Trip to Tennessee!

For Christmas (and to pre-celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary), Jeff arranged a trip for us to Nashville (and surrounding areas), Tennessee! When I say arranged, Jeff told me in early December that he wanted to take me to Tennessee as a Christmas gift then he let me plan it. He's smart enough to know that I won't initiate a trip like this but that once the approval was given, he better just leave the planning up to me. I love taking trips with Jeff! I would do them more often, but I usually feel guilty about "dumping" my responsibilities on others or taking Jeff away from his. I don't like to inconvenience anyone, but I am so grateful for adult children, aunts/uncles, and grandparents who gladly stepped up to tackle things here to allow Jeff and I a much needed getaway. We haven't been on a trip by ourselves since we drove the Oregon coast in the summer of 2018. 2019 was just a really busy year for our evolving family! Dallin left on his mission. Amber and Jacob were married. Laurin and Casey got engaged...and so much more! We planned a lot of fun trips & activities, but they were always with the kids. It has been rewarding, but a little sad, as we have seen our family change. We are excited for our adult children! We love watching them start their own lives, but it has definitely changed our family dynamics. We are grasping on to the last "everyone-comes" family vacations so we've made those trips local and small so that the girls and their significant others could join us. I guess moving forward we'll have to simply embrace what has become our little mantra - "invitation without expectation". We will plan our vacations/activities and invite them along without the expectation that they will actually come...but this trip was all ours! No one was invited. It was finally time for Jeff and I to escape all of those responsibilities and reconnect. I am lucky that Jeff makes every effort to do a weekly date night with me. It is nice to have a few hours to connect each week, but there's nothing like taking days off to spend with each other. I am an incredibly lucky woman! Jeff has always been my constant. He is my anchor in the storm and my wings when it's time to fly. With a simple embrace, the worries and frustrations of the world slip away. I find strength to do the seemingly impossible because of his faith in me. I am a better person with him by my side. It has been a crazy 7 years since we've been married. Communication has always been a strength between us; yet even that has evolved and been refined. I am more confident now with my eternal choice and more in love with that man than I ever have been. I wish I could paint a picture of what I feel in my heart. I wish I could tangibly portray the confidence and love I feel, but these simple words will just have to suffice.

Ok...on to our trip! We flew to Nashville on Wednesday (January 8) afternoon. We got there around 5:30 p.m. We weren't ready to simply go to the hotel so we headed downtown where we were greeted with the true country music Nashville experience! We parked by the capitol and walked around the grounds before heading towards Broadway. The capitol is really beautiful. I was lucky enough to learn a little more about this state while I was there. We explored some Civil War history, learned about the significance this state played in the 19th amendment, and more. Part of the reason we came to this state was to visit the burial sites of my paternal grandfather's family. As I learned more about the state and felt connected to these people I come from in a land they loved, I felt more like a Tennessean. Haha! I am going to claim that state too!

The next day, we took this picture so you could see the building a little better than at night.

As we headed downtown, we saw quite a bit of street art. This seems to be a new phenomena...or at least I am newly aware of these amazing, sometimes massive, illustrative productions. We found various murals throughout our trip. Here are some we saw in Nashville:

Finally, we made it to Broadway...and all the energy and loud music that came with it! It was a unique experience. We were only about a block away when all of the sudden, we were hit with a barrage of country music melodies. It was incredible! There were so many people milling around, shopping, and going in and out of all these live music venues. Jeff and I enjoyed doing the same! We wandered around some of the stores then found a restaurant to enjoy dinner and live music. I have to admit that while we enjoyed it, it was a "one and done" experience for us. We appreciated the vocal and musical talents of the band, but it was so loud that we could barely hear each other talk. The food was really good though! We started our southern culinary experience (more on that later) with some bacon mac and cheese, tater tots, and potato salad...yup, a whole bunch of carbs! That seems to be a theme with southern cooking - carbs and fried! After we finished dinner, we walked a little more of Broadway before heading to the hotel to rest up for our first full day of Nashville fun!

