Closing Ceremony

Closing Ceremony was held at the host hotel. Every body came together for one last time before heading home.  Dinner was chicken or fish served buffet style.  

Our table decorations mimicked the Famous Route 66 but our table number was 23.  We had to keep the sign because Darrin's little brother's race car number was 23.

Vicki Bolton at her table

Paul and Tracy talking with new friends

The buffet line moved very quickly.

Charlie and I pause for a moment to get a phot together.

President Fred Trusty speaking about AACA to everybody.  He mentioned the new website and the updates that it provides to the members.

The guest room speaker with his humor about the local dialect.  There was plenty of laughter to go around.

Barrett, Caitlyn and Kaitlyn drawing names for door prizes. Caitlyn drew her own ticket and said to quietly "You have got to be kidding."

Barrett and the girls swimming in the pool across the street after the banquet.

Bombs, Bars & Cars

Departure time was 8 am.  We were all getting the hang of the directions!  Each of has had a turn at navigating at this point. Today's Secret Tour instructions took us to our first stop, the Oak Ridge History Museum.

We learned valuable information about the people that built Oak Ridge. Born in war time, Oak Ridge never made it into any map until after WWII ended.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, at the time Oak Ridge did not exist, it was rural farmland. Purchased in 1942 the land was developed as part of the Manhattan Project. And soon had a population of 75,000 people all working to end the war. The collections of personal items was amazing and brought back many memories!

We then traveled to Historic Jackson Square for coffee break where we were treated to donuts and coffee.  We had a chance to catch up with both the odd and even groups.

This was originally called "Town Center No 1". It opened in 1943 and offered 24 hour grocery shopping, farmers markets, gasoline, stores, pharmacy, theater and more.  

Our tour through the residential areas first took us on a drive thru the Alexander House, a boarding house in the 40s where you would share a room with strangers, now a retirement home and along streets where you could view the Alphabet Houses.From Type A through H Cemesto homes- Cemesto being a mix of cement and asbestos- to Types A, B, C, S, and V Flat-Top designs, Oak Ridge's architectural style was unique in its simplicity, form, function, and space.

A beautiful drive into the foothills led us to Bushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros. 

Upon arriving at the Penitentiary, we were greeted by Inmate President Fred Trusty (apparently is demeaned trustworthy by the authorities)

Arriving early we were given an opportunity to rest for a little while and explore some of the grounds.

Served in prison trays our burger from Wardens Table Restaurant could not have been any better.  Seated in a jail cell we enjoyed the atmosphere.

We made the "great switch-a-roo" with the even numbers, and we had our chance to explore the prison while they had the opportunity to enjoy lunch. Bushy Mountain opened in 1896 to replace the previous system of using the "prisoners" as unpaid convict labor in the coal mines.

An ex-prisoner told us about all the fellow inmates and their stories.

Then a retired guard told us stories about his experiences with the inmates.

We found cell number 47 to match the inmate number Barrett will portray in his tap dance recital. 

We were about the last to leave the site as we all found this venue very interesting.

The East Tennessee Region hosted an Ice cream social at Bissell Park.  They served some very tasty ice cream with cookies.  

Along with ice cream we joined with locals to hold a Wednesday afternoon car show that was well attended by locals.  I saw several people letting youth looking at the car climb in and get photos.

Our group wore our matching t-shirts on this day! We took a walk to get a chance to ring the Friendship Bell.

The Longest Day

Our coded instructions will encompassed 155 miles of back roads travel. 

Our first mission took us past the Turnpike Gatehouse.  Built in 1948 is was one of the many Gatehouses that protected the Secret City and controlled the access to K-25.

We took a large step back in time when we entered Fort Loudoun State Historic Park.  This is one of Britain's earliest Forts used during the French and Indian war. We walked through the fort and looked at the accommodations.  Some rooms housed four people and some Twelve or more.

We passed Chilhowee Dam.  The views of the mountains sides and newly leafed trees were spectacular.

We traveled the Foothills Parkway for 17 miles. The foothill of the Appalachian Mountains had many curves and lookouts for us to enjoy. There were many turnouts for viewing the area. We took advantage of the opportunity to photograph the '55.

After descending the mountain trail we can through a little town called Townsend also known as "The Peaceful Side of the Mountain".  You could tell it was a tourist destination!  So many interesting places to stop, but our directions kept us moving forward.

Our lunch stop was at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center. We were treated to a box lunch with ham sandwich, chips and a cookie. Sitting in the grand stands we all enjoyed our lunch.

The speaker talked about bear rescue efforts in the area. Told us how important it is to control our trash.  She spoke about that rescue of bears that are only a few pounds in size.

On our way back we chose to take a detour and visit Smoky Mountain Auto Traders to investigate the 100 or so cars in various stages of restoration.

Heading back out of the mountains we got a better view of Fort Loudoun Dam that was built in early 1940s by TVA. 

Our last stop for the day was at K-25 site at the Heritage Center. Darrin and Barrett enjoyed reading all about the Atom bomb and the facility that help build them. They event tried the freeze dried ice cream sandwich.  Barrett said it was good but tasted like a cookie.