May 26, 2009

Southern Tennessee & Sewanee Creek

There are three nice lakes within short driving distance of Pulaski and Tracey City, TN so we opted for the smallest "Normandy" which has a very clean TVA campground on it's shores. As we learned, you'd better have you turf reserved before any holiday weekend at any of these popular spots, and this was no exception (look carefully, we over there on the right!).

Although the Memorial Day weekend had the park full, most folks were courteous and remarably quiet. The kids confined themselves to the swimming area, for the most part, while the adults, including us, just enjoyed the grounds including a large flock of Canada Geese near the lake.

By late Monday, the campground presented a totally different scene, with our end almost deserted - really nice! Like other towns in the area Pulaski has an old downtown square with the typical City Hall in the center. That's it, "small town USA". What a pleasant shift from the hustle, bustle and heavy traffic of our larger cities.



We really enjoyed the friendly nature and open hospitality of these folks here in southern TN. Oh, and check out the town mascots...


,,,,,and even small towns are known to compete with Texas on a few big things!

The area is also known for it's whiskey producers, especially Jack Daniels.


Although we rarely drink hard liquor these days, we just had to do the tour.



Our host and tourguide was a trip, filling the afternoon with unique stories and crafty jokes based on her almost twenty years here at Jack's.

A unique aspect of the factory is the location. They have their own clean, freshwater spring flowing right on the property - the start of every bottle of whiskey they produce. We even got to meet Jack himself near the spring, being the gentleman he is, he agreed to pose for a picture with us!




We were surprised to learn that you can purchase an entire barrel of Old No. 7, already bottled and shipped on a pallet direct to your RV or trailer. After a little discussion, Kim convinced me that the small cask pictured on the right was a better fit for the 29 ft AlpenLite. So, I gues the fifth will just have to do.




And in case you're wondering, we were not allowed to take any photos inside the factory. We couldn't quite figure that out. It's really not rocket science......so, I guess you'll just have to come see (and SMELL!) for yourself.

In addition to thoroughly enjoying southern Tennessee, there was some other "good news" in our quest for the Ball Hollow property. In doing more research on the area, we discovered Grant Miller's wonderful development at Sewanee Creek.

We spent most of the next day with Grant as our gracious host, touring Sewanee, and the entire community around it. The property has several nice creeks, and a wonderful sixty foot high waterfall!

In addition, there were panoramic views behind the community Amphitheater which is in the final stages of completion.


Grant received a high output DLP digital project for use at the theater while we were there.
Our favorite two lots were number 17 which overlooked the huge ravine bordering the backside of the development, and number 21, which has a rock "Indian House" located in the front, lending this area to be used as a cool patio off of one's porch!


Our visit included a special treat. Becky (Grant's wife) brought out some of her scrumptious homemade wheat bread, complete with fresh strawberry preserves made from their own garden - yummy!

For additional info, their website will provide some nice insight into what very well could be the community of the future......a green development in which the residents help one another in meeting the challenges of life that this new economy continues to present us.
http://www.sewaneecreek.com/index.php