Tennessee

2/05/2024 04:01:00 PM

Tennessee

I went walking in Memphis.

Location: Pigeon Forge, Lebanon, & Memphis
When: mid December
Miles traveled: 1,157
Price of gas: 2.53
Interest: having fun
High point: Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum
Low points: Over planning my week

One thing learned: TN people chit-chat/inquire meaningfully about the other person before getting down to business. This includes grocery stores and restaurant workers.

After a long Thanksgiving break at home, and replacing my bald tires, it was a little challenging to leave again and get back into the traveling lifestyle. I was not looking forward to more cold nights. However, having exciting plans in TN, motivated me to start driving.

Pigeon Forge, TN is on the east side of the state near Smokey Mountains National Park. It is a town of way too many single activity amusement parks/attractions. Two places offer mini golf, four locations for mountain coasters (more on this later), tube sledding, a zoo, a tropical bird business, museums, a wax museum, strange museum-science discovery-art places, zip lines, and rope courses. Coupon books from a visitor center can help visitors save ~$2 at most parks. Since there are so many different attractions to choose from, many have wild building exteriors in an attempt to draw in customers. I visited Outdoor Gravity Park (the main reason I was in Pigeon Forge), Wonderworks (a strange museum-science discovery-art place), and Alpine (mountain) Coaster.

Exiting the orb

Outdoor Gravity Park offers zorbing, where participants roll/slide down a hill inside an inflated orb. The orb rolls, and the people slide around inside it, the friction having been reduced by some water also inside the orb. It's a scary kind of fun, especially in December, when I was the only customer there at first. It is like going down a water slide blindfolded, while it is heavily raining, and being unable to maintain a stable feet first position. My recommendations: 1: Don't wear glasses. They will be covered in water and make it impossible to see. 2: Go in a warm weather month. While the park is open year round and the water in the orb was very warm, waiting for the workers to prepare the orb while standing in a wet bathing suit is very cold. 3: Don't ask the worker who is claustrophobic how he likes the experience. 4: Go with friends/family or when many kids are excitedly waiting in line. It is more fun to see other people having fun and sharing the experience with them, than it is to be the only person trying something for the first time. After I had finished my three rides down the hill and dried off, two other people showed up to try zorbing. I stayed and watched their experience and used the opportunity to take photographs as well. I would like to go back and try zorbing again in a warmer month with friends in tow.

Wonder Works is a small building jammed packed with little science/extreme things to learn about and experience. One room blasts wind to simulate a hurricane. A small "cafe" shakes with different earthquake magnitudes. A 360 degree bike lets people pedal in a vertical circle, and a bed of nails is available for people to lay on. My favorite part was a three level rope course that portrays an astronaut space walk.

Mountain coaster

That night I also went to Smokey Mountain Alpine Coaster to ride their mountain coaster. Described as a go-kart on rails, each person controls the speed of their car with hand brakes as they ride the track to the bottom. The track was lit with strings of lights and by the car's headlights. Traveling the track was exciting and chilly in the night air. At $16 a ride (with $2 off coupon), I only went down once. There were other mt. coaster business in the area, but they were not open as late as this one.

Springhouse, for refrigeration

The next day, I drove the Cades Cove loop in Smokey Mt. National Park. Cades Cove showcases the peoples that lived in the area before it became a NP. Most of the old log buildings were taken down, but a select few still remain. As I learned about the old buildings, they became more interesting. The tour starts with 1820s hewn log buildings and ends with 1870s sawed lumber (planks) buildings.

    East of Nashville is a town called Lebanon and in it, Cedars of Lebanon State Park. None of the trees in the park are cedars, but instead are a type of Juniper that is often called Eastern Redcedars. My favorite part of the park was their amazing broom shop. Maintained by Tom Jones, the shop was his Grandfathers'. Tom still uses his' Grandfather's equipment to make brooms. The broom making process starts with wrapping the broom corn around the handle and using wire to keep it in place. Then the shape of the broom head is secured by weaving thread through the layers close to the handle. The end of the broom corn is cut straight, a makers label is added, and a cord to hang the broom by is put through the top of the handle. The broom is finished! One of the walls of the shop is dedicated to the craftsmanship of other broom makers in TN and the nearby states.

    Other cool things in Nashville area includes: Turnip Green Creative Reuse, and Sweet Milk a restaurant with the best hash browns I've ever eaten.

    Memphis has a lot to experience, and more than I have time to talk about. The high point was a tour of Slave Haven Underground Railroad, a house that helped hundreds of people travel north along the Mississippi River. The tour provided an African American perspective and a comprehensive overview of America's history of slavery from how and why Africa people were brought to America, to the end of the civil war and Juneteenth, when enslaved people in Texas were finally told that they were free. The house's role in the story was also shared and I stood in the hidden basement and saw the crawl space under the house that was used by travelers to enter the basement. Signs of how travelers learned that this house was a safe haven were also shared. The Magnolia trees in the front yard were one sign. Magnolia trees, I was informed, always have green leaves, and in winter travelers would be told to look for the house with green trees. The tour was wonderful and worth re-experiencing on any future trips to Memphis.

I'm out of time (and desire) to write a nice closing paragraph, so I'll let these photos speak for me. (Sorry they are not formatted better. It's really hard to get photos side by side on Blogger.)

A few of the buildings in Pigeon Forge: