Unfortunately, our stay in Tennessee is not as well documented as other parts of our trip because of Steven’s constant fear for his camera. With good reason since I don’t think it’s water-proof, falling-on-rocks-proof, or bug-proof. It’s okay with me since I’ve been here more times than I can count, my memories almost always tinged with a Benadryl-induced haze since I am allergic to everything in nature. And that’s pretty much all that’s here. No cellphone reception unless you climb atop the nearest ridge, fifteen or twenty miles to the nearest store, such as it is, and at least two or three miles to the nearest neighbor’s house. Also, since it’s summer, walking across the yard will get you at least two or three ticks. Yeah, fun. My dad owns about 200 acres of overgrown, hilly land here and his entire family lives on various other tracts of land nearby.
Main Turkey Creek Things to Do In The Summer
(As remembered from my Childhood)
1. Hike through woods
2. Cut grapevines to make swings
3. Play in the creek
4. Catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar
5. Look at stars
6. Eat way too much fried food
And that’s pretty much what we’ve done, minus the grapevine swings. Surprisingly, there are also some sites of historical note relatively nearby (for which Steven did bring his camera):
OH MY GOD JAMES K POLK'S HOUSE!
In Columbia, the nearest “town” (about 20 minutes away), the home of our eleventh and, according to the tour guide, Greatest President Ever. I believe it. Also, the Hannah Montana movie was filmed there (as we’ve discussed).
OH MY GOD! The spot on the Natchez Trace where Merriweather Lewis was murdered!!!
Here I am looking for clues. We can solve this mystery!
Unfortunately, since we’re in the middle of nowhere, this is the only way to take a shower:
OH MY GOD HYGIENE
Also, the only possible way to get around to all these places was in our friend Jimmy Jones’ pickup truck with broken AC (and only country radio stations). Here is the evidence that I may, in fact, have some redneck in me after all:
OH MY GOD SOUTHERN
Unfortunately, we leave today. I will be sad to leave behind the quiet beauty of the countryside and the sniffling, itchy sneezing fits it periodically sends me into.
PS–That was Merriweather Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame. Just so you know.
I LOVE TURKEY CREEK! Say hi to the nice dogs for me!!!
That sounds really amazing…Tennessee sounds beautiful.
Oops … I thought Lewis killed himself. So I Wiki’d it and the story is actually pretty awesome: apparently he was sick and talking to himself, and his caretaker heard a bunch of gunshots but she decided not to investigate until the next day, when sure enough he was dead.
Extremely awesome fact: according to the Wiki, some random group of Lewis fans started a petition to exhume the body and determine how he died … YESTERDAY. C’mon Patricia, we know it’s you, you’ve edited Wikipedia before…