BabyBoomerBob

I hope I'm not being out of line for posting a link to a web page about touring in Europe, but this site really got to me. For all that we are saddened when favorite bridges or motels go down, at least we still have our lives intact. Let us be grateful for the good things that we do have. http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/cherlinks.html

Another interesting point. The route between Cincinnati and Lexington follows what is today US 27 and not US 25. As far as I know this was not ever a part of the Dixie Highway. But, of course, I don't have any way of knowing all the different alignments:)

Here's another one. http://www.shorpy.com/node/1165 This is the same sign in Crossville, TN,I saw when I cruised "The Phantom Highway" (US 37). It's on the grounds of the Cumberland County Courthouse now.

First of all, sorry I'm so blasted late with this writeup. I won't bore you with details, but things aren't the best with me right now. Once again, photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob Two folders this time, Louisville Interlude and Dixie Dreamin', Louisville to Nashville. Starting at the end of the Phantom Highway, we returned to Louisville on the US 31 bridge, then headed straight until we got to Broadway, then west to the intersection with Dixie Highway. On the way, we took pictures of neat looking buildings and signs, particularly the old railroad station and the adjacent former headquarters of the L&N Railroad. That's the folder called Louisville Interlude:) Dixie Highway heading south is an unnumbered city street, but it merges so smoothly with US 31W-60 that I hardly noticed it:) On the unnumbered stretch we stopped to photo a water tower shaped like a bottle of J. B. Foresters:) <J. B Forester> It was getting past lunchtime, but we didn't see much in the way of mom and pop places, so we stopped at a well known chain:) The picture of the surf board was worth the stop, though:) <Dixie Highway Hooters>. Incidentally, the Hooters on Kingston Pike in Knoxville also has plastic palm trees out front, but no one complains, possible because they're orange:) Now for a brief routing note. The old highway bears west onto Main Street through West Point. Where it rejoins 31W, DeLorme indicates you can go straight onto Wilson Road. We didn't find the continuation. Just as well, since Wilson Road is off limit to the public through Fort Knox. You have to take US 31W to Radcliff, (although you can swing left and take Main Street through Muldraugh). At Radcliff, go right on elm, then left on Wilson and you'll be back on the old road. Wilson Road goes almost to Elizabethtown, but there are a couple of intersections with divided roads where you have to turn right then turn around to get back. Elizabethtown is a place we saw twice, once with the Bourbon and Coke Cruise, and once on our own. Taking pictures at the courthouse square, I managed to demonstrate my talent for getting pictures of the back of Denny's head:) I took a picture of the wall with the embedded cannonball, and yes Denny, I took a picture of the chimney pot I found:) But I didn't post it:) <next 5 pictures> On out to the Schmidt Museum of Coca Cola Memorabilia. I'll let the pictures and their comments speak for themselves Coke sure has had one bang up advertising campaign over the years:) I did get a group picture (minus myself, of course:) out under the great big coke bottle outside. I thought putting the name of Elizabethtown on the bottom of the bottle was a nice touch:) <Coke Museum pictures>. At Rowletts, the DHW veers west on a road listed as the L & N Turnpike Road. This is the stretch Pat found and I missed:) We stopped to take pictures of a marvelous old sign advertising "Mammoth Onyx Cave" <Mammoth Onyx Cave... Old stone arch...