Field Trip: Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary

Sounds weird, right?

This year, my friends Amy and Diane and I decided that we were going to do a Tennessee Explorations class with our boys, who are juniors and seniors. We gave the boys the task of finding places in Tennessee that they want to visit.

Their first choice: Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. They didn't have to think twice about that one.

A couple of years ago, the boys chanced by the closed-down penitentiary on a Boy Scout camping trip. They begged Randy, who is the Scoutmaster, to let them "explore" (AKA: trespass), but of course he refused (with some reluctance, if I know my husband). :)

Imagine how thrilled they were to learn that Brushy Mountain opened for tours a couple of months ago! As Duncan said on the ride over, "This is a dream come true."

Ah, teenage boys.

I have to admit: it was a fascinating and sobering field trip. It's just been open six weeks or so, and I suspect that in a couple of years, it will lose a lot of its rough, raw quality that makes it feel so authentic and, well, alarming. Creepy. Sad. We visited on a Monday afternoon, and there were only about 25 other people there; however, the tour guide said that it is absolutely packed on weekends.

Right now, you can just wander around almost everywhere on the compound, although a few places are off limits.

"The Hole"

The documentary in the museum is fantastic, but best of all, a former prison guard showed up and invited us to join him for a free tour. He was amazing. He took us through the compound and told all kinds of stories, pointed out where murders occurred and how prisoners escaped, and just gave life to the men who lived and worked here for decades. He related how the guards treated the prisoners with respect and dignity, regardless of what they did on the outside. It was really amazing. While we were fortunate to be there on a weekday and happened upon a free tour, I would definitely pay for one. Former inmates also give some tours.

This tour is not for everyone. It was, after all, a maximum security prison. We commented that we could feel a heaviness around us, sense a sadness and even the cold chill of evil. I think young kids would have nightmares—or at least I would have. This made me think of the "Scared Straight" movie from the late 1970s. While the boys enjoyed a sense of exploration and adventure, they also felt the danger and hopelessness that is pervasive even now at the prison.

It was not our most cheerful fall field trip ever, but it really was an enlightening experience!

Linked up with the Homeschool Blog Link-up and  Weekly Wrap-Up

Field Trip: Carl Sandburg Home and Thomas Wolfe House

View of the Carl Sandburg House

 My 11th/12th grade Classic Literature class loved our trip to the Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta so much that they begged for another field trip. I wanted to oblige but I also did not want another overnight trip just because of all the arrangements that would need to be made. We're only a couple of hours away from Asheville, North Carolina, so I thought a trip to see the homes of two classic American authors would be perfect.

Before going to Asheville, we did a short unit on lives of authors. I had each student pick a "classic" author and do a short presentation on him or her. The driving question: how does an author's life shape his or her writing? We had everyone from Seuss to Solzhenitsyn, and the presentations included posters and even a wax museum presentation by James Joyce.

James Joyce in the wax museum

I didn't intend to do this biography unit as part of our year, but that's one of the awesome benefits to teaching at a homeschooling co-op: we can be incredibly flexible.

The majority of my students were able to take a whole Thursday to go on our North Carolina trip, so we took three vans full of kids. We were prepared for a day of rain, but fortunately we just had occasional drizzling. Our first stop was the Carl Sandburg House in Flat Rock, NC.

 

I had made arrangements for a guided tour of the house, grounds, and barn. Fortunately for us, there was a writer-in-residence, Lisa Lopez Snyder, there during our visit. When the tour guide announced that Ms. Snyder would be doing a writing exercise with them, the students gave an audible collective groan (even though I know most of them love creative writing). She had a couple of fantastic exercises for them, and they loved it. I was so appreciate of Ms. Snyder's session— the kids talked about that all the way home.

After the writing session, we had a great tour of Sandburg's home. What really amazed me was not just the staggering number of books that he owned, but that there were pieces of paper bookmarking pages in hundreds of the books. His bookmarks. His flags that "here is something important." Astounding and inspirational to me.

