After really maximizing the tourist life over a week, we both knew we wanted some relaxation time to restore and seek out some lovely fall activities. The leaves were just starting to change, and autumn was arriving, and we wanted to squeeze in all our favorite autumnal fun. It was about here on our journey where I realized just how impossible it is to find pumpkin beer anywhere else in this country outside of the New York area!
Before we left Knoxville, we both wanted to squeeze in a workout. I was looking for a nice running spot and Craig wanted to give the boys a solid walk after so much driving and hotel time. The nearby Ijams Nature Center offered a piece of the Will Skelton Greenway for running, as well as a Primal Playground for some alternative and playful workouts! The trail was a success for my run, but Craig felt the primal playground was a little lacking, but he did enjoy what they had. We wrapped up our time there by checking out the nature center and saying hello to their rescue vulture and hawk before hitting the road towards Frozen Head.
As we pulled into Frozen Head State Park, we knew we made an excellent choice. The road was lined with trees just starting to display vibrant fall colors, and the visitor’s center provided trail maps showing off their wide variety of trail options. We picked an optimally colorful camp spot and planned our next few days of outdoor exploration and cozy bus time. Our first day there we headed out to explore the two nearby waterfalls. We headed out on the Panther Branch Trail and took a nice walk to Debord Falls and Emory Gap Falls. The trails to the falls were relatively flat and easy, so we had plenty of energy to hop around on the rocks and explore the falls. I don’t think anyone told Reese he’s almost 11 and that he’s supposed to be calming down these days, NOT getting more adventurous! But I wouldn’t change it for the world, even when he’s looking over his shoulder and waiting for me to finally catch up to him.
We had desperately been missing fall weather and forests and good hikes, so once we realized just how perfectly Frozen Head State Park for all of those things, we extended our stay another night. It gave us the perfect amount of time to squeeze in another hike and to have a stationary place to enjoy the looming rainy fall days. Before the rain moved in, we spent the morning on the Bird Mountain Trail, trying to stay ahead of the clouds and savoring a hike with elevation after our drive through flat middle America. Although we weren’t rewarded with big views, it was a lovely morning to be hiking amongst the colorful trees, racing the clouds. We finished just in time, and were well spent in order to cozy up for the next few days. There had been so many wonderful things we wanted to see on our journey, we hadn't spent a ton of time enjoying the slow days of bus life. So it was a much needed break to tuck ourselves up in our tiny home and bake pumpkin treats, do Halloween crafts, and binge watch Midnight Mass (and then process our feelings after watching Midnight Mass). There’s abundant beauty in bus life - so many amazing things to see, and so much time to slowly savor the little things that make life so wonderful.
It’s always hard for me to leave a good campground. I love knowing there’s hiking trails galore right outside my door, as well as a nice pair of trees to hang up my hammock. But knowing we were headed to the coolest event softened the blow. We had tickets to see our favorite band, Murder By Death, play inside Cumberland Caverns on Halloween weekend!! They always put on an incredible show, and they sure do know how to pick a venue. We’ve now seen them on a cruise down the Hudson River and on the lawn of The Stanley Hotel, and were excited to add “inside a cave” to the list. We were able to camp on the grounds of the cavern, and since it was Halloween, we killed time waiting for the show to start by carving pumpkins, drinking bourbon apple ciders, and watching Beetlejuice. The show was so incredible that when we saw there were tickets for Halloween night still available, we scooped those up and did it all again!
Our Halloween concert was the last official item on our agenda, so once our exciting and spooky weekend wrapped up, we both felt a little adrift. It was surreal to know that this moment, that so much had been planned around and for, had arrived and passed, was bittersweet. There was a lot about launching out on this bus journey that made me nervous, so knowing we not only made it through, but also had such an incredible time, felt like a victory. It was also sad to feel like our time on the road was wrapping up - at least for this first adventure. But we still needed to make our way back to New York, and it was freeing and exciting to realize we could take any route we wanted to get there!
There were a few more short stops we wanted to make in Tennessee before we said goodbye. I was already itching for another hike, and since my family is Lebanese, when we saw Cedars of Lebanon State Park was on our route, it felt like fate. We did a short hike on the Cedar Forest Trail, and it was a perfect fall day, complete with blue skies and cool weather. Then we continued on our journey, heading towards the Meriwether Lewis campground off the Natchez Trace Parkway. We love a nice, free campsite, and this one was one of the best we’d found on our journey. Not only did we have a nice, flat spot with a nearby bathroom, there were also a few trails and historical markers right off the campground. We only had to cross the road to be on a connecting trail that took us to the old Natchez Trace trade route. Another great day for a hike, and the trees had gotten even more vibrant during our time in TN.
It was a perfect fall trail. It meandered through the colorful trees until it dipped down to follow a Little Swan Creek for a bit. It then led back up through the forest to connect to the Old Natchez Trace, a historic forest trail that connects Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. Originally created by Native Americans, it was further developed and used by European colonists who set up trading posts (known as stands) and inns along the route to aid travelers. The section of the footpath we were on led to Grinder’s Stand, and it was here we learned the wild tale of the death and burial of Meriwether Lewis. Acting as the appointed governor of the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis was traveling to Washington DC along the Old Natchez Trace. In October of 1908, he stopped for the night at Grinder’s Stand, where he purportedly committed suicide. This explanation was generally accepted due to his use of opium, monetary troubles, and struggles with preparing his expedition journals for publication - however, there has been much debate over this conclusion. The Old Natchez Trace was rife with robbers, and there were claims of a scuffle that was overheard preceding the fatal gunshots. The debate continues to this day, even going so far as to include Lewis’ distant ancestors requesting exhumation and further analysis.
But what is the genuinely wild cherry on top for me is that they simply buried the guy in the field adjacent to the inn! Meriwether Lewis had been governor at the time of his death, was a famed explorer, and had been Secretary and friend to Thomas Jefferson. It’s borderline comical to me that this highly significant historical figure died and they were just like “yeah, I guess just leave him there? Y’all got a field you can plop him down in?” Lewis was just out there in the backyard of the inn in an unmarked grave! It took the state of Tennessee until 1848 to even erect a monument at his burial site in his honor. I guess it’s true what they say, that death is the great equalizer.
After our historical detour, we separated from the Old Natchez Trace footpath and continued our journey back on the connecting trail. It was a gorgeous day to be in the woods, full of colorful trees, streams and rivers, and overlooks showing off all of fall in its glory. It was such a perfect hike, made even better by the fact that it began and ended at our campsite! Dispersed camping has been something we’ve grown to love on our journey, but sometimes there’s not much to do without driving outside of the campsite, so to find one that had such beautiful hiking and interesting history was a major highlight. We spent the rest of our time here enjoying the last dredges of Halloween weekend and getting ourselves prepared for the increasingly cool weather and planning the next leg of our travels.
There was one last spot to check out in Tennessee before we made our way up to Kentucky - Loveless Cafe. I had gotten a tasty snack pack there earlier in the trip, and the pimento cheese made me desperately want one more taste of the south. While their menu wasn’t very vegetarian friendly (their iconic biscuits are made with lard, and therefore we don’t count them as vegetarian), we were still able to enjoy some eggs, jam, and fried green tomatoes, and of course, more pimento! It was a tasty southern breakfast, and it really prepared us for our trip to Kentucky and all the bourbon we would be tasting…
It was hard saying goodbye to Tennessee. We finally felt like we were getting to enjoy fall, our favorite season. It was a perfect visit for hiking, colorful trees, cozy rain days, warm soup; and that was after all of our touristing fun. But we had sampled our Tennessee whiskeys and it was now the time for some Kentucky bourbon!
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