3rd annual Wheels and Keels, May 2008

Saturday May the 3rd the Musikstadt Chapter held their 3rd annual Wheels and Keels. We met at the Percy Priest Lake, a piecful quiet morning, the rain just stopped and the sun was raising over the water, when suddenly those Porsches roamed in. Especially pleasing was the 2008 Turbo with a Fabspeed exhaust. After talking and admiring all the cars we left Percy Priest Lake, drove alongside Old Hickory Lake onto Highway 70, which is part of the Historic Trail of Tears. Our trip led us to Lebanon, then on Hwy 141 through Taylorville into Hartsville. Nestled in the northern portion of Middle Tennessee, this rural county has a current population just over 7000 scattered over its beautiful hills and lush valleys. Farming, largely tobacco, was the economic base that formed this county, and it is still prevalent today. Many area families came to this fertile land from Virginia and North Carolina when their tobacco-growing families could not subdivide their lands any further. Tennessee was a new state looking for settlers, and this area of the Highland Rim was an ideal location to build a homestead. We then turned onto Hwy 10, this is a part of the historic Avery Trace. In an effort to encourage settlers to move west into the new territory of Tennessee, in 1787 the mother state of North Carolina ordered a road to be cut to take settlers into the Cumberland Settlements—from the south end of Clinch mountain (in East Tennessee ) to French Lick ( Nashville ). A hunter, Peter Avery, was selected to direct the blazing of this new trail through the wilderness. The trail was laid out following buffalo trails which the Cherokee Indians had frequently used as a war path. It led from Fort Southwest Point at Kingston through the Cumberland Mountains up into what is now Jackson County, to Fort Blount. From there it rambled along through the hills and valleys of upper Middle Tennessee to Bledsoe’s Fort at Castalian Springs, then to Mansker’s Fort and finally to Fort Nashborough. These five forts provided shelter and protection for travelers along the Trace. Now back towards Gallatin, passing the local airport and a Phantom RF plane to our left. We stopped for BBQ and catfish, where some more members of the club joined us. After we ate we drove to the Cherokee Marina for some pictures. Reba's house and Starstruck Farms are located right next to the marina. .