What a great weekend!

May 7, 2007
This was our weekend to go to Nashville, TN, for our train excursion to Cookeville, TN. we bought these tickets last December and have been looking forward to it.
Doug and Glo Woodall, friends from church, picked us up around 11:30a on Friday, 5/4. They have a very comfortable van. We made it all the way to Crossville before stopping for lunch - at Cracker Barrel, of course.
Our next stop was in Lebanon, TN. I asked for the stop so we could go to JADE Bookstore, a Christian bookstore, owned by my on-line friend Janice Horne. It was wonderful to finally meet her! We have chatted for a couple of years and I have ordered things from the bookstore. We talked a fair amount of time, and we all bought some books. Our little group had to move on to get to the Hermitage. Most of you probably know that is the ancestral home of President Andrew Jackson.
We got to the Hermitage around 4p. There was a misty rain, but we were ok with that. We toured the house, which is really quite spacious. However, 5 boys shared a bedroom while the 1 girl had her own room. The volunteers there seem to really enjoy their work. I did not realize that the Ladies Hermitage Association for the preservation of the plantation was formed before 1900. I think that is very forward thinking. They also gathered most of the original furnishings. For the majority, people that had bought the things donated them back. So the Hermitage has around 90% of the original furnishing.
We roamed around the outlying buildings. This is the rain storm came. It rained really hard, but not for long. Lucky for us we were right at one of the slave cabins and could step inside out of the rain. Doug and Glo had their rain jackets, but Don and I were not as prepared.
After the rain, we went to the garden and tomb. It is a very reflective place.
By leaving there close to 5:30p, we missed the worst of the rush hour traffic. We were staying in the Vanderbilt U area After settling in our rooms, we just walked down to Mrs. Winners Fried Chicken to eat. We were all hungry and the Mrs. Winners here in Knoxville closed years ago.
We were up early the next morning to be sure we a) got breakfast and b) had plenty of time to get to the train station. Both worked out well. We were in car 9400 which was built in the 1950's. It is the dome car, but we were not in the dome portion (we could see fine without spending the xtra $$$). In fact we could go up into the dome anytime we wanted to and look out the windows. The neat thing about the dome car is you can see the entire train from up there. Our car hosts - all volunteers - were lots of fun. The 2 couples across the aisle were from Ohio and enjoyed teasing about the "Southern Sunshine). As in it was cloudy and rainy all day.
We had left Nashville at 8a and arrived in Cookeville at 12:40p. They were having their Spring Railfest with food vendors and crafters, etc. around the depot.
We had until 1:45 to walk around and see the town. The first order of business was - you got it - Lunch! We passed on the food vendors in tents and found a restaurant. It was nice and the food was excellent. We left the restaurant together, but quickly migrated to men one way and women another.
As many times as we have been by Cookeville on the interstate, none of us had ever gone to the historic part in downtown. They have done a good job restoring the depot and making it a museum. Nearly all the shops on the main street seem to be flourishing. Glo and I went into a used book shop and I didn't buy anything - believe it or not. Actually I didn't have much time to look as they were burning incense and I just couldn't take it. Then we went to a "boutique mall". Meaning lots of small cubicles owned by various sellers with a central checkout. Some interesting things, but my pocketbook wasn't interested. Besides we are trying deperately to de-clutter the house. We walked around and visited the vendors on the depot grounds and back to the train.
We left Cookeville at 2:00p and arrived in Nashville at 5:40p. On the return trip is when we met Tommy Lee Jones - no. 2. His wife had told us he was there, so we complained when we hadn't met him. As you have guessed he is not the famous actor, but a volunteer on the RR. Believe it or not, he claims to have gone to school (I think thru HS) with the actor. That is why he is TLJ no. 2. Seems the actor was born 1 day before this guy so at school they were know as no.1 and no. 2. He was a lot of fun. His real job is as airport manager for the Nashville airport.
We went back to West End Ave. where the hotel is located and decided on a little more "upscale" dinner place. So we went to Logan's. It was fine.
Then we spent about an hour walking around the Vanderbilt campus. It is a lovely campus with lots of open spaces. We were at the main campus and most of the buildings there are old and lovely - well cared for.
Sunday morning was not such early rising. West End Church of Christ did not have services until 10:00a. It is a nice church building and the people were very friendly. I really liked their preacher as he had a timely message and was very energetic.
On the way to Nashville, we had spent the whole trip talking, but on the way home there was more quiet time. As in, nap time? We arrived home tired but having had a great relaxing weekend with another Christian couple.
Looking forward to another train trip in the fall.
Love to all -