Davy Crockett Days

Davy, oh Davy Crockett. King of the Wild Fronte-er! You hear that line in your head don’t you?

My son is reading the Narrative of the Life of David Crockett for his English lessons right now. He is annotating and making sure he understands the words and themes. He enjoys the fact that Davy Crockett lived in Tennessee and that there is history here to see. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Tennessee State Museum and saw the tiny section on Davy Crockett but we were not satisfied. I did a little research and found out you can visit the Davy Crockett Cabin in Rutherford Tennessee. I also found out that last week was Davy Crockett Days! The only day we could go was Saturday, but that was a good day to go as the town was finishing up the celebration with booths and a parade!

Rutherford is about two and half hours away from Nashville and over an hour of that time is spent on tiny back roads passing things like the cows, stray dogs, fields, the army munitions plant, and not many other cars. It was the first real fall day after the last month of roasting so the drive was lovely. We even all wore sweatshirts or jackets! Hallelujah!

When we got to Rutherford the party was in full gear. The booths were all set up and we drove in straight down main street. There was one blinking light and one turn to get to the Davy Crockett Cabin. I saw on the website that it cost $3 for adults and $1 for kids but the gentleman at the door said that there wasn’t really a charge this week because of Davy Crockett Days. There was a jar on the counter though were you could leave a donation. The guide welcomed us and told us the history of the cabin…which turns out not to be the original cabin or location of the last place Davy Crockett lived. However, there is a photo on the wall of his original cabin and all of the boards that were used to build the current cabin are marked. In the 1930’s (it is very weird to me that in 10 years we will have to actually use 1930’s to describe the ’30’s!) when the Crockett cabin was being demolished the Mayor encouraged salvaging what they could to build a replica cabin with the original materials. Local families donated period pieces to furnish the cabin. While not completely original to Davy Crockett it was still interesting to see and to think about Davy Crockett living in that type of cabin.

We checked out all of the nooks and crannies of the cabin which left us with about two hours to kill until time for the parade. That means we checked out the entire town and still had an hour and forty minutes until the parade. Rutherford is quite tiny but has a lot of charm and the people are incredibly friendly. We decided to check out all of the booths and discovered that they were almost all church booths selling food. There were also several booths in front of the shops selling all kinds of things. The drugstore had a table out front and I realized I had not planned very well as each booth only took cash. My husband and I pooled our resources and discovered we had $21 between the two of us. Even though the drugstore only took cash outside we were able to go in an make a purchase of a model cabin and drinks! Think Lincoln Logs only much smaller. Yay for one more literature related project! We made our way back to the booths to see what we could get for lunch on our extremely limited budget. Now, when you are in Nashville and eat at a food truck you can expect to pay quite a bit. For the grand sum of $18 we got a loaded baked potato with pulled pork, cheese, butter, chives, and bacon bits. A burger with fries and a drink, and deep fried Philly cheesesteak burrito fries and a drink. There were a few tables scattered around so I sat with two ladies who looked friendly while the boys were still in line for their food. The one lady had grown up in Rutherford and told me all about the car dealership her daddy had owned that burned down. She pointed out where some of the other businesses had been and regaled us with tales of climbing the coal elevator that was in the field where we were sitting. She also pointed out a couple of people she had gone to school with. There was even talk of donkey basketball in the school gym.

We still had time before the parade so we walked up the street again and found a place to sit on the steps of the Baptist church. (est. 1903) When the parade started I think we thought it would be super tiny but it was longer than we thought it would be. The police and firefighters came through. There were both middle and high school marching bands, ladies in coonskin caps, a dragster, and the Masters of Ceremony “Lila and Nancy”. Both sides of the street were lined with people who were excited to see their community in action. It was really fun to be part of the festivities of Davy Crockett Days! Once the parade was over that was it. The festivities were at an end and people started to disperse. One year after we were first married we went to the Hollywood Bowl for the 4th of July. Traffic was a nightmare and I envisioned a situation like that but it seems that we were the only out of towners actually leaving so traffic was not a problem.

We decided to head a different direction on our way home so that we could see the Eiffel Tower! Now, my hubs and I have seen the real thing but my kiddos have not. I’ll have to take my daughter back on a day she isn’t working so she can experience the magnificence of the tower in Tennessee’s own Paris! Paris, is lovely in the fall. The town square was very Gilmore Girlsesque with scarecrows all around. Think the episode where Rory and Lorelai build Bjork and Jesse destroys the chainsaw carved snowman. My son wanted a little treat so we were headed for A La Mode but alas it was closed. However, Stella Nera was open so we popped in to see what they had. We didn’t stick around to eat at the restaurant but did pick up a cannoli that was to die for! The town square and the Eiffel Tower are only a couple of miles apart so while my son was consuming the most delicious cannoli in Paris we drove over to the park. As expected there were several other tourists there taking photos and enjoying the romantic city of lights…oh wait that is French Paris. This Eiffel Tower is much, much smaller than the original but it was fun to see anyway. The town is called Paris, you must see the Eiffel Tower there.

Our very last stop on our Day Crockett Days extravaganza was at Sweet Jordan’s bakery and ice cream shop in Paris. We were greeted by two sweet employees that told us about all of the different items. You could see someone making ice cream in the back and you could see the entire kitchen. There was also a play area for kids called Jordan’s Play park. We were there in the late afternoon so it wasn’t very busy but I could see it being very busy in the morning. Jordan has his story posted on the website and it is an incredible one. The company hires special friends and they are making an impact on their community. If you get to Paris check out Sweet Jordan’s and their mission.

By the time we got home we were exhausted but we had a really great day. History, community, treats, people and places with a mission. What more could you ask for? Have you been to any of these places? I’d love to hear your experiences as well!