I apologize profusely for the length of time it has taken me to document our travels in the far away land of TN. Therefore without further ado I will present to you the second and final part of our trip. Do enjoy!
Twas Saturday morning and the last day of our stay down in Franklin, that found us headed to the Gentry Farm. Now if you happen not to know of Mr. Gentry and his story, I suggest you acquire his documentary (An American Adventure) or his book (An American life). I will not take the time to explain now:)
The farms biggest business is the growing and selling of pumpkins. They said that they only got half of their normal amount, but it sure looked like a lot to me still;)
There were pumpkins everywhere, on trucks, in fields, and stacked in piles.
But as you can see, pumpkins were by no means the only attraction on the farm. There was a matching place for all the adorable tipsy signs on the pole. I believe we visited them all too!
First coming into sight on the left, was the tobacco barn. No longer holding tobacco, but instead a whole maze of fun child size games and so much to do and see. I deeply regretted having such a tall heritage, and being 18 instead of 8;)
Then of course there was the animals, which we all flocked to. There were two pygmy goats as well as sage looking sandy, a big female Nubian with a beard.
But the highlight of our visit to the farm, one that was not listed on the signs, was getting to meet Mr. Jimmy Gentry in person. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that the time we spent talking to Mr. Gentry was the best part of our trip. Mr. Gentry is not only a very kind and pleasant gentleman, but he also has countless stories hidden up his sleeve.
He was kind enough to tell us some, and we stood entranced as he poured forth the tales of his ancestors living on the farm, of the Indians that lived in the area, and of all the artifacts he had found as a child and even now. It was so interesting that I had the audacity to video tape some of his stories and wish my computer wasn't so slow, so I could share them with you.
Mr. Gentry's talents are not confined only to story telling. He is also a great artist, as showcased on the cute Gourds that were for sale on a table near by, and in his ice house which is a story of its own.
Mr. Reiche had been down to the Gentry farm a few times before, and had told the Gentry's all about us and the expected sojourn. So the Gentry's were all kindness and generosity, to the point that we actually got VIP treatment when we went on the hay ride. Mr. Gentry told us to tell the driver, to drop us off in front of the Gentry house, and we could look around all we wanted, in the ice house, at the horses, and sit on the swing. Ahh Blissful hours those.
This is where you would have found us for the next 45 minutes or so. It was quite a hot day, but underneath the shade of the enormous maple tree, and rocking in one of the nicest placed swings, with the view of the entire farm stretched before us, it was quite comfortable.
The architecture of the different buildings was amazing, and if I had time I would describe them all to you, but I don't, so you will have to be content with pictures.
The next stop was Mr. Gentry's Ice house, where he does all his paintings, and also where his sweet darling Golden retriever Belle was closed up because the dear thing is just a bit too friendly with everyone! So we consoled her a best as we could as she wiggled and wagged her way around the room, hardly stopping for a picture.
Though Belle was definitely the darlingest thing in the room, there were many interesting sights to hold your attention, including all these artifacts found around the farm and all of Mr. Gentry's paintings.
After visiting the sweet horses behind the house, we made our way back to the main part of the farm.
We did take another hay ride so we could see the sweet cows again. Number 10 was the sweetest thing, very curious and incredibly cute.
We spent a bit more time with Mr. Gentry before heading back to our hotel, having our last lunch on the Franklin square, and having a wonderful time of games in our rooms, before hitting our beds (literally;) to prepare in slumber for the next days journey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the road stretched before us and passed slowly by, as mile by mile, hours by hour we made our way homeward.
As on our way down, we stopped in Kentucky for lunch, the beautiful trees greeted us and made a canopy over us!
We raced a train across the Ohio river on our way to Michigan.
And then the happy sight, Michigan here we come!
It was a glorious "memory for a life time" trip! We are very thankful to Mr. Reiche for thinking of, and sponsoring the trip, and to God for keeping us safe and having the weather be so beautiful!!!
Twas Saturday morning and the last day of our stay down in Franklin, that found us headed to the Gentry Farm. Now if you happen not to know of Mr. Gentry and his story, I suggest you acquire his documentary (An American Adventure) or his book (An American life). I will not take the time to explain now:)
The farms biggest business is the growing and selling of pumpkins. They said that they only got half of their normal amount, but it sure looked like a lot to me still;)
There were pumpkins everywhere, on trucks, in fields, and stacked in piles.
But as you can see, pumpkins were by no means the only attraction on the farm. There was a matching place for all the adorable tipsy signs on the pole. I believe we visited them all too!
First coming into sight on the left, was the tobacco barn. No longer holding tobacco, but instead a whole maze of fun child size games and so much to do and see. I deeply regretted having such a tall heritage, and being 18 instead of 8;)
Then of course there was the animals, which we all flocked to. There were two pygmy goats as well as sage looking sandy, a big female Nubian with a beard.
But the highlight of our visit to the farm, one that was not listed on the signs, was getting to meet Mr. Jimmy Gentry in person. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that the time we spent talking to Mr. Gentry was the best part of our trip. Mr. Gentry is not only a very kind and pleasant gentleman, but he also has countless stories hidden up his sleeve.
He was kind enough to tell us some, and we stood entranced as he poured forth the tales of his ancestors living on the farm, of the Indians that lived in the area, and of all the artifacts he had found as a child and even now. It was so interesting that I had the audacity to video tape some of his stories and wish my computer wasn't so slow, so I could share them with you.
Mr. Gentry's talents are not confined only to story telling. He is also a great artist, as showcased on the cute Gourds that were for sale on a table near by, and in his ice house which is a story of its own.
Mr. Reiche had been down to the Gentry farm a few times before, and had told the Gentry's all about us and the expected sojourn. So the Gentry's were all kindness and generosity, to the point that we actually got VIP treatment when we went on the hay ride. Mr. Gentry told us to tell the driver, to drop us off in front of the Gentry house, and we could look around all we wanted, in the ice house, at the horses, and sit on the swing. Ahh Blissful hours those.
This is where you would have found us for the next 45 minutes or so. It was quite a hot day, but underneath the shade of the enormous maple tree, and rocking in one of the nicest placed swings, with the view of the entire farm stretched before us, it was quite comfortable.
The architecture of the different buildings was amazing, and if I had time I would describe them all to you, but I don't, so you will have to be content with pictures.
The next stop was Mr. Gentry's Ice house, where he does all his paintings, and also where his sweet darling Golden retriever Belle was closed up because the dear thing is just a bit too friendly with everyone! So we consoled her a best as we could as she wiggled and wagged her way around the room, hardly stopping for a picture.
Though Belle was definitely the darlingest thing in the room, there were many interesting sights to hold your attention, including all these artifacts found around the farm and all of Mr. Gentry's paintings.
After visiting the sweet horses behind the house, we made our way back to the main part of the farm.
We did take another hay ride so we could see the sweet cows again. Number 10 was the sweetest thing, very curious and incredibly cute.
We spent a bit more time with Mr. Gentry before heading back to our hotel, having our last lunch on the Franklin square, and having a wonderful time of games in our rooms, before hitting our beds (literally;) to prepare in slumber for the next days journey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the road stretched before us and passed slowly by, as mile by mile, hours by hour we made our way homeward.
As on our way down, we stopped in Kentucky for lunch, the beautiful trees greeted us and made a canopy over us!
We raced a train across the Ohio river on our way to Michigan.
And then the happy sight, Michigan here we come!
It was a glorious "memory for a life time" trip! We are very thankful to Mr. Reiche for thinking of, and sponsoring the trip, and to God for keeping us safe and having the weather be so beautiful!!!
~Chs
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