> The name almost certainly was given in the 20s, during a time known as the "Kentucky Cave Wars". Mammoth was still a privately owned tourist cave, and all the other caves wanted to get the tourist dollar and would do anything to get it. Guys would jump onto a car's running board and tell the driver that Mammoth Cave was closed because of a cave in, or a bridge washed out or whatever, but they had this other cave that was very much open for business:) There's no doubt the name Mammoth Onyx Cave was intended to be confusing and deceitful. But those times are long past. Now to Cave City and the Wigwam Village. Once again, I'll let my pictures do most of the talking:) The stretch of old Dixie Highway behind the motel was particularly fine. <Wigwam Village pictures> Heading on south on US 31W toward Bowling Green, we stopped ad an abandoned motel. It looked to have been abandoned quite a while, so why the satellite dish? <Abandoned Motel> We came to Bowling Green at a bad time...Monday morning rush hour:( It's a pretty city with lots of neat architecture, but the traffic was horrible:( It really deserves a return visit. We approached town from the Old Louisville Road stopping when we reached the Barren River Bridge. The bridge is now for pedestrians only and is part of a riverfront park. <Old Louisville Road Bridge and the three following pictures> Another routing note. It's not so easy guessing an old alignment in a city. I think I messed up in Bowling Green. From the bridge I continued SW onto College Street. I would up on a one way road circling Western Kentucky University. A pretty drive, but hellishly congested:) I *did* wind up going straight onto US 68, but I think I should have gone parallel to the river and turned left onto 68 through town. Beyond Bowling Green, US 68 has been straightened and widened to a four lane divided highway. An old stretch veers off to the left through Auburn, then an even older stretch veers off to the right:) Drive through Auburn and go straight on Echo Valley Rd. until you have to get back on the four lane. Russellville turned out to be a nice surprise. We stopped at the town square and I took some pictures of the local architecture. I found one historic plaque most interesting. The western part of Kentucky had the strongest Confederate sympathy, and delegates from about half the counties met in Russeville and seceded from the Union. It was largely a symbolic gesture, since Union forces ran them out of town shortly thereafter. The plaque further states these counties were accepted as the thirteenth Confederate state. I was taught there were 11 Confederate states. But I'd also noticed 13 stars on the stars and bars. A bit of web research revealed some counties in Missouri had also seceded. So the mystery of the thirteen stars was solved:) <Russelville 01-05> From Russelville we headed south on US 431. Got a couple more routing comments, then I'll shut up on this:) North of Springfield, TN, Delorme shows a section of old 41 heading off to the left, then crossing the present highway and passing through Springfield. The loop that swings left is no longer open. There's a quarry or something smack dab in the middle of it. But the old road through Springfield is still there and if you follow Main Street, it takes you completely through town. I stopped to get a picture of the courthouse. <Robertson County Courthouse> I must confess, by this time we were getting pretty tired. We knew we had to get on home and I had to get up early the next morning, so we copped out and got on I-24 the first chance we got. But we'll be back and do Nashville up right:)

