Tour de Family

For several years three families with generational ties to Haverhill, have embarked on a week long road trip, traveling the highways and by-ways of different regions of America. As part of these sojourns we enjoy visits to noteworthy historic places such as presidential monuments, homesteads, birthplaces and an occasional battlefield. To counter-balance such intellectual endeavors we always try to add a few adventuresome outings and amusements along the way. In June, 2008 fourteen members of the McKenzie, Splaine and Veasey families ranging from ages seventeen to fifty-eight explored Kentucky and Tennessee with brief passages through Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina.

After our Sky Bus reservations to Columbus, Ohio were disrupted by the discount airline’s sudden financial demise we scrambled to re-route our plans through Indianapolis which was the most economical destination flight by way of US Airways. Upon arrival we secured three rental vehicles and sped to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a rainy drive-by before paying a brief tribute to President Benjamin Harrison’s final resting place at nearby Crown Hill Cemetery. An added surprise was finding the grave of 1920’s notorious bank robber and former public enemy number one, John Dillinger in the same cemetery. After bidding goodbye to a small heard of deer that roamed the enclave, we cruised down US Routes 70 and 75 to Cincinnati and our lodging just across the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky. These are interesting river towns and that evening we boarded a convenient shuttle bus outside our hotel to attend the Cincinnati Reds - Boston game at Great American Ball Park just across the river with excellent seats but a disappointing Red Sox defeat.

By the next morning we were off and running early, with our first stop at the State Capitol Building in Frankfort, Kentucky. This was one of the grandest of the many state capitols we have visited. The rotunda, which is topped by a massive 190’ dome is copied from the one over Napoleon's tomb in the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. Thirty-six granite columns, 26 feet tall and weighing 10 tons apiece, adorn the capitol's nave, with murals depicting the West Appalachian frontier at either end. The east mural depicts Daniel Boone and his men seeing the Bluegrass for the first time from a Pilot Knob in Powell County; the west mural shows Boone and the Transylvania Co. negotiating with the Cherokee Indians for the land known as "Kentucky." Outside, colorful gardens adorn the greenway leading to the Capitol steps. A quick drive over hill and dale lead us to the grave of Daniel Boone and a breathtaking view across the valley back toward Frankfort and the capitol. After another driving sprint we arrived in Louisville for a fun tour of the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Factory and Museum. We made a brief pilgrimage to the Lincoln one-room log cabin, symbolically preserved but never authenticated in Hodgenville, KY then on to Mammoth Caves for a rustic stay in 1960‘s style vacation cabins. Within Mammoth Cave National Park lies the most extensive cave system on earth, with over 350 miles of passageways mapped and surveyed. The next morning after a hearty breakfast of grits and johnny-cakes most of our team explored the two mile, two hour “Historic Tour” which tested both legs and nerve through challenging passageways like “fat man’s misery” and an awesome walk-over by “bottomless pit.” Upon our emergence from the underworld we were on the road again and soon traveling the Blue Star Memorial Highway in Tennessee heading for Nashville but pleasantly detoured by a splendid “must see” visit to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s homestead and a stunning ante-bellum plantation now restored as a museum dedicated to our seventh president, Old Hickory.

Music City was our end-of-day destination which was ideal as Nashville is a town that seems to come alive at night. Along Broadway, the Stage and other honky-tonk music clubs filled the air with music while we dined at Jack’s, a real Tennessee barbeque joint for ribs and a cold beer. We wandered afterwards at dusk, through the city's earthy neighborhoods to the Parthenon, the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park, taking in the scenes and soaking up the sounds. This was indeed where bluegrass music was born and several of our band visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum the next day. A quick drive through visit to Vanderbilt University and we were on our way to Knoxville for a brief visit to Neyland Stadium, home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team and a stop at the UT Bookstore to buy some orange apparel.

Next, East Tennessee and Gatlinburg and nearby Dollywood, the theme park created by country music legend Dolly Parton. This is not on par with other amusement parks that our crew has experienced in past trips, but still a fun diversion along the way to the Great Smoky Mountains. Several of us attended a Tennessee Smokies double-A minor league baseball night game. By daylight, the accents were definitely getting thicker the further south we traveled, and emblems of Dixie were all about. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park sits astride the Tennessee-North Carolina border amid the majestic southern climax of the Appalachian Highlands. Route 441 into the park was picturesque and the heartier members of our group hiked one of the park’s more challenging trails amid lush forest and even a bear sighting. Lunch was close by at the Cherokee Indian Reservation.

North Carolina and the Biltmore Estate was the final leg of our journey. We stayed our first night in Asheville, a city that has the feel of a college town and seems quite livable with many excellent restaurants to choose from. On our second day we splurged at the Inn on Biltmore Estate just outside Asheville. The nearby Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-inspired chateau built by George Washington Vanderbilt between 1888 and 1895. It is the largest privately owned home in the U.S. and is one of the most prominent remaining examples of the gilded age. In addition to the tour of the mansion we enjoyed walking among the lavish gardens and wine tasting at the winery.

This was a fast moving, no time for lollygagging seven days, six nights road trip with a flexible itinerary and a desire to have a thoroughly enjoyable experience in fascinating parts of our great country. In years to come we will recall that we made our way caravan style, equipped with walkie-talkies to keep in constant contact for almost a thousand miles, through five states, seven metropolitan cities, numerous county seats and two national parks. Our accommodations were varied but always clean and welcoming by days end. The people we met along the way were mostly friendly, and generous of their time and knowledge. We will surely plan again for another year in another region with new parks, new cities, ballparks and of course historic places of monumental interest.