Had another very productive day! After leaving for Greeneville, Tennessee this morning we passed over the final time zone in about an hour and finally we are back on Eastern Daylight Saving Time....it was like meeting an old friend again!...then after noon we reached the Home territory of President Andrew Johnson...the first thing we visited was his grave site in the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery..It became recognized as a National Cemetery in 1906..
His family plot with his own tomb being very prominent was directly o0n a very steep summit on Signal Hill which is now knownas Monument Hill...His wife and children and other members of his and his wife's family are buried there as well...It was said that he selected the site himself and it was confirmed after his death by a very loyal ex-slave who continued to work for him and the family for pay! Altho he was a slave owner he had freed his personal slaves far before the Emancipation Proclamation...His father died when he was 3..he and his brother was sent to a different town to learn tailoring by becoming an apprentice...He ran away after breaking a window..and a reward of $10 was offered by the tailor for his capture..but he moved miles away...opened a tailor shop...self taught to read and write and the rest of the history will be explored in my book! We saw the tailor shop...his boyhood home and the home he retired to post-presidency...It is a very interesting story which has great consequence in American History...Hang on for the ride!...I can't wait to get started!.....We then drove again..over and thru the Cumberland Mountains...and the adjacent to Ashville and over and thru the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and at the foothills of the Blue Ridge...It was a twisty, winding road which revealed exciting vistas for our pleasure...We stopped in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the nite..leaving about 2 days for our return to Hershey and Tiger!....

I wiil finally finish this blog tomorrow..with some personal o0bservations and maybe so0me interesting statistics...stay tuned...