Nashville: A southern experience

Tennessee is awesome!!! I had a wonderful 4-day trip to Tennessee with Jack and Maricel. It was a lot of fun, hehehehe with all the southern hospitality, accent, and country music ;o) I wanna say a HUGE thanks to Rosalind =D If it weren't for you, Ros, I wouldn't have thought of going to Tennessee. I had a really great trip to Tennessee. So, just to share my trip with you all.... hope that you enjoy some tales of my journey.

One of the highlights... On the way to Tennessee we hit a deer!!!!!! It was horrible! One moment we were admiring the cute deer running in front... then suddenly the deer was running straight into the highway!!! The deer rammed very hard on our windscreen and bounced on the top of the car... to the back... and finally off to the side of the road. We were shocked. Poor deer.... Jack was in a state of SHOCK. We had to stop for him to cool down...

After calming down, we drove on, and arrived in Memphis, where we visited Graceland, ELVIS PRESLEY's house!!!! It was amazing!!! I am NOT exaggerating...... I saw the mansion where he lived, swimming pool, his horses, estate and even his cemetary. There were many information about his family and background, how he went for military service and met his wife, and his records, movies and many many elvis costumes. Everything was really personal. I was touched by the mere fact that he came from a poor family, but till the day he died, family and charity was always his priority. The tour ended at the Meditation Garden,where Elvis and his family were buried. Personally, I am not an Elvis fan, but even then, the tour was really impressive and so personal. I would definitely recommend it if you guys are ever near Tennessee. Such an American experience!!

Then, we drove 4 hours to Nashville.... where we visited the 'Belle Meade Plantation', a 1853 mansion and plantation. Rosalind was with us too... The tour was like a step back in time. It was like a scene from 'Gone with the Winds'. That was the best part of the trip for me.... coz the place is so beautiful, the tour guide was hilarious, and there was a story to every room and furniture. The Belle Meade was the most famous estate that breeds the BEST thoroughbred racing horses in America prior to the civil war. Also, can you imagine... until today, ALL the horse racing champions for the past 10 years could be traced to a champion horse bred in Belle Meade it self!!!

At night, we went to this place called the 'Wildhorse Saloon'. Yes.......... its the place where Jack got 'kissed' by the female horse. If you dun know what am I talking about, take a look at the pictures Its a place to drink, dance, and listen to country music...... There's a HUGE dance floor for country dancing. When the song 'Sweet Home Alabama' came up, the crowd cheered and went crazy!! I 'tried' to do country dance.... and it was fun! ;o) (I just wished they played Cottoneyed Joe)

From Nashville, we had a 5-hour drive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove straight right up to the highest peak and slept in the car!!! It was soooooooooo cold. It felt like 5 degrees celcius. We were frozen hard by the time we woke up. BUT..... it was really worthwhile coz I saw the MOST beautiful sunrise ever!!!! Check out the pics. Picture perfect... postcard pictures! We climbed right to the highest peak... and it was so beautiful! We could see 4 states from the peak.

From there, we took a 40 minutes scenic drive across the Great Smoky Mountains to North Carolina, where we visited the Cherokee Indian reservation. At the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, I learnt quite a lot about the history and lifestyle of the Cherokee Indians. It was sad, hearing the stories of how the Red Indians suffered in the hands of the 'white' people. They were betrayed so many times, and they were forced to walk the Trail of Tears, where they were forced to evacuate from their homeland, in order to give space to the 'white' people. 14,000 people started the journey.... and 4,000 died on the way due to lack of food, shelter and medicine.

At the Cherokee Indian Cultural Village, we witnessed and learnt about their homes 500 years ago, finger weaving, beadwork, canoe making, the clan system, festivals... and not forgetting some Indian weapons. Today, the Cherokee Indians live a typical american lifestyle and most of them have american names. However, they still keep their clan system, crafts, cultural dance and games.
(hah... another history lesson!! )

From there, we journeyed 3.5 hours to the beautiful city of Chattanooga. And.... this may seem a little coincidental, but Chattanooga was the site that witnessed one the bloodiest Civil War battles between the Confederate and the Union armies. One of the coolest place we visited there was the Ruby Falls. It has the world's highest single plunge underground waterfall, and it is actually located underground. The distance from the surface to the underground cave is the height of the Empire State Buidling!! The waterfall and the cave system is really beautiful.

It was a long and tiring trip, coz we drove all the time, AND... I had to keep Mr. Jack Tan Chin Chye company most of the time. He kept hitting me everytime i dozed off beside him. The worst was the drive home from Chattanooga to St. Louis... coz we were on the road for 10 freaking hours. Wah lau eh........... damn tired. Sitting zombies... Summore, we got caught in a tornado... and had to stop at a gas station for shelter. 1 hour just waiting like bodoh kia. (Bodoh kia... means stupid fellas in English ) It was really scary, coz our car was shaking from the strong wind. I have NEVER experienced these kind of tornado in my life!

So... that kinda marks the end of my trip to Tennessee. Ros... Mari... Jack... muaks!!!!!! Besos!!!!
(once back in St. Louis, the word spread quickly of the deer incident..... and JACK is henced named as the famous 'Bambi Killer'!!!)