Hmmmmm. The caption of the picture says it's on the highway south of Bardstown. Any chance this was the Wigwam Village #1?

The reason I didn't mention the beagle was it wasn't on the "Phantom Highway" I'm not through with my writeups yet. I still have the Dixie Highway to cover:)

Note: The road from Griderville to Bardstown was traveled twice. Once, north to south, with the good folks of the "Bourbon and Coke" Cruise, the other, south to north the following day. The writeup continues the south to north orientation of the previous posts. Photos are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob Our cruise of the proposed US 37 which was never approved, resumed at Glasgow, KY where we headed north on US 31E. At Griderville we stopped to photo the remains of the Windmill Restaurant. A good friend of mine recommended this place and was saddened when I told him it was closed <Windmill Restaurant>. During the cruise we had stopped at a minimart with this cool looking painting on the wall <Site of the original...> I didn't realize until I read Denny's post that it was the site of the Wigwam Village Motel #1. Duh! While on the cruise we had stopped at Lincoln's birthplace, but the park was already closed. Susan and I got there the next day. The monumental edifice surrounding the cabin was impressive and I got a couple of good shots <Lincoln's Birthplace...>, but I couldn't get a picture of the cabin itself. No flash photos were allowed:( I wound up talking to a ranger about the economic roots of the Civil War. Then he started going on about how America was going down the tubes, and I decided it was time for the road again. Hodgenville is the closest town to Lincoln's birthday and is in the middle of major renovation in preparation for Lincoln's 200th birthday in 2009. You'll find Lincoln's name all over town <Sign at restaurant...& Street flag...> and a statue in the middle of town <Statue of Lincoln.> I might try to get up there again in a couple of years to see how their improvements have gone. When Abe Lincoln was a small boy, his family moved to a farm on Knob Creek. This site has become a monument as well, and we all stopped off to take pictures. <Knob Creek Farm 01-03>. We milled around, taking pictures of the cabins, and each other, and each other taking pictures of the cabins:) One thing that was mentioned at the post cruise get together was a rather bizarre sign inviting tourists to "Enjoy Kentucky" but with a strange caveat:) <Whaaaaa...?> Somehow, I was lucky enough to find that sign and get a picture the next day:) And now for Bardstown. Ah, what can I say except that Susan and I fell in love with it:) Denny had the foresight to call ahead for reservations so we could eat at the Talbott Tavern, an old inn dating back to 1779. Nothing like enjoying a good meal of Kentucky hot brown with friends! <Talbot Tavern 01-03> Then we wandered around the courthouse square, taking pictures and having a good time. <Nelson County Courthouse - Tour Carriage> We followed our convoy of friends out to the Bourbon Heritage Center. <Bourbon Heritage Center> Not many photos here. Flash photos were forbidden in the warehouse because of the flammable alcohol fumes and the outsides of the warehouses were rather prosaic looking, so I held off. On our way out of Bardstown, Susan and I stopped to take a picture of a caboose advertising a local dinner train tour <My Old Kentucky Dinner Train>, then bopped up 31E bound for Louisville. Quite honestly, we don't stop for ad barns like we used to. We both love Rock City and Mail Pouch barns. but we've seen a bunch of them:) It was refreshing to see a barn advertising something else:) <Ghost Sign Barn> On to Louisville! the Jackson Highway approaches Louisville through a rather hip looking neighborhood, likely frequented by college students <Louisville 01>, but the traffic was so heavy (even on a Sunday morning) that we couldn't stop for any pictures:( But soon we were downtown and the traffic was *much* less <Louisville 02-04>. Just before we started across the Ohio River <Across the Ohio>, US 31 E & W merged. But it wasn't always here. It used to be in Indiana and that's where US 37 was supposed to terminate. We were forced onto I-65 for a bit, but exited soon. Too soon as a mater of fact:) Now I won't say we were lost, but as Danial Boone would have said, I was bewildered:) I had seem the Colgate Palmolive clock from the bridge and decided to go hunt for it:) Luck (and good eyesight) was with me and I found it pretty handily. < Former Colgate... - Plant and clock> I can see how it was a local icon and I'm glad it's being preserved. Now for the last bit. There is a road that runs right by the interstate, but it dead ends:( But off to the right is an overpass that once had *something* running under it. Could this be how the old road once ran? <Road Mystery> Note: Delorme indicates the road passed under the interstate here. We had to backtrack and approach the apparent end of the Phantom Highway from another angle. We drove a bit down the old road, then I got a photo looking north toward the intersection where 31 E & W used to meet <End of the line!>. Er, at least I believe I found it:) Delorme indicates the intersection of US 31E and McCullough Pike which is presently IN SR 131. That's good enough for me until someone tells me otherwise:)

Another splendid writeup with magnificent photos! Thanks for sharing! I remember seeing a picture in the Ntl. Geographic of a fan of Hanford High School (whose team is called the "bombers" with a mushroom cloud drawn on his forehead with the slogan: "Nuke 'em 'till they glow!" Oak Ridge High chose not to reflect its nuclear roots and chose the name "Wildcats". A pity, IMHO. "Smashers" (as in atom smashers) would have been a much cooler name:)

Just north of Scranton on US 11 is the town of Nicholson. There a truly dramatic railroad viaduct jumps between two mountains. and you won't have to hunt all over the place to see it. It's just east of the highway. I about dropped my teeth when I saw it back in 1982:)

That was one spectacular writeup! One of these days I hope to explore the Scablands at some length. But for now, looks like I'll have to stick closer to home:) Thanks for sharing!

There are no photos in the body of my post. All my photos are at my webshots site. The photo names in the post are cued to the pictures on webshots. Somehow, when I posted the first part of the Phantom Highway trip, I accidentally posted before I was finished. The complete writeup has been posted and gives a little info on the Rockhouse Cafe. Sorry for the confusion.

