Our final day at Weblos Camp was only a half day but we made the most of it with a hike up Mary’s Mountain. Some of us were a little hard to wake up.

We were extra busy before breakfast because Leo’s Den was raising the flag for the day, so he had to be in his full Class A Uniform and we wanted to get our camp broken down and completely packed up. This way when we headed to parking lot to drive over to Mary’s Mountain, we could load up. VBS starts tonight and I’m in the kitchen… so were going to hit the ground running once we get home.

So here we go, looking like Sanford & Son 🤣

The Color Guard did a great job… especially that little blond one ♥️

After a big ol breakfast, we were off on our hike.Leo found a “spirit animal” – can you see the alligator?Leo’s Arrow of Light Den did great, some begrudgingly, but they had fun!We loved the shouting match with the troop at the pool. And crossing the bridges in the trail

I did this hike last year when Michael was getting Arrow of Light. Now they can both say they hiked Mary’s Mountain with their mom. (I’m well aware that they’ll never actually say that but in my “Hallmark Movie Brain” they will ♥️🤪

We were hot and tired, but we survived 😀just kidding 🤪

Once we got home, we hit VBS wide open and I think Leo had the best sleep of his life that night 😉

Well, Day 3 is in the books and I am in the bed 💤 💤💤 oh my word, beyond tired, beyond short tempered and beyond ready to sleep and shower in my house… BUT this little stinker joined me about 3am and reminded me how lucky I am to be here and why … (stupid mama love 🤷🏻‍♀️🤪♥️)

So it was another really early morning since a twin air mattress doesn’t really accommodate 2 people especially when one of those 2 people are snoring (Leo).

After breakfast, we headed off to the Model Camp Site to learn how to make an ideal camp site. The boys loved learning:

How to tie 6 different knots:

How to make a ladder:

How to tie a teepee:

And making foil pack lunches. We especially loved meeting Mr. Mike again. Me. Mike is a 70+ year old gentleman who is an Eagle Scout, and still works with the Old North State Counsel teaching about Native American culture and leading hikes. Today, he taught us about the drum and it’s use in native American culture and the story of the courting flute. he even let the boys play.

And tomorrow, Mr. Mike is leading our hike up Mary’s Mountain. This was a three hour class FLEW by and before we knew it we were headed to the mess hall for lunch.

We did pause to send birthday wishes and silly faces for Bobo and Jimmy 🎉🎂♥️

After lunch, we did a STEM class to build roller coaster prototypes from pool noodles, duct tape. Although when Leo first heard STEM, his first reaction was “What!!! We’re doing math?!?!” 🤣

We went from STEM to the old favorite, Capture the Flag, and then free swim before heading back to mess hall for some resting before dinner… and by resting, i mean, they played Gaga ball 🤪

We ended the night with a campfire at the council ring where our boys performed a skit and we watched a real Native American grass danceThe Arrow of Light scouts were all recognized for their workAnd we closed the night with, of course, a slush puppee from the trading post!

Tomorrow is a final day, and the Woodfield tradition is for the Arrow of Light Scouts to hike Mary’s Mountain in the morning. (That’s the mountain in the picture above ⬆️). After that we head home to get ready for VBS tomorrow night.

So to save time in the morning, and to avoid a middle of the night visitor, We took down Leo’s tent and we are tentmates tonight…

I’m exhausted, tired and just sticky feeling but it’s been wonderful too.

We’re both ready to see the other 2 parts of the Brown Family… who have been quite busy with cooking, movies, “farm stuff” and pigs 🐖♥️

Day 2 started bright and early… like before 7am early… which wouldn’t have been terrible if we’d gone to be at 10. Or if we hadn’t woken up at 2am to go to the bathroom (because we drank over 100oz of water on Thursday) and then had to dodge the black ants that I apparently startled by disturbing the toilet in what can only be described as a glorified outhouse, and then coming back to the tent and being unable to sleep because you had 2 hours sleep and the worlds largest and loudest cricket is singing beside your tent… so yea, 6:40 am came EARLY!

