The Way I See It: Nooks and Crannies

Last Monday, Feb 25th, was a beautiful, warm day to ferret out some more nooks and crannies. We got an early start (yes, I was up early) and headed northwest on I-24 toward Nashville. Our destination was the University of the South, also known as Sewanee University in Sewanee, Tn., and to also pay a visit to Jack Daniels. Sewanee is an Episcopalian university established in 1857 by Gen. Leonidas K. Polk and others. For years prior to that, families in the South sent their sons north to receive an education -- there weren't any significant universities in the South. The trouble was their boys "came home filled with all sorts of Yankee ideas"! Gen. Polk and friends donated 10,000 acres (now 13,000 - mostly forest) atop the Cumberland Plateau and began to build their university out of the native sandstone and in the fashion of the old English schools such as Oxford University in England. According to a clerk we conversed with, the enrollment now is around 1,500 students. Anne and I were both simply stunned when we got there and drove around. First of all, it sits high atop a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The buildings are all in the Gothic style with spires rising everywhere. Magnificent! As we drove around between classes we noticed that probably half the boys wore sport coats and ties and about the same amount of girls wearing skirts and dresses. Tradition according to our conversation at the book store. And there were a few of both sexes wearing lightweight black gowns over their clothing. Again, according to our source, tradition, those students with outstanding grades belong to The Order of the Gownsmen and are expected to wear their gowns to class. We saw a lot of happy, smiling students. All Saints Church is undoubtedly the most architecturally significant building on campus.

We were told we could just walk in and look around. Stunning! (For more pictures of the interior, see them posted on our Picasa site.) The stained glass windows and pipe organ just rendered us speechless. Such friendly people and one took us to see the small chapel inside. The beauty here today was just overwhelming. Everyone we talked to was so friendly, kind, helpful, and proud of their school and its history. See more at http://www.sewanee.edu/.

We left about noon hoping to dine at Miss Mary Bobo's in Lynchburg at 1:00 pm, the only seating that day. Miss Mary ran a boarding house in Lynchburg for years that was a favorite of Jack Daniel. (She holds the distinction of being the oldest woman to ever appear in the pages of Playboy magazine. She was ninety-nine years old and appeared in a Jack Daniels advertisement urging people to send her birthday wishes.) It soon became apparent we would not be there in time however. We ended up eating at the only open restaurant in town -- the Bar-B-Que Caboose Cafe!

Oh boy, Anne's favorite! :) But it really was good food. The switch from an Episcopalian university to a whiskey distillery was a little jarring, but we had always seen a lot of advertising about visiting "Jack" in Lynchburg. Lynchburg is a small town -- maybe a few hundred people. Having toured distilleries of Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, and Woodford Reserve last summer in Kentucky, we had an idea of what we would see. The major difference being Jack and his charcoal filtering.

Anne and Jack standing in front of "THE cave" that provides all of the water for the distillery. Tours are free and we had a guide with a truly dry, but great sense of humor. (Again, there are more pictures on our Picasa site.) For lots more interesting and historical info, visit their website, http://www.jackdaniels.com/.

Along the way, in a small town named Cowan, we saw one of the last remaining houses bought from Sears and Roebuck in the early 1900's and still doing pleasant duty as a private residence.