Susan and I timed this leg of our "Phantom Highway" cruise to mesh with the Cave City "Bourbon & Coke" cruise. We started on Friday and covered the stretch from Crossville, TN to Glasgow, KY. As usual, the photos are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob Starting from Crossville, we headed north on US 127 until we got to Clarkrange. Here we made a side trip west on TN SR 62, then followed the signs to the Mennonite community of Muddy Pond. This is a place I'd heard about from coworkers as a really good place to get sorghum. We stopped at the Muddy Pond General Store and took a look around <Muddy Pond General Store 01-04>. I was a bit disappointed to find out not everything was locally made. The colorful cookware was made in China:( But the food items were all local, and we bought some peanut brittle and fudge for road snacks. On to Jamestown. This town was bypassed a few years ago, and downtown is beginning to slide:( I kicked myself for never getting a picture of the grocery store sign advertising "big orange dope". It's gone now:( So it the Mark Twain restaurant where I used to eat after hiking in the Big South Fork area. But the Mark Twain Spring is still there. The Jamestown connection with Mark Twain is that his parents used to live there. <Mark Twain Spring 01, 02> Like Crossville, Jamestown has a lot of buildings with Crab Orchard sandstone facing. <Old bank building> Jamestown is also the home of the York Institute, an agricultural school founded by Sgt. York for the local youth. The original building has apparently been abandoned and looks like hell:( The present structure is right next door. <York Institute 01, 02> A brief side trip east on TN SR 52 brought us to Allardt, a town known for its giant pumpkin festival. Their water tower makes a nice advertisement:) <Giant pumpkin water tower> North of Jamestown US 127 descents the Cumberland Plateau and leads to the community of Pall Mall, most famous as the hometown of Sgt. Alvin York, WWI hero. A good summary of Sgt. York's life can be found at http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/sgtayork.htm First we made a visit to his grave site. <Grave of Sgt York, Sgt. York gravesite> The weather was cloudy and glowering, giving a special sadness to the cemetery. Then on to his home site and grist mill. The site featured his home, a tank obviously *not* of WWI vintage, and a 1940 tractor. Sgt York Homesite, 01, 02> Across the highway is the York family grist mill. Quite frankly, there's not much special about this mill, except it's bucolic setting:) <York's Mill> From the mill I was able to get a good picture of the highway bridge across the Wolf River <Wolf River Bridge> Just as we reached the Kentucky line, we made one more side trip south on TN SR 111 to the birthplace of Cordell Hull, FDR's Secretary of State, and a major player in the foundation of the United Nations. ( http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/l...5/hull-bio.html ). <Cordell Hull Birthplace>. At Albany, KY, we headed west on KY SR 90. We stopped briefly at Burkesville to get photos of an interesting wall mural and some window art. It looks for all the world like the window pictures were painted on the screens:) <Wall Mural, Window Art, Burkesville> Leaving Burkesville we found a nice piece of old road leading west from the town square and climbing a hill to rejoin KY 90 after a couple of miles. Between Burkesville and Glasgow we played one of my favorite games, find the piece of old road:) Most were loops that were cut off when the road was straightened. This ares has some interestingly named towns and we stopped for sign pictures. <Sign 01-03> Glasgow was our last stop for the day. There are a number of interesting buildings, historic markers, ghost signs and a movie theater sign within walking distance of the town square. The monument to "Our Confederate Dead" indicated we were in the section of Kentucky that had the strongest Southern sympathy during the Civil War. (More on this in an upcoming writeup.) <Our Confederate Dead"----Ghost sign 02> We left the "Phantom Highway at Glasgow and continues on KY 90 to Cave City and the get together at the Wigwam Village. More on that later! To be continued.

Sure thing! http://www.us-highways.com/ And here's his Dixie Highway page... http://www.us-highways.com/dixiehwy.htm PS, sorry about the mess ups on this post. I didn't mean to post the incomplete version. Wonder how I can delete it.

