Oct 3, 2024 – Hurricane Avoidance

By the time we left Kentucky, Hurricane Helene had carved a path of destruction and devastation. We are the lucky ones, far enough away and having only the inconvenience of rain that stole a day of sightseeing and kept us indoors. As we arrived at our campground in Tennessee, Milton was already forming in the gulf.

While in Kentucky, we were a couple hundred miles from ground zero in North Carolina, which is a moderate towing distance for us. We could just as easily have chosen Asheville for our next stop on the way to Florida instead of heading in the direction of Nashville. And it seems what use to be a safe bet that we could arrive on Chokoloskee Island in mid-October without further threat of a hurricane, is now a risky game of chance.

So, we watched Helene and Milton from a safe distance and did what we could to schedule cleaning and repairs on our RV lot before we arrived. And we did this while lingering at some beautiful campgrounds where we could enjoy the pleasant weather and do a little sightseeing.

We barely crossed the border into Tennessee where we stayed at the Indian Mountain State Park, located in a hollow at the base of 2000-ft high Indian Mountain. Here’s a tip, Tennessee state parks give seniors a 25% discount, whether you are a Tennessee resident or not. Thank you Vols!

Following Indian Mountain State Park, we drove west toward Nashville to Seven Points Campground on the J Percy Priest reservoir. You are correct if you think Seven Points is an Army Corp of Engineer campground. Whenever there is an opportunity to camp at a COE campground, we take it. With a senior park pass, a $30/night site becomes $15/night.

While at Seven Points, we visited the Stones River National Battlefield nearby. We’ve been to a few Civil War parks, including Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and are grateful that the national park service honors these battlefields with fascinating and detailed presentation. No doubt, there are people that study the battlefields and the day-to-day events including generals’ decisions leading to the battle’s outcome. But while the details are mostly lost on us, we come away with knowledge and appreciation for the role each battlefield played in the decisive end to the Civil War.

After Tennessee, we headed south and discovered one of Alabama’s newly renovated state parks, Joe Wheeler on the Tennessee River. On December 16 2019, a tornado touched down and tore through the state park, toppling most of the trees. Downed trees were removed from nearly the entire park, stretching almost 2,600 acres.

Our final stop before returning to Florida was Frank Jackson State Park (on Lake Frank Jackson), Alabama’s most southern state park north of the gulf coast region. We were back in familiar territory, cypress trees, cotton, and alligators. We love this little campground with its hiking trails, peacefulness and water views from our campsite.

While there, we discovered a very interesting story from the nearby town of Enterprise. What brought us to Enterprise was Larry’s Real Pit BBQ, which is where we learned from the friendly server that Enterprise is well known for its Boll Weevil Monument. We couldn’t resist this one, and it comes with a wonderful story of a community that overcame hard times. When the boll weevil devastated the area’s number one crop – cotton, people put their heads together and came up with a solution. Inspired by the works of George Washington Carver, farmers planted their first peanut crop in place of cotton in 1916. And the community thrived – thanks to the boll weevil.

Stayed tuned for our next story, which will conjure up a Lynyrd Skynyrd song and a Patty Duke movie.

Oddly enough, Vivian and I enjoy visiting Alabama where we have discovered some of the most interesting history (and the best BBQ!) in the country. Here are a couple links to previous blogs about our time in Alabama.

Lessons from Alabama – Montgomery and Selma

For the Greater Good – Lake Guntersville