But it was awesome to watch the boys raise the flag at our campsite first thing 🇺🇸♥️

Then it was down the hill and Good Morning Woodfield! After breakfast, we headed to the pool for a few of our folks to complete their swim test… the organization was… well… not like I would have done it…

But whatever, we finally were cleared and off to boating we went. Thank you Jesus for keeping us from tipping over because for a while there I thought it was inevitable. But we made it! It is hard to rationalize as a 10-year old that to turn your boat left, you have to paddle on the right.And after some proper motivation (read: I’ll buy you a slush puppee) we got our rowing figured out.

Then it was off to archery…

We headed to lunch and after a little creative liberties with the scheduling, we worked in an hour of free swim. It was hot! and Leo and I thoroughly enjoyed just floating for an hour. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the range with BB’s and some more archery

And then finally we had some free time to just whittle some of wood with these prized whittling chips. By whittle, we mean, take a piece of wood and sharpen the end of it. 🤣

Before dinner, we watched as the color guard lowered the flag, and mail call!!!! I wish Leo had someone to write him at camp ♥️♥️♥️ – thank you Maw-Maw, Bobo and Nana! You sure made thus boy feel loved ♥️♥️♥️

Laser shooting was on the agenda for the Arrow of Light troops after dinner

And then we spent some time having a slush puppee and, you guessed it, some wood whittling 🤦🏻‍♀️

Our last even of the day was a Flag Retirement Ceremony led by Scuba Steve. Scuba Steve is a retired navy seal who serves as the aquatics director here at Woodfield. He spent some time explaining the history of our flag and places he had seen the flag flown during his service. He also got a little emotional talking about friends he had lost in the service. The boys all love Scuba Steve and were so reverent during this…He then invited and veterans, emergency responders, scout leaders, and Eagle Scouts to come on stage a give one last salute as they retired each section of the flag.

The entire troop sat mesmerized throughout this, I even saw one little guy simply salute.

I’m so so glad Leo and I were able to see this. Most folks won’t even hush during the national anthem, so it was pretty impressive to watch a whole group of people properly retire a flag.

Tomorrow is day three, and the schedule is just as packed 🤪🤪🤪

(I’m just praying the loud cricket has moved the heck on by now 🤣😂🤣)

Leo and I are spending the next few days at Woodfield Scout Preservation for our third (and final) year of Webloes camp. Things started off great – we were on time – actually 6 minutes early 😳. Ready for our adventure!

We loaded up a few cars and headed off to orientation and then… the bottom fell OUT! We spent the next hour in the mess hall getting instructions on how meals would work, where we sat, and even got our medical exams (i.e. turn in forms, and take the boys temperatures).

Once the rain stopped, We headed back to camp to get bathing suits for those who needed it… and then a very dark cloud set in, complete with thunder, lighting and some rain. But nothing like earlier. So swimming was now out of the question, so began to make our camp. The boys, and one girl, all were great – setting up tents, working together and really helping the younger scouts.

Afterwards we headed back to the mess hall for dinner. The boys were pretty sad that it wasn’t the famous Woodfield Salisbury Steak, but the pork roast was pretty good – not Two Boys Pork good, but good. We also found our favorite camp counselor – Kenan! Always happy to see some forward Pack 426 guys! Then it was time for slush puppies!!! It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen $1 make Leo 😁

The boys played Gaga ball until it was time for Campfire and off we went. We met the staff, sang some songs and did a little dancing…

Then it was back to the campsite to finish set up, and then then it was lights out! The temperature hasn’t been awful – a little humid after the rain but compared to last year’s 100°, 80 seems almost chilly!

Tomorrow we have model campsite, boating, and who know what else. No rain the forecast so hopefully we can dry out. 😉

Every trip teaches me something and this trip taught not save all the driving for the last day! I thought we did well with no more than 2-3 hours of driving per day. The problem is that we have been traveling 2-3 hours further from home each day so our drive back home was 8+ hours.

We slept in a little – but after yesterday’s 4:45am wake up call, anything would be sleeping in 😊 – packed our bags, our clean laundry (love having a washer and dryer at end of a trip), our snacks and cooler and said goodbye to the treehouse rental.

It was a lllloooooonnnnnggggg drive, but we snacked, and ate, and made the best of the drive.

We made it home after 9 hours and with some daylight to spare. Just enough time begin the battle with the mud 😳🥴😳

Some pieces were eventually just sacrificed to the trash… we had the very best time and cannot wait for our next adventure!

