Day Six

Day Six: Country Music Hall of Fame and Jellico, TN

Woke up in the hostel, dressed, and headed out into Nashville during daylight. Our primary stop: the Country Music Hall of Fame. Like I said before, this whole trip was born from the desire to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We got lost for a short while trying to find the place, then parked and headed in.  We told the ticket-taker that we were from Bakersfield and finally got the excited response we had been waiting for. This set us in the perfect mood for the walk through the Museum. 

The Museum was spectacularly curated. The displays took us through the history of country music, showed us video, played us music, and generally dazzled us. We recommend a visit if you are ever in Nashville. 

Back in the car, we headed towards Jellico, a small town in Tennessee's Cumberland mountains. Evan's aunt and uncle have lovingly invited us to stay in their home for the evening. 

Having not stopped for food for the day, we were hungry. We had done a very good job of only eating local delicacies or highly recommended restaurants, but we were hungry and in the middle of small town, Tennessee about halfway to our destination. We knew this would be the moment we would eat what the regulars eat... Crappy, greasy, southern food. After driving around, we settled on what would either be a hidden gem, or a stomach ache. Potato skins, fried catfish, fries... Pretty gross, but we needed to give it a go. 

Heading up the mountain toward Jellico we passed historical towns, broken down buildings from what seemed to be the beginning of time, and plain ole' America. It was beautiful.

We got to our destination after the sun had gone down, so we couldn't see what surrounded us, but we knew we would be wowed in the morning. We were greeted by a very eager puppy and a couldn't-be-friendlier family. We chatted about our trip, they told us about their travels to Africa, their lives in Tennessee, and other welcome conversation bits. We then ate a delicious homemade meal that ended up being from the Jellico Community Friends Cookbook. It was nice to feel a connection to home on our trip, even if it was a relative of a friend. 

Then, a good night's sleep. And a good night's sleep it was indeed.