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| Cotton |
We travelled further east, passing fields of cotton. Arriving at Tim’s Ford Lake State Park, nr Winchester, staying at Fairview Devil’s Step campground.
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| Alison & JD were the same height |
The Tour started at the burners, where they burn maple tree wood into small pieces of charcoal through which the famous ‘brew’ is filtered to give it its unique taste. The barrels the whiskey is matured in have charred interiors too which further ads to the distinct flavour. Further into the tour we entered the filter room containing the huge vats of dripping whiskey and charcoal and the aroma was quite intoxicating. All Jack Daniels whiskey is made here using the iron-free water from a local spring that filters through the limestone hills. Jack Daniels died before the Prohibition years when he kicked his large metal safe, broke his toe, and got gangrene. Unlike the distillery we visited in Kentucky, Jack Daniels distillery was closed during the Prohibition Years of 1920-33. However unlike the Kentucky Bourbon, at least these samples of Whiskey were palatable!
Tim’s Ford Lake
All week the weather alternated between hot/humid or
thunder/lightning. We took the kayak out
on the lake on 3 of the days. On the
Friday (10th) we got caught in one of the thunderstorms. We had just found a nice little spot on the
shoreline for lunch when the thunder started.
So we took cover under the trees.
It rained incessantly for 1½ hours.
Even sitting under the kayak we got drenched.
Heritage Day
Saturday was Heritage Day at the State Park. There was Clog dancing, blue grass music,
craftsmen and a small re-enactment which involved a very loud cannon. Alison had a go at throwing a spear using an
Atlatl. This was a carrier for the spear
giving more leverage to the throw and was used by the Cherokee and Chickasaw prior to European settlement. In the evening we were going to sit by the
campfire with our neighbours Vikki and Ernest, but the rain meant we all had to
sit under the RV awning and watch the fire from a short distance.
12th – 14th Oct – Chattanooga
Our next campsite was not far, just over an hour’s drive
down the I-24, and was sited on the Tennessee River, which is 652 miles long and
eventually travels through Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky to join the
Mississippi river (via the Ohio River).
The weather was cloudy and stormy on the Monday when we drove to
the city of Chattanooga on the Tennessee/Georgia border. Our first visit was Ruby Falls on Lookout
Mountain. It was Columbus Day in USA (ie
a holiday) and the rest of the world was also visiting the Falls!
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| Ruby Falls |
The tour guides coped well with the crowds but we had to do a lot of standing around on the underground tour, as we waited for previous tours to come back along the one-way path through the caves. We were treated to a music and light show when we finally reached the 145ft high Ruby Falls waterfall which is 1120ft below the surface of the mountain.
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| Chattanooga below |
By the time we came back out onto the surface the cloud had
lifted and we could see the city and the twisty bends of the Tennessee River
below. We then continued up the mountain
to Point Park which commemorated the Civil War ‘Battle for Chattanooga’ of November 1863. Over a two day period
Confederate Soldiers held the top of the mountain against Union Troops but
eventually had to retreat back down the mountain into Georgia. Chattanooga was a key railroad point from the
north, carrying supplies down to this southern region which Sherman used as a
base for his march to Atlanta. |
| Chattanooga Choo-Choo |
We drove back down the mountain to see the ‘Chattanooga Choo-Choo’ (of course). A hotel has been created at the railway station using train carriages for rooms.
The “Choo-Choo” got the nickname when the first passenger train set off from Cincinnati to Chattanooga in March 1880. Both Glen Miller and the Andrew Sisters contributed to making the tune famous in the 1940s.
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