Southbound Excursions

Tennessee and Kentucky

During the summer of 2006 my family set out on a trip to Kentucky and Tennessee. It was an exciting trip filled with camping and caving. Our first night on the road we were not able to find a campground but fortunately we had our very own hotel pulled along behind us down the road. We luckily found a Wal-Mart parking lot to sleep in for the night. Much to our surprise we learned that if you park in a parking lot near a car wash around midnight, people are still awake and washing/vacuuming their cars. The next morning we got an early start and made it through crazy Nashville traffic to our campground; an oasis after miles of pavement.

The Hermitage Estate

We took a little side trip from Nashville to Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage. It was a beautiful estate. The next day we drove an hour to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg and we got to smell the strong aroma of fresh whiskey. We eventually got around to touring Nashville itself and began with a tour of the Ryman Auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry was first held. We went to the Opryland Hotel and got to look around its beautiful indoor gardens as well as purchase our tickets for the actual Grand Ole Opry.

Mammoth Cave

The next day we left Nashville and toward Kentucky to Mammoth Cave National Park. We toured the cave on lanterns only for light kind of tour. We also took a trip to Louisville as well for a tour of the bat company. It was very interesting to see how the world famous bats were made. We even received complementary miniature bats. The bats were the most exciting part of the tour though. The last day of the trip we took a long walk and then enjoyed a family breakfast. Later on that day we took a two mile long hike to the River Styx. We also took a guided tour of Sand Cave; the very cave that Floyd Collins was trapped and died in, in 1925. It was a fascinating tour but heartbreaking to hear the story of this man’s death. This vacation was filled with great adventures and I learned so much. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would have been in the world’s largest cave and at world famous distillery. Vacationing has opened so many doors for me.

"To travel is to take a journey into yourself." -Danny Kaye