Today started EARLY… like 5:30 am early for fishing on Lake Guntersville. Lake Guntersville is beautiful lake – it’s a manmade lake created when the Tennessee Valley Authority damned up part of the Tennessee River.

We were trying to beat the rain, which we almost did… we cut our 4 hour fishing trip to 3 hours and 15 minutes… Captain John would have continued but we were wet and cold, and ready to head home.

It was a great day of fishing in spite of the rain!Capt John was great, especially with boys. They learned to use bait casters or spinners instead of the normal fishing poles that they were used to using.

Leo hooked a fish within about 10 minutes of us being on the water!And about 3 minutes later…Thank you God that they both caught at least 1 🙌 but Michael was on fire today – He caught 5 bass! (and he kissed every one 🤢)Leo had a bit of a dry spell after his first fish (see grumpy face below), but then he was catching them left and right too!We tried 4 different spots but nothing could help Mike and I catch even one fish 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♂️ oh well, as long as the boys did!

Michael and Leo loved zipping along on the boat in between the fishing spots, and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle my hair made as we went (you’ll see the final version later) 🥴

And then we watched as the rain rolled in… and it came in fast! We tried to outrun it but we just got soaked! We stayed under a bridge for about 15 minutes (learning some interesting things about Brian Canterbury 🤪🤦🏻‍♀️)

At this point, we only had about 45 left with Capt John, but honestly, we were done. So we headed back to the dock… in the rain… flying across the water. And as you can guess, Michael and Leo laughed their heads off 🤣😂🤣Capt John was a really great sport and was very patient with the boys. The boys said this was their favorite part of the trip (and they’ve said that about each day so far 🥰)We were soaked through by grinning from ear to earWe got back to the cabin, took very hot showers and ate lunch, and then headed into Guntersville to explore a bit. Guntersville is a really lovely town, and we got a great recommendation for dinner… at a gas station. No, seriously 😳🤨

Meanwhile, we got a text from Craig, the owner of the cabin we are renting, inviting boys to stop by the campground office if they want to see him throwing clay (putting clay on potters wheel) and maybe make something of their own. We did, and he showed them how to use a Potter’s wheel and gave us some clay to make their own ornaments at the cabin tonight. He also offered to take us to see a waterfall and salamanders near the cabin. We ran by his studio to see his pottery and get some tools for us to use when making our ornaments.

Now, his “studio” oh my! It is his in-laws old home and is FULL of stuff! Full to the point that the folks from American Pickers called him and asked him to send pictures so they can decide whether to come. (He’s still waiting to hear but I bet they come)

Keep in mind, there are at least 5 other barns that he owns in the property as well 😳. It was overwhelming but he was just so thoughtful and had some of the best stories! He was the federal attorney regarding land development in this area, taught land development at Auburn, audited a class on pottery, drafted land use blueprints for the government… he was just a really interesting person.

Anyway, after the studio tour, he took us to a natural waterfall on the property by the cabin. It runs all year long, never dries up and never changes temperatures. It was gorgeous! Craig even climbed down into the waterfall to catch salamanders for the boys! So yea, they think he’s awesome!!!He really was such a great host!

Side note: Seriously! Enough with the rain!!! Ugh! I feel like we have been on a cycle of dry to cold, to wet and cold, to warm and dry, to wet and cold to dry and warm all day long.

Anyway, we got dry (again), taking a little rest before dinner at the gas station. Mike and I decided to go ahead and make our ornaments. And Boys made theirs when we got home. It was so much fun designing these. We are leaving these here, and Craig is going to put them in kiln, paint and glaze, and then ship to us. I can’t wait to see the finished products! in meantime, Craig gave us an ornament to remember our trip ♥️

Now it’s time for the gas station dinner… this afternoon the guy at Guntersville Outfitters just swore that food was great, and worth the trip. And gave us the backstory: Guntersville girl whose parents own/operate the South Sauty Creek Gas Station, leaves Guntersville to attend Culinary school and work “up north” for a while. She doesn’t like the big city and decides to come home, but she still wants to be a chef. What do you do… open a fantastic restaurant inside the gas station, of course,and Homecoming Cafe and Country Store was born!I’ve eaten at the counter in drug stores and ice cream parlors but I’ve never been served a ribeye with béarnaise and hand cut fries, or a burger with homemade chili, or the best chicken tenders I’ve ever had with homemade mac & cheese! Seriously, have you ever eaten at a gas station where it looked like this? The food was delicious, and the boys loved getting to drink from mason jars! If you are ever near Guntersville, Alabama, it is so worth the trip!

