MAY 19, 2023 - CHATTANOOGA, TN - HUNTSVILLE, AL151-MILES/492 TOTAL MILES
My original plan for
this trip had me heading over to Savannah Tennessee to tour the Shiloh
Battlefield. But when I started researching hotels in Savannah and Corinth, Mississippi,
most were sold out for the weekend. So, I had to come up with a Plan B.
So, Last night in the Hampton Inn Hamilton Place here in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, I came up with Plan B. So, let's hit the road.
Traffic this morning
in Chattanooga was pretty light and I was able to zip through the downtown area
at or close to the posted Speed Limit and soon I was on Interstate 24 headed
west across the Tennessee River.
About an hour after
leaving the Hotel, it was time for gas and coffee. So, I stopped at the Love's
Travel Center on Interstate 24 at Exit 117 in Tullahoma, Tennessee. For the
past few years, I have been using the Love's App mostly for the free coffee
after you buy so many cups. But a few months ago, I began getting 10 cents a
gallon off on gas purchases. This allows me to fill up with gas here for $3.09
per gallon.
After getting my gas
and coffee I leave Interstate 24 and head west on Highway 55 toward my first
stop of the day in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Just about the only reason to come to
Lynchburg it the Jack Daniel's Distillery. And that is indeed my reason for
coming to this small town.
I have been to
Lynchburg before. Back in 2004, Byron Dickerson and I stopped here and toured
the distillery. So, this is not new to me but, I have always wanted to come
back and spend more time. So, this is my opportunity.
After parking in the nearby lot, I made my way to the visitors’
center. You can purchase and schedule a tour online through the Jack Daniel's
Website. But I as walked in, I figured that I may have to wait a while to get
on a tour. But sometimes being a single traveler has its advantages. When I got
to the tour desk, I was told that there was one opening for the next tour
scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
So, I only had about
a 10-minute wait before our tour guide joined us and off we went. One of the
thing that I remember from the 2004 visit was they were burning a large "rick"
to make charcoal. Well, once again, I hit it lucky as during this visit they
were once again burning wood and making charcoal. Jack Daniel's makes its own
charcoal that they use to filter the 140-proof whisky that will eventually become
the famous Tennessee Whiskey.
Along the tour we
not only get to see everything from making the charcoal, to the fermenting and
distilling to the barreling and bottling process. We ever saw the large
limestone spring that furnishes every drop of water that is used in the making
of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.
We had a wonderful
tour guide named "Emily" who was not only informative but also funny
and entertaining. Back in 2018, I took several distillery tours along the
Kentucky Bourbon Trail. There were all very good and Interesting, but I have to
say the tour here at Jack Daniel's is by far the best. The entire tour lasted about,
an hour and 15-minutes and it did involve a lot of walking.
After completing my
distillery tour, I walked the short distance to the Square in Lynchburg, Here
located on the courthouse square are several small shops and restaurants. Back
in 2004, Byron and I ate lunch the BBQ Caboose. Well, it is still here and the
food was good back in 2004 so I decided to have lunch again. I am pleased to
say I had a good lunch again.
After lunch I
continued my walk around the square checking
out a few of the shops. Most of
them were selling Jack Daniels souvenirs. After my lunch and my walk around the
square, it was back to the Jack Daniel's Visitor's Center where I wrapped up my
visit by buying a couple of Souvenirs and a fridge magnet.
I walked back to my
car and drove the short distance to the Lynchburg Cemetery to visit the grave
of Gentleman Jack Himself. His grave is easy to find, because there are two
iron benches on each side of his stone
encouraging visitors to sit down and have a sip of Old No. 7. It was early
afternoon when I departed Lynchburg and headed toward Huntsville, Alabama which
is my destination for the night. It took me about an hour and a half to make
the drive down to Huntsville. Still have a couple of hour left, I decided to
take the Tour of the U. S. Space and Rocket Center. again, back in 2004, Byron and I stopped here and spend
the afternoon before driving on down to Birmingham. So, having a couple of
hours to kill I paid the $30 for the self-guided tour of the Museum and Rocket
Gardens.
This was basically a
waste of time as most of the museums were closed as they were changing and
creating new exhibits. The few exhibits that were open were mostly simulators,
interactive things designed for kids. I spend most of my time here walking
through the Rocket Gardens and the outdoor exhibits that surround the full-size
rockets.
I ended up spending
about 90 minutes at the Rocket Center. Then it was off to Oakwood Memorial
Gardens. One of the things that I wanted to do on this adventure was visit the
graves of several notable people and record footage for my YouTube
Channel
Located very near my hotel for the night was Oakwood
Memorial Gardens which is the final resting place of Richard Wayne Penniman,
who is better known as "Little Richard."
He was born
Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932, in Macon,
Georgia. He was the third of twelve children.
He
joined the band in high school where in 1947, he was overheard singing at Macon
City Auditorium. Afterwards he was asked to open the show that day, which he
did. Richard got his nickname from Buster Brown when he joined his orchestra in
1950. His first of many recording contracts was with RCA Victor. With no
successful recordings at RCA his next label was with Specialty Records where he recorded his
hit "Tutti Frutti." He followed up "Tutti Frutti" with his
second hit, "Good Golly, Miss Molly."
In
1986, Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of
the first charter inductees. During his career he recorded 26 albums and
appeared in 26 films, animated films and television shows. He recorded on 12
different labels.
Little
Richard Died at the age of 87 on in Tullahoma, Tennessee on May 9, 202 in
Tullahoma, Tennessee.
It
took me about 40 minutes to record the footage for my YouTube Channel. It only
took me about 5 minutes to make the 2-mile drive to My Hotel.
Because
the rates at the nearby Holiday and Hampton Inns were over $200 a night, I
decided to stay at the Sleep Inn & Suites on University. Before making my
reservation, I check the reviews on both the Choice and Trip Advisor Websites.
The reviews were mostly good and raised no red flags.
Once again,
this Sleep Inn did not measure up. The front desk clerk who checked me in was
border line rude. He certainly wasn't friendly or professional. The only
greeting I received upon entering was "Reservation?" I replied yes,
and he curtly replied, "Last Name and Credit Car." That was the only
interaction between us until he shoved the registration sheet in front of me,
"3-initials and signature."
In my
room I found a water filled plastic bag still in the Ice Bucket. The rest of
the room seemed clean.
One of
the Trip Advisor Reviews for this Hotel mentioned a problem with the Internet
Security Certificate. This review was several months so I assumed the security
issue had been corrected. Well, you know what happens when you assume.
When I
attempted to sign into the hotel Wi-Fi, I got the same security violation that
was described in the previous review. So, I couldn't use the Wi-Fi and used my
Telephone Hot Spot. The Wi-Fi at this Hotel is a hacker’s dream.
I
toughed it out at this Sleep Inn and set about planning my day for tomorrow.
The adventure continues.
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