Tennessee Vacations

You have to understand that back years ago in the Hickman County , Defeated Creek area, none of the roads were paved. There was no running water in the houses except maybe, where a pipe had been ran from the water well and hooked up near the kitchen sink with the old fashioned hand pump. All of the bathrooms were outhouses.....!

I remember when we were very small and my mom and dad would take us to Tennessee on vacation each year. Our kinfolk live in Centerville , Hickman County at Defeated Creek. One of the homes was really awesome, especially to a child, because it was built into the side of a very large hill. The back part of the house was actually inside of the hill. The smells inside of that house were wonderful all year long. I always thought of it as a great adventure to go visit at that house.

Then my Aunt Ethel's house was my second favorite place to go. She had a very large pair of mailboxes setting on a platform at the front of the yard. The hedge for the yard was next to the road, then the mailboxes behind that (closest to the house). I could climb up and set between the two mailboxes, with my legs over the top of one and my back against the other, and read until my little heart was content. The smaller kids couldn't bother me.......grin. See for yourself... below! The picture was taken in 1959!

I'll never forget the sights and sounds in that time. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The trees were a vibrant green and there was birds everywhere. At night we ran around in the dark yard and caught fireflies in jars and then let them go.......they were so much fun and so pretty too. Back in that neck of the woods, the crickets sounded very loud, because it was in an area that was off the beaten track.

The bathrooms in those days were old outhouses in the back yard. I remember being scared when I had to go at night, because that was when all of the creepy crawlies came out.....! The kids used to tease each other about pushing the outhouse backward while someone was in there.....we weren't strong enough..but we liked to try.....giggle.

We took our baths in an old #3 washtub that we set up in Aunt Ethel's kitchen. We would heat water on the stove and pour it into the tub. Then we would hang an old blanket across a line that was strung across the front part of the kitchen. That was our dividing wall. Then we would climb into the tub and have our bath. We didn't think too much about the privacy issue in those days, but it was always warm and cosy in the kitchen with the fire going.

I remember my Aunt Ethel's wonderful hair. She always wore it braided and wound around the top of her head. You could not tell how long it was, but it was a beautiful color. It was the most awesome silver that I can recall seeing. Every evening she would sit in the chair that was between the front room window and the door. When she sat down, she would cross her feet at the ankles and always looked very prim and proper. When she was ready to take her hair down, she would lean slightly forward and begin to unbraid and uncurl her hair. She would run her fingers through her hair to get the braid out and then pull it up and allow the length to uncurl. After she got her hair unbraided, it was in a pile about a foot deep at her feet. My Aunt Ethel was a tiny woman by any standards, I don't think she even stood 5 feet tall. When she stood, her hair trailed behind her as she walked. Every evening during our visit, one of us girls got the privilege of brushing her hair, and we thought that we were really special and loved the chance to touch her hair.

Then we move on to Aunt Dot's house. Her house sat up the holler on the hill and she had a bunch of kids. They also had a crazy mule named Joe. We used to think it was fun to help Aunt Dot strain the fresh milk with cheesecloth. We were allowed to hold the cheesecloth tightly around the neck of the gallon jug while she poured in the milk. That was absolutely the best milk I have ever drank in my life. True, you had to work for it, but maybe by having to do that, it somehow changed the flavor...grin.

We used the old hand pump that was mounted on the side of the sink in the kitchen whenever we wanted a drink of water. That was a task (using the hand pump). We would almost rather have carried water in from the back yard, as to have to work that old pump. We weren't very tall and had to stand on a kitchen chair to reach the top of the pump handle.

They had taken a galvanized pipe and driven it into the side of the hill in the backyard and there was a constant trickle of fresh mountain spring water coming out of the pipe all of the time. We looked so funny when we were crouched over almost double, drinking water out of that pipe. But let me tell you...that stuff was as cold as ice...it would hurt your chest if you drank it too fast...smile.

Aunt Dot's kids, my sisters, and myself used to love to walk up the road and go swimming in the natural waterfalls. Which was located my Aunt Nell's house. The falls itself was probably no more than ten or twelve feet tall, but to us it was huge. Use your imagination and picture this: You walk off the road for about 100 to 150 feet and you can hear the water moving. The first thing you see is a trickle of water making it's way past you down the slight hill. Then you turn and follow the path of the water up the hill and just as you crest the hill you see a medium sized pool of water surrounded by huge boulders. The boulders are worn smooth and satiny from the passage of the water over the years. As you stand there and look around you see that very old, tall trees entirely encircle the area. Straight ahead of you is the waterfall. The water is glistening from the sprinkle of sunlight which is making it's way through the tops of the trees. It appears very cool and inviting. Then you begin to walk around the edge of the pond and work you way to the top of the waterfall. When you arrive at the top of the falls, you look out over the pond and you can see where the road bends back towards the Defeaty Creek Bridge and Aunt Ethel's house. We really had a lot of fun playing in and under the falls, as well as the pond.

Up on the top of the hill by Aunt Dot's house was the graveyard......talk about a spooky place to kids. It was on the very top of the hill and had a fence completely around it. It was guarded by the crazy mule, Joe. I swear that mule would chase you with his last breath. I guess he thought he was playing a game. We never managed to catch him and we sure didn't let him catch us. But we did spend a lot of time chasing him....grin.

We always made trips into town and looked at all of the landmark sites. We were taken to all of the tourist attractions, but my favorite was the Town Square. It was just like the one in the Dukes of Hazard. A grassy area in the center of the township, surrounded with all of the buildings for the businesses. Oh course, it's not the same now, progress you know.

There were fields to run in, although we got in trouble when we were caught. The relatives houses were sprinkled along the road and we would travel from one house to the next as we played. It was a wonderful, carefree time in my life and I wouldn't trade those experiences or memories for anything.

My relatives still live there but they now have indoor plumbing and a paved road. Thank goodness that not much else has changed.