We have absolutely loved these organic side trips that have developed on this trip. It’s been fun to not plan every detail and meal. We are headed home tomorrow with a vague idea of which roads we are taking, so who knows which roads… but I know I am ready to be at home with my “stuff” soon 🥰

(I had to wear my favorite vacation shirt once during vacation!)

Today is our last travel day, but before we leave Huntsville, we must spend a little time in space at the US Space and Rocket Center, and by little time, we mean all day 😉 🚀

We checked out of our last Holiday Inn Express and were at the Space Center a little after opening. First thing we see is the Pathfinder Shuttle with rockets and fuel tank – WOW! They are huge!

As we walked up to the entrance, we noticed 2 gravestones, which I thought was a little morbid 🤨 until I read the markers. These are the actual graves of Miss Baker, and her husband, Big George, the squirrel monkey who was the first US animal to go into space and return alive in 1959 😇 She died 24 years later.

There were so many exhibits and artifacts inside the Space Center. Just like at Cape Canaveral, we could flip every switch and push every button available!

They had a great hands-on presentation that these 2 got involved in 🤣😂🤣

And a rock climbing wall (astronauts have to stay in shape)!

We loved the “future” soldier outfits because they looked like something from a video game (Mike and I think they probably already have this biomedical tech and loved that it’s apparently sponsored by Under Armour – see the label 🤦🏻‍♀️)The planetarium show about the sun, moon and interplanetary space travel was really cool… although the live action “space commander” was a bit cheesy for the boys – bless her, she tried.Then we headed outside to see these huge rockets and aircrafts up close!The Saturn 5 building and the Space Station/SkyLab areas were great. It was almost overwhelming trying to take it all in, but I think we managed pretty well.And of course we found some “simulator” rides… Although the G Force ride was a little much for Leo…But it was such a fun day, and who knows maybe we have some future astronauts🚀🚀🚀We left Huntsville and headed to Guntersville, Alabama for the last leg of the journey. We rented a “tree house cabin” through Airbnb, and it is so fun! The boys are loving having an Alexa in the house. If I hear one more time “Alexa what time is it?” Ugh! Look at your watch!!! 🤪

I love that there’s a tornado shelter down the road, just in case 😉Boys wanted to practice their casting before we go fishing tomorrow with a guide on the lake so we squeezed that in before dinner

It is really beautiful here – hoping for a little dry weather tomorrow when we fish. We had dinner at Top of the River – we got 4 separate recommendations for this place from 4 different people. The food was good but the desserts were awesome And I loved their catch line: Catfish Exceptionale! 🤣😂🤣Tomorrow is our last full day of vacation so we are starting bright and early (and I mean EARLY) meeting our fishing guide at 6:15 🥴😳🥴😳🥴

Hope the coffee is strong and the fish are biting ☕️🎣☕️🎣☕️ guess we can sleep some other time 🤪

The plan for Wednesday was drive to Huntsville, Alabama and spend the day at NASA’s US Space & Rocket Center, but you know what they say about the best laid plans… Mike has been snarfully for the last few days (which we’ve been chalking up to different environments and hire air). and Michael started having an achy ear late Tuesday night (Swimmer’s Ear gets us every year!) So we checked out of the hotel in Nashville planning to go to a Walgreens Minute Clinic nearby.

However, as we are sitting in the parking lot, Mike remembered MD Live was offered by BCBS through Cone Health. Man! This service is Awesome!!! Remember when you could call your doctor and tell them what was wrong (because every person/mother knows the symptoms of a sinus infection and swimmers ear) and they’d call you in a prescription? Well that’s what this is!

