The last two weeks have been a little busy around here, and while I haven’t updated the blog much, I’m still out here doing my thing, and writing about it. Today I wanted to share about my trip to Standing Stone State Park in Hilham, TN at the beginning of the month. I’ve mentioned that we took the trip in my other March posts, but one of my favorite parts of the adventure was the cabin we stayed in. Here are the thoughts I wrote down while we were there:

This week has been Spring Break from college for my youngest daughter, and we decided to go to Standing Stone State Park in Hilham, TN to stay in a cabin and do some hiking and relaxing. While it has been a fantastic place to spend some time together and do just that, I also had the unexpected chance to really immerse myself in the time period I’m interested in. Standing Stone is a park that was created in 1939 as part of a collective WPA, CCC, and Forestry service plan to relocate local farmers off poor soil areas and to reforest overused slopes and add recreational facilities to the area.

It is purely good luck that I found myself staying in a WPA cabin this week. Shortly after our arrival there was a power outage, and it felt like we had slipped through time back into the 1930s for sure. There we were at sunset watching the gorgeous view from the top of the ridge overlooking the CCC dam below us, on a stone terrace, at a rustic picnic table playing Scrabble by lantern and the sun slipped below the horizon. Back at the cabin, the power returned in time for dinner, and we had the (gas) fireplace going to keep the cabin cozy as we enjoyed a simple supper of pork chops, rice and green beans I had canned over the summer and brought from home.

That evening I was fortunate enough to have the time to sit down to my research at a rustic writing desk tucked into the corner, reading about the very programs that had built the room in which I was sitting, sipping the last of my hot cider. The cabin has no TV or WIFI, but it was something we actually really liked, this sense of being unplugged for few days. What the cabin does have is a simple radio, and after a little fiddling with the dial, we were delighted to pick up an AM station out of Ontario, Canada that happened to be playing a Big Band Sunday Night program. So there I was, in a WPA cabin, cut off from the outside world, a single lamp, and the music from the same era fading in and out across the airwaves. It was like I had slipped back in time, and it also made me reflect on the simple things, and how we really don’t need as much in this world as we have all become accustomed to.

If you get a chance to go stay in a Tennessee State Park cabin, I highly recommend it. Pack some board games and a deck of cards, make use of the rockers on the front porch, and don’t forget to take time to watch the sunset. You won’t be sorry that you did. Maybe I’ll see you out there.