Sharing Cool Travel Spots

In late August, I was in Oklahoma; Larry took needed time away from boat projects to drive to Oklahoma to see mom and family and to pick me up. We picked a couple of places to stop and treat ourselves to two mini vacations on the way back to Brunswick.

First was Ernest Tubbs’ historic record shop in Nashville. In business for over 62 years, the shop specializes in hard-to-find recordings and still hosts a live radio music show from its own stage every Saturday night at midnight. A display of old albums had various price tags; those with the album still covered in plastic were marked several hundred dollars.www.etrecordshop.com

Our goal was to listen to live music, so our next stop was a few doors down the street where we had Bar-B-Q and listened to live music. The two guys were great musicians and did a nice job singing traditional country music.

We visited the famous Tootsies and several other fun bars, each one loud with live music. As the day turned into evening, the bars filled up with tourists and the bands cranked up. After exhausting ourselves and our eardrums, we called an end to super-fun day.

One surprising tourist attraction is Nashville’s Parthenon, the only full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition, the Parthenon serves as the city’s art museum and is the centerpiece of a beautifully landscaped urban park. The 42-foot Athena, placed in the center of the Parthenon, is the most striking feature. We really enjoyed the architecture, history and art. The cool morning was also perfect for a walk around the park’s water gardens.

We left the next morning with a course from Nashville to Birmingham, then a slow but beautiful drive across the Northeast Georgia mountains to Helen, Georgia. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Helen is a recreation of an alpine village. Complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers, the village boasts specialty and import shops offering everything from candle making to cuckoo clocks. Our pickup automatically turned into the winery at the edge of the village. Nice wines, great information. We bought a few bottles and were soon in our room at Unicoi State Park and Lodge. Set on a pristine lake in the midst of 1063 acres of woodland, the lodge, built in 1972, stands in the heart of the park. After a short hike on one of the trails, we had dinner in the lodge where we enjoyed fresh trout caught in the streams on the lodge grounds.

The next morning we were ready to see more of this beautiful area, so we hiked up to Anna Ruby Falls, a scenic recreational area that boasts twin water falls. Two thundering rush of water flowing over the rugged cliff face is created by two creeks that are fed by underground springs, rain, and snow.

A few hours later, we were famished when we sat down for lunch at the Old Bavarian Restaurant in downtown Helen. The marinated Reuben sandwiches and a German beer were satisfying and delicious. Plus the accordion player/singer, whose hometown was Munich, Germany was entertaining.

We can make the Oklahoma trip in two days, but adding our mini-vacations along the way makes the trip much more enjoyable and just added two extra fun-filled days.