My vacation starts in just a little more than two days. I’m doing mental fist pumps right now just thinking about it. I suppose I could do actual fist pumps, but I rarely have the gumption to follow through on a good fist pump once I’ve started it. They’re always better in theory, or when other people do them. That’s my thinking, at least.
This vacation should be pretty interesting, I think. I’m taking it upon myself to drive across Tennessee and get a little more intimately acquainted with my beloved state. My travels will take me to Chattanooga, Murfreesboro, Nashville, and untold small towns in between. I’d like to maybe get off the beaten path a bit and see some quirky stuff that you won’t find in Frommer’s. It’s a solo trip, just me and my car and my camera and my computer. And a load of laundry, of course. And the voices in my head. We plan to solve the world’s problems one celebrity assassination at a time.
I’ll be departing from Saltillo some time Monday or Tuesday, and it’s still up in the air at this point whether I’ll take I-40 or cruise eastward on backroads and highways. I’m leaning toward highways, but I could be swayed. Sometimes the shit you can find along the interstate is worth the effort it takes to stay awake between all those tedious mile markers…
Where should I go? I’ve got a week and I need to make it count.
It’s not off the beaten path, but Fall Creek Falls is pretty damn nice. I’m also a fan of Raccoon Mtn. (I think it’s near Chattanooga) where one can explore a cave and even spend the night inside.
lookout mountain in/near chattanooga is also nice. you can walk all thru it and they have weird black light reflective painted reliefs (think gnomes and such).
plus that’s where ruby falls, the world’s largest underground waterfall, is.
also, my dad’s cousins own a dairy farm about twenty minutes away. so if you’ve never had unpasteurized milk but want to (trust me, you want to. it’s the tastiest illegal thing in the world) then i can give you their number. the hannah’s are a crazy crazy clan. but in a hilarious not creepy way.
You need to keep on driving until you get all the way to North Carolina. You’ve got plenty of time. Pisgah is gorgeous.
First, I am jealous beyond articulation over schmutzfynk’s family’s dairy farm.
Second, hope you hvae an awesome time. I can’t really think of anything cool right offhand. Only been through Chattanooga, and my time in Nashville was spent in gay clubs, Gold’s gym and Tamara’s apartment. Meh? I’ll let you know if I suddenly find out about something effing spectacular.
Mmmm, if I was you, I’d be planning my meals. The Sterns have a pretty great website that I ALWAYS visit before leaving on any kind of trip, here’s the TN restaurants listed by city:
http://roadfood.com/Restaurants/SearchResults.aspx?st=restaurants&ob=City&ps=1&s=TN&rt=
I’d have to say that if you never went, you could cut down from M’boro to Lynchburg to check out the Jack Daniels distillery. You could go through Bell Buckle if you wanted to, on the backroads. JD’s isn’t thrill a minute or anything, but lynchburg is cute AND you can get whiskey chocolates there.
Hey, I think we might attempt to have a session of My So Called drinking game on Sunday; we could see you off then, if you won’t already be in Saltillo.
Take Highway 64 to go east! Great scenic rural trip.
Can’t wait to see the pictures.
have a great time!!!
i have no idea where this place actually is, except that it’s in TN, but you should totally go to the mind field if it’s not too far off route….
These are all excellent suggestions, y’all! Thank you. I can’t wait to see where I end up. :)
Well, I’d tell you to go to Knoxville, where I left part of my heart (because it tore free and fucking ran off due to all the drugs I was doing in college), but it’s been so long I really wouldn’t know where to tell you to go. Some day I’ll take you to 1313 N. Central St, and then I’ll chicken out of knocking and we’ll drive 6 hours back to Memphis.
Otherwise, I went to Ruby Falls as a kid. Meh. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Chattanooga. There’s always Gatlinburg. And somewhere over there is the Aquarium. Uh-har. ‘Member that? Also, there’s supposedly some Rainbow Family commune thereabouts, so you might run across some hippies to heckle.
Look for Stinking Creek Rd on I-40 if you go through Knoxville. Just because the sign’s funny.
My best advice blaze a trail and explore every small town you can find. Brazenly knock on a door or bust up on somebody’s front porch and wrangle a picture and a story about their town. Wade in their creek, chew on their grass, sleep under the stars on the hood of your car, and then head for the hills and Doubletree Inn.
(Don’t forget your bug spray)