Sunday, March 30

Bob had a great hiked planned for the day and weather report looked promising for a rain free day. We got up at 5:30, had coffee and then headed to downtown Nashville.

 

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This is just a bit down the road from Bob's house. I noticed it on the drive in and asked him about it. Apparently a nearby piece of property with a house was sold to a developer. Rather than demolish the house the developer decided to have it moved and arranged for a house mover to take care of it.

Well, I guess someone neglected to check the route and as the house was being hauled down the road it was sideswiping utility poles, trees and taking out mail boxes. Th police were called, the driver was stopped and asked for his permits. He has none. He was asked if he knew he would not be able to get across a bridge just a short distance away. He said he knew nothing about it and was just told to move the house.

So, he was told to get the house off the road and leave it until it could all be straightened out, and there is sits much to the consternation of the neighbors who have to look at it every day.

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Just in case someone mistakes it for a rental unit.

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Next stop - breakfast! This cafe has been around for long time and was often frequented by local muscians both famous and not. It also did a brisk business with the staff of the hospital accross the road. When it closed, the cafe almost di as well. But it has hung on.

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The old hospital is now being renovated for luxury apartments. The project is now in it's third year and still looks like it ahs a ways to go.

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The place is definetly a greasy spoon and concentrates on the feed, no the decor.

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Bob and I both ordered country fried steak - a real artery clogger.

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Bob got his eggs scrambled and had the home fries substitutd with tomatoes - a smart move.

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I got the fries and eggs over easy. The steak is smothered in sausage gravy. Mmm, mmm, good!

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"Down the hatch!" as my dad used to day.

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Looking towards downtown Nashville from the diner. The prominant building in middle is the Bell South building. Some of the locals refer to it as the "Bat Building".

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Soon we were at Radnor Lake - a heavily used recreation and wilderness area which is surrounded by houses. The temp was in the low 60s and it was mostly cloudy and calm. Good hiking weather.

A Railroad.
A Water Supply.
And the Beginning of Radnor Lake.

In 1913 the L & N Railroad Company purchased a thousand acres in the Overton hills south of Nashville for the purpose of constructing an earthen reservoir large enough to supply water for its steam engines and livestock at nearby Radnor Yards.

It was also intended to provide a private hunting and fishing preserve for L&N officials and their guests. But soon after construction, birds discovered the haven too and began feeding and resting there during their annual migration.

Efforts to preserve the Radnor Lake area began in 1923 when an L&N executive stopped all hunting and fishing and declared the site a "Wildlife Sanctuary" at the request of the Tennessee Ornithological Society. The beginning of Radnor Lake as we know it today was born.

60 Years Later...

During the six decades that followed, still under ownership of the L&N, Radnor Lake went almost unnoticed by the greater community. Neighbors quietly hiked and biked around the lake and over the hills, enjoying the songbirds and flowers that had found refuge there. And children were certain to find the frozen lake irresistible in winter. But when the area was purchased in 1962 by a construction firm planning a housing development, public sentiment echoed from ridge to ridge.

After several years of grass roots work, creative thinking, fundraising, political action and last-minute heroics by dedicated conservationists and enlightened leaders, 747 acres of land were preserved in 1973 as Radnor Lake-Tennessee's first natural area and protected eco-system.

Source: Friends of Radnor Lake

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This fellow was busy taking care of down trees and limbs. On our two seperate visits to Radnor we saw a significant number of blow downs.

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Every where we looked the ground was covered with Spring Wildflowers. This is Dwarf Larkspur (Delphinium tricorne).

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There area several nice bridges spanning the low, wet area.

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This is Cut-leaved Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) a very commn and abundant speing wildflower in the Central Eastern States.

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Bob the TreeHugger! We saw many fine specimens like the Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

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More Toothwort growing amonst Fragile Ferns.

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The are the appropriately named "Dutchman's Breeches" (Dicentra cucullaria)

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This is Early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis) nestled against the base of a large Oak tree.

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The delicate apperence of this plant belies the fact it grows primarily on dry rocky, wooded slopes.

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In some areas the were dense patches of the Saaxifrage.

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I thought this lichen covered boulder was really cool looking.

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One of the most abundant trees at Radnor is Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). I thought this was a particularly beautiful speeciman beacause of the heavily buttressed trunk.

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We hiked about 4 miles and went on both the western and eastern ridge top trails.

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This is the largest burl I have ever seen!

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I could not determine what species of tree this was but I thought the bark was very distinct.

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This is the Causeway Trail which is on top of the dam.

We got back to Bob's house around 3:00 and then worked on scanning some old camp photos and looked at some old slides which were taken by his parents, Bill and Lee.

Bill and Lee Doherty at Terra Alta Mountain Camp circa 1978.

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Around 5:00 we headed over to a local chain join called O'Charley's. Bob's girl friend Adah was working there and she wanted to meet me.

For dinner I had what can only be described as a very average and overpriced steak salad. Then it was back to Bob's to whatch the remake of "3:10 to Yuma" and on to bed.

Another full, fun filled day!

 

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