A Pegram, Tennessee staycation

September 20, 2:45 PMNashville Evangelical ExaminerSteve Simms

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Recently my wife and I staycationed in Pegram, Tennessee, just 25 minutes from our home in Nashville..   (A staycation is a travel-free vacation -- a vacation where you stay home or close to home.)

We stayed one night at Chigger Ridge Bed & Breakfast in Pegram.  We couldn't check in until 2:00 but we decided to leave home early and tour the town and the area. 

A few years ago we signed a contract to buy a home in Kingston Springs (which is right beside Pegram) so we drove by that home.  The night before we were going to close, the buyer of our home backed out of his contract and left us unable to close on the home in Kingston Springs.  At the time we were heart-broken and angry.  However, several months later we bought our current home which we really like.  Seeing the home that we were kept from buying helped us to realize that God is guiding us and protecting us.  It drove home the point that what seems bad may be good if you just give it some time.

Then we visited the Kingston Springs library.  It is a very attractive library in a small log building with a nice front porch full of rocking chairs.  We spotted a small cafe across the street so we walked over and had an early lunch.  The husband and wife working in the cafe were very friendly.  They told us we should see the new city park on the Harpeth River.  So after lunch we took a walk in the park.

Next we went on to Pegram.  We saw a store front with a sign that read "Fiddle & Pick -- The Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee."  We stopped and had a fun conversation with a fiddle teacher.  My wife plays the dulcimer and has been wanting to find a place to get more involved with music.  She was thrilled to find this place.  Here's a link:  http://fiddleandpick.ning.com/

We still had time on our hands before we were to check in, so we drove out to Harpeth River State Park passing by Paul Overstreet's house on our way.  The park is known for Narrows of the Harpeth where in 1820 Montgomery Bell forced slave laborers to excavate a tunnel through a one-hundred-yard-wide rock ridge that separated the Harpeth River from itself.  We walked down a long staircase and watched the water rush through the the slave-made tunnel.  

Then we went to Chigger Ridge.  We were greeted warmly and then introduced to the dog so that he would stop barking at us.  We were given a surprise upgrade to the bridal suite.  Fortunately we didn't see or feel any chiggers during our plesant stay.  It is a nice log house high on a ridge.  We enjoyed relaxing.  Chigger Ridge is a very nice get away.  Check it out at:  http://www.bbonline.com/tn/chigger/

Since we don't have cable at home, we channel surfed for a while.  When we came across Turner Classic Movies a man was talking about the "racy" movies of the 1930s and how the federal government was about to "crack down on Hollywood" and make them clean up their films if they didn't tone them down.  He said that the movie he was about to show us was the "raciest" film that Hollywood made during that time period.  I don't like unwholesome movies so I was prepared to surf on.  However, when this 1933 "racy" movie came on, it was rated G by today's standards.  What people in 1933 thought was really bad, we now consider a G movie.  I can't remember the name, but it was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.  My wife and I laughed almost non-stop.  

Later we went to Scoops Ice Cream and had a couple of scoops.  And we also had a nice conversation with the woman working there.

The next morning we went into the kitchen for breakfast.  The owners were sitting at the table waiting for us to eat with them.  They said they were going to have a blessing and then suddenly reached out and took our hands.  The man prayed a sincere and touching prayer for us and our meal.  They are a delightful couple and we really enjoyed our excellent breakfast with them.  Much of our conversation with these strangers was about our shared love for Jesus.  

They told us that they had a retreat house next to the main house that can sleep 16 people.  We were amazed.  My wife has been looking for several months for somewhere to hold a women's retreat.  Everything was so expensive.  They offered their retreat house for a very reasonalbe rate and included breakfast for everyone.  We walked through it and it was perfect for what my wife had in mind.  After months of her looking and praying, the answer was given suddenly through our staycation in Pegram.  God is amazing.