The next morning (Thursday, January 9), we started our day with a tour of the Grand Ole Opry. You can't come to Nashville and not soak in the country music enthusiasm. I have always gravitated towards country music. I like other genres too but country music is my favorite. We were lucky to have such a unique, all-access experience at the Opry. Did you know the Opry is a show, not a venue? I didn't. The Grand Ole Opry is a show that airs on live AM radio every weekend. It used to be broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium (originally an old church on Broadway in downtown), but it outgrew that venue and a new venue was constructed. This location now houses the Opry during most of the year, but from December-January, the Opry returns to the Ryman (which we had tickets to see on Saturday night) so that this venue could be thoroughly cleaned and maintained. Because the show wasn't being held there, we were allowed access to all of backstage and even got to stand in the "circle" on the stage. (The circle is a circle of wood from the original Ryman stage that they brought over from the "Mother Church of Country Music" aka the Ryman.) It was actually a really incredible experience. Even Jeff enjoyed the tour! We learned a lot about the people who are accepted into the Opry and the history of this longest running broadcast in the world (90 years!). It was like stepping into a bit of history. We got to walk where Country legends walked, stand where they stood, and yes, even sit in the dressing rooms they would sit it. Our guide was very informative and passionate about the Opry, which made it all the more fun. We saw the artists entrance, the wall of fame (where artists who are inducted into the Opry get to hang a plaque with their name), dressing rooms, and the stage. It was the perfect way to start our day!

Johnny Cash

Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, etc.

We just thought this speed limit sign by the Opry was funny. 24? Really?

After the Opry, we did a little shopping (or at least I did) at Draper James (Reese Witherspoon's boutique store) before grabbing some delicious 100 layered donuts from 5 Sister Bakery! Win win! Shopping and donuts?! Jeff must really love me to let me plan on itinerary. (Full disclosure: he liked the donuts as much as I did!)

We then headed back to the downtown area to grab some lunch from Biscuit Love (more southern cooking!). Nashville is known for its "hot chicken", which is basically fried chicken smothered in a spicy sauce. It was actually really good! (Here are a few other pictures from our southern culinary experience: more tots and Jambalaya, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and pecan pie.)

After filling our bellies, we decided to walk it off. We parked across the river at Cumberland Park and walked across the pedestrian bridge right back to the downtown area to explore the shops during the day. The skyline view from the bridge was really pretty. We also got to see the professional football arena. The Titans might be my new favorite team! They made it to the semifinals but ultimately lost their shot at the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs. We found our way back to Broadway where we wandered a few more shops (and took a picture of Jeff with a giant ice cream cone in homage to a picture we took of him in a similar pose on our very first family vacation to Glenwood Springs). We saw the Ryman then walked over to the Country Music Hall of Fame but decided not to explore it with the limited time we had. However, we strolled along the small walk of fame.

We then headed to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon. This is an actual replica of the Parthenon in Athens. It was built as a part of the centennial celebration of Tennessee's statehood. It was only supposed to be used for a short period of time. It obviously fell into disrepair, but the city decided to save it and renovated the building. It was pretty impressive, but why build something you don't intend to keep using? I'm glad they decided to save it. Inside, there was a replica of the statue of Athena. It was gigantic! The little figure, Nike, in Athena's hand is 6'4" tall...just to give you some perspective. While I admired the statue, Jeff loved the massive doors. To each his own! Haha! Outside, I noticed a statue depicting several women in a manner of protesting. Did you know Tennessee was the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote 100 years ago this year? I didn't! Just another reason I fell in love with this state.

Finally, we went back to Broadway to a restaurant (without live music) we found that we really enjoyed, Merchant's, for dinner. We also enjoyed grabbing a Coke and sitting on one of the rooftop bars to enjoy the sights and sounds of Broadway from above before heading to the Tennessee Performing Arts to see Hamilton. That's right...we actually scheduled our trip while Hamilton was performing so we could see it again. Originally, I suggested we wait until after Laurin's wedding (which also happened to be our anniversary weekend), but once Jeff found out that Hamilton was performing in Tennessee until the 19th (our anniversary), we had to book our trip before the wedding. It was worth it! We had amazing seats on the 3rd row. This is one musical that I would never have to drag Jeff to. He will even sing it or quote it. We started with country music fame at the Opry and ended our day with a historical pop/rap musical. I would say we experienced everything in Music City!

The next morning (Friday, January 10th), we got up early to head to the Great Smoky Mountains. Unfortunately, due to the off season, many of the roads in the Smokies were closed for maintenance. However, we were able to drive to Laurel Falls where we got to do a little hiking to the falls and beyond. It was breathtaking! Even in the winter! I would love to come back to explore the Smokies in the fall, but even without the leaves, the vistas were gorgeous. There was still a lot of green too. We even enjoyed stopping to explore the river a little along the way.

