After spending the night in Dublin, Virginia, we started the next day with a swim and by finally pulling out Norah’s loose tooth. She had been developing a big gap between two of her baby teeth while the new tooth pushed everything out of the way, and the tooth finally got loose enough for me to pull out. This is the before picture:
On the way to one of my favorite places – Grassy Cove, Tennessee, we stopped at the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, Tennessee. Again, it was almost deserted, which is sad but which I take a guilty pleasure in…no lines, no waiting. The museum has a house and barn with a very eclectic collection of items with good explanations of the story behind each piece. For example, one exhibit was a glass eye and a small pocket knife. As the story goes, a 6-year-old boy was bent over tying his shoe while holding the open pocket knife. His shoelace broke and he stabbed himself in the eye (“JOHNNIE! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO TIE YOUR SHOE WITH AN OPEN POCKET KNIFE IN YOUR HAND?!?!”). How someone procured this and found someone who knew the story is beyond me.
There are 30+ other small buildings to explore – most of them a bit dusty but still a great stop. One of the buildings had three musicians playing what is apparently Appalachian music although I’m not sure what defines it as such. When the musicians found out that Aliya plays the violin, they played a fiddle tune just for her. The weather was beautiful and we had lunch in the restaurant attached to the gift shop which was very good. I found out that a pimento cheese sandwich has shredded cheese, mayo, and pimentos. I went with the turkey pot pie instead.
I think I’m destined to live in a tiny cabin like this at some point in my life. It really appeals to me because it would force me to get rid of all but the most important stuff. The proximity of the bed to the woodstove scares me though. A guy really lived here.
I found these concrete signs really interesting. Harrison Mayes had a plan to erect them on the moon and all of the planets, as well as a lot of countries. I have a lot of respect for someone who has a passion and aims high, even if they’re considered something of a kook.
We finally made it to Grassy Cove just before dinner on Sunday. We were all extremely happy to get out of the car and away from each other.