A few years back, I was intrigued to find an image of an old map on the net showing US 37 leading out of Chattanooga and heading for Kentucky through Sequatchie Valley. After more web searching I discovered Robert D. Vroz's web page listing all the US highways, past and present. And there was US 37! (A big tip of the BabyBoomer bucket hat to you, sir!) A search on Wikipedia revealed a bit of its history. The highway was proposed by AASHO sometime between 1934 and 1944, with the idea to eliminate the split in US 31 between Louisville and Nashville. US 31E would have been decommissioned. The routing was developed, but for some reason, political, I suspect, it was never approved. So it became something of a "phantom" highway. I couldn't help but think that such a route, so close to me bore exploring. Especially since I was familiar with the southernmost part. So a few weeks back, Susan and I spent a day driving from Valdeau, TN, near Chattanooga, to Crossville, seeking out what would have been the ill fated US 37. Once again, my pictures are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob The route *presumably* began at the intersection of Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Road (aka William Howard Taft Highway). <Valdeau 01, 02> This was a major Dixie Highway intersection in the 20's, the DHW heading west towards Jasper and the Tennessee Connector heading north toward Dayton and Knoxville. We drove out Signal Mountain Road which became US 127 after the interchange with the US 27 bypass, then went left on Suck creek Road (TN 27). As we drove along the Tennessee River, I noticed smoke on Elder Mountain. The weather had been dry, and forest fires were a problem. I stopped to take a picture <Fire on the mountain>, then noticed an old bridge across Shoal Creek nearby.<Old Shoal Creek Bridge> I missed it last time we were here:) Something else I missed earlier was a massive piece of rock that had separated from the side of Suck Creek Canyon. Nasty looking:) <Landslide area> At Powell's Crossroads, we left the DHW and headed north on TN sec 283. We were now on the Alvin York Highway, named for the famous WWI hero born in Pall Mall, TN. <Alvin York Highway>. We were also in Sequatchie Valley, one of our favorite places. The Sequatchie River has carved out a broad, peaceful valley within the Cumberland Plateau. The York highway runs the length of the valley, climbing to the top of the plateau at its head. A few miles north, 283 intersects with US 127. We turned left and headed towards Dunlap. It was a wrong turn, but we didn't know it at the time. We crossed the Sequatchie River and stopped to get pictures of an old bridge <Abandoned bridge..., Old bridge...> and a place that rents canoes <Canoe rental 01, 02>. When we got to Dunlap, I was surprised to find a road marked "Old York Highway" heading east! We headed out that way, then went south on East Valley Road until we returned to the north end of 283. That was the way we should have gone:) Incidentally, East Valley Road also runs the length of Sequatchie valley, bypassing both Dunlap and Pikeville. Back in Dunlap, We headed for the Dunlap Coke Ovens State Park. In the early part of the 20th century, coal was mined at the top of Fredonia Mountain on the west wall of the valley, sent to the coke ovens at the foot of the mountain by cable railway, and converted to coke to ship off to the iron and steel foundries in Chattanooga and South Pittsburg, TN. Sadly, we were too early in the season for the museum to be open, so I contented myself by exploring some of the oven ruins<Museum... Entrance... Dunlap Coke Ovens 01-04>. Good pictures of the coke ovens when they were in full use can be found at http://www.cokeovens.com/ US 127 has been straightened out throughout it's route through Sequatchie Valley, leaving plenty of well maintained pieces of old road.<Old York Highway, "West Wall"...> On to Pikeville. It's not a spectacular town by a sight, but there's one pretty old house there that caught my eye <Pikeville, TN>. Now for the find of the trip. A few miles north of Pikeville on US 127 is a restaurant called the Rockhouse Cafe. It's a much an eclectic museum as restaurant and both of us went crazy with the camera:) Sad to say, we had eaten a big breakfast and only got sandwiches, so we can't really comment on the food. Maybe next time:) Note the scooters, kiddie cars, cereal boxes on the ceiling, and ads painted on auto hoods:) A real road icon! <Rock House Cafe 01-20> We took some more stretches of old road beyond Pikeville, then it began climbing up the plateau towards Crossville. Here's a picture of the road up the mountain <Hairpin Curve>. After a most delightful and traffic free drive on the old road, we rejoined US 127 and headed to Crossville. On the way, we made a brief stop at the water tower in Homestead. Homestead was a WPA project during the Depression that created jobs for the local populace. Much Crab Orchard sandstone was used for the facings of the houses, schools, and this water tower:) <Homestead Water Tower>. I have good memories of this place, since it was where I first met Denny Gibson about a year and a half ago. Crab Orchard sandstone figures prominently in the architecture of Crossville as well. No surprise there:) <Palace Theater>. And I suppose it's a safe assumption to say Crossville was named for the crossing of two main roads, now US 70 and 127. Especially considering the signpost on the courthouse grounds:) <Cumberland County Courthouse 01-03> One more find this time. We stopped to get gas for Jack and found this marvelous old 53 Chevy as the station:) The owner said he had put 54 tail lights on it because he liked them better:) <53 Chevy 01, 02> We followed another pices of old road bypassing much of Crossville's "strip", rejoining US 127 just before the I-40 interchange. We figured that was enough for the day and headed on home. We're planning to resume our phantom highway cruise when we drive up to Cave City, KY next month. We're looking forward to meeting a whole bunch of fellow road warriors then!

