Last Roadtrip Barbeque Sammich

FRANKLIN/NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – Our second day here, Mothers’ Day Sunday, we decided to explore the surrounding area as well as Franklin itself.

Franklin has done a great job of protecting and preserving its “downtown,” and it is a great destination for shopping in upscale but local stores largely free of the international boutiques and, even more, for eating. And so, not being shoppers, we ate in our usual style, at a sidewalk café with the dogs. Gus had a mere corned beef and cabbage but Cece had an over-the-top bread pudding French toast with blueberries. OMG. It truly made up for missing the pain perdu in Louisiana.

We suspect these Civil War monuments, south and north, were all done by the same company.

After cooling off a bit—the car thermometer said 100°—we headed for an interesting and very beautiful nearby countryside—Leiper’s Fork and the pre-Columbian Natchez Trace and the National Parkway (highway) that now follows it closely from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville.

After a bit of trial and error—what else is new?—we found a section of the actual ancient trail (trace) that was both beautiful and accessible—and wide enough to allow us to avoid the poison ivy. There we were, for a few hundred yards anyway, on a trail that was used extensively pre-Columbian, Colonial, Frontier—indeed on up to motorized travel. And we were walking on it too.

Gus on Natchez Trace

Cece is holding on for dear life.

This bridge has won architectural awards.

The parkway paralleling the trace—imagine a scaled-down Skyline Drive—took us to the most famous feature, the striking and remarkably high double arch bridge that spans the valley below. It has won architectural awards, but is not a bridge to walk—though everyone does—if you have vertigo. We saw a large family walk out onto the bridge. The father had the one-year-old on his shoulders. The next time we looked, the mother was off the bridge back by the car with the baby, while the rest of the family remained to enjoy the view.

We also visited Leiper’s Fork, a collection of old homes and shops that have been converted into antique, local crafts, and art shops, as well as eateries. There were lots of other folks there, but we have learned not to care. It is authentic, not a replica, thus the crowd.

Shop at Leiper's Fork

Gus going for real BBQ sammich!

Just to have something to do, Cece and Gus split a barbeque sammich from Puckett’s. Quite delicious! This Puckett’s is a true old-fashioned place to eat barbeque, and, except for the fact that it was cafeteria rather than buffet, it reminded us of Dukes’ barbeque in South Carolina in the 1950s.

We sat outside again, so that Weezie and Capers could join us and have a few bites of the sammich. And, as at lunch and earlier, all the passing by families, especially those with children, want to stop and pet the dogs, rub their tummies, know their histories and their ages etc. etc. The dogs love it, and it really went over-the-top when we said it was Weezie’s birthday!

It is really quite lovely when these human-dog-human conversations get going and the kids are cuddling up with the dogs.  There is something a lot more going on that needs to be understood, something deeper. These are moments of biophilia, of reaching into the past for another era, of wanting today to experience something, anything, that involves affection and response that is genuine, uncomplicated, unconditional. It’s quite amazing, really. Of course, it helps that the dogs don’t stink to high heaven!

Our wonderful roadtrip is effectively over.  It is sad, but we have had a ball and are ready to see our children and grands and to return to regular life and friends in Vermont. We will spend tonight with dear friends in Charleston, West Virginia, and then on to our son Charlie’s in Washington. At that point, we pick up a trail that runs through our son Jim’s place in Princeton and on to Strafford, our home.  It is a trail we know like the back of our hands.

We may write again to comment on the trip, to reflect, to wrap up, to thank again. But we hope you think these posts stand alone for what they are—the observations of a couple of septuagenarians and two dogs as they adventure to new and interesting and often beautiful places, meeting some great people along the way.

Another thing that has made the trip enjoyable, in addition to our own delightful company, is that we laugh a lot, we think each other's jokes are funny, and we enjoy a bit of teasing.

Cece recently said "I must stop eating." To which Gus asked "Do you plan on doing that before or after you die" and Cece replied "I haven't decided."