inhabited, but you can drive along the 11-mile, one-way road and view more than 80 historical buildings and settlements. We enjoyed pulling off into the many parking areas and walking through the old buildings. (We were shocked that all of them were open to the public.)

 

At the entrance to Cades Cove, we drove past a beautiful, dusty-colored horse grazing in a vibrant, green meadow.

The scene was picture-perfect.

 

Our first stop was the John Oliver Place. Built in the early 1820s, the cabin is the oldest in the Cove.

 

The cabin, which was owned by the Oliver family until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in the 1930s, is a five minute walk from the road. It is a simple, one-room house with a loft.

Next, we stopped at the Primitive Baptist Church, established June 16th, 1827. (The current building was built in 1887 to replace a log structure.) We learned that the church closed during the Civil War because its members were Union sympathizers and felt threatened by the many Confederates who lived in Cades Cove.

There was a wedding that day, so we didn’t go inside, but we walked through the cemetery and came across multiple tombstones of men who had fought in the Revolutionary War.

We also found the tombstone of the man after whom Gregory’s Bald, a mountain in the park, was named. A Union supporter, he was killed by Confederates three years into the Civil War.

We passed the Methodist Church, built in 1902 (although the congregation was established in the 1820s). Customarily, old churches with two doors would have been designed that way to seat men and women on separate sides. We chuckled as we read that this church did not carry that custom but that its congregation had borrowed the blueprint from another church that did. Apparently, sticking to the blueprint and cutting two front doors was easier than deviating and installing just one.

We stopped at a pull-off and hiked a short distance the Elijah Oliver Place, built by John Oliver’s son after the Civil War. On the left side of the house, the family added a “stranger room.” With a separate entrance, the room provided a place for overnight acquaintances to stay without jeopardizing the safety of Elijah’s family.

Hope you enjoyed these photos. More coming soon.

East TN and West NC

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After spending all our weekends at home for a couple months, we recently drove out to North Carolina for a wedding. It was a several hour drive, but the gorgeous scenery was well worth it. On our way home, we stopped for two beautiful hikes. The first was in Western North Carolina, about 45 minutes northeast of Asheville. I spent quite a bit of time researching online to find the hikes with the best views, and you know what I discovered? There are tons in that area!We ended up choosing Mt. Mitchell State Park because reviews said the terrain is more similar to Western Canada. (Most of you know that we took a trip to the Canadian Rockies this summer and loved it.)

Of course there are no snowy peaks in North Carolina at this time of year, but it was still about 20 degrees cooler at the summit than it was along the interstate. The one downside is that the 20-plus-mile road leading to the park is narrow and winding.

We drove as far as the road would take us, parked, and then walked five minutes up to the Mt. Mitchell Summit. The view was glorious!

At 6,684 feet elevation, Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Apparently the guy after whom the mountain is named lost his life proving that statistic.

We wanted some decent exercise, so we hiked two miles down the mountain on the Commissary Trail (very rocky but not too strenuous). On the way back up, we took the 2-mile Old Mitchell Trail (even rockier and much more strenuous).

The sun was setting quickly, so we had to jog part of it, but of course we still had to stop and take a few photos.

We spent the night at a cheap hotel in Asheville, walked around the shops of Historical Biltmore Village and then drove a couple hours to Gatlinburg to hike the 2.6-mile out-and-back Laurel Falls Trail.

It took about 30 minutes to reach the waterfall and 20 minutes to return. The trail is a decently steep incline, but due to erosion, it is paved (although still very bumpy). The waterfall was beautiful, as were the views along the way.

 

In downtown Gatlinburg, we stopped for BBQ at Calhoun’s, a Knoxville-based restaurant with nine locations. The ribs were some of the best we had ever tasted. And let me tell you, when your husband is as much of a ribs connoisseur as mine is, that’s saying a lot.

While driving through the area, we saw some of the damage from the November 2016 Gatlinburg fire, but the town has done a fantastic job of restoring and rebuilding.