The Tennessee Central Bicycle Trail starts at the Cookeville Depot Museum and ends at the Walter L Bilbrey Memorial park in Algood. At the beginning of the trail in Cookeville (population 34,842), there is a bicycle arch named Spokes that was sculptured by Brad Sells using bikes donated by the community.
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
The first steam train arrived in Cookeville in 1890 and in 1902 the railroad built a depot that is now used for a museum. Soon after the depot was constructed, six trains a day were stopping in Cookeville, bringing visitors, shoppers, salesmen, and freight. The trains left filled with lumber, poultry, hogs, corn, and tobacco.
Located across the street from the depot is the Cream City ice cream factory. The ice cream factory originally opened in the 1890s, and the current owners of Cream City Ice Cream and Coffee House have operated the facility since 2011. They still serve handmade ice cream, plus coffee from locally roasted coffee beans.
Tennessee Tech is also located in Cookeville, along with the famous Pink Elephant Ellie. On the day we visited Ellie, she was wearing sunglasses, but we were told that she wears various costumes at different times of the year.
Apparently over the years Ellie has had multiple owners, but she currently stands in front of a pink Wendy's Nails and Spa sign. Regardless of the owner, elephants are believed to bring good luck, strength, wisdom, stability, and power; so many people stop to visit Ellie and take her picture.
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
As we drove past Gordonsville (population 1,213), we could not believe how many State Class A championships their high school teams had won. They must have a high school district that covers more than the town of Gordonsville.
Lebanon (population 38,431) is the county seat for Wilson County and is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. There are various monuments surrounding the courthouse, including a bicentennial time capsule that will be opened on October 26, 2099, the county's tricentennial.
In 1969, Dan Evins and Tommy Lowe founded the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store chain in Lebanon and they still have their company headquarters there. As of August 10, 2023, Cracker Barrel operated 660 stores in 45 states.
Wilson County has a large veterans facility in Lebanon that is definitely worth a visit. The main building was closed, so we were only able to view the outdoor exhibits.
Surrounding a star-shaped fountain were pictures etched on glass representing five military service branches - Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. There was also a "Never Forget Garden," which is "a living tribute to all of America's Veterans and their families.
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
The Tennessee Parthenon in Nashville (population 715,884) is the world's only full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The replica in Nashville was originally built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Over the years, many parts of the structure have been replaced because the original replica was built from cheap materials that started to deteriorate with time. The Parthenon was not open when we visited the site, so we just photographed the building from the outside.
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
A woman's suffrage monument by Alan LeQuire is on display just a short distance from the Parthenon. The ladies featured are Carrie Chapman Catt, Anne Dallas Dudley, Frankie Pierce, Sue Shelton White, and Abby Crawford Milton.
On the way to Broadway Street, we drove past Vanderbilt University and their stadium, which is the smallest smallest football stadium in the Southeast Conference.
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| Picture by Ashley |
Broadway is the major thoroughfare in downtown Nashville and is known for the honky-tonk and live music venues up and down the street. Most of the live music establishments have the buildings' front windows removed so visitors can stand outside on the sidewalks and listen to the music. People that do not want to walk or drive up and down the street can join a "party wagon" that will do the driving for you
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
At the east end of Broadway, directly across the river, is the Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. A game was not being played when we were there, but all of the stadium lights were on and it was a spectacular sight at night.
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
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| Picture by Ashley |
