Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park

 November 6, 2020

We are back at Kentucky Lake

this time Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park.

We drove up to what the map said was Pilot Knob Interpretive Center

on our first drive in the park and found

Okay, let's go in.

Exhibit on log rafts

love the tiny food plate

Fun, profitable and full of danger, 

what a way to make a living.

The central piece here is a boat, "Old Betsy"

the biggest brail boat on the Tennessee River

                                                                

from the back right

A peek at the bunkhouse.

This looks very minimal and not too comfy.

Here is the sign that gives the details about "Old Betsy"

The brail spreaders

those could catch a lot of mussels.

The museum had a great view of the

Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake

We even took some time to sit and rock like a couple of old timers

November 7, 2020

Hey, we did not know until we got here but

the first weekend in November is Civil War Days here.

There is a competition for shooting Civil War era guns right here.

So yes, we went to a Skirmish today

Skirmishes, are not re-enactments of specific Civil War battles. Rather, they are concerned with promoting the accurate shooting of the firearms of the era. 

There were 9 teams who competed first in carbine rifles

with five different target rounds.

A round of clays on a board

A round of  hanging water cups 

 

A round of hanging clays

A round of 4 inch tiles hanging

A round of juicers (bottles of colored water)

The teams set up their own targets

Juicers are small water bottles with dyed water.

This park only had space for shooters to be 50 yards away 

from the targets.  So to make it equal to being 100 yards

away the targets were smaller.

It was loud and smokey when they shot.

After the Carbines they then shoot Smooth Bore Muskets

they get to move to 25 yards away as these are less accurate

With the carbines the nine teams shot in 2 rounds

so 4 or 5 teams would be firing at once

Each round lasted 5 minutes

Your team can stop if you clear your targets before time is up.

Here you see competitors using moving dollies to hold their rifles

others used baby strollers or wagons.

A few guns for sale.  One of them was $2,200

And now for some of the contestants

The hat, oh that hat says it all.

Jake, he looks the part.

Very nice man.  Everyone here was very nice.

There is something about the baggy pants

that looks so genuine.

Everyone was very respectful of the guns. 

Safety was very important, here these

two are serious as they prepare for competition.

But they were here for fun, as you can see

this man is looking forward to a day of shooting.

Two from team Illinois, the man on the right is at his first competition.

They came over to talk to me since I was wearing a Cubs shirt-

apparently an unusual sight in Tennessee.

Of course, we still got a hike in today.

We walked from the campsite to the lake and then did

an interpretive trail.

Fossil Point on Kentucky Lake

Beautiful Fall Colors

A great primitive campsite down on the lakeshore.

A peek at our campsite from the interpretive trail.

The sites are generously sized and not too close to your neighbor.

Game tonight, GO Irish!