After a chilly picnic lunch, we headed a little north to Asheville. We arrived 30 minutes early for our tour at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial; but since we were the only guests, they were happy to oblige us and start our tour early. After a 22 minute video of Thomas Wolfe's life, we had a fantastic tour guide take us through the house. He had all kinds of great stories about Wolfe and read passages from Look Homeward Angel in various rooms. The kids were a little slap happy at this point, but I think they enjoyed it for the most part. I wish we would have had time to read the whole novel before class, but I just couldn't schedule it.

On the front porch of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Home

We had a couple of free hours when our tour of the Thomas Wolfe house ended, so we let the students explore downtown Asheville for a couple of hours. They split into two groups and went on their way. We three chaperones did the same. Asheville's such a fun little town, with lots of great shops to wander through. We all found fabulous restaurants and then met back at the designated time and place and headed home to Knoxville.

Over half of my students are graduating this year, including my sweet daughter. I've been teaching many of these students since elementary school (creative writing, reader's theatre, literature circles, and essay writing) and several of them for all four years of high school. I am going to miss them so much next year—and I'm so glad we had this one last trip together.

Linked up with the Weekly Wrap-Up

Cummins Falls State Park

We've had a great summer being intentional about hiking. Last week Randy took the day off, and we loaded up the van with friends and headed two hours west to Cummins Falls State Park. My maiden name is Cummins, so we've naturally wanted to go to this new state park in Cookeville, TN since it opened just a year ago. According to the webiste, "It is the eighth largest waterfall in Tennessee in volume of water, and was named one of the top 10 best swimming holes in the United States in the 'America’s Best Swimming Holes' article in Travel and Leisure magazine." We knew we had to make this trek before summer was over!

It was soooo worth the 2-hour drive. It would be worth a 10 or 12 hour drive! To be realistic, we have had tons of rain this summer in Tennessee, so the falls surely was at its most spectacular. But it really is the prettiest falls I have ever seen. Yes, including Niagara. The great thing about Cummins Falls is that it's totally approachable.

To get to the falls, you hike about 1.5 miles. Most of this is an easy trail through the woods, but the last half is upriver. Literally. (I wore my hiking boots to the river, then changed into Tevas.) You have to hike through the river, usually around ankle-to-knee deep. Obviously this is a summer/early autumn hike. Again, we had an unusual amount of rain this year, so one might find this radically changed during drought years.

Probably about the average depth of the river as you're hiking.

Hiking upstream was more challenging than I was expecting but incredibly fun. The river bottom was often as smooth as a driveway, and the rocks weren't terribly slippery. You do have to pay attention so that you cross at shallow enough places, or you might get stuck on one side of the river and then have to backtrack. Not that my friend Diane and I would ever get so involved in a conversation that such a thing would happen to us.

Once you get to Cummins Falls, you just kind of stand there and say WOW! It is truly incredibly gorgeous. Of course, pictures don't do it justice. It's huge. It's loud. It's exhilarating.

I was so glad that Randy was with us because had I been the adult in charge, I probably would have forbidden the kids from climbing the falls. And these falls were meant to be climbed.

Instead, I was climbing the falls—and jumping in, too!

 The water looks lovely but it was so cold that it took my breath away.

 But there are plenty of rocks to warm oneself while having snacks. Or just to ponder the universe.

We stayed a few hours and then made the trek back down the river. Most of us hiked, anyway. The younger boys decided floating was a better mode of travel.

There was only one downfall to the entire day (well, besides the hours of Mad Libs going on in the back seats, with three teenagers and two tweens—you don't wanna know): the bathrooms—which looked potentially nice—sported a big sign that said, "NOT READY FOR USE." We totally weren't expecting that. There was a solitary portapotty which was used by several desperate members of our group and was reported to be horrifying. Anyway, I'd suggest finding out if the restrooms are open yet before heading over there.

Besides the restroom situation, we all give Cummins Falls a resounding two-thumbs up. We've been recommending it to everyone, and we will surely make it an annual trek.