Once we finished our hike, we headed into Knoxville. This was honestly a big part of the trip. I have always wanted to see Nashville (because of my love of country music), but recently, I have been on a quest to visit my ancestors' burial sites and all of my paternal grandfather's side came from Knoxville, Tennessee. There were several cemeteries to visit and some unexpected burial sites! My goal was to visit all of my ancestors up to my third great grandparents' graves. I achieved that (minus my grandfather's parents who are buried in El Paso, TX) and even saw a couple of my 4th great-grandparents burial sites. Prior to this trip, I spent hours researching their history and locating the burial sites. Some were really easy to locate, but others were a mystery. It was those mysteries that led us on adventures to meet the kind people of Tennessee and discover that it is pretty common for them to have burial sites in their backyards! Yup! We were able to quickly visit my great-grandparents who were buried in designated cemeteries. Most of those cemeteries were located at churches. One, the Haynes-Rule cemetery, was a little plot of land in a subdivision. That was a little strange! However, it's completely understandable when you consider that these people were most likely buried close to their homes and most likely on their properties. This "cemetery" was sectioned off with a fence but most of the grave markers were no longer in existence. In fact, most of the headstones we saw were hard to read due to time and weather. The first cemetery we went to was the Eusebia Presbyterian Cemetery. I had a picture of my third great-grandparents' tombstones with very little else in the picture. However, there was a silo in the back of one picture that helped us narrow down the section of the cemetery the graves would be in. As we walked along, Jeff pointed out some stones that looked like they could be my ancestors', but they weren't quite the same shape. I finally placed my hand on a stone and stated that the shape looked more like the one I had touched...and guess what?! It was it! I had to get close and even trace some of the indentations with my finger, but sure enough, it was my 3rd great grandparents - side by side. My excitement built as we continued our quest. Thankfully, the cemeteries weren't big and I had Jeff's help scouring the stones. We even saw some of my great aunts and uncles' tombstones. I tried to soak it all in. As we drove down the roads, I tried to imagine what the terrain would have looked like back then and what their lives would have been like. 

Agra Sherrill Vineyard (3GGma)

Linsey Vineyard (3GGpa)

Hendron's United Methodist Church Cemetery

Martha Vineyard Murphy (2GGma)

Wiley Blount Murphy (3GGpa)

Asberry Bascomb Murphy (2GGpa)

Mary Robinson Murphy (3GGma)

Haynes-Rule Cemetery where Michael Rule and Elizabeth Dill Rule (3GGpa and Gma) were buried.

New Salem Cemetery

Anna Rule Tarwater (2GGma)

James Tarwater (2GGpa)

Mt. Harmony Baptist Church Cemtery

John Childress (4th GGpa)

After locating the cemeteries, I was left with only vague information as to where my third great-grandparents, William and Judah Childress Tarwater, were buried. In a brief summary of their lives, it stated that they were buried on a hill overlooking a stream on the land they loved. Jeff took this as a challenge! In fact, the next couple sites we found were definitely a team effort. I had done the online research to get us close, but Jeff spurred us on. For this site, Jeff looked at where we were on the map. Most all of my ancestors lived and were buried in a 10 mile radius (except the last pictures above, which honestly makes me question whether or not that is truly his final resting place or if the marker was simply put there because there were other "Childress" graves. The site was about 20 minutes north of Knoxville and we had been finding all the other graves slightly south of Knoxville. Plus, the other Childress names in the site did not have an immediate relation to John that we could find on Family Search). Since all the graves were close, Jeff located Tarwater Rd. and a small stream that flowed right by it...and we were off! We drove over to that road. The road was beautiful with the stream on one side and what we found out is known as Tarwater Mountain on the other side; however, there was still no sign of any gravesites. Finally, Jeff pulled into a driveway. Fortunately, a nice older woman was just getting out of her car. Jeff asked her if she knew of any burial sites nearby. She informed us that there was a site two houses down. She gave us some not-so-quick directions in her best Tennessee twang and off we went. Sure enough, two houses down we noticed some headstones in this person's backyard. We knocked on the front door, but no one answered. I was nervous about going on to someone's property without permission, but Jeff forged ahead. Luckily, as we were approaching the headstones, we heard voices and shouted out to them. Jason Cummings and his son, Gray, emerged from a shop on the backside of this makeshift cemetery. We quickly explained our quest and Jason happily informed us that the headstones we were approaching were indeed William and Judah Childress Tarwater's! I was beyond excited...and a little creeped out. People seriously have dead people in their backyards?! This was common place for them! Again, it makes total sense, but it's just a very foreign concept to me. It makes me wonder how many other places (residences or otherwise) are on top of old burial sites. Jason was extremely welcoming. He explained that he recently bought the property and was already planning to refurbish the stones. He showed great respect for the people who were of no relation to him. I am very grateful to have found a new friend.

