LEXINGTON KY

It's pretty confusing when there are three Lexington's not too far from one another when it comes to programming your satnav. We are in the Kentucky one, where we are staying for a couple of nights before moving on to Fort Thomas. I must say that this part of Kentucky is beautiful. It's horse country around here with race tracks, stables, studs, farms and huge country mansions. We visited Kentucky Horse Park. It's run by the Kentucky State and promotes all horse activities. It keeps retired horses including 7 champion horses who have won more than $21 million between them. They also keep rare breeds. They show them off & show their great races. We saw Andi'Amu, First Classs & Roy H, beautifully turned out right down to their nail varnish. First Classs, the grey is an Arab.

Weather has been up in the 30's again, nice to sit in the shade of a tree. We left and took a scenic drive along Iron Works Pike that has the most beautiful mansions set in acres of farm and horse paddock. The Ryanair boss bought one a few years back.

I was recommended Ramseys for dinner, try the Hot Brown, it's great.

Wow, wow wow!!

NASHVILLE

Nice lazy day cruising on the Cumberland river, docking in Nashville in the evening. Overnight then full on in Nashville itself. Started with a tour and history of the town.

Broadway with the music bars, really loud at night.

Tennessee State Hall with the quarrelling architect and city councillor buried at adjacent corners. There's a huge map of Tennessee carved in the paving slabs at the foot of the slope. They have interesting places named. Rivers are made from shiny granite.

One of the most famous recording studies in USA. It was the one that got the music business really started in Nashville. All the big names from Elvis onwards have recorded here.

Who would have thought that there was a full size replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, complete with a massive statue of Athena with Nike on her hand. Perhaps we should donate the Elgin Marbles to Nashville!

The Marathon automobile manufacturing building has been kept. The interior is rented out to bars, cafes, shops etc, but has kept key parts of the manufacturing equipment and tools. All those rolls on the pegs are the leather belts used to drive the machine tools from an overhead drive shaft powered by a steam engine. The cars are interesting in that they are all right hand drive. Marathon went out of business in 1914 at the hands of Henry Ford, he sold the Model T for $500, the Marathon cost $1200.

This is Dolly's place by Broadway near the river front, the Songteller Hotel.

This is the Grand Ole Opry which is in a newish building on the outskirts of town. It moved there from the city centre Ryman building. Not everyone likes it so far out. Wooden bench seats, views not bad even from a distance.

It's been going 100 years. It is also a live radio show, you can see the radio presenter in box on the left side of stage. She does introductions, interviews some of the performers and does the commercials - "there are 10,000 Dollar Generals in Tennessee and over 200,000 in the USA, get down to DG and improve the value of your life. Our sponsors have donated a DG voucher to the person sitting in seat .......(pause for drama) K54  - loud roars & applause." The quality of the acts were all excellent, even if we didn't know who they were, the atmosphere was great, an enjoyable experience. These were the acts;

1. Riders in the Sky
2. Sunny Sweeney 
3. Blake Pendergrass
4. Dek of Hearts
5. Jade Eagleson
6. Charlie McCoy
7. Wyatt Flores
8. Sister Sadie

Do you know any?

GOO claim the radio show as the longest running. My internet tells me it's the BBC shipping forecast???

That's the Batman Building. No sleep,  up early, beat the sun to go to the airport to get the car.

GRAND RIVERS, between...

 ......the lakes. This is a picturesque little village set on a narrow strip of land in Kentucky between Lakes Kentucky and Barkley. We transition here between the Tennessee River & the Cumberland River through a short canal to make our way to Nashville. We took a tour by horse drawn buggy through the town with a local guide. There is a notable restaurant there called Patti's Settlement - it's notable for 1lb pork chops, 1 inch thick. Not for us. It also has the mile high pie, a meringue confection that Linda is modelling.

A nice gentle way of sightseeing.

That's one person's portion.

Patti's is more than a restaurant, it is a hotel, wedding venue, crazy golf, animals and a garden walk. It's supposed to get really done up at Xmas.

SHILOH (SAVANNAH Tn)

Had a nice lazy day, up late, sit down full breakfast followed by a guided tour of the civil war battlefield at Shiloh. It was quite a bloody affair causing the most casualties from any battle in North America. Initially there were about 90,000 combatants equal Union & Confederate numbers, with the Union receiving 18,000 reinforcements. About 24,000 casualties, dead, wounded & missing in total for both sides. The Union armies were camped by the river expecting to march to Corinth, a major rail & river hub that the Confederates had dug in. However the Confederate army marched undetected to engage them at Shiloh. The battle raged over 2 days fought in fields and forest over a large area. Artillery & gunboats were used. In short the Confederates surprised the Union & drove them back the Pittsburgh Landing with their backs to the river & swamp. The Confederates stopped at dusk thinking they had won and expecting to mop up and finish the next day. During the night 18,000 Union reinforcements turned up, the battle resumed and the Confederates routed. A turning point in the war and the major southern towns on the Mississippi fell shortly after.

It is a National Park with Ranger guides. The visitor centre gives you an overview and then you go on the tour around the large battlefield. The Confederate memorial shows Victory with defeat stealing the laurel wreath & death standing by. The stone carving shows the Confederates marching to battle on the right & retreating on the left.

FLORENCE Al

We've sailed a bit more down the Tennessee river to Florence, apparently it was laid out by an Italian architect who liked his homeland city. It doesn't bear much of a resemblance apart from the number of churches. Having said that, it is a nicely laid out town with wide avenues, green spaces and trees.

Formerly golf, now disc golf.

We took a tour of Helen Keller's birth place. We knew only the basics of her and knew nothing of her tutor, Anne Sullivan, who was key in helping Helen to become the woman she did. Must try and watch The Miracle Worker when we get back home.

This is the water pump that Helen learned her first word. No stopping her after that, she learned quickly it was said she must have had an IQ of 160. The main home is on the left, Helen & Anne lived in their own in the building on the right..