Traveling When We Can

Saturday April 13, 2024

Franklin TN to Tuscumbia AL

We were up early as we are not adjusted to Central Time! We checked out the breakfast at the Clarion Inn - not up to our standards so we headed out. Found gas right down the street for a really great price $3.79 so filled up and headed on towards the Trace. We opted out of eating at the Loveless Cafe which sits at the entrance to the Trace. We have been there before; and while it is an iconic location it would be very time consuming. We discovered both the museums we want to visit in Florence are closed on Sunday, so we are going to visit both today - not enough time for waiting to eat at Loveless. We settled for a Waffle House breakfast and it was good. Had not been in one for years.

We drove through Brentwood - beautiful huge homes - and then suddenly we were at the Loveless and drove right onto the Trace. So peaceful and beautiful. Very little traffic other than bikes - both motor bikes and the pedal variety. We lost count. The dogwood was beautiful and almost all the trees were turning green. We did pass an occasional car, but I bet we did not see more than 10 all morning. We did see lots of turkeys and buzzards. Also, some wildflowers - yellow rocket, daisies, may apples, Solomon seal, and of course lots of dogwood and a variety of Rhodendron that Ben identified as a species unusual in east TN - it was a beautiful pink color but I got no photos.

We came to the area where Meriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died. He was buried there after being shot by his own hand the story goes. We visited a while with a volunteer who is camping here for 3 months. His wife is working remotely and he is volunteering as a guide. She has to work 6 more months and then they are off on lots of adventure around the US. We were glad to pick up a park map. I had the map on my tablet and we were using one of the i-phones for a hotspot. Worked great until cell service went out! This is a rather remote area. We continued on down the trace still not seeing much traffic and passed the TN /AL state line. There are lots of spots where you can view the original trace. Soon we found the road to Florence and headed the 15 miles to the Rosenbaum Frank Lloyd Wright House Museum. We arrived a little after noon. I went in to buy tickets for the next tour - it was to begin as soon as enough (about 10) people gathered. We popped back into the van and ate a quick lunch and were ready when the tour group came out.

The house was all Jane had hoped it would be. Very modern design (built in the late 1930's) known as Usonian - horizontal lines connect the home to the land. Materials were cypress, glass, brick, and concrete. Every room had access to the outside and all the original furniture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was intact. The rooms were small but so open and the light was fantastic. This house is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in the southeast. The city of Florence negotiated with the Rosenbaum widow when she had to leave the home. She and her husband had been the only family to live in the home. It was built by them as a gift from his father when they married, and they remained in the home until she left for assisted living. The city of Florence did a wonderful job preserving and restoring the home to its glory. The roof needed work and they had to add a heating and cooling system. The fee was very reasonable - $5!!! Ben loved seeing the construction details and house plans. Jane loved the design and all the bookshelves and storage. The original kitchen was tiny and the second kitchen added when Frank Lloyd Wright designed an addition when their family outgrew the original house; was not much larger. I believe this home is one of the only homes he designed that also had an addition he designed in his later years.

We then headed to the Indian Mound Museum. It was interesting but a little underwhelming. They did have nice exhibits of arrowheads and celts. The mound itself is quite large. You can see the steps in the photo and - you guessed it we did not climb up to the top. The mound is 42 feet tall and the area on top is 145 x 94 feet. Interestingly there were no more than 10 parking spots. The area is right beside the Tennessee River in Florence and to be honest hard to find even with the Waze navigation system.

Our greatest challenge of the day was finding our hotel. But in the end Waze did its job and we were in a nice Comfort Inn suite for a nap. Ben took a nap and Jane did a bit of research to decide on a restaurant - the one selected in her original research before we left home. We ate dinner at Champy's Fried Chicken. It was indeed tasty hot fried chicken with a slight bit of heat. The sides were good too. We felt right at home - near our table on an outside dining area was a huge Mason-Dixon Trucking sign!