William Tarwater (3GGpa)

Judah Childress Tarwater (3GGma)

Judah's stone was knocked down. Jason plans to redo this whole site.

This is the stream leading up to the hill where they are buried.

A picture of Tarwater Mountain from William and Judah's burial site.

Tarwater Rd. with the stream on the left and the "mountain" on the right.

After locating all these sites, the day was gone. We drove into downtown Knoxville and quickly meandered through Market Square to find a place to eat (Tuppelo Honey) before heading to the hotel. We were tired! It had been a long day of adventures, but it didn't stop there. It was gnawing at me that there were a couple 4th great-grandparents who were in the area at unknown sites. I did a little more research that night and found a couple locations to search. We woke up Saturday (January 11th) morning and set out again. This time our search led us to a little mountain top. There weren't really any mountains in this area, but it was very hilly and this hill happened to be the tallest one around. Again, this was on private property, but far enough away from any residential structures that we decided to bushwhack up to the top from the backside. The ground on the top was covered in leaves. There was no immediately visible grave marker until I literally stumbled upon one! I couldn't believe it! We found another site. Of course, it was Jeff again who insisted we keep searching. I'm glad he did. The grave marker was for a great-great-great-great uncle, the son of my 4th great grandparents, Tabler and Jane Logan Vineyard, whose property this was. As we looked around, we found a few vertical stones in the ground. These stones were lined up and looked a little too planned out to have been random. We are pretty certain theses stones marked additional graves, possibly Tabler's and Jane's. It was so cool!

I am kneeling by Nicholas Vineyard's headstone. He was Linsey Vineyard's (my 3GGpa) younger brother.

See the stones?

This is where we hiked up.

This is the hill we climbed.

Our final search was unsuccessful. However, we were so close! I wish I would have did a little more research into Jacob Tarwater's (4th GGpa) burial site. It was only after discovering his headstone on Find a Grave that I noticed a link to contact the person who posted the picture. Unfortunately, he didn't get back to me until we had already left the area, but on my own, I discovered an address of his possible burial site. According to the gentleman who posted the picture, we were on the right street! However, the address it gave us was an abandoned old house. We searched the grounds and used clues in the picture to try to locate the headstone, but couldn't find it. Still, it was a fun search...and I hope to go back to Tennessee one day. Finally, we headed into Knoxville to spend a few hours before driving back to Nashville to see the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. Did you know Knoxville was the site for the 1982 World's Fair? I didn't either, but it explains the weird looking "Sunsphere". It was built for the fair and has remained there ever since, along with a giant Rubik's cube that has since been placed inside a hotel adjacent to the fair site. There was also a beautiful monument to the men and women who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice.

Next, we headed to Market Square and Gay Street to spent a little more time browsing the stores and exploring the sites. We found a couple statues to commemorate the ratification of the 19th amendment. Did you know it was a mom's letter to her son that ultimately swayed his vote to break the tie and pass the ratification? It just goes to show you the power of a mother! Harry Burn was serving in the state's legislature at the time. His mother, Febb, was monitoring the proceedings and had noticed her son had yet to make a stand. He worried that he would upset his constituents if he voted for ratification. Febb wrote Harry: "Dear Son, Hurrah and vote for suffrage and don't keep them in doubt. I have noticed Candler's speech. It was very bitter. I've been watching to see how you stood but have not seen anything yet...Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. "Thomas Catt" with her "rats" as she is the one that put rat in ratification. Ha!...With lots of love, Mama" With that simple letter, Harry changed his vote and finally women were given the right to vote on August 18, 1920! So cool!

We then wandered down Gay Street. We found a cool old soda shop and a general store. We even discovered more street art in this little alley way. We stopped in Market Square to eat and enjoyed a little impromptu spoons and old tub concert. Can't get more backwoods Tennessee than that! (I don't even think the lady playing the spoons had teeth.)

