Chuck's Space

Our oldest son, Remiel, wants to visit every national park in the country.  We’re off to a good start having gone to Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Petrified Forest National Parks.  All of those were visited on an epic one-month road trip in the summer of 2012.  Since then, we’ve also visited Great Smoky Mountain and Shenandoah National Parks, and the Chickamauga and Shiloh National Battlefields.  During our last Thanksgiving break, we decided to take a day trip down to Russell Cave National Monument.  It’s not too far from our home in Lynchburg, sitting on the Alabama side of the Alabama-Tennessee border near Bridgeport, AL. 

Last April, the family took another day trip to visit the Shiloh National Battlefield. The battlefield is located about 3 hours west of where we live in Lynchburg, TN near the town of Savannah. I had visited the battlefield many years ago, but the rest of the family had never gone.  Our visit coincided with about the same time of the year that the Battle of Shiloh (or the Battle of  Pittsburg Landing as it was known in the South) took place so we would be seeing it as the soldiers did during this epic two-day battle.  If you want to plan a visit to the battlefield, I'd recommend starting at the National Park Service website which you can access here .

This may be an obvious post, given that we live in Lynchburg, but the Jack Daniel Distillery is a neat place to visit.  Holding the distinction as the oldest registered distillery in the United States, is the location where every drop of Jack Daniel whiskey is produced.  The history of the distillery is interesting as well, as Jack Daniel was an actual historic person.  Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was born in 1850.  The exact date of his birth is in some dispute. Jack was one of 13 children born to his father Calaway Daniel.  His mother Lucinda Cook Daniel bore 10 of those children prior to her death. Calaway Daniel remarried, but apparently Jack did not like his step-mother.  After his father's death in the Civil War, Jack ran away from home at the age of 7.

Last March, we took a trip back to the Philippines so my wife could visit her family.  It's been a couple of years since we've had the chance to see them and they hadn't had an opportunity to meet Zachary.  The wife's family lives in a suburb of Manila called Taguig City.  So while on the trip, I took a couple of days to slip away and visit Corregidor Island in Manila Bay. Before we get into the trip, let's look a little at the history of the island.

Welcome to the Smokies Our family was fortunate enough to travel to Great Smoky Mountain National Park in October 2015. I have loved this park for many years due to the variety of terrain, the number of things to do within the park and the juxtaposition of a wilderness area in heavily inhabited eastern part of the United States.  I can't remember when I first visited the park, but it was probably on a college road trip with a friend. I've made several trips there over the years, primarily to either backpack or fly fish, but this was the first time that I had gone with my family.