Linked up with Outdoor Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday

In the Smokies: Midnight Hole

My friends and I made a pact to be deliberate this summer about getting outside and having adventures, especially hiking in the Smokies. We were particularly proud of ourselves this past week as we made the trek nearly two hours away to Midnight Hole, which is right inside the park boundary at the Tennessee/North Caroline border. It's listed as "the best swimming hole in the Smokies," and that's what all our kids wanted most.

The hike itself is an easy 1.5 miles on an old railroad grade. The kids were already in the water by the time we moms got there.

They spent a good 2-3 hours jumping off the rocks while we dipped our toes in the water and basked in the sun. OK, and we debated a lot on whether the seven-year-old could jump off the rocks (yes) and if the kids could jump off a different set of rocks (no).

It looks like Hawaii, but according to the kids, the water was c-o-l-d. But kids don't care about stuff like that.

And there were plenty of warm rocks to take the chill off.

And there was obviously a butterfly convention going on. They were all over the place—positively flocks of them!




It's good to have friends who like adventure, whether you're 15 …

or 40-something.

Eventually we left Midnight Hole and headed up the trail a half a mile to Mouse Creek Falls.

Such a pretty little falls. We had a little mishap there. The seven-year-old slipped and fell into the gushing—and I mean gushing—river.

Our teenagers had hiked up the creek a bit. We yelled for them and then the 11-year-old, who was already in the water, came to the rescue. He guided him over to a rock and safety. The teenagers came running (or rock hopping quickly) and from there took him up the river, where he could cross safely. We were shaky and oh so tremendously thankful for quick thinking kids.
 

This was one happy mama to have her little guy safe next to her as we headed back down the trail. This was a great reminder for us to be vigilant on the water, rocks, and trails!

This is definitely one of my new favorite places in the Smokies, and we'll go back for sure again next summer. It's about an hour or so from Knoxville, unless you drive really slowly and stop to use the bathrooms at Burger King and get slightly lost once. Or twice.

To get there, take I-40 to Exit 451 (Waterville).  Turn left after crossing the river and go about 2 miles to an intersection. Continue straight, past the ranger station, to a parking area at the end of the road. The Big Creek trailhead is on the right, just before reaching the parking area.

Our Week in Paris: Notre Dame

Of course, one must visit Notre Dame while in Paris. It's the stuff of movies and books and so much history.Don't be alarmed by the enormous line you will likely encounter upon approaching Notre Dame; it moves very quickly. Be sure to take a guidebook that details what you're looking at, especially as you wait outside.

Once inside, visitors are asked to be silent, and I really appreciate that. Notre Dame is simply beautiful—astonishingly so. The cathedral, which is one of the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world, is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.

The stained glass windows, statutes, transepts: there are all stunning. It is hard to move through quickly. One wants to just linger at each one, soaking in the serenity and history.

After we walked through the cathedral, we wanted to climb to the top. The cathedral is free, but this is extra. If you buy a museum pass, this is covered BUT you don't get to skip the line. And the line was l-o-n-g. We waited about an hour and almost gave up several times. I am so glad we didn't! Climbing the stairs to the tower was so fun and the views were incredible!

We were up close to gargoyles, could see flying buttresses like crazy, and the views of Paris: WOW!!

 

After climbing hundreds of stairs up and back down, we headed around to the back of the cathedral along the Seine. We stumbled upon this bridge filled with Locks of Love, which was on Laurel's to-see list. People buy locks, write their names on them (Randy -n- Sarah 2013) and lock them on, throwing the key in the river. So fun!

 The back of Notre Dame is so beautiful, and there was a perfect Parisian park right there.

 

It was a perfect visit to Notre Dame, even with the incredibly long wait to climb to the tower. There are public restrooms right by the cathedral and plenty of street vendors to serve you while you wait, though. Crepes with nutella? Um, YES!!

 

More of Our Week in Paris:

Arc de Triomphe

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