Odds n' Ends

I've been fighting a bout of pneumonia for the past couple of weeks and haven't been able to get out much to take pictures. There are so many things I want to capture with my camera now that spring is fading into summer here in Mississippi, and I hope to be back "on the road again" soon.

Until then ... I'd like to share some "odds and ends" photos from my collections.

Old gas pump in a shed in the Mississippi Delta

Mont Helena Plantation near Rolling Fork, Mississippi

Old Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot in Vicksburg

A grumpy cow picture

Blue Ridge Mountains near Blue Ridge, Georgia

Monument in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Lagniappe on a country road in Warren County, Mississippi

Country road in Middle Tennessee

It's always fun to go back and look at old pictures and remember where, when, and how I captured them. Hopefully, I will have some new photos and adventures to share soon.

A Natural Wonder on the Natchez Trace

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, to just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, a distance of 444 miles. It is a beautiful and relaxing drive and, living in Mississippi, we take advantage of its beauty any time we can.

On our trip home from Tennessee last week, we entered the Trace from Tennessee Highway 64, between Lawrenceburg and Waynesboro, Tennessee. A few miles down the Trace, we stopped at a rest area (Glenrock Branch at Mile Marker 364.5), and were delighted to see a little creek meandering its way between high limestone bluffs. I was absolutely thrilled, and couldn't wait to capture it all with my camera (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like).

There were several picnic tables at water's edge, and I can just picture it in the spring and summertime, with children wading in the creek while their parents enjoy the tranquility and beautiful scenery.

I loved this natural rock formation which looked, to me, like a picnic table made by God, with its tablecloth of bright green moss. Isn't it awesome!

This is another place I'm going to add to my "Go-Back-in-the-Spring-to-Photograph" List. I can just imagine redbuds and dogwoods in full bloom along the creek.

There are scenes like this all along the Natchez Trace, some of them visible from the road and some you have to look for ... but, believe me, they are well worth taking the time to see. If you live near the Trace or are planning a trip somewhere along its route, I hope you will take some time to explore it for yourself. It is such a beautiful and relaxing way to travel.

Journey's End

They say that all good things must come to an end, and our trip to Tennessee last week ended with visits to the towns of Wartrace and Lynchburg.

I've discovered that no matter how small a town is, you can usually find something interesting or unique about it. And the town of Wartrace, is a perfect example. Another railroad town, Wartrace is located about five miles south of Bell Buckle on Tennessee Highway 269 (you can click on the link to read my post about Bell Buckle).

Wartrace is known as the "Cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse," a breed known for its gentle temperament and smooth ride. In the early 1930s, horse trainer Floyd Carothers and his wife Olive, bought the 1917 hotel that faces the railroad.

In meetings at the hotel, the idea for a walking horse show was conceived. The first one was in 1939, and Strolling Jim, trained by Carothers behind the hotel, was named the first grand champion. Strolling Jim is buried on the hotel grounds.

After leaving Wartrace, our next stop was Lynchburg, which is home to the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Our time for exploration was running short, so I didn't get pictures of the distillery, but its presence was obvious throughout the downtown area (notice the whiskey barrels scattered around the square).

The 1885 courthouse is an imposing landmark on the Square, currently being used to house businesses catering to tourists.

I love its quaint cupola ...

There are several restaurants on the square, and we chose the Iron Kettle for a quick hamburger. The place was filled by the time we left, and their "blue plate special" looked delicious.

I hope you enjoyed my photo tour of our trip. If you missed the first posts, you can read them by clicking on the links below.

On the Road
A Town called Franklin
An English Church in Tennessee
Up and Down the Backroads of Middle Tennessee
A Place Called Bell Buckle

I hope we can go back again in the spring and visit some of the places we didn't have time for this trip. If Tennessee is beautiful in the middle of winter, just imagine what it will look like in the spring.

A Place called Bell Buckle

Bell Buckle, Tennessee is a quaint little railroad town located approximately 50 miles south of Nashville, at the intersection of Tennessee Highways 269 and 82.

We have visited Bell Buckle a couple of times, so I knew what to expect, but if it's your first visit, you will be delighted by the colorful country charm of its row of shops along "Main Street."

The shops include a crafts shop, antique shop, and a country cafe that hosts a live radio show on Saturday afternoons. There are also a couple of antique malls around the corner.

I love the painted quilt parking lot in front of the crafts store.

As I took pictures of the shops, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this shop window.

It was filled with a collection of adorable little sock monkeys and I immediately thought of our sweet blogger friend, Quintessential Magpie. These are for you, Sheila!

(I took these from outside looking through the glass, so they're not as good as I would have liked)

This lady in red looks like she could use a bigger dress size.

And last, but not least, this little guy is my favorite. He looked so sad peeping around the corner, and I could almost imagine a tear running down his sweet little face.

If you're planning a trip to the Nashville area, I hope you will take the time to visit Bell Buckle. You might want to time your visit for early spring when you'll be greeted by clusters of daffodils growing along the road, or you might want to wait until October to visit when Bell Buckle hosts an annual juried arts and crafts show and the fall foliage is at its peak. I've heard it rivals New England's.

