Strawberries and Lynchburg

After hearing rumors of strawberry picking locations near Nashville, I decided that it sounded like something I just had to experience.  I asked around at work for advice on the best place to go and was referred to a few different spots.  I did a little googling and settled on Valley Home Farm in Wartrace, Tennessee.  We followed up a morning run with some amazing oatmeal cookie pancakes (thank you pinterest) and made the drive through the beautiful rolling hills and giant horse farms of rural Tennessee to our destination.

 

We went inside, were given baskets and told that strawberries were all you can pick for $2 a pound.  They sent us out into a giant field with the instructions: just pick the red ones.

instructions found after we were done

Once Mike informed me that the bushes I set after were actually blueberry plants, we picked our perfect row of strawberry plants and got to work.

blueberries

strawberries

I was surprised at how many berries there were and enjoyed picking out the perfect ones.  I might have sampled a few fresh off the plant (vine?) and they were incredibly delicious.

We each filled our baskets in less than an hour and decided to call it quits.

After our strawberry picking, we were ready for lunch.  We had planned on eating at a hotel nearby that claimed to hold a BBQ every Saturday.  Unfortunately, after wandering around the deserted hotel (that claims to be haunted) and not finding anyone, we gave up.

We had seen signs on our way in for the Jack Daniels distillery.  I had always been interested in taking a tour so we decided to drive over there for a tour and to hopefully find some food.

We didn't end up sticking around for the tour as we were worried about leaving our berries in a hot car for an hour and a half but we saw enough and drove over to the adorable downtown square in Lynchburg, TN.
 

historic lynchburg

The Bar-b-que Caboose Cafe filled our lunch bbq cravings.
 

they had a real train running around the ceiling

We did a quick trip around the shops in the square.  It was interesting the number of touristy stores that centered entirely around Jack Daniels.  I guess they are the claim to fame for the little town.  

It was fun to explore a little bit of Tennessee that we hadn't yet seen.  I signed up to hear when the blueberries are ripe so I hope to make a return trip to Valley Home Farms.