A few years back, I was intrigued to find an image of an old map on the net showing US 37 leading out of Chattanooga and headed for Kentucky through Sequatchie Valley. After more web searching I discovered Robert D. Vroz's web page listing all the US highways, past and present. And there was US 37! (A big tip of the BabyBoomer bucket hat to you, sir!) A search on Wikipedia revealed a bit of its history. The highway was proposed by AASHO sometime between 1934 and 1944, with the idea to eliminate the split in US 31 between Louisville and Nashville. US 31E would have been decommissioned. The routing was developed, but for some reason, political, I suspect, it was never approved. So it became something of a "phantom" highway. I couldn't help but think that such a route, so close to me bore exploring. Especially since I was familiar with the southernmost part. So a few weeks back, Susan and I spent a day driving from Valdeau, TN, near Chattanooga, to Crossville, seeking out what would have been the ill fated US 37. Once again, my pictures are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob The route *presumably* began at the intersection of Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Road (aka William Howard Taft Highway). <Valdeau 01, 02> This was a major Dixie Highway intersection in the 20's, the DHW heading west towards Jasper and the Tennessee Connector heading north toward Dayton and Knoxville. We drove out Signal Mountain Road which became US 127 after the interchange with the US 27 bypass, then went left on Suck creek Road (TN 27). As we drove along the Tennessee River, I noticed smoke on Elder Mountain. The weather had been dry, and forest fires were a problem. I stopped to take a picture <Fire on the mountain>, then noticed an old bridge across Shoal Creek nearby.<Old Shoal Creek Bridge> I missed it last time we were here:) Something else I missed earlier was a massive piece of rock that had separated from the side of Suck Creek Canyon. Nasty looking:) <Landslide area>

Yeah, Walgreen's is also the chain that took out the Town and Country Restaurant in Chattanooga. *Sigh*

Heya, Denny! Any time I hear about Natchez Under the Hill, it reminds me of one of my favorite mondegreens. (What's a mondegreen? Check it out here:) http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/carroll/mondegreens.shtml ) In the old days of recorded country music, the record companies would send field crews down south to record local talent. Quite often, the "nawthunuhs" couldn't understand the titles the performers gave them. For instance, "Green Mountain Polka" was listed as "Green Mountain Poker", or "Fire on the Mountain" as "Far in the Mountain". There was an old fiddle tune called "Natchez Under the Hill". At least two different recordings were issued with the title listed as "Rat Cheese Under the Hill"

Oh man! Count me in! I've been wanting to meet some of the folks who have been posting here for quite a while. So far, I've only met Denny, and we've had some great time together. And a trip on the Dixie would be great! Either direction from Cave City, I'm not fussy:) The only thing is it's hard to plan a schedule when I have no idea if or when Susan will be working. That will have to be worked out a little closer to April. She had an interview a week ago and should hear if she gets the job in about another week. I've got my fingers crossed:)

