#Gates50States

We’ve treated a couple of states a bit differently, choosing to take them in small bites over time as opposed to one big visit. We handled Washington, Utah, Hawaii, and South Dakota as one big visit to each. Heck, Washington even got three separate posts! (Here are numbers two and three.) But then California, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee haven’t been one visit to each, but instead small bits here and there. We made a weekend out of Pittsburgh, we’ll visit Philadelphia when we’re over in the New Jersey area, and we’ve driven through the small towns of Pennsylvania on our return trip from Delaware, as well as for tennis tournaments through the years.

A few things that make Tennessee unique to the Gates family:

1 – We have family in Tennessee.

2 – I (Ryan) completed my undergrad degree in Nashville at Lipscomb University.

Something that doesn’t necessarily make it unique to us, but is still relevant in our grand plan, is we’ve driven through it a number of times. First on a return from Alabama and then another from Arkansas, as well as to and from Florida on a couple of drives. For these reasons, we’ve been able to sprinkle a lot of pro-Tennessee information into the kids’ brains over the years.

There’s all sorts of good history across the state, particularly with regard to the Civil War. It has also become somewhat a crossroads of the South. There’s a reason the SEC has played conference tournaments for many sports in Nashville. From Davy Crockett to Andrew Jackson, many prominent Americans trace significant roots to Tennessee. (Of course Jackson wasn’t born in Tennessee, but he represented the state in congress as well is with the military.)

On the way back from Alabama in 2018, we stopped in Franklin to visit with my sister, and spent some time with the cousins in the Natchez Trace area. We were blessed with good weather and spring was just gearing up.

We took in the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga when Lincoln and Lydia were very young, and then Jenn and Lincoln visited again after one of his tennis tournaments in the area. If there’s a better aquarium in the country, we’d like to know.

We’ve found a number of very good places to grab a meal in Tennessee, chief among them is Puckett’s Restaurant. We visited the Franklin location, but you can find them around the state, from Murfreesboro to Pigeon Forge to Hendersonville.

I took Lincoln to Lipscomb with me for a visit in 2011…

Nashville is country music, and the Grand Ole Opry is country music’s Mecca. Not long after the Opry moved from the Ryman Auditorium, my college graduation moved from campus at Lipscomb University (lots of construction on campus, including a soon-to-be brand new Allen Arena) to the Opry for just one year… mine was the only class to graduate off campus! Fast forward twenty-one years, and the whole family was in Tennessee to celebrate my parents’ 50th anniversary, and we took in a show at the Opry.

Even Marshall made a visit, gracing downtown Franklin with his presence!

Though we’ve not dedicated one trip to Tennessee, there aren’t too many states in which the #Gates50States crew have travelled more extensively, having ventured in middle Tennessee, the eastern portion including Knoxville and Chattanooga, and the western portion including Memphis.

All in all, while we don’t have a super impressive post to share with you for Tennessee, we’ve absolutely communicated to our kids the value and importance of Tennessee to our union, and that’s the mission of #Gates50States.