The beauty and bounty of Tennessee!

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Drove to Franklin, TN on Halloween.  Stopped at a McDonald's for a pit stop and this is what we saw.

Tennessee in the fall is beautiful!  The weather has been terrific with cool crisp mornings - perfect for driving around the countryside and hiking, of course.  We were struck by the number of large estates in the area.  It turns out to be one of the wealthiest locations in the state.  Many estates had horses, too.



Hiking near Franklin (near Nashville) and Cleveland (near Chattanooga).  The fall colors were amazing!




We started our hike way down near the lake - several miles away and 1500 feet lower in elevation.
Stopped at an apple orchard and tried a fried apple pie and apple turnover.  Yes, we bought apples too.
We walked the battlefields of Chickamauga.  The Confederate army won a decisive victory here in September 1863.  Both sides lost 20% of their forces in the battle.  Chickamauga was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War behind the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union army retook the area months later.  Farmers and their families were forced to flee their land.

President Lincoln's brother-in-law Confederate Brig General Benjamin Helm fought and died during this battle.  It is said that President Lincoln was hurt as much by his death as his own son Willie's death a year earlier. 
States that sent troops to Chickamauga have erected monuments in their soldiers' honor.
The Snodgrass farmhouse.  Quite a bit smaller than the houses of today.
Driving between Franklin and Cleveland between the mountains was very picturesque.

For those of you wondering where the food pictures are.....stopped for pizza and a beer one day after hiking.  
We ate frozen custard at Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers for the first time.  The pumpkin pie flavor was to die for!  Yummy!  Ate it too fast to get a picture.

In closing, the best thing about fall is the lack of bugs biting us.  For some reason, bugs love to fly into Donna's eyes - not sure why, maybe the color contrast attracts them or maybe it's the eye liquid.  Anyway, spent a while fishing one out at the end of a hike today.  For those of you who are squeamish - don't look!
Leaving Cleveland in the morning and on our way to Madison, AL to see son Kalen and daughter-in-law Amber.  Can't wait!

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