Our Octagon Hall Adventure

Welcome!

A few weeks ago, Greg and I visited a really interesting place that I believe most people would find fascinating. In fact, we even thought of our visit as an adventure.

The place we visited is a lovely eight-sided house known as "Octagon Hall" in Franklin, Kentucky. It was first owned by the Caldwell family. It was built with locally-made bricks and local timber.

The house is very historic; in fact, it was used by both the Confederate and Union Armies during the Civil War.

Inside the house are items of interest.

There are beautiful period furnishings.

There are knowledgeable tour guides to fill you in on a the rich history, etc. of the house.

When you finish the tour of the inside, you can explore outside the house. The trees there are unique. One of them is the largest dogwood tree in Kentucky.

If you think that there is something a bit creepy about Octagon Hall, you'd be right! In fact, according to their brochure, "The Octagon Hall is widely regarded as one of the most haunted places in the South."

I totally have to agree with the above quote since Greg and I captured so many paranormal images on our cameras. So much of the time when we go somewhere that's supposed to be haunted, we're lucky to get even one spirit photo, but not this time!

To be perfectly honest, I had a hard time trying to find photographs that we had taken for this post that were not paranormal!

As you can see, I really couldn't write about Octagon Hall without mentioning the paranormal aspect of the place. In fact, if you're at all interested in the paranormal, you might enjoy the 4/21/18 blog post I wrote about Octagon Hall on my other blog, "Spirit Photographs," entitled "Octagon Hall, Franklin, Kentucky." That post is heavily slanted to the paranormal which was an easy thing to do since it is so haunted!

You can check it out here-

www.spiritphotographs.blogspot.com

So, whether you are a Civil War/history buff, love beautiful period decor, or are fascinated by the paranormal, there's something for everyone at Octagon Hall in Franklin, Kentucky!

For more info on Octagon Hall, just go to-

octagonhall.com/octagon/index.html

Positive thought: "One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure."
-William Feather
Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, June 3, 2018, Becky

A Tennessee State Park, Plus a Side Excursion

Another month, another park! Several blog posts back, I mentioned that Greg and I intended to visit one park a month throughout the warmer months.

So, a few days ago, we went to Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. The 1,500 +-acre park is on the old estate of Henry Horton who was the 36th governor of Tennessee.

It has an inn, cabins, and a restaurant. It also has an 18-hole championship golf course, a skeet and trap range, a playground, and a swimming pool.

Since the park is located on the scenic Duck River, swimming and canoeing are also available.

When we first arrived at the park, it was lunchtime, so we headed over to The Governor's Table for their lunch buffet.

It looked really great as we were starved!

It was good. We ate almost every bite!

After our meal, we took off to explore the park...

One thing we noticed right away was the abundance of picnic tables. I've been to a couple of parks that had a shortage of tables during holidays like Memorial Day.

No shortage here! Many tables had a nice view of the Duck River.

And what a beautiful view it is!

F.Y.I.
www.tnstateparks.com

After thoroughly exploring the park, we decided to visit the nearby small town of Chapel Hill since I needed to mail an important letter. While there, Greg spotted a monument in honor of Civil War general, Nathan Forrest, who lived there as a boy.

We saw a sign about his boyhood home, so being the Civil War buff that Greg is, we decided to go check it out.

The house is rustic and attractive, outside...

and inside...

We took a tour which was only $5.00 each, and the money raised goes to the restoration and upkeep of the house. They also have periodic fundraisers. It was in bad need of repair when the Sons of the Confederate Veterans took over the house which is on the "National Register of Historic Places", and they have done a great job thus far, but there's more work to be done. Kudos to the dedicated men working on this project!

We had a wonderful afternoon at Henry Horton State Park, plus an unplanned side excursion to General Forrest's boyhood home.

We can hardly wait until our next trip! You just never know what adventure awaits!

Happy Father's Day to fathers everywhere, including my dear father who is in spirit.

Positive thought: "If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere."-Vincent Van Gogh
Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky

A Fun Overnight Trip

Last week, Greg and I had an enjoyable, fun, overnight trip to a place that's only a few hours from where we live, a place that neither of us had ever before visited, Lookout Mountain. On this trip, we got to visit not only another part of Tennessee, but Georgia, as well, since Lookout Mountain is located in both Tennessee and Georgia.

When we first arrived, late in the day, we briefly visited Point Park in Tennessee which was a battlefield during the Civil War. The park is dedicated to the soldiers of both the North and the South.

It's a beautiful, picturesque park.

It has a great view of Chattanooga.

It's a nice place to walk while enjoying the view.

After we toured the park, we went to the nearby Cafe on the Corner, also in Tennessee, for our supper.

The food was wonderful! It's Southern cooking "with a little flair."

 Pictured above, "Fried Green Tomato BLT'

F.Y.I.
www.cafeonthecornerlookoutmountain.com

Finally, we got to our wonderful B&B, which was also nearby, in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

It was charming and romantic...

The Garden Walk Bed and Breakfast Inn 

It had a beautiful garden, flowers everywhere.

We loved our pretty little bungalow, "Lavender and Lace." 

It was charmingly decorated.

After a peaceful night's sleep, we went to breakfast... 

in the dining room.

The food was superb!

F.Y.I.
www.gardenwalkinn.com

Important Note: This is only part of where we went and what we did. Please come back next weekend for part two of our fun overnight trip!

(To be continued!)

Have a great (and fun!) rest of the Memorial Day weekend!

Positive thought: "Fun is good."-Dr. Seuss
Thanks for visiting! Until next weekend, Becky