We called in and gave information on symptoms to a consultant. She read us a long legal waiver that basically said if we croak because of these symptoms, then it’s our own fault for not going to a doctor’s office. Then a few minutes later, the doctor called us back, and based on this and a few questions she asked confirming symptoms etc., she sent in prescription for us. You can even do a video chat if you prefer 🤗

We found a Walgreens near where we were headed and boom 💥 We’re on our way with medication! Thanks Walgreens 💊The telephone calls and delay getting meds filled pushed back our arrival time at Huntsville until around 1:30. The Space Center closed at 5, so we decided to put it off until tomorrow and just meander our way to Huntsville and just see where the day took us.

We started off in Franklin, Tennessee – because yep, there was a battle there 🤗. We just walked the grounds today, but we met the nicest guide, Randy Purcell of the Battle of Franklin Trust. His son graduated from HP University so we enjoyed talking to him and he gave us a personal tour around the grounds.

Clearly they thought the well was cool 🤪 they also loved this building which had real bullet holes for the Civil War! the other side of the house doesn’t do justice to all the bullet holes there truly are…

It was really a beautiful park. And we got really cool pens in the shape of rifles! (Because who doesn’t need that?!?)

We left Franklin and just started heading toward Huntsville. We saw some beautiful Tennessee landscapes and we can now say we’ve been through Fayetteville, Tennessee. It reminded us of the town from My Cousin Vinny. Oh yea, you blend. 🤣

It was almost 1:30, and we were getting hungry for a meal – not the basket ‘o snacks that we have in the car. As we started looking for lunch spots, we saw a sign for Lynchburg. Okay, maybe we’ll go there… we started looking for places to eat and checking the Trip Advisor app. Well guess what’s in Lynchburg, Tennessee?

We wondered if boys would be okay there, and after some research, they actually have a “Dry County Tour” for families, which had great reviews. So off we went. Lynchburg, Tennessee was a beautiful town with a really cute town square. It reminded me of an old mill town where clearly everything was related to, or a result of, the Distillery.

We had lunch at the Barbecue Caboose Cafe.Don’t let the look of this place scare you, this was some of the best baby back ribs I have ever had! And the potato salad- yum! It was that old-timey kind of potato salad – like the covered dish lunch after church kind of potato salad. You could even smell the smoker just working away.

and boys thought it was really cool that Guy Fiery had eaten here too!

We headed over to the distillery and read up on the process of making whiskey, and mask. There were tons of displays and information on exactly what they do to make whiskey from crushing the corn and barley, to making the mash, adding yeast, and then letting it ferment, and so on…For instance, see the difference in the bottles above? The one on the left (clear) is how the whiskey looks when it’s put in the barrels. Then they are stored on 7 floors of a warehouse without any insulation, heating or AC. The difference in the 3 remaining bottles above shows the difference after being stored for the same amount of time. The change is due solely to where the barrel was placed in the storage warehouse. The higher the floor, the darker and smoother the whiskey due to the expanding and contracting, etc. from the elements.

Then we headed out on our “Dry County Tour”. Here’s Jennifer our guide:

And here’s one of the coolest hydrangeas I’ve seen. It’s almost like a tree instead of a bush

Boys liked the cave where the spring water comes from (guess they were ready to go caving again).

And look they even had a little Jack on the Rocks (get it, especially since Jack Daniels was only 5’2″ tall)

It was a really interesting tour. We smelled the mash as it ferments 🤢… wow! That would take your breath away, and how that make their our charcoal from White Oak trees to sweeten the whiskey🥃

Boys even played a little checkers with a new friend… although he was really slow with his moves 😂🤣😂In case you’re wondering you can buy a whole barrel of whiskey for about $10,000 – $14,000. They bottle it into 250 bottles and you can create your own personalized label. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I find a sack of money 😏 we just left the barrels with old Jack.

Then it was off to Huntsville. We have stayed at Holiday Inn Expresses along our trip, and Huntsville no exception. BUT we ran into a problem. The hotel was doing renovations to the first floor. The other floors were finished but the the first floor wasn’t, and guess what’s on the first floor? The indoor pool! We had planned our arrival time to account for an hour and a half of pool time, showers and then bed. Ugh! The other Holiday Inns in town were completely booked. So, we would just have to make the best of it.

