Day 79: Carthage, TN

Day 79

August 3, 2015

Miles: 57

Nashville  to Carthage, TN

I set the alarm last night to ensure an early wake-up.  We then headed downstairs for some breakfast.  We quickly ate, packed our bags, then pumped our tires. We left the Inn by 8:30a.  From the Inn, we headed directly to the coffee shop around the corner - the same coffee shop as yesterday.  Steve wanted to trade the book he just finished reading for one that he has not read.  Yesterday he made a deal with the manager getting permission to take one of their books, as long as he replaced it with another.  So he gave them The Most Wanted Man, John LeCarre, and now Steve has a new book to read The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin.  He is very happy. 

Can't go wrong with oatmeal

Finding our way our of Nashville wasn't as easy as it should have been.  Since there are newly constructed roads and a new cross bridge, the Garmin got a little confused and in return got me a little confused.  We eventually found the cross bridge and passed over the Cumberland River.  In last night's post I said the river was between 8 and 40 feet deep.  Steve told me this morning that the depth of the river varied between 20 and 80 feet.  A big difference so I wanted to point out this correction.

New bicycle and pedestrian cross bridge

The bridge for cars to cross over the river

We rode the first 15 miles on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway.  It was a great way to start the ride.  No cars, no traffic and no noise.  We encountered this bridge below (bicycle's and peds only) on the greenway.

Steve waving to his fans

We passed through a skate boarding park along the way. There were lots of boarders practicing their passion, including little kids!

Pretty Park

The second half of the ride varied between bike path roads and roads that we had no business being on.  Tonight I plan to be more careful with creating the route for tomorrow.  We need to take more country roads and stay off the highways. 

We arrived at our hotel (Hotel Watson) at about 4:30p.  We made good time despite it being hilly.  However, the wind was definitely in our favor.

When we got to the hotel, it was locked up, so we called Marie, the owner.  She came right over to let us in.  Marie said we were the only one's staying in the hotel tonight, so she routinely gave us a key to our room and to the front door as well.  Marie said that on nights that are slow, neither her or her husband mans the hotel, so it looks like we are on our own tonight in this hotel!

Hotel front

Steve across the street from the hotel

Hotel front desk

Hotel 2nd floor

Empty Rooms

I am not sure how to feel about being in this ten room hotel by ourselves. Surely others have done it before us and have been fine. I promised myself that not until I hear a voice saying REDRUM or see twin girls at the end of the corridor will I start freaking out!

We are headed to Monterey, TN tomorrow about 52 miles.