Road Trip - Day Two

Thursday morning we awoke with growling stomachs so we headed to the Pancake Pantry (as seen on The Travel Channel) in downtown Nashville. Their menu includes foods made from scratch and they boast that their freezer/fridge is smaller than most of their customers...now that's fresh food! Other than great food, the Pancake Pantry is also home to country star sightings. I'm sad to report we didn't see Garth Brooks or the like on our visit.

Across the street is a used bookstore. They circulate books at the Pancake Pantry for customers to read while waiting in line. We were seated immediately after we arrived and didn't get to enjoy a good book... Unfortunately for others, a line had begun by the time we left...Billy is saying, "Get in my belly!"

Just past the Pancake Pantry is Vanderbilt University.

Our second destination for the day was The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. It is located just east of Nashville. Click below to visit their website:

There is a self-guided tour avabilable at The Hermitage. For those of you (like myself) unfamiliar with this, I'll explain. Each guest is given an MP3 player with a headset. At various places in the musuem and grounds there are numbered plaques. Once the number is keyed into the player, a short recording gives the history for that particular item of interest. In the picture below Billy is wearing the player and headset.

These are pictures taken of the Mansion before restoration began. No cameras or videos are allowed in the Mansion so I have no pictures to share of the interior.

As you can tell, we enjoyed ourselves...

Today the Ladies' Hermitage Association has ownership of the Mansion and grounds.

The grounds are full of mature trees...

and fruit trees...

"No paparazzi, please!"

"Anyone want a pear?"

Rachel, Jackson's wife, loved gardening and had a large flower garden. That is where she spent most of her time.

Today the garden is full of the same species of flowers that Rachel grew. Billy feels right at home...

The garden is also home to a small cemetery and President and Rachel Jackson's tomb.

There are many large crepe myrtles and willow trees in the garden as well. They provided some much needed shade for us! It was quite warm Thursday.

This is the back of the Mansion. I never did get a picture from the front. The Mansion is 8,000 sq ft. I would love to have a house with those big porches!

This is a slave dwelling. There are many on the property.

The doorways to the dwellings were all very short.

While visiting the Springhouse, I noticed a small trail that led to a creek and bridge.

The Springhouse is in the background in this picture. We were told the creek was once much higher and would overflow and water would pool in the Springhouse. Year round the water temperature is 58*. I guess they had a means of pumping it out for use elsewhere...it is not near the Mansion by any means.

As we were walking back across the creek we noticed this sign on the ground...

The cabin on the left was the first Hermitage cabin. It was once a two-story home. After the larger Mansion was built, it was disassembled and the second floor moved to the ground. Historians are unsure what happened to the first floor. Both of these buildings were used as slave dwellings.

If you were taller than 5'2", you learned to duck!!

Finally we arrived in Kentucky!

We arrived at dinnertime and what better place to stop than the original KFC, the Colonel Sanders Cafe and Musuem.

This is a model of the original restuarant and lodge.

The restaurant was full of KFC memorabilia. There was all kinds of neat stuff...even a container of the Colonel's original secret recipe (next to Billy in picture)!! He had all labels removed from the can so no one could figure out where it came from or what it contained!

This is the front of the original Frigidaire freezer.

This kitchen is a replica of the original...

Ever wanted to know how they make french fries? This is a french fry press...

The Colonel was quite the businessman. In that day it was customary for the wife to "check out" a room before deciding if the family would stay there for the night. Being the savvy man that he was, Colonel Sanders put a model motel room in his restaurant. He made it to scale and located the entrace to the ladies' restroom inside the model room. He also located a pay phone in the closet!!

Time to eat! Mr. McChicken was HUNGRY!!

I know what you're thinking, "How does he keep that girlish figure??"

After dinner we headed a few more miles up the road to our final destination. After we settled in, we jumped in the pool for a cold swim...who doesn't love that every now and then?? :)

For those of you wondering about Raegen, I was keeping close tabs on him and called throughout the day to check in (though I knew he was fine). I prompted Grandma to take pictures so starting tomorrow (Day Three), I have pictures to share of Raegen at Pawpaw and Grandma's.

Raegen stayed the first day with the Goodall's. Mrs. Sherry doesn't have a babybed at her house so she pulled out the largest suitcase she has and made a pallet inside. When Raegen started sucking his thumb and rubbing his eyes she knew it was naptime. She placed him in the suitcase and at first he wasn't too thrilled. She could tell he was really tired though so she coaxed him to sleep by gently sweeping her fingers over his face so that his eyes would close...they were so heavy it didn't take long and he was out! I wish I had a picture to share...I would have loved to have seen it myself. :)