Columbia, Tennessee

Today we took the Everest back to the dealer in Columbia hopefully for a final visit for repairs.  We had a short list today--secure the bedroom TV to the cabinet door, replace the hinges on a cabinet in the living room, and, most importantly, repair the leak on our main slide.

After we dropped off the Everest, we toured historic Columbia.  Located about 60 miles south of Nashville, Columbia is the county seat of Maury County.  It is a typical old southern community with the courthouse in the center of a “square” surrounded by local merchants.  Columbia, like so many of the small communities, is struggling during these economic hard times.  The downtown area family owned businesses are closing their doors as the outlying Wal-Marts and similar “all-in-one” discount stores claim the shoppers.  We walked around the square and were amazed that over half the stores were vacant.  About two-thirds of the way around our circuit, we were approached by a well-dressed gentleman who introduced himself as the Mayor.  He was proud of his hometown community of 80,000 folks and was eager to point out the improvements being made to the downtown area.

A couple blocks from the square at the corner of W 7th and High Street is the boyhood home of James K. Polk, the eleventh president of the United States.  The house was built by his father, Samuel Polk, in 1816 and was the first brick home in Columbia.  Polk lived in this home until he moved to Washington to serve in Congress.  We decided not to tour the home since we had done that a few years ago, but instead visited the small museum and gift shop.

James K. Polk Home

Maury County Courthouse

This area was the Antebellum south and there are still several plantation homes available for touring in the area.  

St Peter's Church

We found lunch at Lucille’s Restaurant just off the square on S Main St.  Lucille’s started out in the 1930s as a pie wagon catering the the factory which once stood on the corner of 8th and Main.  In 1952, Lucille moved into the current location.  Our waitress provided us with the history.  She has worked at Lucille’s for 38 years.  As a “meat and three” the specials today were chicken and dressing, pork chop, and grilled ham.  There was a long list of vegetables to select from and each plate came with rolls or cornbread.  Gene finally settled on the chicken and dressing with creamed spinach, candied yams, and one each roll and corn muffin.  I went with the tried and true cheeseburger.  It was not the best diner food we’ve had, but was far superior to anything we could have gotten at a fast food joint, and much cheaper.  Gene’s plate was less than $6 and my cheese burger was less than $3. We came in early, but by the time we got our food, the place had filled up.  You won’t be surprised to know that most of the diners looked to be over 50 and most new each other.

United Methodist Church

First Presbyterian Church

We also stopped in Ted’s Sporting Goods.  It was a small store filled to the brim with Carthart, camo, and wild game heads mounted on the wall.  To round out the selection of merchandise, there were a few “green egg” grills (which I’d never heard of before) and a nice variety of cast iron cookware.

They have called to say the Everest will be ready by 4.  All repairs are done and we are just waiting for the sealant to “cure” which is suppose to fix the leak.  I guess 4 is as good as we could have hoped for, however, it will put us back in Nashville just in time for the rush hour traffic.  Hopefully, we can stay put now until the end of the year.