School is almost out! It’s time to start thinking about summer vacations, but money is going to be tight this summer. Not too sure what to tell the family about taking a trip? Consider a staycation!
Have you ever walked through a home built over 200 years ago and wondered what it would have been like to actually live in a different time than today? Or imagined what it felt like to travel by horse and wagon, boat or just walk from places like Virginia or North Carolina to where you will live with your family in a new unsettled place?
I don’t know about you but I have pondered these ideas and wanted to know what it was like to live back then, but realistically, I am very satisfied to live in my current day and time. I enjoy traveling by car, train or plane. I love air conditioning, heaters, getting my food from the grocery store and being pampered at the beauty salon. I do; however, care about our history. I love to visit historic places. If you were thinking that money is a little tight this year and a trip to Disney World or the beach is not going to be affordable this year, think locally.
We have some wonderful historic places right here in Sumner and Robertson Counties that will take you to another place and time, be educational, fun, inexpensive and you can sleep in your own bed at the end of the day.
There are too many historic places to name them all but consider visiting Historic Rock Castle (not really a castle) built in the 18th Century by General Daniel Smith, the man who named the State of Tennessee, located in Hendersonville, or Mansker’s Station Frontier Life Center in Goodlettsville, built around 1779. The costumed staff explains the history of the region’s earliest settlement.
Historic Cragfont in Castalian Springs and the Douglas-Clark House, built in 1786 are beautiful and has guided tours. If you venture into Robertson County be sure to visit Cross Plains, the first settlement in the county established in 1778, stop in at historic Thomas Drugs
for the best milk shake you have ever had. The Bell Witch Cave is just down the road a few miles. No supernatural story in American history is more famous than that of the Bell Witch. Even President Andrew Jackson visited Adams TN to have a talk with the witch. A visit to the Robertson County History Museum is a great place to learn about the history of the county and the tobacco wars. Who would have known you could have a war over a tobacco plant!
All of these locations and a multitude of others are just waiting for you to visit. They are nearby, inexpensive and educational. The scenery is beautiful with winding, country roads that will cause you to relax and reflect on a different time, saving money all at the same time. So if money is tight this year, take those day trips close to home, learn about our history and get back to quiet side of life. Your family will thank you and your wallet will, too!! There is always the beach next year!