Sometimes a man's just gotta get away from everyone. When stress levels get too high, there's nothing like communing with the road all by yourself. That's what I did a few weeks ago as I followed an alternate route of the DHW from Chattanooga to Cassville, GA, via Rome. Because there has been so much recent rerouting of US 27 in GA, I'm including route instructions. As usual, my pictures are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob ,Dixie Highway--NW GA loop. Starting at the corner of Main St. and Rossville Blvd. in Chattanooga, SE on Rossville Blvd. N on Madison St. (detour) E on Main St. (detour) S on Central Ave. (detour) SE on Rossville Blvd. Rossville Blvd becomes US 27 at I-24 interchange Rossville Boulevard has seen better days. The neighborhood has gone downhill and it's pretty much a strip of pawn shops, dives, porn palaces and the occasional used car lot <BigHearted Smitty's>. The only things of real note are the "Road of Remembrance" columns, memorializing the armies that have used this road on their way to war <Road of Rememberance 01, 02>. There's nothing but the Georgia welcome sign to indicate when you leave Chattanooga, TN and enter Rossville, GA, and I didn't see it. Stolen, I suspect:( Rossville's not in any better shape, I fear. The local landmark Roy's Grill is out of business and the building is for rent <Roy's Grill>. At Rossville, US 27 swings off to the left, passing through Chickamauga Gap in Missionary Ridge. A block to the west lies the John Ross House, the home of John Ross, founder of Chattanooga. It's a sad sign of the times that the house is now surrounded by a chain link fence:( <John Ross House, John Ross Plaque>. More information about Ross can be found here. http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/rosshouse.html As I drove south toward Fort Oglethorpe, I noticed the road was signed as the "Martha Berry Highway". More about her, later. Fort Oglethorpe, on the north edge of Chickamauga Battlefield was for many years a cavalry post for the US Army. Many of the old baracks and barns are still around and now serve as apartments and stores <Old Fort Oglethorpe Barracks>. There's a piece of the Old Lafayette Road that's been bisected by the new US 27 bypass. The best instructions I can give here are: R on Old Lafayette Road L on last road before dead end R on US 27 Straight onto Lafayette Road (US 27 goes R onto Battlefield Parkway) R at next street L onto Old Lafayette Road Rejoin Lafayette Road Rejoin US 27 below Chickamauga Battlefield At the north dead end there is a column marking the entrance to the old cavalry post <Entrance to Fort Oglethorpe> I took a picture from the southern dead end across the gap on the old road <Break in Old Lafayette Road>. On to Chickamauga Battlefield Park. I won't go into a detailed history of the battle, I'll just say the Confederates won, then failed to follow up their success in Chattanooga. Just beyond the entrance is the Visitor's Center which includes the Fuller Gun Museum, a fine collection of period firearms <Chickamauga Park Visitor Center, Rifles in the Fuller Gun Museum>. My main interest was the monuments that line Lafayette and Battleline Roads. One of my particular favorites is the Georgia Monument with its horse head capital. <Florida Monument, et.al.> I did make one side trip over to Wilder Tower, a monument to US Col. John Wilder's defense against overwhelming Confederate forces <Wilder Tower, Wilder's Defense>. This place is special to me. When I was a kid, I had rheumatic fever and was under physical restrictions for years. The first thing I did when the restrictions were lifted was to go down and climb this tower. The spiral starcase made me a little dizzy, but I felt I was back to being normal again. There are some quite nice monuments along Wilder road across from the tower, including the riderless horse of the Wisconsin Monument, and the one to the Tennesseeans who fought to defend the Union. Tennessee was very much a split state in loyalty, and East Tennessee almost went the way of West Virginia. Andrew Johnson's sons had drafted articles of secession from Tennessee, but the presence of a substantial Confederate force prevented them from implementing them. There's a railroad track next to Wilder Road and I crossed it briefly to get a shot of this sign just outside the park< No thanks!> As I was taking the picture I heard a distant train whistle which made me think of Hank Williams' lyrics... I'll never see that gal of mine, I'm in Georgia doing time. I heard that looh-wah-hawohnsome whistle blow. R on Farming Rock Road which becomes Old Lafayette Road though Rock Spring Return to US 27 southbound Straight on Main street through Lafayette Rejoin US 27 (briefly) below Lafayette I passed through Lafayette (pronounced La FAY ette) without seeing very much:) I'd done a web search before I went and did find mention of a "Cowboy Church", but the link was dead. Oh well:) R onto Trion Highway below Lafayette Rejoin US 27 just before Summerville Trion Highway is a fairly long, fairly recent stretch of bypassed highway. And it's a shame Trion has been bypassed, because tourists are missing a really neat old restaurant. And here's its story. Trion has always been a cotton mill town. Now, back in 1912, a man named Benjamin Riegel bought the mill, reorganizing it and making it very successful. Back then, it bore his name, the Riegel Mills. He decided to try his hand at something new, and became a dairy farmer with a prize herd. He needed a place to sell his products and also a place to entertain business guests of the mills. The result was the Riegeldale Tavern, a very European looking brick structure that became known for miles around. I can even remember my grandmother telling me about the Riegeldale Tavern and how big a deal it was to go down there and eat. Since