DAY #2 - jUNE 11, 2021 - DICKSON, TENNESSEE - PADUCAH, KENTUCKY -286-MILES (742-MILES)

(PADUCAH, KY) Today started off foggy and rainy as I checked out of the Comfort Inn in Dickson, Tennessee. The weather seemed appropriate as I traveled about to a remote area just outside of the Town of Camden. I imagine that the weather was similar on the Night of March 5, 1964, when a small plane crashed into the woods just west of town. On board was Country Music Stars Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins an Patsy Clines manager and pilot Randy Hughes. All died instantly. Today the site of the crash has been turned into a small park. At the top of the hill is a very small parking area that has a hand made wooden cross and a Tennessee State Historical Marker. Visitors can walk down a well maintained gravel path to the memorial boulder that marks the site of the actual crash. The inscription on the Boulders list the names of the victims and the date. It is a very simple but appropriated memorial commemorating the death of Country Music's Biggest Stars. It was really humid during my visit and if you are visiting during the summer be sure to bring some bug spray. During my visit the mosquitos were eating me alive. From Camden it was only a short drive up to Paris, Tennessee where I made a quick stop in the Town Park to visit a scale model of the Eiffel Tower. It's a pretty realistic model of the real thing that stands in the town park next to the pool and small water park. When I visited there were a couple of food truck setting up for the day. All in all it was a quick but really cool stop. From Paris it was on to the Land Between the Lakes and a stop at Fort Donelson. This was the site of one of the early battles of the Civil War and where General Ulysses S. Grant first came to prominence. Fort Donelson was an earthen fort of the banks of the Cumberland River. General Grant was task with taking the fort and opening up the river for use by Union Gun and Supply Boats. At the end of the Battle Confederate General S. Buckner sent a message to Grant requesting a commission be established to the terms of surrender. Grant replied the no terms except unconditional surrender would be acceptable. As a result, General Buckner met with Grant at the Dover Hotel and surrendered with out conditions. From there Grant was known as Unconditional Surrender Grant. After his victory at Fort Donelson, it was on to Shiloh and Vicksburg for General Grant where he captured the attention of President Lincoln who would eventually place Grant in charge of all Union Forces. I spent a couple of hours on the Fort Donelson Driving Tour which ended at the Dover Hotel in downtown Dover Tennessee. The hotel was open and exhibits inside gave you a great idea of what happened here. From Dover it took me the better part of an hour to make it over to the Woodall Cemetery a few miles outside of Clarksville, Tennessee. Here, I paid my respect to one of my favorite country music stars, the man who made stuttering fashionable, Mel Tillis. Woodall Cemetery is a really small country cemetery and it was easy to find Mel's final resting place. He is resting with his wife and other members of his family. A quick five mile drive from the Woodall Cemetery and I was at the Mount Carmel Methodist Church Cemetery. This is another small cemetery and I quick found the grave of one of the greatest basketball coaches to ever walk onto a basketball court. The long time women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, Pat Summitt. She served as the Vols Head Coach from 1974 until 2012, compiling a record of 1,098 - 208 along with eight National Championships. My final stop in Clarksville was at the Historic Greenwood Memorial Park which is the final resting place of Willie Blount who served as the Governor of Tennessee from 1809 to 1815. In 1813, Governor Blount called for several thousand volunteers to put down the Indian uprising that had led to the massacre of 250 men, women and children at Ft. Mims, Alabama. Headed by General Andrew Jackson, this force ultimately defeated the warring Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. William Blount ran for Governor again in 1827, but was defeated by Sam Houston. He was the great-great-grandfather of another Tennessee Governor H. H. McAlister. But it was getting late in the day and I really wanted to visit the grave of Frank Sutton who play the role of Sergeant Vincent Carter on the TV Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. I really loved that show and when I found out he was bured here in Clarksville, I knew I had to visit. Just as I was wrapping up my visit to the Greenwood Cemetery the sky opened up and as I made my way toward Interstate 24. For the next several miles I was easing my way along in a torrential down pour. But just as I got on the Interstate the rained stopped and in a few miles I was once again in Bright sunshine. I was about 100-miles from my nights lodging in Paducah, Kentucky and on the way I stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Cadiz, Kentucky for supper. With a full belly, it was an easy drive on to the Comfort Inn here in Paducah. I had stayed at this Comfort Inn back in 2018 and knew it was clean and had a reasonable Rate. Tomorrow the adventure continues as I cross the Ohio River into the Land of Lincoln.