However, we decided that God knew Michael needed to rest his ears, and as we look across the parking lot from the hotel, there’s a place called TopGolf. It’s like bowling and darts but with golf shots. Instead of a lane, you rent a bay (on one of 3 levels). They provide the clubs and balls. The balls have microchipped and score where your ball lands and whether it’s in the target.It was so much fun! We have been trying to get the boys into golf since Mike and I love to play, and this was a perfect introduction! it was a perfect unplanned end to our unplanned day! And the TopGolf folks asked us to pose for their spring break pictures!

This is the perfect picture of us! We really are living our best life ♥️ We are so thankful!!!

Up early tomorrow to be there to turn the key at the Space & Rocket Center, and then it’s on to our last stop, Guntersville, Alabama to sloooooowwwww down and relax 😉

We had an incredibly well-rounded day in Nashville. We had a little bit of history, little bit of big city, little bit of nature, little bit of redneck TV, and little bit of country music 🎶

We started today at The Hermitage – the home of Andrew Jackson. I wasn’t expecting to spend 3 hours there but it was really a neat place. So much history to see. The Ladies Hermitage Association modeled The Hermitage after Mount Vernon, but The Hermitage was so much more realistic and interactive than Mount Vernon.

The tour guides told us today that they had been notified by the US Treasury that this was Andrew Jackson’s last year on the $20 bill. (Harriet Tubman is supposed to be on the $20 bill starting in 2020.) However, I kind of like these two on the twenty-dollar bill. ♥️

We toured the grounds, gardens and Mansion. Mike was jealous of Andrew Jackson’s salt box and smokehouse. The guide said Andrew Jackson said you could eat everything on a pig except the squeal 🤪🐖🤪🐖🤪🐖

We were sure to be quiet and reverent and stayed on the path at all times…Yea, right! It wasn’t that kind of place! Other than the mansion, they encouraged us to explore and touch everything. And we did!

The gardens were gorgeous, and included the graves of Andrew Jackson, his wife Rachel, and a former slave named Alfred – who became free and remained at the house working as an overseer. He donated items to the Ladies Hermitage Association in exchange for him being buried near Andrew and Rachel Jackson… and he was.

What was supposed to be about an hour visit turned into a 3.5 hour excursion… but if the boys choose to stay at a historical site longer than I planned, I’m not arguing! Nothing like a little disguised learning 😉

We left The Hermitage, and decided to balance out the culture we just learned with a visit to Cooter’s Place and the Dukes of Hazard Museum 🤣🤣🤣

We didn’t go through the museum the outside was enough to utterly confuse Michael and Leo. We tried to explain to the boys why we both loved the Duke Boys, Uncle Jess, Daisy and Deputy Enos so much… but pretty sure they still don’t get it. Whatever, it was awesome if you grew up in the early 80’s

Then we caught an Uber and headed into downtown Nashville to start checking off the must-see’s of Music City.

Pedestrian Bridge near Tennessee Titan’s stadium… check!

Lunch at local spot (Luigi’s Pizza)… check!

Music Row… where we heard amazing singers belting their heart out at 2 o’clock on a Tuesday trying to catch their big break… check!Ryman Theater… check!

Vanderbilt University, The Parthenon and Centennial Park… check!

Even worked in a little ninja warrior training …

I think we wore Michael out💤 but Leo is still going strong!

We all took a bit of a rest, then changed and headed out to mark a bucket list off for me – The Grand Ole Opry! But before the Opry, we killed some time of Dave & Buster arcade – life-sized Rock’em Sock’em Robots anyone 🤗

And of course basketball 🏀 It was so fun – seriously, arcades are just fun 🤗

And now, on to the Grand Ole Opry!! It was just amazing!!!

Tonight was a live broadcast of the weekly Grand Ole Opry Radio Show with a showcase of different artists, and the induction of Kelsea Ballerini into the Grand Ole Opry, which was pretty cool, even though we had no clue who she was. (I kept thinking about that scene from Coal Miner’s Daughter “We did it, Dew. Imma get to sang on the Grand Ole Opry.” 🎶😂🎶)But we really went in thinking “we’ll go and if we get bored, we can leave.” Wow, Were we wrong!

It was such great show. Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry performed:

Then one of announcers came out and said some guy wants to come sing and maybe sell some shirts? Enter, Keith Urban!

