David Crockett State Park

December 2-4, 2011

Our weekend at the David Crockett State Park in Lawrenceburg was awesome. Since there was only five of us, we all stayed in the same cabin (we missed all our Fristers). Checking in we met Debbie who was a real talker but gave us great information on what to do in Lawrenceburg and Etheridge. There have been a number of well known public figures who were born or lived in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. One of the best known is probably the great frontiersman David Crocket, and more recently, Fred Thompson, a 2008 presidential candidate, actor and attorney.

Saturday morning we visited Wal-Mart to replenish our snacks then on to the Powdermill Antique Store which was like taking a step back in time. We then visited the Amish community. It was so interesting getting a first-hand look at life on the approximate 300 Amish Farms where farming is done the old fashion way, with horse-drawn farm equipment, wagons, and buggies. We drove the country roads to see their farms and stopped at the homes to purchase authentic Amish made crafts, furniture, baskets quilts, sling shots, aprons, jams, pickles, candy, cookies and much, much more. You pull in the driveway and shopped from their porch. Faye bought a neat basket from cousin Levi, and Brenda bought all the dirty cookies and said they were delicious. The horse-drawn buggies they use to get back and forth are a common sight throughout the city. There are Amish schools in this district. Children learn English when starting to school. They go to school until they finish the 8th grade or until 14 years of age, whichever comes first. The children study reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling and speak three languages: English, Pennsylvania Dutch and some German. The women wear black, dark blue, with black aprons for everyday and white for Sunday. Teenage girls wear black caps until they marry. Men wear no collars, barn door britches, felt hats for winter and straw for summer (handmade). Buttons are used on men's shirts, trousers and underwear, but only hook and eyes on coats and vests. We were all so interested in their beliefs and way of life.

We then headed to lunch at the Red Rooster located behind the Amish Welcome Center. We all bought delicious candy, cookies, baskets and Lady Felina got her a Dirty Amish Baby that we named Dabby.

We entertained ourselves at night by playing cards (Hand and Foot), had strawberry daiquiris, and won pretend money to bid on auction items. Lady Felina had to spend all her winnings trying to get back her Dabby, her Xmas shirt and her phone charger!!! Barbara was a little gassy (poor Dabby and Lady Felina). Barbara also showed off her fit tummy. Carrie won all the money playing cards but we have no idea how since she was googling the whole time. We played musical chairs to swap our Xmas ornaments and after opening, we each told a neat story about the ornament that we brought. A special thanks to Lady JagUR for planning fun things to do to entertain us.

Sunday morning we had a big breakfast at the Park Restaurant then headed back home. We could not believe our weekend was over so fast.

The Amish do not like to have their picture taken because they believe it is vain to pose for pictures and they consider photos graven images. Out of respect for them, these pictures were taken very discreetly (thus the poor quality of most). Most of them were taken from inside a moving vehicle!