We are definitely “up north” (at least for us). Temp when we got up in the morning yesterday? 55 degrees. That is for sure winter in Galveston.
Mill Spring Battlefield National Monument was our first stop. Actually, it wasn’t much of a stop. The visitor center was closed, but they did have stickers outside the door. They also had a driving tour of the battlefield, kind of like the way Gettysburg was set up, only on a much smaller scale. The one place that did have some interesting things to see was the second stop of the tour. Problem was, we were met by a Ranger who told us they were doing repair work on an original wall, so they were asking all visitors to park at the top of the hill and walk back down. “All visitors”? This was a brand new park, and I really doubt they were having a huge influx of guests. But of course we happily complied.
Well, that didn’t seem so hard coming down, but we did have to get back up that hill again. It was a bit of a challenge, but we’ve handled much worse. Oh! Be proud of me. On the way down the hill, I pointed out some obscure agri-tourist photo shots of random flowers for Chris. Getting in the swing of things, I guess.
Next we headed into Tennessee to the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. No historical sites to see, but they did have another stamp for The Book.
On the way I got a little bored, so I started looking for churches with unusual names. That’s always a fun pastime. Here’s my list:
Sinking Valley Baptist Church (located in a deep valley. Imagine)
The Old Path Baptist Church (as opposed to the new path?)
Barnesburg Baptist Church (too easy. Name of the town)
Saline Baptist Church (specialty is starting IV’s?)
Sardis Methodist Church (I thought of Dr. Who, but I guess he would go to Tardis Baptist)
Lakeside Baptist Church (no lake in sight)
Calvary Separate Baptist Church (separate from the other versions of Baptists, of course)
Grave Hill Baptist Church (had graves on the hill behind it - imagine that)
Bible Believers Baptist Church (helpful to believe the Bible)
New Haven Baptist Church (shouldn’t that be in Connecticut?)
Leatherwood Baptist Church (leather wood doesn’t sound very sturdy)
Small things entertain me.
Right before we arrived at the park, we decided to get some lunch. Chris looked up some loxcal hot spots, and RaeZack’s kept coming up. Chris had a chicken wrap. I had fried chicken livers, mac n cheese, and green beans. Best meal yet on this vacation.
After a false start at one visitor center that was closed, we backtracked a bit and headed for a different one. This one was deep inside the park, and the road was one of those with serious twists. Like complete 180 degree turns and heading straight up. But we did see something I have never seen before. There were flowers on every grave in every cemetery. And I don’t mean just a carnation or two. I mean big sprays of flowers. Cut flowers. Expensive cut flowers. Kudos to you, small town.
Next stop was none other than Nashville. Somehow we have missed seeing The Hermitage on our other travels through there. We also connected with Bobby, one of our Seasiders who lives there. He met up with us for supper at one of his favorite local restaurants. Great to see him. And as a plus, I got to have some alligator sliders. Yum. Looking forward to seeing you again in Galveston, Bobby.
Lamentations 3:22-23 says, Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Father, thank you for helping me notice those different church names. They all reflect the minor differences among us, but I pray that our similarity my be Just Jesus. Amen.
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