Tennessee

Jack Daniel’s Distillery
(Lynchburg, Tennessee)

Jack Daniel’s Distillery is a mecca in the state of Tennessee. People travel from all over the country through an area with more acres of trees than residents to experience the smell of this world famous whiskey. Yes, the smell. The distillery is smack dab in the middle of a dry county, so there is no tasting and no buying. But in the words of our guide, ‘You can sniff all you want!’

The parking lot, while chock full of parking spaces, has a very country feel with large hanging trees to protect against the glaring sun and baking heat of Tennessee. Before you start your tour, the distillery offers an area for you to walk around and learn more about the history of Jack Daniel’s the man and the whiskey.

The tour is first class all of the way from the opening movie that shows dogs chasing the old beat-up truck that the head distiller drives to work to the shuttle they use to drive you to the other side of the grounds. The grounds are spectacular with beautifully manicured lawns, old leafy trees and a cool creek (where they get the water for distilling) running through the property.

There was plenty of opportunity to sniff the whiskey, in fact our guide even flapped some of the vat lids to waft the smell out. Our tour guide was a perfect mix of Tennessee accent and quippy bits of information. They take you through the entire process, up the stairs and through the buildings and you see every step. The tour ends in the gift shop where you’re treated to a nice glass of Lemonade and told to go purchase your Jack Daniel’s when you get home.

Salute to the Tennessean Presidents
(Andrew Jackson, James Polk & Andrew Johnson)

Thus begins the chronicle of our quest to see at least one home of every president of the United States. I began touring president’s homes when I was 8 and haven’t stopped since. I can’t really tell you what the fascination is other than I’m always surprised by how much I learn about U.S. History, how much the President is revered in his hometown (streets, banks, stores, everything named after said president) and the wacky ways that the museum/park have come into owning their piece of history.

The funny thing about touring a Presidents’ home is how revered that President is in said area. Most areas name everything and anything in the area after the President out of pride, and I suppose a little bit of the American ideal, which capitalizes on a good thing. Come visit a piece of history, a bona fide president’s home!

Our experience in Tennessee at three different ex-presidents’ homes couldn’t have been more different. Our first stop was James Knox Polk’s house. He was the 11th president, who you may know from the ‘They Might Be Giants’ song. The estate made a fairly good attempt to basically cobble together every piece of memorabilia that he owned and give it a home in the only structure left that he ever lived in (besides the White House). We found Polk to be much like Coolidge, a good, hard working president, who didn’t accomplish anything extraordinary (well, he did expand the U.S. adding, Texas and California), but keeping the country alive. We were 2 of 3 people on the tour and when we ate our lunch in the backyard garden, nary a soul disturbed us.

Traveling to “The Hermitage” (You know you’re in trouble when the owner actually named the house), home to Andrew Jackson, we were confronted by rows upon rows of parking spaces. It was at this point that we began to realize that we had run into a bit of a Tennessee legend. General Jackson, as he preferred to be called (even during and after his presidency) was a leader to the tips of his toes. Either people hated him or they loved him. As with most legends, the state of Tennessee revered him as one of their most heralded attorneys, war heroes and politicians.

So it should come as no surprise that tours of the estate were both pricey and designed to shuttle as many people through the house as fast as possible. The grounds and home are kept in exquisite condition and there’s a veritable army of guides, gardeners and assistants.

Finally, we visited the home of the most curious of the three Tennessee presidents, Andrew Johnson. He was the only president besides Bill Clinton to have impeachment proceedings brought against him. Not knowing much about his impeachment trial, I was curious to see if the town even acknowledged his existence or merely found him an embarrassment. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Greenville revered Andrew Johnson. They have a bank and signs everywhere pointing to his home, museum and tailor shop. This is their main and perhaps only attraction in town.

The home is now owned by the National Park Service and delightfully, everything is free, including the guided tour and movie. Unlike Jackson’s home, but much like Polk’s home, it’s merely a house. It’s been added to and of course there are no bathrooms and the streets have widened, but it exists much as it did over 150 years ago when he lived there. The most interesting part of the entire tour is the section on the impeachment trial. Apparently, Hillary Clinton did not coin the phrase ‘right wing conspiracy’, she merely borrowed it from Andrew Johnson supporters. Another wronged person, as say the signs, that the Republicans tried to oust.

Carnton Plantation
(Franklin, Tennessee)

Carnton in Franklin, Tennessee is touted as a “plantation.” This label is a bit of a misnomer since the land was used for raising livestock and the food to feed them. Nonetheless, the house has the expansive porch and setting traditionally seen in a plantation. As the site of major Civil War activity, the Civil War buffs (and their screaming rug rats) were lined up in full force. This did not deter us. We braced ourselves and got a rather interesting tour of the house that was used as a temporary Civil War Hospital.

Throughout the house, bloodstains are still on the floors to the extent that you can see the outlines of the surgeon’s footprints and the bloody pool under his “cutting hand.” (Roadchick B is a sucker for the “gross out” factor).

