Columbia, Tennessee June 21 – June 26
Sevierville, Tennessee June 26 – July 1
This stop included a visit with Steve’s roommate from Johns Hopkins, Srikar Reddy. Srikar’s wife, Madhavi, planned our activities, made reservations, and overall ensured we had a good time.
The first day, we met Srikar and Madhavi for dinner at a local restaurant in Columbia – Puckett’s Restaurant. A local band played and they were pretty good.
Steve and I ventured off one day on our own to visit a presidential museum. I know – are there any left that we have not visited? The museum for James Knox Polk is located in Columbia, which he considered his home town. Often referred to as the “dark horse” President, James K. Polk was the last of the Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War. The museum is housed in the home originally owned by the president’s parents. Most of the furnishings art and other collectables descended directly through the Polk family and includes many objects owned and used by James and Sarah Polk personally. I enjoyed our tour and the museum was really well done.
The following are right to left top to bottom: James Polk, James Polk, Sarah Childress Polk (his wife) and Jane Knox Polk (his mother).
One night we had drinks and dinner at Srikar and Madhavi’s home. Their home was spectacular and Srikar made pizza on the deck. The company was the best part.
We visited a couple of breweries in town. Neither was anything special. We visited Bad Idea Brewing Company and Asgard Brewing Co. On our short stop in Sevierville, we went to Gatlinburg Brewing Company, which had really good beer.
Madhavi planned a day trip to taste Tennessee whiskey. The definition of Tennessee whiskey is a spirit manufactured in Tennessee; filtered through maple charcoal prior to aging, made from grain that consists of at least 51% corn, aged in new charred oak barrels. We, of course, visited the Jack Daniels Distillery. The tour was great and the grounds were beautiful. I did not like the whiskey.
We also tasted Tennessee whiskey at Nearest Green Distillery. This is a great story. Nearest Green (Uncle Nearest) was a slave owned by a local preacher who distilled spirits. Nearest was his distiller and trained a young boy named Jack. Yes – that Jack. Nearest never really received recognition. A few years ago, Fawn Weaver (she is a writer) read about the story and began researching the history and all of the details of the story of Uncle Nearest. Fortified with that information, she decided to open a distillery and the rest – as they say – is history. The tour was really good, the whiskey was delicious, and the restaurant was fantastic. Overall this was a definite highlight.
Madhavi kept us busy and on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we traveled to Arrington Vineyards and enjoyed a food and wine pairing. It was lovely. Afterwards we sat on the grounds and shared some wine with good friends. It was a nice ending to our visit with the Reddy’s.
We left Columbia and made a short stop in Sevierville, Tennessee, where we celebrated Steve’s birthday and then on to Franklin, North Carolina.
“My Old School” by Steely Dan. Steve picked this song because this stop on our journey focused around his friend from school — and it is a great song.