Then when they were inducting Kelsea Ballerini into the Grand Ole Opry, they said someone special from Oklahoma wanted to the honors… Carrie Underwood!

There were a couple of other groups were performed and they were all great! But as the blue grass band was finishing, they invited their long lost relative to come sing the last song with them… Vince Gill!

What a great night! We all had the best time! Michael said he really wasn’t excited about this part of trip but it turned out pretty cool ♥️🎶♥️🎶♥️

We made it back to the hotel in time to have a little down time before bed (backgammon, drawing and old maid). We are headed out of Tennessee tomorrow with a stop in Franklin, Tennessee before we head to Alabama.

Tennessee – you’ve been amazing! 😁

We started out this morning with a completely free day. Our only goal was to end the day is Nashville.

We started off checking out the Chattanooga National Cemetery. Thousands of men and women are buried here from the civil war through present. (They were actually preparing for two new gravesites) It was a beautiful place. A huge peaceful hill in the middle of a busy city.

We kept seeing coins on the grave stones and memorials – enough that we realized it wasn’t just dropped money. After some research, we learned that thus tradition was started during the Vietnam War as a way to acknowledge the fallen without getting into touchy political conversations. Each coin means something different too:

A penny = you visited the grave;

A nickel = you were in boot camp with the deceased soldier;

A dime = you served with the deceased solider; and

A quarter = you were present when the solider died. This was particularly special to boys because we saw a quarter on one of the markers.

We then decided to check out the distance to Chickamauga Battleground – smaller version of Gettysburg. Once Michael (both the 40-year old one and the 11-year old one) heard the words “civil war battlefield” there was no turning back. So, off we go to Chickamauga Battlefield in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. It was only a 25 minute drive, so with a free day, it was a no brainer. This was a really cool battlefield. The 2 Michaels were completely in their happy place 😀 Leo and I enjoyed it too but maybe not quite as much 😉

The park service had a great visitors center with a movie explaining the significance of the Battle of Chickamauga and Chattanooga.

I need to pray for Michael’s teacher next week. They just started their Civil War Unit and he is fully charged with new Civil War info. Poor Ms. Brown!

These three had to formulate our plan to see all the battlefield in minimal time a and i must admit admit that did an awesome job!

Battlefields are made for little boys! Grab a stick, it becomes a rifle and you’re all set!

We found Union General John Wilder’s Tower built in his honor after the Civil War . General Wilder led the “lightning bridge” in the Civil War. They were a mounted brigade who used a new repeating rifle – firing 3x faster than a regular rifle which the men purchased themselves rather than wade through government red tape 😉.

The Tower was insanely high! But we figured we were 300-feet below ground yesterday, why not do the opposite today 🤪

The park service also had a audio tour that we could listen to on the internet- we just logged in to listen to each tour stop along the battle. I think Michael and Leo touched every canon on the entire battlefield but these three had a great time together ♥️

We left Chickamauga and headed to Nashville. on the way, we saw a sign for “The Lodge Cast Iron Outlet.” Well, since we had nothing to do, and who doesn’t love a cast iron skillet… Look what we found…

the actual factory where they make cast iron skills and cookware since 1896!!! We really wanted to go on a tour but they only give tours during the Cornbread Festival on April 27th and 28th. (Make your plans now to attend!) We did however score some great cast iron cookware from the scratch and dent section – 50-60% off due to a tiny imperfection, uh, yes please!

We finally made it to Nashville! We skipped lunch due to our battlefield excursion and just filled up on snacks, so we headed out to an early dinner at Hattie B’s. We had heard “if you’re ever in Nashville, you have to eat fried chicken at Hattie B.’s”. So, we went to Hattie B.’s

Hattie’s was delicious! Everyone was in the clean plate club by the time we left!

But wait! What about dessert? How about Jeni’s Ice Cream? This place was awesome! I had a half a scoop each of “coffee with cream and sugar” ice cream and “brambleberry crumble” ice cream. Oh my! It was like having dessert with coffee all at once! We headed back to the hotel with very full bellies. After a bit of down time, we headed to the pool to get rid of the last bit of energy 😊

Tomorrow we head out to explore Nashville and watch a show at the Grand Ol’ Opry (bucket list ✅)