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Fall Creek Falls Post

I promised a post on my visit to Fall Creek Falls. I keep forgetting to ask Sonya for some of the pictures, so if I ever get them I will post them later.

This was my second visit to Fall Creek Falls. When Sonya suggested that we go out there during my visit, I thought it would be a lot of fun, and it was an absolute blast and I definitely made a lot of new memories.

I used to visit Nashville quite a bit. I fell in love with Tennessee when Mike was in my life. His family was from Tennessee, and we spent quite a bit of time here. While a lot of the memories are fuzzy, I'll never forget the summer after I moved back to Detroit. I'm pretty sure we spent as much time in Tennessee as we did in Michigan. We were always off on some adventure almost every weekend it seemed.

Before I went with Amy in January, the last time I'd been to Nashville was my graduation trip with Mike. We had our places that we always went and our traditions. On this trip, we actually got to do a lot of things that I wanted to do, which was a major milestone for our relationship. We did still have to stop and take pictures of a few bridges and dams (lots of TVA projects, you know), but for the most part it was all about me.

I love history. One thing I love about the South is all the old buildings and battlefields. I was always pestering Mike to take me to some Antebellum home or some museum. So, when he suggested the Hermitage, of course I wanted to go there.

Except I have a slight allergy to the sun, and I underestimated the summer heat of Middle Tennessee. I should've known when someone as "thrifty" as Mike was buying bottled water at the concession stand that it was a precarious situation, but I felt fine and kept trucking along. I learned all about the stately manor of President Jackson.

As we were driving downtown to our 4-star hotel, I got violently ill. I had a serious case of sun poisioning. I thought I was going to die before we got checked into our room. So, here we are on my special weekend getaway paying $169/night for me to lie on the cold tile of the bathroom floor with a cold washcloth on my head, begging for mercy. I finally mustered up enough gumption to go to our favorite restaurant for dinner and then for a night on the town. I don't know how I managed the sight of food, and I think I actually took two whole bites of my cup of soup, but it was just nice to be in a place that held so many memories for us. And of course we made more memories that evening. He was really sweet about the whole thing, but I could tell that I'd really put a wrench in this perfect weekend that he'd planned.

The next day I was still quite ill, but he'd had a trip to Fall Creek Falls on the agenda. I didn't know if I'd remember it, but when Sonya and I met up with Randy and Joshua last Sunday, I knew exactly where everything was. I was pretty impressed with my memory. Everything started coming back to me.

I did so many things I was either too chicken or too ill to do last time. I saw many of the same places. I also learned that they have a very nice inn and very reasonably priced cabins in addition to the campgrounds. Not that I don't love sleeping in a tent. OK, yeah, I understand that it's a cheap way to see the world, but honestly my idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn Express.

We hiked all day last Sunday, and everything was as beautiful as I remember. The falls, the cascades, the trees, the mountains, the rocks ... it was just so beautiful and I felt so close to nature. I even remembered the annual Taylor family Easter tradition of the sunrise service at Millikan's Overlook each year, and thought that had we come a week earlier, I might have seen them. We actually drove right past their road on the way home, and had Sonya not have been with me, I may have stopped and knocked on the door. But God knows what they think of me.

When I went in January for the job interview and to go house-hunting, I expected to get hit in the face with memories, and I never did. I am totally over Mike and I never wonder what-if about that whole relationship. Frankly, I know things happen for a reason, and I know that we never would've been happy together. We had a lot in common, but we just made great friends. Somedays I miss the friendship, but I just think that's too hard. And aside from driving right past his parents' house last weekend, I have no idea where I'd find him. Last I heard he was in Atlanta, but he never seems to stay in one place too long. Of course, it might be different being so close to his parents now...

I don't know why it all came rushing back. Maybe because as much as I bitch and moan about the camping and hiking, I really did enjoy it. I was really fat when he made me climb up to the highest point in Tennesee, yet somehow I survived. I held my own at Fall Creek Falls climbing those rocks last weekend. I guess I love the beauty of Tennessee and I hope that I will get to make many trips back there in the future. I am very excited about my move, and I don't feel haunted by ghosts. I just miss having that kind of person in my life once in a while.

I think about all the plans that were made. I think that deep down I've known I was supposed to settle in Tennessee although some of the details along the way have changed. I am looking forward to making more memories in my adopted state.

Song of the day today: "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts.

posted by Laura at 7:23 PM