Monday, Nov. 7, 2016. This morning we explored Old Stone Fort, which oddly enough is not a fort and is not made of stone. It is old, though. Constructed by prehistoric Native Americans in Coffee County TN during the Middle Woodland period (1,500 to 2,000 years ago) and used for about 500 years as a ceremonial gathering place, it consists of a 50-acre flat grassland plateau surrounded in part by substantial “walls” made of impressive dirt mounds up to 2000 feet in length and in part by steep cliffs falling to the Big and Little Duck Rivers on either side. (Recall that our campsite in this state park is situated similarly on a steep cliff over-looking the Big Duck River. ) The original entrance to the “fort” was designed to face the exact spot on the horizon where the sun rises during the summer solstice. This feature implies that the builders used it for ceremonial activities related to the changing of the seasons. By the time European settlers arrived, it was unclear what it had been used for, which resulted in it being misnamed as a fort. In the 1800s, a portion of the mound walls were destroyed in the building of two industrial mills (paper and pulp) along the waterfalls of the Big Duck River. The picturesque stone foundations of these two mills are all that is left of them today. Fascinating ancient Native American artifacts discovered are on display in a small museum at the site. It was a beautiful and interesting two-mile hike. Doris loved it and scaled up and down the perilous paths like a 90 year old!

After lunch we chilled out around the campsite, reading and such. Late in the afternoon, our friend Marrie arrived from Murfreesboro, bearing wonderful gifts and good cheer. She is quite familiar with Old Stone Fort, having brought generations of grammar school children here on field trips to learn about prehistoric goings on and brush up on their archery skills. Marrie is a math teacher, but she is very nice. (Take that, Commander Rider! Just kidding.)   Marrie’s son, John Lasater, is an award-winning chef in Nashville, famous for Hattie B’s Hot Chicken where lines of clamoring customers consistently circle city blocks. He participated in the Summer Chef Series in Atlanta this August, where he collaborated with Goo Goo Cluster (also headquartered in Nashville), to produce the award-winning “Goo Goo Cluckster” a premium Goo Goo inspired by hot chicken and waffles: made with spicy chili ganache, maple syrup caramel, brown sugar maple syrup nougat, and Jeni’s waffle cone crunch, all covered in dark chocolate! Marrie brought us a Goo Goo Cluckster the approximate size of a hockey puck and packaged like it was ordered from the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. Yay! She also brought us two just-picked heads of romaine lettuce and cabbage from her farmer’s market lady and some of her own homemade salad dressing. We enjoyed catching up with Marrie and sharing stories about everybody in West Point GA and one in Moselle MS (Marrie’s sister, Vivian, who is my dearest friend). After dinner, Marrie drove off with some trepidation into the dark forest that is our home here. Brad escorted her to the entrance gate, and we hope she made it across the narrow bridge and back home. Much love, Marrie, and thanks for coming!