Quarry Falls - Near Highlands, NC

Driving highway US64 between Franklin and Highlands, NC is a great place to see waterfalls.

As you drive the winding road up the mountain, you will first past the most impressive and least visible (and nowhere to stop and park) Cullasaja Falls. Next on the drive, you will pass this one, which is the smallest and most overlooked, but there is a small pulloff from the highway. As you continue on, you'll see Dry Falls and then Bridal Veil Falls.

This is a popular but still the least impressive because it is the smallest, as it isn't one big plunge but a series of cascades totalling 20 feet. This is the Cullasaja River in the Cullasaja Gorge in the Nantahala National Forest. It's alternative names include Upper Cullasaja Falls and Bust-Your-Butt Falls.

First Presbyterian Church - Jonesborough, TN

The congregation that eventually built this building started as the Hebron Presbyterian Church in 1790. In 1816, the congregation moved to Jonesborough and bought land between 2nd and Washington on the north side of Main St.

This building was built in a Greek Revival style in 1850. Plans for the building were drawn up by a Mr. Clise of nearby Kingsport. The bricks and window shutters were all handmade and are originals.

The original design specified wide outside front steps but female modesty wanted that changed. (One's ankles should not be revealed while wearing a hoop skirt!) While the view is partially obstructed, you won't see steps. The terrace surrounding the steps were enclosed, and they became indoor steps. Thus, the main entrance to the building looks like it is on a second story balcony behind the six columns.

The Spot where Abe Lincoln's Dad & Stepmom Married

The spot, which is now a parking space in front of an office supply store commemorates the event. Elizabethtown, KY, about a block away from the town square

Cheekwood: Glass Bridge

Although the popular Chihuly exhibit isn't at Cheekwood anymore, it's about time for the flowers to bloom. If you like botanical gardens, it will soon be time to go out there. In the mean time, there are some interesting permanent exhibits.

Included with the Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail, this is the Glass Bridge made in 2003 by Siah Armajani.

Lake Woodhaven Spillway Dam

This is located inside Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County, TN. The Dam was built by the New Deal era Civilian Conservation Corps on Four Mile Creek in the 1930's

Medical Arts Building - Knoxville, TN

The Medical Arts building was constucted in downtown Knoxville with the style of Gothic Revival wth Art Deco influence. When construction began in 1929, plans were to make it 13 stories tall, but with the great depression, it was reduced to 10 when building was complete in 1932. Today, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ad Barn: It Costs Less at Sterchi Bros.

"It costs less at"
STERCHI BROS. STORES
to furnish your home.

Sterchis barns are a real dying breed of advertising barns. The company is long out of business and their old warehouse in Knoxville is now turned into lofts. Who knows how many barns they ever painted. This is the 4th one I've found and they all could be 80 years old. At their height, they were the largest furniture chain in America.

The other barns i've seen all looked the same, with the message painted on the roof like this one.

Compared to the others I've seen, this ad is painted on the side of the barn instead of the roof, and that has helped preserve the color. The slogan stays the same on all of the barns I've seen except the others say "Sterchi's" where this one says "Sterchi Bros." which sounds like something that makes this as barn even older than any other I've seen.

You can see this barn if you travel highway TN126 west of Blountville on the way to Kingsport in Sullivan County.

Mrs. Grissom's neon sign at night - Nashville

At the top of the sign in a picture of a tub of Pimento Cheese Salad. If you've never heard of Mrs. Grissom's, they make that and chicken salad and tuna salad and not mixed greens tossed salad. I ate a lot of pimento cheese sandwiches as a kid, but I didn't pay attention to brand names back then. To cut and paste from their website:

"Grace Grissom began making her delicious salads on Nashville's Historic Second Avenue back in 1955. If you've lived in the South very long, chances are you grew up eating Mrs. Grissom's delicious pimento cheese spread, chicken, ham, and tuna salad."

Today, they are located in Melrose, very close to the state fairgrounds.

New Gallery: Waterfowl in Spring

A couple of months ago, I went to my favorite spot at the lake (specifically, the spot at Old Hickory Lake near the dam) where all the Waterfowl congregate and I put on my website a set called Waterfowl in Winter.

Now, that Spring is upon us, I have gone back to the lake for a continuation of the series.



Extended Gallery: Waterfowl in Spring
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=nashville%2Fwaterfow...

If you like this photo, or ducks and geese, check it out!

Vanishing Soon: The Cal Turner Barn

I hate to report for a second day on a row that something is going away. Unfortunately, this icon along Franklin Road (US31) in Brentwood may be torn down soon. A couple of weeks ago when a huge windstorm blew through the midstate, the roof was blown off this already fragile barn. By the time you read this, it may already be gone.

This barn is located on the family farm of Cal Turner, the deceased founder of Dollar General. It has been best known for the large Nativity painting which is draped on the roof every Christmastime (and preserved in storage the rest of the year.) If the family were to sell the farm, it could fetch a large amount of money being in some incredibly prime real estate area. In the background is the bottom half of the WSM 650 AM radio tower, which, when it was built in the 1930's was proclaimed as the tallest radio tower in the country.