This was a very different hike! We did a lot of walking, but not on a trail but around the town of Rugby, TN. This is a Victorian town established in Appalachia. The idea originally was to support those unemployed aristocrats and ordinary citizens in England. To find out more about this unusual settlement from the 1880's you are just going to have to do some research as it is very interesting. Our group of 17 loaded up for the 2.5 hr. drive to Rugby. This was one of our longest excursions and we truly did intend to hike. It just didn't quite work out. Almost but not quite. After arriving in Rugby we met our tour guide and began a very interesting tour of the town. I guess you might say that Rugby was a case of too many chief and not enough Indians. The idea was basically sound, but the makeup of the people was not. Anyway, we enjoyed a video which clearly explained what was behind the founding of Rugby and the people involved. Following the video we toured the historic building of Rugby. By the time we were finished the the tour, it was past time to eat. If there is one thing this chapter is good at it it eating. There was not much to choose from in Rugby. In fact, there is only one place, the R.M Brooks Gen. Mdse. store. Inside, you could spend hours looking at original artifacts that have been collected over the years. But the best part is that our waitress also ran the store and did the cooking of deserts. We had a wonderful lunch and then it came time for the aformentioned deserts. She had just finished making fried apple pies and coconut pie. We made our decisions and received our deserts then she mentions she had some other deserts that the had recently made. This simple act created a great deal of turmoil among us. Reorder and adjustment were rapidly made. Then she reappeared an mentioned yet some additional items she had. The crowd went crazy! We just couldn't decided! Finally things calmed down and order was restored and we enjoyed hearing her stories and recipes. Of course, by now it was too late to go on the planed hike so we made a short detour to the local historic cemetery for a short visit before heading back on the road home. Many thanks to Trish and Jane for organizing this outing. I had a great time.
If you would like to see some pictures taken during this outing, please click here.
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