Arrived Safe and Sound in Goodlettsville, TN 4/23/2008

Well here we are in Goodlettsville, TN which is about 13 miles north of Nashville. We are staying at Nashville Country RV Park which seems like a very nice spot. We got here about 12:30 after a nice rest of a trip up the Trace. The drive was lovely, even more beautiful than in MS. The trees weren't out quite as much but all along the road were white and pink dogwood trees that were in full bloom. It was quite a up and down drive as it seemed to get hillier as we got farther into Tennessee. The last 12 miles the speed limit was only 40 MPH as the road was like a snake winding back and forth and up and down. Most of the time I couldn't even go the speed limit. We had a lovely drive up the Trace, had a lot of fun, saw a lot of interesting sites, lots of history, and the road was even a pleasure to drive on. We saw deer lots of turkeys, several snakes and a few turtles. After we left the Trace it was back into the craziness, and we wished we were back on the Trace where there was no traffic and it was peaceful and quiet. We got on the interstates and boy oh boy the truck traffic was unbelievable. Couple of times I had them passing me on both sides at the same time which is kind of scary to say the least, but we made it safe and sound although I'm sure we didn't make many friends along the way.
We again made several stops along the Trace as we drove up to Nashville. We had to pull over for a second to get a bug out of the RV and we are glad we did because we discovered English Camp Branch a small stream with a small waterfall in the valley below where we stopped. Then the first Trace stop was at mile marker 391.9 Fall Hollow. This was a lovely short walk along a boardwalk to view a lovely, quiet, serene, waterfall bubbling over the rocks. Next stop was at 400.2 Sheboss Stand. The widdow Cranfield operated a stand here with her Indian second husband who spoke little English. According to legend, when travelers approached with questions about accommodations, he would only point to his wife, and say "she boss". Stands of course are inns or places for travelers along the Trace to stay.
Next stop was at mile marker 401.4 Tobacco Farm, which is a typical 1900 site with a barn and actual tobacco hanging in the barn to dry. At this farm burley tobacco was grown and air-cured. It's a hard crop to raise, each acre requiring about 250 hours of labor (wheat is only 3 hours). Burley tobacco must be air-cured for at least four to six weeks before it's ready for market. Burley is a light brown, aromatic tobacco used chiefly in cigarettes. A small percentage is used for pipe and chewing tobacco. Behind the barn was one of the prettiest views we saw along the Trace.
Next was mile marker 407.7 and Gordan House. This is one of the few remaining buildings associated with the Old Natchez Trace and is the house of ferry operator John Gordan. In the early 1800's Gordan made an agreement with the Chickasaw Chief George Colbert to operate a trading post and ferry on the Duck River. Military expeditions with General Andrew Jackson kept him away from home much of the time. His wife Dorthea supervised the construction of the present house in 1817-18. John Gordan died shortly after it was completed, but Mrs. Gordan lived here until her death in 1859. The house was one of the first brick homes in the area.
That was the last historic site we stopped at as we exited the Trace at mile marker 444.0. We got all set up and it was quite hot here today, in the 80's. We had lunch and showered and went out for a drive to look around and we stopped at the store and got a few things. We came back and I tried to put pictures on the blog but the blogger wasn't up and running, so I guess they will have to wait as will the pictures for today. We had dinner and are watching TV so we will say good night until tomorow and we love you all.


Picture List:1-Tobacco Farm sign, 2-Natchez Trace memorial honoring the honoring thr farming industry, 3-Tobacco Farm board, 4-Tobacco barn, 5-Inside of barn, 6-Tobacco Barn board inside barn, 7,8-Tobacco hanging in barn, 9,10-View overlooking the valley behind the tobacco barn, 11-Gordan House sign, 12-Gordan House, 13-Fall Hollow Falls, 14-English Camp Branch stream and falls.