Finally, we were on our way back to Nashville. We were so lucky with the weather this trip. There was a massive winter storm that hit the area and caused tornadoes in Louisiana, but we passed right through it. It was heading from Nashville to Knoxville as we were heading in the opposite direction. We were thankfully safe as we drove, but it was quite the downpour! Once back in Nashville, we headed back to Broadway for dinner before the Opry at the Ryman. Again, we were lucky to be inside when a few isolated showers hit. The meal was delicious and the concert was awesome! It was so fun! There were a couple comedians, a song writer, and some more well-known country artists. It was the perfect way to wrap up my country music experience in Nashville.

Riders in the Sky

Brett Kissel

Mike Snider

Abby Anderson

Mark Wills

The next day (Sunday, January 12th), we flew home, but not before one last stop. Our flight out wasn't until 6:00 p.m. so we got to spend the day in the small little town of Franklin, Tennessee. It is only about a half hour south of Nashville. We really weren't sure how to spend our last day. There was still plenty to do around the Nashville area, but ultimately, we decided to go with my sister's recommendation and explore Franklin. It has a really cute downtown area where we ultimately had lunch and wandered in and out of some stores (one was the Landmark Bookstore which was the inspiration for the book and Hallmark movie, The Bridge), but it wasn't until we visited the Carter and Carnton houses that our appreciation for this area increased. 

We were honestly just trying to find something to do to kill time when I stumbled upon a list of things to do in Franklin online. They mentioned two Civil War history sites: the Carter House and Carnton Plantation. Little did we know how interesting and poignant these two sites would be! Did you know there was a massive Civil War battle in Franklin? I didn't. Yet, during this 4 hour battle there were 10,000 casualties! 2,000 dead, 7,000 wounded, and 1,000 missing...and most of that was in the first 90 minutes of the battle. The two tour guides we had an each location were so informative and passionate about preserving the history. We started at the Carter house, which was unfortunately the center of the battle. In a nut shell, there was never supposed to be a battle in Franklin. The Federal soldiers were heading to Nashville, a federal stronghold at the time that helped provide a supply line for federal soldiers in the south, in hopes to fortify the location because they knew the Confederate soldiers wanted to take Nashville back. The Federal troops made it to Franklin before the Confederate but were stopped because the bridge over the Harpeth river that surrounds the town was gone. Because of that bridge, the Federal soldiers were trapped and forced to fight the Confederates while a makeshift bridge was constructed. The Federal leaders commandeered the Carter home for a headquarters and desperately tried to establish a battle plan in the few hours they had before the Confederates hit. It would be too long of a blog post to describe everything that happened, but this was the worst hand-to-hand frontal assault battle of the war...and it all happened at the Carter home. We toured the home and the outbuildings and saw evidence of the bullet holes that riddled those edifices. One of the Carter boys fought in that battle and died of his wounds. The other Carter family members hid in the basement and were spared along with some neighbors and a few slaves. 

This picture is amazing to see all the bullet holes.

This is the exterior of that wall in the picture above.

Next stop was the Carnton plantation. Again, this was an unfortunate home stuck in the middle of the battle. This house was built by a very rich slave owner and was turned into a makeshift hospital for all the wounded and dying Confederate soldiers in that area. The whole battle was spread over a 2 mile line. The Carnton home was at the furthest north point of that line. Because the river changed course, the Confederate soldiers were funneled together to face a barrage of artillery fire from the Federal soldiers. Eventually, there were over wounded 300 soldiers in the home and just as many outside on the grounds. Men were dying everywhere. There are still blood stains on the wood floors. At one location, you could see the blood-outlined footprints where the doctor stood as the blood pooled around him. It was devastating to hear the stories. The Civil War ended 5 months after the Battle of Franklin and 7 months after the war ended, the last Confederate soldier walked out of that house. Can you imagine? They nursed several soldiers for 7 months after that battle. There was so much carnage that there wasn't time to individually bury the dead. In fact, the federal government wouldn't pay for the Confederate graves (because they were traitors) so there were mass graves dug that were only about 2-3 feet deep. About a year and a half after the battle, these dead soldiers started to surface. The McGavock family donated part of their property and money to pay to bury all these soldiers. There are over 1,000 known and unknown men buried at Carnton. It was such a somber place to visit and a poignant reminder of how divided a nation can become. I pray that never happens again.

Our trip had finally come to a close. We did a lot in these few short days, and I fell in love with Tennessee. I am excited to return one day, but more than that, I was just excited to spend the time with Jeff. I appreciate those times in which we are just with each other without anyone else or any other responsibilities. It was the perfect trip!