Got up and got moving pretty early because we are meeting cousins Kathy, Hank, and Sarah for lunch in Columbia, Tennessee at 11:30 AM. We wanted to make sure we made it in plenty of time because you never know about the road conditions in this part of the world (or tire troubles). We stopped at a little donut shop a few miles out of town and they had the best and freshest donuts.
Small but good donut shop just outside of Huntsville.
Yummy. Glad we don’t do that often as they were too good. The drive into Columbia was about an hour and a half. We got into Columbia, Tennessee about an hour early and decided to go check out the James K. Polk house near downtown. The tour was $16.00 and we had our own personal tour guide who was very knowledgeable and fun. She showed us around the house and gave the history of certain items, pictures, and furnishings.
James K Polk residence in Columbia, Tennessee.Eagle door knocker.Period furniture.Period dishes and table.Nice furniture at a time when most lived on home made furniture that was rough hewn.Beautiful furniture.Office area.Big bed in its day.The kitchen was a second building in the back. The reason for that was they feared fire destroying the house and summer time heat.President Polk was a short and thin man.
After the tour we went around the courthouse complex area. What a lovely, quaint and old fashioned town. Love it. If I lived in the South, I would want to live in a place like Columbia as it has a sweet feel to it.
Columbia courthouse flags on a windy day..Courthouse, police station square.
We met at the restaurant, Pancho’s Place, and saw Kathy.
Beloved Cousin Kathy.
We went inside and Hank and Sarah arrived a few minutes later. So good to see everyone. They all looked great and seemed to be doing well. We got to catch up a little (it’s hard when everyone is trying to ask questions and answer questions), but mostly just enjoyed visiting with family.
Cousin Hank.Cousin Sarah taking a quick lunch break from patrol.
The food was really good to.
Petite pretty woman had a two plate lunch. She couldn’t even come close to eating it all. I got half to go for dinner later.
We left and headed to Nashville, about an hour’s drive. We decided since it was still early we should just get the Nashville Capitol out of the way as we had to go through Nashville to get to Fairfield Glade. We found parking (very expensive – $18.00 for two hours – ouch) and walked up to the Capitol through a memorial type area.
Our Capitol selfie.State Capitol.On a hill.I think most of the government work takes place in the Tennessee Tower in the background.
Very similar to “Our Daughters” on the Capitol grounds in South Carolina.Women tending to the injured soldier.Viet Nam memorial.Korean War Memorial.Doric capitals at the World War I Memorial.Statue beyond the columns World War I memorial.
We took the tunnel to the Capitol and the security officer there said to go to the first floor and a tour guide would have just started and to just join in, which we did. We didn’t realize it was a private tour until the very end when they were getting their pictures taken. We felt bad but LOVED the tour and got so much history and information.
Underground tunnel hallway to the Capitol.Ornate first floor ceiling.Jackson, Polk and Johnson – three US Presidents from Tennessee.Beautiful chandelier.Great detail.Governor’s outer office has wonderfully subtle paintings on the walls and ceilings.Hand press for applying the seal of the Great State of Tennessee.Cleaned but not refurbished to see what they saw when they removed the layers of wall paint that covered the art.
Courtroom where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place.Andrew Jackson in the center for sure.A put together kit for the spiral stairs. Volumes of document archives on the shelves.Ears up, a pig.Ears down is a dog.Our tour guide explaining.Much of the construction and decoration was privately financed. The painter charged $300 to do the library ceiling. The financier charge each of the people that wanted their image on the ceiling $100.There are 12 portraits on the ceiling.The Capitol library is impressive.Sequoyah, the Cherokee leader that created a writing system.Nice read.The actual Cherokee alphabet.Attractive lines.Grand ceilings on the second floor.Senate with our tour guide. The Tennessee Flag has 3 stars – they represent Western, Central and Eastern Tennessee.Lots of nice busts.This has a caricature quality.Lots of busts. James K Polk, whose house we toured earlier in the day.
A few reliefs that are excellent. This is about woman’s suffrage. Tennessee was the 33rd state to ratify the amendment that gave women the right to vote.House of Representatives where the 19th amendment was ratified by one vote. The Representative changed his mind because his mother told him to do the right thing.Custom door mat, we like that.Pretty woman out front.Very front of grounds.They solved the problem of hoisting the flag without building an ugly safety cage.
Excellent and interesting Capitol and Michael and I both love their way of government where everyone seems to be included. We left and fought the traffic for awhile.
Great mix of stone, stained glass and concrete.Lovely church.Most dangerous thing we do….
We got into Crossville, Tennessee after about two hours. We went to a nearby grocery store, got groceries, and then headed out to the resort – Wyndham at Fairfield Glade.
We found an okay store to get some groceries.Check in at the resort.Awards the resort has earned.
It’s lovely and very peaceful here. Best part is it has a full sized washer and dryer! Good to have a real home for a week. We’re both so excited we can hardly handle it. Not sure what we’ll be doing but it will be great to be off the road for awhile.
Comfortable living and dining room.Nice kitchen, missed photographing the bedroom and bath. They were both nice.All the usual appliances and utensils.A washer and dryer, always welcome.Full sized washer and dryer.