Unfortunately on this tour, the guide was a history snob, and put us off a bit. Also, because of our proximity to Nashville and other commercially popular tourist attractions, it was extremely crowded, especially with young children.

Peabody Ducks
(People Watching Extraordinaire)

We were told about this attraction before we even started to really research Tennessee, and we actually only found one reference to it. We read that the ducks live on the roof (Penthouse) of the Peabody Hotel, one of the best hotels in the city of Memphis. Every day at 11 am and 5 pm the ducks get on the elevator and ride down to the Lobby, where a red carpet is rolled out for them. They then proceed to march down the carpet and swim around the Lobby Fountain. The guide book said to arrive an hour early for the best view.

We arrived 50 minutes early and couldn’t figure out why the book said to arrive so early. There were a few people sitting around the fountain, but certainly no organized gathering. So we sat down on the couch and made ourselves comfortable. Bad move. Soon, people started to trickle into the lobby and before we knew it there was a flood of people. They lined the path from the elevator to the fountain and we couldn’t even begin to get close enough to see anything.

Where are the Ducks?We thought that surely more people couldn’t arrive, but they did. I think the entire city of Memphis and every single tourist came to witness these trained ducks. We shortly climbed up the stairs to the second level in hopes of getting a better view. The view still wasn’t great of the ducks, but the view of the people was unbelievable. Adults jostling with children, parents shoving their children to the front and everyone holding their breath in anticipation when the elevator doors slid open.

We did finally see the ducks. They didn’t really march so much as run and then they spent the majority of their time trying to avoid grasping human hands as they swam around the fountain. All in all we decided that the people were more of an exhibit than the ducks.

Sun Studio
(Memphis, Tennessee)

What do Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Bono have in common? They’ve all recorded at the legendary Sun Studio, of course.
This tiny building in Memphis houses the hallowed ground of many famous recording artists and still operates as a studio in the evenings! The tour begins with a fantastic montage of artifacts, video, and audio recordings to get the flavor of the early days of the recording studio. . . the tour guides are carefully dressed to reflect the times, and our guide presented her wealth of information with a Southern twang.

The tour moves along to the original front office (where Elvis would check in for his appointments) and then to the studio itself. As a modern studio, it houses the latest audio/recording equipment and instruments, but the pictures on the walls took us back in time. Audio clips also offered a glimpse into the fun moments at the studio–imagine Elvis cracking up laughing in the middle of one of his takes because Carl Perkins was making funny faces through the front window. Well, it’s been immortalized on tape.

Kissing the Spot Where Elvis RercordedAn “X” on the floor in electrical tape marks the spot where Elvis stood, so Roadchick B found it perfectly appropriate to play “Elvis Fanatic” and kiss the spot (while trying not to envision 1000′s of other Elvis fans who have kissed the same spot). The front entrance is a gift shop (of course) and also a whimsical soda fountain. We made a last-minute decision to take this tour and it turned out to be one of the favorites of Memphis.

This tour is highly recommended for music fans, Elvis fans, and fans of the 1950′s alike–it has a little something for everyone. We would like to salute Sam Phillips, the dreamer, schemer and founder of Sun Studio’s and Sun Records. He passed away shortly after our visit in 2003 at the age of 80.

Graceland
(Memphis, Tennessee)

Every time we travel and discuss our upcoming plans with relatives, friends and coworkers, there is always an attraction that stands out in the collective consciousness of the masses. What is the Tennessee attraction that gets the, “Are you going to visit” inquiry? Graceland, of course.

We were lucky enough to score a campsite right across the street from Graceland with a sea of RV’s and streets named, “Hound Dog Way” and “Love me Tender Boulevard.” We walked right next door to the Graceland parking lot and followed the maze of walkways to purchase our ticket. Our most expensive tour of the trip included an audio tour of the King’s mansion and grounds. After waiting 20 minutes to get on the bus we were shuttled across the street to Graceland.

Let me begin by saying that although Graceland is a big, nice house . . . that’s really all it is. Don’t expect an expansive plantation or giant mansion. Not only that, but this big, nice house is decorated in extremely tacky 70′s styles with shag carpet (that was not limited to the floors) and dark wood paneling everywhere, bright colors, crazy fabrics and mirrors on the walls. I felt like I had stepped right back into my youth.

The tour wound through all the rooms on the first floor as well as the garage, racquetball court, trophy room and grounds. On the tour, the unpleasant demise of Elvis (if you believe he’s dead) is fairly glossed over in favor of touting his musical ability, groundbreaking hip gyrations and commercial appeal. The gravesite is priceless. Mobs of fans were crowded around; snapping photos, crying and praying. On the bus ride back across the street one rabid fan grilled the bus driver on the requirements for working at Graceland since that was her “ultimate goal.”

Graceland was not my favorite house tour, but when in Memphis, you MUST strap on the sideburns and lace up your blue suede shoes. Millions of Elvis fans can’t be wrong.

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