Up and Down the Backroads of Middle Tennessee

Last week, we spent a few days in Middle Tennessee, exploring the backroads, and, at times, meandering off the beaten path of the backroads.

I've already shared a few of our adventures and some of the pictures I captured along the way. If you would like to read those stories, you can click on the links below:

On the Road
A Town Called Franklin
An English Church in Tennessee

When I was planning our trip, I used this map. You can click on it to enlarge it, if you'd like.
The dark red line shows the places we visited, which included Nashville, Franklin, Columbia, Mount Pleasant, Bell Buckle, Wartrace, Lynchburg, and points in between. As you can tell, that covers a good bit of territory and, since our time was limited, we didn't get to explore all of those places as fully as I would have liked.

I had originally hoped to extend our route to the east to include the Manchester-Tullahoma-Winchester and Belvidere areas, but we ran out of time (and energy). As it was, "we" (actually, my sweet husband) drove 1200 miles round trip, and I soon realized we'd have to save those places for another visit, hopefully, in the spring.

There were so many things I had read about that I wanted to see and capture with my camera, but I soon discovered that it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. Even though we were traveling the "backroads," there was a good bit of traffic, and the narrow shoulders prohibited pulling off the road to take pictures.

After a while, I became very frustrated because, literally, everywhere I looked there were "pictures" begging to be taken. I don't mean to whine, because my husband was so sweet and patient and stopped whenever he could, but I had to leave hundreds of pictures along those beautiful roadsides of Middle Tennessee ... and that hurt!

I did manage to capture some pictures along the way, though, like this sweet Tennessee Longhorn ...

And picturesque farms like this one dotted the countryside ...

This is one of the roads we took that was "off the beaten path" ...

When we stopped to explore some of the little towns, I made up for not being able to stop along the roads to take pictures. Here are some I captured of a charming little village called Leipers Fork, which is just off the Natchez Trace near Franklin.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, picturesque Leipers Fork offers the "quaintness of the past and the convenience of the present." It is the home of Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant, the most unlikely-looking place one could imagine for great food and world-class entertainment. I love those old theater seats lined up out front.

The surrounding area is home to several recording artists and you just never know who might show up at the "Lawn Chair Theater" for an impromptu jam session.

There are also several antique shops, an art gallery, and a wonderful bookstore called Yeomans in the Fork, that houses one of the most magnificent collections of rare books and historical documents in the South.

Do you recognize that fellow relaxing on the bench? And check out those pink rockers on the porch in the background.

Across the street from the bookstore is the Leiper's Fork Church of Christ, which was established in 1831. The present building was built in 1877.

I love the scalloped louvers on the steeple (you may have to enlarge the picture to see them).

As we drove into Leipers Fork, I did a double take when I saw these three cars from the past. They are replicas of Barney's police car, the Beverly Hillbillies' old car, and the General Lee, of The Dukes of Hazzard fame.

And speaking of vehicles from the past, this old truck was parked beside Serenite' Maison, one of the antique shops in town.

Gotta love the fancy name for such a primitive-looking exterior. Unfortunately, I didn't go inside, so I guess we'll always have to wonder if the inside lives up to its name. [Scroll down to the bottom of this post to read more about Serenite' Maison, and one of its famous patrons].

I don't know how old the Coke sign is, but it looked authentic, and I thought it, along with the old truck, would make an interesting picture in black and white, reminiscent of the late 1940s or early 1950s.

In conclusion, I'd like to share a few miscellaneous pictures I took along our journey. As I said, the area in which we were traveling is home to several recording artists and country music stars, and during our travels we saw lots of homes like this one, set way back off the road.

Of course, the mailboxes didn't have any famous names on them, but the possibility that they could belong to some of the stars made it more fun.

Here's another antebellum church we visited, which was not too far from St. John's Episcopal Church near Columbia. It is the Zion Presbyterian Church, which was completed in 1849.

One of the many distinctive features of this still-active church is the location of the doors.

They're on either side of the pulpit so late arrivals must face the stares of the congregation. I'm sure that discourages latecomers.

For tomorrow: the quaint little railroad town of Bell Buckle, Tennessee. I loved it, and I think you will, too.

As a follow-up, I'd like to share this comment I received from a resident of Leipers Fork. I'd like to thank her for her note, but I don't have an e-mail address for her. Here is what she said: What a great article about our little town of Leipers Fork. I'm so glad you got to come through. No, a celeb doesn't live in THAT home you saw (in fact, for a mere $3.4M, you could live there! *grin*). There are, however, quite a few celebs in our small population including The Judds (Naomi, Wynonna & Ashley), Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman, Michael McDonald, and a few more. Vogue(?) magazine quoted Faith Hill as saying "Serenite Maison" is one of her favorite stores (so I'm sure it would have lived up to its reputation. *grin*) Next time you're in town, make sure to check out some of the restaurants and other shops. If you can make it in spring, there are outdoor movies and concerts, and lots of community events going on. You'd be surprised how much such a little town has to offer. Thanks, Tori! I hope we can come back in the spring.