Tiki-Touring Waverly, Tennessee.

We had arranged to have an Enterprise Rental Car delivered to the Marina, on Friday morning. Well, so we thought. It turns out we are outside their geographic delivery area, and there is no other rental agency close by. The owners of the Pebble Isle Marina are wonderful folks, and offered to drive us the 45 mins into the town or Paris to pick the car up. However....they have other things to do, we feel, than drive their customers 3 hrs return for that purpose. We declined on the premise that we will return some day in a vehicle of our own, when we do our big 'Road Trip'! Don't ask!!!

So, instead of going off to Nashville as planned, we borrowed the Courtesy Car and along with Sara and John, off a Catalina 42, docked next to us, we took a 'trip' into the town of Waverly. It isn't far, and we wanted a REAL cup of Latte! Isnt that our normal quest??:)

We found the Waverly Café on the main street, and happy little campers we were too. They had a Barista machine!! yayayay! I just had to take photos...how unusual!

Obviously the café is in an old building...as so many are, we find. This is the pressed tin ceiling!

 The young woman at left is making our Lattes. We loved the orange and black these going on inside.

 YAY! Books, at the end of this tunnel! That's Waz in his winter jacket.

 It was warm and welcoming and we 4 sat ourselves at the front in some very comfy lounge chairs. It was hard to get up and leave again, seeing it was drizzling outside.

 These banners were all down the main street of Waverly. How appropriate, obviously, as this area is known for it's Fall color.

Main Street, Waverly.

 

Some of these Tennessee Country scenes could almost be in NZ.

 The bright yellow is a Soyabean crop, almost ready to harvest.

 Sometimes we see grass fed beef!

 We just came over the One-lane bridge, way out in the countryside.

 The vegetation along the roadside is well eaten under. We saw the reason for this when we came across a young buck eating on the roadside. It did one almighty leap over the barbed wire fence, although it will have bloody hind legs, as a result.

 The GPS got us a little bit lost. This road was a dead end. A pretty one though!

 Back across the one-lane bridge....

 The road was narrow too.

 They were demolishing this old barn, and stacking the lumber for re-use.

 We had just turned into a gravel road...another one! and this was on the left hand side.

Looky here. Loretta Lynn's Ranch, 5 miles down the road.

 The yard was mown, but it looked like there was nobody home.

 There was definitely nobody home in this place. Lots of derelict houses, in the 'back blocks'.

 WOW...Real cattle!

 The right side of this house was original 1800's style log home. You can see that at the corner joint.

 There had obviously been a few additions, since the original structure was built. Some better than others!

This pretty house had a local limestone chimney.

 ...and so we duly arrived, at the end of the gravel road, at Country Singer Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch. Her touring bus is there for all to see. They wanted $25 per head for the Museum and House tour. We thought that was a little steep to look at someone's collection of 'stuff' and we aren't that enamored of her singing anyway. Her story is one of rags to riches, as are so many. The Coal Miner's Daughter movie was about her life. Sissy Spacek played the singer.

 This is the fancy looking entry to the Museum and Gift Shop...Oh yes! They have a gift shop, of course. It is all very nice and neat and clean! and tricked out with Fall colors and lots of pumpkins, being that time of year. Halloween isn't far down the road, as you might say:)

 They even transported the original Family Homestead to the site. You have to be part of The Tour to get inside.

 We just missed her presence at the Ranch, but a week. Hence the Tickets flag.

Tennessee Coal (or some might say GOLD, in these parts)

 This is one of the coal skips or carriages...

 ...and a recreation of a mine entrance.

 There was a snack bar where you could get snack kind of food...like nachos and fried goods, and also some ice-creams. This is the picnic area.  Very pretty.

 And of course, the Water Wheel.

 The Front of the Homestead. Note the stone 'pilings',

 John, Waz and Sara looking at the river.

 The old mill is at left...no water wheel currently there. The weir is very picturesque.

 Typical of the furniture outside.

 Looking down the weir and river

 The Home where Loretta and her husband Moody brought their 6 children up. It is now a museum. We couldn't go there either...tours and $$ only.

 We could, however, take photos from the outside, and what better frame for this pre-antebellum home.

 This is my favorite image of the day, looking back across the river and weir to the Mill House.

 I don't think we will be back, but it sure is big business. There is  Dude Ranch and RV Park and campground, cabins in the woods et al...just mentioning a few...oh, and the ponies for rent!

We went back towards Waverly, and the Marina. We stopped for gas to fill up the courtesy car, and then to the Museum of the Johnsonville Civil War, at the entry to the Marina road, 2.5 miles away.

The sign said they closed at 4.30pm, and it was 4.20pm when we pulled into the parking lot. The ranger's vehicle was still in the parking lot, but they had closed early. The door was locked:(


The decoration at the front door was pretty tho!

 This is a recreation of the cabins for the supply depot, during the Civil War It is just down the road from the Marina.

 We love these rail fences

 Looking out to the Tennessee River.

 Of course there is a Cannon there...and other cannon littered (some literally) throughout the park.

 Put these fellas into Uniform and they might look more the part! :)

 A very peaceful setting, compared to the history of the place.

 This little Tree Frog was quite content to wait for us to read and leave. He is the size of two dimes.

 You can see the remnants of a fortification on the far left side of the photo. That is the Tennessee River in the background.

We came back to the Marina in time to have a cup of tea and do some chores before going over to the Restaurant for dinner. We each had Catfish dinner...me with Sweet Potato Fries and Cole slaw, and Waz with Hush Puppies, White beans, French fries and slaw. No room for dessert!:) Dinner cost just $21 for the two of us.

There is no TV here, but it doesn't seem to matter. Waz is trying to finish his Tom Clancy book, and I have been involved in one of my online lists, which has kept us occupied. I did 'borrow' a book from the store to read...I think I have already read this Patricia Cornwall novel, but I will try again, anyway:)

We slept like logs and woke around 7.30am...Saturday morning.
IT seems that we are destined to eat Cinnamon Rolls each morning. They and the coffee are free to patrons, and they are quite nice. We take our own butter:) Insult to injury? They didn't give us frosted ones this morning, so we were very happy. The frosting is the best part to most, but we don't like the sugar. Bad enough that the bun itself turns to sugar inside us!
I made a whole wheat pizza for lunch today. It makes 4 servings, so we have food for a lunch some other time. I may just put the other 2 slices in the freezer for when we are on the move.

Taking time out in this pretty, secluded place is nice. The owners of the Marina, Randy and Tammy, are great folks and generous and trusting to a fault. They are so eager to please and we can highly recommend the facilities here at Pebble Isle Marina.

We have laundered the sheets today, and the duvet cover. That one had to go up to the machines in the Marina Laundry, as it was too big for our little washer. We have put everything in the dryer because it is just too wet to dry on the line. It keeps raining.

My next chore is to go outside and cut my hair. It is getting to where the curls are becoming ringlets, and that isn't a good thing. If I can get half an hour, it will be done. Yay!
A walk, perhaps another ride into Waverly for a latte might be in order. It is just 1.30pm, so the rest of the day is ours to do as we wish. Our new fender arrived yesterday, is all blown up, and covered in an old cover, so I need to make a new one. Most of the covers are pretty munted now, but we still have a few locks to go through before hitting the Gulf Coast. Maybe I will wait a little longer.
TTFN!