See Ruby Falls barn on a Foggy Morning

This Ruby Falls Barn is located at a bend along Interstate 24 in Coffee County, TN near mile marker 100. On this early morning, there was still some pre-dawn fog in the fields.

Old view of See Ruby Falls barn on Interstate 24

This photo was taken in 2005. Since this photo was taken, it has been updated with the newer Ruby Falls Color Scheme which relies more on various shades of Ruby.

This Rusty barn is an ad for Ruby Falls, a cousin to Rock City in the painted-barns-that-advertise-a-Lookout-Mountain-tourist-spot. The Ruby Falls barns have simpler messages that the Rock City Barns, but have a more complex Color Scheme. This uses their trademark colors of Ruby Red and Turquoise. The "Ruby Falls" is painted in Pink, but outlined in a darker red and white to give it a 3D look.

This barn faces I-24, which connects Nashville to Chattanooga and is either in Rutherford or Cannon County. Monteagle Mountain is in the background.

Neon Big Daddy's Fireworks

Big Daddy's Fireworks is at an I-24 exit in Marion County, TN. There are lots of billboards with this guy all along the area. He looks like a caricatured Texas oil tycoon, but still I think I'd rather get fireworks from him than Nervous Charlie (located north of Nashville on I-65).

See Ruby Falls Barn at Dusk

Along Interstate 24 in Coffee County, TN is this Ruby Falls barn in a strategic bend in the road near mile marker 100. This barn was built in 2007 to replace an older barn that had collapsed.

2014 Welcomes You

Tennessee Welcomes You to 2014!

This is the Welcome to Tennessee sign seen at most Interstates and major highways that lead into the state. This one has been around long enough that some of the paint along the southern border is starting to peel.

I took this photo along I-24 right where it dips into Georgia to the west of Chattanooga. It was the day before Thanksgiving and traffic was going at such a snail's pace that I could set up and get the shot I wanted.

Coming down Monteagle in the Fog

Driving I-24 up and down Monteagle makes for some of the trickier interstate driving through the whole country. On this early day, we were going down the east side only to see the whole area covered in fog. On this day, there was fog from here all the way to Chattanooga, but it was never difficult to drive through. It was just neat to see from above.

Stuckey's

For someone like me who likes to wax poetic about all sorts of vintage nostalgia from a bygone tourist era, here's one diminishing thing that luckily is still around.

Stuckey's started off in Georgia by Mr. Stuckey, a Pecan farmer. During the golden age of Automobile tourism, the franchise grew to about 350 blue-roofed convenience stores mostly throughout the southeast. They were best known for their souvenirs and their candies, starting with the pecan log roll.

If you're driving on I-24 from Nashville to Chattanooga, this Stuckey's is located at the last exit (US64/TN50) before the trip up the mountain to Monteagle. All the way from about Manchester to this exit, you'll see about a dozen really old decrepit billboards for the Stuckeys, advertising the pecans, ice cream, hot dogs and novelties. At least the large billboard in their parking lot is still in one piece.

If you are a fan of Nashville's own Goo Goo Clusters and King Leo made by the Standard Candy Co., they also own the Stuckey's Candy Co. (However, each store is independently owned.)

Schurz / Von Steinwehr Monument

This Civil War Monument is located in Chattanooga and is visible from Interstate 24. (Since you don't want to park on the interstate, Parker Ln will lead you to this vantage point.) This monument was erected by the state of New York to remember the actions of the Battle of Wauhatchie. On the Night of October 28-29, 1863, elements of General Carl Schurz’s and General Adolph von Steinwehr’s divisions (Union) were positioned on this small knoll, known locally as Tyndale’s Hill. Nearly a month later, Maj. General John Hooker watched the Battle of Lookout Mountain from near this spot.

Battle Creek Baptist Church

Along the Old Dixie Highway (TN2) in Marion County, TN. Not only does the building look old, but the sign proclaiming the name of the church was old and nearly impossible to read. The highway parallels Interstate 24 through here and you can see this building from the interstate.

The building was built in 1904 and at the time it was Ebenezer Baptist Church.

<-- TURN IN HERE -

It's that time of year where there are places all over that want to sell you fireworks.

Big Daddy's Fireworks - Right off Interstate 24 at the US72 Jasper exit in Kimball, TN.

There's no way you could miss it, but if you did, this is the arrow into the parking lot.

