We left for Murfreesboro around 9:00 AM and made a beeline for the nearest Cracker Barrel restaurant for brunch. We both enjoy Uncle Herschel’s Favorite breakfast; Judy likes her eggs scrambled while I like mine over medium, Judy gets the sugar cured ham while I enjoy the pork chop, Judy orders the fried apples while I get hash browns with green peppers and onions, we both like the biscuits but hold the grits, and we both wash it down with lots and lots of coffee.
After licking our chops over Uncle Herschel’s Favorite breakfast we headed for the Men’s Warehouse to return the penguin suit – note here; I kept the shorts and sandals :-). Next we made a quick stop at Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
Then it was on to our sightseeing. One place that we’ve wanted to visit for some time now is Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Where in the world do you suppose the name Bell Buckle came from? No one knows for sure since stories vary, but some believe the name came from a bell and buckle tied around a tree close to a free flowing creek. Others believe the Indians carved a bell and buckle into a tree to discourage settlers while still others believe the bell and buckle symbol was used by surveyors to signify the usefulness of the land for pasture. So, you can choose your own version.
Bell Buckle was founded as a railroad town in 1853 (incorporated in 1856) and became the major stockyard between Nashville and Chattanooga. It grew to a population of more than 1,000 with banks, groceries, pharmacies, and other businesses being established.
In the late 1880’s the Webb School was located in Bell Buckle which further contributed to the community’s growth. Today the school continues to be a prestigious private boarding and day school with an international student body. It is a college preparatory school for grades six through twelve with a beautiful campus.
The trains no longer stop in Bell Buckle but the town has transformed itself by restoring and renovating their Victorian style homes and businesses into a unique collection of colorful shops and eateries.
We parked and walked about the town visiting several of the shops and sampling a white chocolate raspberry ice cream cone (in a waffle cone, of course). Can you say, “Ummm, ummm, gooooood?” Especially on a “warm summer’s day”!
Tennessee’s back roads with its rolling hills and farm lands make for one beautiful country drive. Our friends, Gordon and Sandra, love to take pictures of old barns and we can tell ya that there are “a ton” of old barns along the way (we should have stopped and taken some pictures).
We drove the back roads from Bell Buckle to Normandy making a stop at Wartrace, Tennessee where I played tag with a couple of trains. This is another old Tennessean town (1852) and has ties back to Andrew Jackson who originally owned the land where the town sits. Jackson named it War Trail Creek because of the Indians who used the area trails as warpaths or war trails. The name was subsequently shortened to Wartrace Creek and finally to just plain Wartrace. It was, also, the site for the winter encampment for retreating Confederate troops from the Stones River Battle in 1862.
While in Wartrace we found this old time filling station – remember when gas pumps looked like these?
Arriving home shortly before three left just enough time to sit outside with Alex and enjoy this nice warm weather. We have another outing planned for today so tune in tomorrow to find out where we went, what we saw, and what we did!!!
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