Day 18
April 18, 2023
With no breakfast at the Econolodge, it was another Waffle House breakfast, conveniently located across the street. Something you don't want to hear while having your breakfast, "Who washed these?" Apparently the overnight dishwasher wasn't exactly doing a thorough job. They would have to rewash it all. For some reason, I got the impression this wasn't the first time.
With plenty of time for the day, I drove over to the railroad crossroads that gave Corinth its name.
These crossroads also made Corinth an important city during the Civil War. In late April, 1862, Union forces laid siege to he city. It took a month, but the city and vital crossroads fell.
That October, Confederate forces tried to retake the city. They realized to pull it off, it would have to be a surprise. But, the defending army knew they were coming, and from which direction. While the Confederate army did have some early success, they were pushed back and Union remained in control of the city.
Across the state line in Tennessee sits Big Hill Pond State Park. There's a sign on the road just before the entrance to the park. Naturally, I was curious.
There are a whole bunch of trails in the park and I cold have easily spent a second day here. A boardwalk trail I was considering was closed, They told me a tree had fallen across the boardwalk and taken out a few feet. But, the 4.75 mile Big Hill Pond Trail was open.
I also asked about the Wooten Bridge. They told the new owner of the property had put up a gate. So, no access to the bridge. The crazy thing is, I couldn't find anything about it on line. The best I could do was an aerial view from Google Earth.
The trail begins at the end of a surprisingly well maintained gravel road. It begins on the edge of Big Hill Pond. That's an active railroad on the far side. I heard numerous trains rumbling by, but never got lucky enough to see one.
Other than a few downed branches, the trail seemed in pretty good shape.
I hit this point in the trail and somehow missed the turnoff on the left. There IS a marker, I just missed it.
I had gone a while, wondering why the trail seemed to be getting more and more overgrown the further I walked. When I got here, I pulled the map out and contemplated.
Once I got back on the trail, I was fine. A few more yellow blazes would have been nice though.
This yellow marker took me a while to find, for obvious reasons.
While the park is named after the pond, Travis McNatt Lake is also in the park.
Just for kicks, I drove through the city of Savannah, TN the self proclaimed Catfish Capital of the World.
Feeling threatened by the new sheriff, a group of moonshiners jumped him, stabbed him and left him for dead. He survived and decided to get tough. In his first year, he raided forty-two stills and arrested seventy-five moonshiners. In his second year, he went after illegal gambling houses and prostitution.
Eventually, Hollywood came calling and the first Walking Tall film was the result. While in negotiations for the sequel, Pusser was involved in a single vehicle accident that cost him his life.
It's hard to miss the memorial marker on the site of the crash.
Then into the town of Columbia. That's where you'll find the viking themes Asgard Brewing Company, complete with a food truck outside serving barbecue.
About half the beer inside had viking sounding names and the ones I tried were really good. Molly was great and happy to give samples of anything the customers asked for. As for the food truck, I did get a barbecue sandwich.
When I walked out to head back to the car, the guy in the truck asked, "how was it?" So, I told him. The sandwich was really good. The coleslaw... superb. I promise that's the last one for this trip. But, it really was good.
My home for the night was in Murfreesboro at your typical Days Inn.
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