Military Museum, Clif and then back to Cornersville, TN for a few more days

Thursday morning, we woke up and got ourselves going with our usual morning routine. We were supposed to be at Clif's house at 1000 but it was closer to 1030.  We loaded into his truck and headed for Camp Crossville, a POW encampment that held prisoners during World War II.  They actually used to call it the Hyatt Regency of POW Camps, they were treated so well. We had no idea that the camp even existed. It's now a 4H Camp, very beautiful. 

A huge chimney stack left..

Still standing, an old barracks. 

After visiting that we headed to downtown Crossville and the Military Memorial Museum.  

Some beautiful buildings in Crossville! 

Replica of the gun that shot Abe Lincoln

A Civil War Flag

Beautiful paintings in the museum..

War of Fallen Heroes

This was used in the movie Saving Private Ryan..

Dishes at Camp Crossville

Replica of Camp Crossville

Gotta have the Marine..The Top Gun simulator was donated..
it doesn't work, I suggested maybe a high school class would
take it on as a project and get it going. 

Nita the Director and her volunteer Jerry..

This was the first Post Office in town

Unique shaped building..

I just love these paintings..

What a wonderful little place, it's housed in the oldest building on Main Street.  The director, Nita greeted us warmly as we entered the building. She explained that the museum goes all the way from the Civil War to nowadays.  It was an amazing place, very well put together and there is no charge!  Donations are accepted.  She said she started with 110 pieces of artifacts, and now they have over 15,000.  If you have a bit of time it's definitely worth a stop! They are open Monday through Friday 9am to 3 pm.  Their phone number is 931 456 5520. They will open on the weekend by appointment.  931 510 7692.  The website is www.militarymuseumtenn.com 

We headed to Fortes Restaurant for a wonderful lunch.  The owners had a restaurant in the New Jersey area that they sold and moved to Crossville.  They have a cute bar, delicious looking pasta and then the regular fair of burgers and salads. We would definitely make a return visit!  

After lunch we took a drive to the Grassy Cove area outside of Crossville.  A beautiful valley and then we ended up at an old church and graveyard that Clif knew about.  We spent some time looking at the old graves and appreciating the beauty that surrounds it. 

A Homestead home...

A barn that's had it's day..

A beautiful church..the side part was added on..

Some really old graves..

Thought this brickwork was so interesting..

love the fencing..

Clif and Ken! :)

Beautiful barn..

We headed back to Clif's house and a little after 1500 Clif's daughter Kim came to meet us.  She and her family (hubby and 2 boys) moved a few years ago from the Anaheim, CA area.  She is a high school teacher and her boys are into basketball.  Listening to her schedule it reminded me of our kids and our grandsons.  You have to be young to keep up!! She visited for a few hours and then she headed home, to take the kids to basketball :)..Lovely meeting her. 

Clif was in the Vietnam War..His daughter, Kim found his helmet
cover, took it and found a helmet to fit. She put it in a glass box
and gave it to him as a present. 

Pretty special gift..

Kim and her daddy Clif :)

We visited a little longer and then headed back to our little home.  We made plans to meet Clif yesterday (Friday) morning at 0800 for breakfast.  

We actually made it on time and he took us to Kali's Kitchen where we've been before, but they had moved places. Good, simple food!  We picked up our truck from his house and he followed us to the park.

Kali's Kitchen..good food, inexpensive too! 

 The park system had put in a little museum in the old bath house. Very nice job!  

The Civilian Conservation Corps..

The bridge is beautiful! 

Inside the museum, what used to be the bathhouse

An example of a homestead home..

Crossville is home to a huge number of Homestead Homes..
There's a visitor center and you can get a map of these little homes
in the area.  

A group of young men in the CCC's

Clif and Ken coming out of the museum..

Beautiful pathway from the bath house to the restaurant

CCC uniform..

Used to be the swimming beach..not anymore, they built a huge
pool..

Beautiful bridge, constructed by the CCC's back in the 30's.

We said our good byes and then we got ready to leave the park and head back to Cornersville.  

Clif and Me! 

We decided to take a different route back than the way we came. Stayed on the back roads except a short distance on interstate and thoroughly enjoyed the drive! It was just a few miles longer than the way we went up. Love the scenery in TN!  

We just drove in and Don and Dana pulled in (they had gone to a late lunch). Don had been mowing the lawn, and I gotta tell ya..nothing better than the smell of fresh cut grass here in the south. :) 

Into the house we went and spent the evening and until midnight visiting. 

Saturday morning, We did our regular visiting and chatting, showers, breakfast and then Ken and I ran to Walmart for a few things. We wanted to be sure we got back in time to watch our niece (Don's daughter) Samantha marry her fiancee, Cody on Facebook live. Gotta love technology, because it felt like we were right there.  Beautiful wedding on the beach in South Carolina and such a beautiful bride! Much happiness to them and their growing family. 

Below is a "Picture Overload" of our drive from Crossville, TN back to Cornersville, TN.  Most taken from the windshield or side window. Feel free to skip :)...We'll be here until Monday where we will start our trek west. 

Downtown Tullahoma..

 I actually visited the Jack Daniels Distillery with some of my volunteers about 20 years ago.  I couldn't believe when we drove by this yesterday! Lynchburg was just a little town, you could park downtown and walk to the distillery tour! OH MY Goodness!  How this place has grown into a tourist trap! The tours were free back then, now they run between 14 and 17 dollars, not me! They've built a lot across the street for parking, and it was packed with tourists..can't even imagine trying to get into a restaurant. 

Jack Daniels Distillery..

The tourist parking lot..

We're thinking this has to do with Jack Daniels and barrels

Love these back roads and the barns and houses..hoping to be back next year, but you never know.  These pics will give me smiles in the years to come.