Kicking off November with a trip to Tennessee

 It seems we'll never leave Caddo Lake, but if anything would make Kenneth move I think it would be Tennessee.  It's a beautiful state and when our Chicago friends moved there this year, we couldn't wait to get there and see their new place!  Their new home is so comfortable, welcoming and beautiful and Rich is building a garage that's bigger than the house and will hold all of his tools and cars so they're both pretty happy, I think!  We packed a LOT into two days and really enjoyed our time with them. The leaves were almost done changing colors, but we did see some pretty colors. We went to Gatlinburg for the first time, did several moonshine tastings, toured Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary and had lunch at the Warden's Table Restaurant there, did a drive through Christmas light extravaganza, drove around viewing the beautiful scenic roads, supervised some of the construction on the garage, hung out on the back porch with cocktails and a bonfire and got plenty of visiting done. Certainly looking forward to many more visits!

Housewarming basket for our hosts

We took them out to dinner here for having us for the weekend...they were wonderful hosts!

Their house looked beautiful when we drove up to it the night we came into town

Saturday night by the bonfire burning scraps from the garage build

Some pics from our drive to their house Thursday morning

It started out as a beautiful drive, but changed to a pretty bad drive.  Kenneth even considered pulling off somewhere which I don't think I've ever heard him say!  Almost zero visibility...

We were driving straight up this line of storms and were in it for almost an hour.

I would love to go back to Gatlinburg sometime when there aren't so many people. Every restaurant had a 1 1/2 hour wait until we found an upstairs steakhouse that nobody realized was there. There were two guys standing on the sidewalk saying "No wait upstairs" so up we went for lunch. By the time we left, that place was packed, too!

A big ol' vat of shine!

Kenneth, Elaine, Michele and Rich

Talk about a kid in a candy store...geez.  I almost couldn't get him out of here!! So. Many. TOOLS!!

This light display had just started the weekend we were there and it went on for acres.  It was so cool!

Kenneth having a snack with his Apple Pie Moonshine

Watching the roofers on the garage.  It was crazy watching them run up and down the ladder with bundles of shingles. Definitely a young mans job.

The tree in their side yard was beautiful...

...as were the trees across the street from their house!

Beautiful colors!

This penitentiary opened in 1896 and closed in 2009. Very cool what they've done to make it an income producing property. Opened a restaurant, a distillery, gift shop and made the prison a museum. Early on the conditions were horrible and the prisoners were treated brutally by the guards and other prisoners. Much violence and death on this property. The prisoners were also used a free labor in the coal mines. Each cell had four prisoners assigned to it, but only two beds because they worked in 12 hour shifts - two in the cell and the other two in the mines, then they swapped out. I don't even want to think about sleeping on that bunk much less the conditions of the living spaces. By all accounts, this was one place nobody ever wanted to be sentenced to because if you didn't die in the mines, you would probably die by the hands of another inmate. It was very strange to see all of the people having fun in a place with such a horrible past.

Going into the restaurant from the gift shop/moonshine tasting room

Michele headed to the table after ordering

The food was really good!

This was "The Hole". If you were sent here, you may spend an entire month alone in complete darkness with a mattress and two buckets; one for fresh water and one for a toilet.

The walls were lined with artwork done by inmates - a picture of the artist accompanied each painting. Some of them were quite good.

The display cases were filled with all types of things - confiscated weapons, guard pics, letters to and from prisoners, newspaper articles about attempted escapes, etc. Very interesting. 

Watched a 20 minute movie then walked through the prison.

Hard to believe this prison just closed down 12 years ago. Being sentenced to this prison certainly would have been punishment.

This is the cafeteria. There were beautiful murals on every wall that were painted by prisoners.

This one over a tray return area really caught my eye...I can just imagine the guy painting it wishing he were there.

James Earl Ray was sentenced here to serve his time after being convicted in the assisination of MLK, Jr.

This was his cell until he tried to escape in 1977. When he was recaptured three days later, he was sentenced to the dreaded D block in isolation.

The Yard...now used for outdoor concerts and other events

The prison is on a mountain surrounds by dense forest and rocky terrain. If an inmate tried to escape, he better have a plan and not try to make it through the woods! Jame Earl Ray went over the wall in the yard and tried to go through the woods; he was captured three days later. 

Rich knew I wanted some pics of the area by their house, so he drove around and I hopped in and out of the car to take my pictures...thanks, Rich!

Back at the house, the roofers finished and were gone, but the window crew was there!

Meanwhile, inside I was having a whiskey tasting!

I think Kenneth may be dreaming of having this on his property one day...:)

Rich showing us the siding that will be going on the garage. Look how close a match it is to the brick on the house!

We're looking forward to seeing it all finished the next time we visit!