Thanksgiving Trip to North Carolina

Over ten years ago now, Ron and I made a trip to North Carolina with our friends, Jesse and Peggy for Thanksgiving.  They were looking for a cabin in the mountains and we spent much of the weekend looking at cute log cabins in the area around Murphy.  They found a really great place on nearly an acre and actually moved there for a few years.  Now it's a getaway place for them, and we came back to enjoy it with them this weekend.  The weather forecast looked horrible, and we all wondered if we should even make the trip, but we gamely set out on Wednesday morning.  It had been raining for a whole day so our road was a muddy mess and the wind was blowing and waves crashing across our dock at Lake Eufaula when we left.

 The temperature dropped steadily as we headed north.  By Atlanta, it was down to 39 degrees, and we could see tiny flakes of snow in the air occasionally.

Our GPS took us on the scenic route, and we were helplessly just following it, not recognizing much of anything from our past trips to Murphy.  When we came to a small picturesque town, we thought we must be near the Georgia/North Carolina border.

The GPS said we were only about 30 miles from our destination, so we knew we had to be close, and finally caught the name of the town - Copper Hill. Although we had never heard that name before,
it seemed like a place we might want to visit again.  It was the terminus of the train ride through the blue mountains, and had a bunch of interesting looking shops, bars, and churches.

Copper seemed to be a big part of the town's history, and big copper colored hills surrounded the town.

When we finally passed the post office in town, we saw that we were in Copper Hill, Tennessee.  Ron asked at that point if I was sure I had the proper address programmed into the GPS.

Sure enough a few miles later, we crossed the border into North Carolina just a few miles outside Murphy, our destination.  Jesse told us that the town of Copper Hill sits halfway into Tennessee and halfway into Georgia, and one bar has a red line down the middle of it.  The Georgia side is "dry" (no alcohol) so if you need to use the rest room, you have to leave your drink on the Tennessee side to go the rest room on the Georgia side.  Definitely a cute little town that we may go back and take pictures with a real stop there.

We had a lovely evening sitting around a crackling fire and talking while we polished off a couple of bottles of wine.  This morning, we woke up to 20 degrees, but sparkling sunshine and the promise of a high of 55 degrees later.

Last VRBO stop on our trip south

We took a break from VRBO rentals for the past few days as we stayed with Ron's brother in Iowa when we joined the gathering of the Crawford clan.  Ron hadn't been together with his sister and two brothers for ages, so it was a great time to catch up on everyone's family.  


Today, we left Iowa early for the last leg of our VRBO journey.  After an uneventful trip through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, we arrived at Ashland City, TN.  This charming little town sits on the Cumberland River about 20 miles northwest of Nashville.

This is the view from the restaurant we found about 3 miles from the VRBO rental.  We sat on the outdoor deck and enjoyed some good southern cooking while we watched the boats cruising up the river.

The house is in a rural location, one of many that sit along canals to the river.  The road is paved, but we would never have found it without the GPS as there is a maze of roads, most of which have Riverside in part of their name.

A small canal sits behind the house.

Spacious kitchen with full size appliances, and a gas fireplace.

The master bedroom is on one end of the house, with its own attached full bath.

2nd bath is just outside the door of the 2nd bedroom on the other end of the house, so it would be ideal for two couples to share.

Canal-side Cottage Near Nashville

We have been pleasantly surprised by the VRBO rentals all the way across the country.  All have been clean, off the beaten path, but close to the interstates, and nicely appointed.