Chatanooga TENNESSEE to Nashville

Track. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler.
" Country music isnt a guitar, it isn't a banjo, it isnt a melody, it isnt a lyric, its a feeling." Waylon Jennings.

Day 57.

It almost felt like a weekend having a normal lie-in and casual breakfast. A really lovely place with our own private playpark again and bathhouse. We did the usual dumping and loading and then were on our way to Chatanooga, as in chatanooga choo choo.

A brief note about the actual driving.....it has certainly altered since we crossed west to east, all cocky about how easy it was. Now we are finding Solomon only sleeps for 30 mins at a time and then time is spent jiggling and cooing and holding up as he only really likes the standing position at the moment. The moments where pete and becs get to sit and relax and chat in the front are now diminished, and more frequent are the shouts of "how much longer" or "I can't complete this level" or "I needa wee!" or "pull in somewhere we need to swap"!. Hence the early am driving. Then we have peace and tranquility, despite feeling knackered. Usual road trips would involve the driver getting a pat on the back at the end of each long stint, but we are finding the 'back-shift' the harder deal! 

This particular day we detoured off the Interstate to visit Barnsley Gardens. Thought it would be a nice place for a break and it was but we lowered the tone somewhat as it was a very exclusive golf resort designed by Jim Fazio.  We utilised their facilites, swanky playpark and sol had a fresh nappy in the very nice restrooms and then we left before we were asked to!

Chatanooga lies just into Tenessee and was a really great spot. We parked up by the Aquarium and river and then got on board one of the free electric trolleys that do the down town loop to see the 'choo choo' the oldest railway line in the states.

It was from Cincinnatini 1880 to Chatanooga and opened the first major link in transportation from the north to the south. After causing some disruption in the giftshop we had some more commotion as Dylan fell off the train and sustained a really bad baddy. It was soon forgotten when we stuck a couple of quarters in a small train roundabout.

Later we had a great pizza in Mellow Mushroom which also happened to have 1 dollar wine night on. Dylan swam in the stream in his pants on the walk back to the rv and we slept at the lovely Raccon Mountain park. We had a reasonable internet connection so watched the second film of the trip 'Glory' about the American CivilWar.



Day 58.

 Chatanooga is steeped in civil war history so we decided to soak some of this up by driving to the top of Lookout Mountain where a particularly bloody battle had occurred. It was amazing to us that the whole 4yr campaign had started over the abolishion of slavery and that the Confederate and Unionist armies had lost 1 million able bodied men in combination.

There was a fantastic painting comissioned at the time on display and a lovely park with cannons and views across the city and beyond. We then went to Camping World to sort out some chemicals for the sewage system and get the oil changed. Late afternoon we set off for Nashville.

We arrived in Two Rivers RV park just as the party was getting started with a free BBQ and keg of beer, topped off by a live Country Music performance by Duke Mitchell who played until late. Memorial weekend was being celebrated and we saw all the veterans getting their American flags. Dylan had a good dance and was rewarded with a personalised dedication. A total bonus of an evening.

 Day 59 (25th May)  

We parked in the city centre and boarded a trolley bus tour around Nashville. Notable stops along the way were; Honky-tonk row, where all country performers must cut their teeth, Music row, including RCA Victor where Roy Orbison, Elvis, Dolly Parton, Jonny Cash and many others had all recorded records, the Parthenon, Centennial and Bicentennial Parks and The Ryman.

We hit a f9w bars (to use the restrooms!) hung out with some batchelorette parties and had lunch in Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville before visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame.

 There were some amazing exhibits including Elvis' s gold plated car with 40 layers of diamond encrusted paint.

It's what we're going toget for the vans next respray. Got back to a parking ticket and a tricky exit from the car park but were soon on the 'music highway' to Memphis.

We spent the night at Tom Saywers Mississippi park. It had been under 4 ft of water 3 days previously and was literally right on the banks of the fast flowing river. We enjoyed the look out from the treehouse.