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Union

Tour of Historic Cades Cove

December 1, 2017 by 30 Comments

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.

Filed Under: South, TN, Travel, U.S. Tagged With: Cades Cove, Civil War, Confederate, Elijah Oliver, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gregory's Bald, John Oliver, Methodist, Primitive baptist, Revolutionary War, Smoky Mountains, Union

Machine Falls and Civil War Trenches

November 4, 2017 by 11 Comments

One of the reasons I enjoy working from home is the flexibility that it provides. Two weeks ago, while a teacher friend of mine was on fall break, we spent a weekday morning hiking at Machine Falls, a trail southeast of Nashville.The trail is in the middle of nowhere, and when we arrived at 8am, we were the only people there. (We were both glad that we hadn’t gone alone.) The Machine Falls Loop is only 1.6 miles, although we ventured onto a few offshoot trails.

We came across a few smaller waterfalls before arriving at the main attraction.

Machine Falls, the largest waterfall along the trail, is what everyone comes to see. When we arrived, we sat down to enjoy a snack while taking in the beauty of the falls.

On our way back to the parking lot, we came across an old foundation, probably from a cabin of some sort.

On the same day, we also stopped in Murfreesboro at the Stones River National Battlefield. Now a beautiful park, it was the location of the Battle of Stones River, one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War.

With Major General William S. Rosecrans commanding the Union forces and General Braxton Bragg in charge of the Confederate forces, the battle began on New Year’s Eve 1862 and lasted until January 2nd, 1863. Although just a three-day battle, there were more than 23,000 casualties.

Mr. Handsome and I had visited the battlefield once before, and my favorite part was walking through the trenches that were used by the soldiers. Although they are not nearly as deep as they were 150 years ago, they are still very visible.

These photos aren’t great, but I’ll share them anyways. In the first picture, I am standing in the trenches. The yellow lines in the second snapshot show where the trenches are.

Filed Under: Nashville Tagged With: Braxton Bragg, Civil War, Confederate, Machine Falls, Murfreesboro, Rosecrans, Stones River National Battlefield, trenches, Union

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EllieMr. Handsome and I married four years ago and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Between recipes, photos from our travels, money saving tips, DIY suggestions, post about our daily life with our son, and more, our lifestyle blog features a little bit of everything. Read More…

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