she never learned how to drive, I assume she and her friends took the train. Now my grandmother has been gone these 40 years, so I kinda figured the tavern was no longer there. But then I saw a sign reading "Tavern Restaurant" and pulled in. And there it was. I'll let my pictures do my talking here:) <Riegeldale Tavern 01-03> I went in to have lunch and had a good talk with the hostess, Carolyn Skipper, who was gracious to answer my questions and give me a history of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the tavern has no web page to link to, and Googling resulted in very little information:( But I'll vouch for the food. Nothing fancy. No dove under glass. Just good, basic, wholesome American food. The roast beef was melt in your mouth tender. One thing bothered me though. It was noon on saturday and there was only one other party in the place:( Hopefully, they're getting enough business from nearby Summerville to keep going. I'd hate to see it go under:( I went on into Trion and took some pictures of an old railroad bridge and a road bridge that leads into the mills, now named the Mount Vernon Mills. And then I heard that train whistle again... At Summerville, I finally caught up with that train:) It turns out, I was on the road the same day the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was having their annual tour train to Summerville. I just missed seeing the steam locomotive # 610 turn around in the roundhouse, but I got to see it taking on water. No big tank with a spout you jerk down with a rope. This one justs uses a fire hose to hook up with a hydrant:)<Summerville Railroad Station. Locomotive 610, Taking on Water>. They were having their "Railroad Days" festival and the local park <Dick Dowdy Park> was host to all sorts of stuff. Barbeque, bluegrass music, stuff for sale, the traditional sort of things:) I wandered around a while, taking pictures <Summerville street flag, Chatooga County Courthouse> before moving on. L on old Summerville Road through Armuchee Return to southbound US 27 L on old Summerville Rd. R on McGrady Rd. Straight across US 27 onto old Summerville Rd. Rejoin southbound US 27 From Summerville, US 27 heads east, crossing the ridges of Chattahoochie Ntl. Forest. My next stop was at Berry College, just north of Rome. At 28,000 acres, it ranks as one of the largest campuses in the world. Martha Berry created it as a school for poor, rural students, much like Berea College in Kentucky. A more detailed history can be found here: p://www.berry.edu/oakhill/history.asp I wandered around the campus, taking pictures of the old Gothic buildings. Nice! <Berry College 01-03> Through Rome: Straight at bypass, merge with Shorter(?) Ave. L on E. Third Street. (Delorme isn't too clear about this) NE on Broad Street R on Calhoun Rd. E on Kingston Ave. Merge with MLK Blvd. Eastbound on GA 293 I had a pesky problem in Rome. My camera battery went dead:( That's bad:( But I had a spare. That's good:) But it was in a shrinkwrap package that would require a thermonuclear device to open. That's bad:( But with a lot of luck I was finally able to get it open. That's good:) But it was the wrong size battery. That's bad:( Very bad:( I did manage to get a picture of the Floyd County Courthouse before things blooied. Rome bears a return visit. it has lots of neat architecture and a railroad bridge over the Etowah River that appears to be going through refitting as a pedestrian bridge. The route isn't clear through Kingston, GA. Here's the way I chose. R onto Old Rome Rd. L onto Reynolds Bridge Rd. R onto Main St. L onto Church St. R onto GA 293 I finally bought some new AA batteries and got my camera going again, then headed for Kingston. It's a very sleepy little town with some interesting history. Kingston benefitted greatly from the decision of the good people of Cassville not to have the railroad run through their town. The tracks were diverted to the west and a small yard was established in Kingston. During the Great Locomotove Chase, had the General not been hung up so long at the Kingston yard, the Union raiders might have escaped capture. Kingston was also the site of the first Decoration Day ceremony. The graves of both the Union and Confederate dead were decorated in 1865. This tradition was to spread nationwide to become Decoration Day, and then later, Memorial Day <The Home of Memorial Day>. Other Kingston History can be found at http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/kingston.html Beyond Kingston, I was faced with a quandry. There are two routes that lead to the DHW, both of them having things that commend them. GA 293 goes a bit further south, plugging into DHW below Cassville. but Fire Tower Road connects in the middle of Cassville and it was the route I chose. I figure it's even odds that I was right:) Once I reached Cassville, I drove down to Cartersville and got a room at the Barstow Motel. It was what I would expect for $30 a night:) It was adequate, once I got the manager to run off the boys who were shooting off firecrackers at 10 PM:) Next morning I headed home via Route 411. But that's another story:)

I knew it was coming, but it still hurts. The old camelback truss bridge (US 70) across the Clinch River at Kingston, TN, was demolished yesterday. Explosives laid the central span in the middle of the river where it was dismantled for scrap from barges. There are very few of the old bridges left in Tennessee. I can't squawk too much since it's true they were narrow and unsafe. I work with some people from Kingston, and their general opinion is "good riddance". The US 41 bridge in Marion County (near the old Hales Bar Dam) is still open, but who knows for how long? I guess I should remember the words of Roger Miller... Everything changes a little, and it should. Good ain't forever, and bad ain't for good.