Wanderers in Wonder

Summer of ’85 we were on our way East living on a shoestring, skipping as much of so-called civilization as possible. The pick-up wound up at the entrance to Shiloh National Battlefield. The gate was locked. It was late so we just pulled off on a dirt shoulder and camped for the night. 

In the early morning mist we first glimpsed the endless rows of white tombstones. They were so beautiful and so saddening.

We drove on to the Jack Daniels distillery in a dry county. The only way you could  get a legal drink in that day was to work for Jack Daniels. All employees got a Fifth of Jack with their paycheck every Friday.

Then it was on to our first visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After the ‘Great Brownie Misunderstanding’ at the Visitors Center..”but how do I keep my brownies safe?” asks a visitor. Couldn’t hear what the ranger said but the three women kept going on and on about their brownies. I said to Mary Ann, “just tell them to put the brownies in their ice chest and lock them in the trunk of their car”. I was a bit impatient to ask the ranger a few questions about the park. Mary Ann’s response, they are talking about baby Girl Scouts, you know, Brownies”. We got our questions answered…Cades Cove is the place to go first.

After we set up camp we hit the road to Cade’s Cove, a twelve mile scenic loop…so peaceful. We vowed to return with bicycles.

My 1991 Classic Gary Fisher still gets the job done.

A Homestead.

The Miller’s Home.

The Mill.

Rear of the Miller’s Home.

Fighting Billy Tipton’s Place…1820. Billy fought in the Revolutionary War and was apparently quite the soldier. His grandsons would fight in the Civil War…for the Union. The people of Eastern Tennessee, including those in Cade’s Cove, remained loyal to the Union. As a matter of fact there were Union military units from every Southern State except South Carolina. Many southern working men did not by the plantation owners propaganda that the War was to stop Northern Aggression. They realized the War was to protect the evil Southern institution of slavery, an institution that help keep most free southerners in poverty.

Billy Tipton’s Cantilever Barn.

The Primitive Baptist Church – established 16 June 1827.

The money used to build the glitzy-ritzy ostentatious displays of wealth, modern churches, we have passed along our journey…Houston, Tyler, Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Marysville could no doubt house and feed all of the poor and homeless in those cities for a very long time.

Interior of the Primitive Baptist Church.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.