The Remains of a Ruby Falls Barn

This Ruby Falls barn was probably the first one I ever photographed, back in 2005. That was back in the day when the primary color in their ads was turquoise. Since then, it appears as if the barn is about to fall apart.

Since 2005, it looks like they repainted in with the Ruby color scheme. However, since the barn is crumbling, they must have felt it was easier to slide a new durable sign in front of the old one on the side of the barn.

It is located just north of the Mile 127 marker on Interstate 24 on the southern side of Coffee County.

Old Stuckey's Billboard - Pelham, TN at I-24

For someone like me who likes to Wax poetic about all sorts of vintage nostalgia from a bygone tourist era, here's one diminishing thing that luckily is still around.

Stuckey's started off in Georgia by Mr. Stuckey, a Pecan farmer. During the golden age of Automobile tourism, the franchise grew to about 350 blue-roofed convenience stores mostly throughout the southeast. They were best known for their souvanirs and their candies, starting with the pecan log roll.

If you're driving on I-24 from Nashville to Chattanooga, this Stuckey's is located at the last exit (US64/TN50) before the trip up the mountain to monteagle. All the way from about Manchester to this exit, you'll see about a dozen really old decrepit billboards for the stuckeys, advertising the pecans, ice cream, hot dogs and novelties. At least the large billboard in their parking lot is still in one piece.

If you are a fan of Nashville's own Goo Goo Clusters and King Leo made by the Standard Candy Co., they also own the Stuckey's Candy Co. (However, each store is independently owned.)

Goodbye...Tell Your Friends...

GOODBYE
TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT
ROCK CITY

Out of all the Rock City Barns there's ever been, this might be the only one that doesn't suggest you "See" Rock City, and also might be the only one that you see when travelling away from Chattanooga.

If you are travelling west on I-24, this is between exit 158 and 155. It'll be on your right and you'll be looking down on it from the Interstate.

I don't know how many times I drove right past it until I made a conscious decision to hunt it down - not from the interstate - but from the rural street where you can get a better (and safer) view.

See Rock City Today

This "Rock City Barn" is located on Interstate 24 just before crossing the Tennessee River in Marion County, TN.

Perhaps there is nobody on Flickr who goes out of his or her way to look for the Rock City Barns as much as I do. That makes the fact that I had driven right by this one a dozen times without noticing it somewhat surprizing. there is a place where the eastbound and westbound lanes split apart. Some lucky person owns the land between the lanes and uses it to advertise a tractor dealership, so there are perfectly parked rows of tractors. Everytime I drove through there, I would notice the tractors and miss the Rock City ad on the building up the hill to the right. If you drive the other direction, you see a fireworks store between the lanes.

See Ruby Falls Barn

Along Interstate 24 in Coffee County, TN is this Ruby Falls barn in a strategic bend in the road near mile marker 100. This barn was built in 2007 to replace an older barn that had collapsed.

I make the drive to Chattanooga a couple of times a year, and I missed this barn multiple times before I finally got a shot of it. (This is my second time to get a picture of it!) There is an Old School See Rock City Birdhouse shaped billboard up the hill which you can see from a mile away. If I wasn't driving, I used to always pay attention to that and mss the Ruby Falls barn after it was too late.

The Inflatable Dinosaur that will eat you...

...is now open for business.

Every July in every highway leading out of Nashville, there is a large gravel lot that is not used 11 months of the year. It is the prime real estate for Fireworks tents. This one is I-24 in LaVergne at the exit for Waldron Rd.

Everybody's fireworks are 70% off, so that doesn't make anybody's sales price better than anyone else. If a fireworks stand had a big sign that said 10% off, nobody would stop there. The only other industry that works this way is Jewelry.

See Ruby Falls barn with Rock City Billboard

Along Interstate 24 in Coffee County, TN is this Ruby Falls barn in a strategic bend in the road near mile marker 100. This barn was built in 2007 to replace an older barn that had collapsed.

I make the drive to Chattanooga a couple of times a year, and I missed this barn multiple times before I finally got a shot of it. (This is my second time to get a picture of it!) There is an Old School See Rock City Birdhouse shaped billboard up the hill which you can see from a mile away and is in the upper right corner of this picture if you haven't noticed it yet. If I wasn't driving, I used to always pay attention to that and mss the Ruby Falls barn after it was too late.