Spring Time!

It's Spring in Tullahoma. You probably already know that because your eyes are itching and you can't keep enough tissues in your house! This is a beautiful time of year where EVERYTHING blooms. School is winding down, and Summer plans are being made. If you are on facebook, which...of course you are, there is a group page called Tullahoma, TN Moms. It's periodically updated with happenings, and helps the new mom get to know other moms.

Summertime!

Oh summertime in Tullahoma! The kids are out of school and the search for fun things to do is on! The first order of business is get to the pool. My goodness it gets hot here! The pools in Manchester and Winchester are really fun. The Manchester Pool is located at the Manchester Recreation Center. It's big, has two large slides, play equipment, a lazy river and plenty of lounge chairs. The Winchester pool is at the Swim Plex located on Old Estill Springs Rd. It is smaller, but less crowded, less expensive, and serves a free sack lunch to children.

Manchester Pool

Winchester Pool

Another option is indoor activities. The Hands On Science Center is fun for my toddler and preschooler. I talked more about it on a previous post. Another good option is Galaxy Skate. They have a large bounce house, as well as a small one, in addition to an arcade, and of course, a skating rink. 

Galaxy Skate

                       

Kind of a big deal.

Here is the sign coming into Tullahoma from the Lynchburg Hwy. As you can see, churches are kind of a big deal here.

Grandaddy's Farm

http://www.grandaddysfarm.com/
We went to Grandaddy's Farm with my son's preschool, and we had a blast! Some of the things they have there are: tractor rides, a huge trampoline, pig races, a really big bench swing, two tube slides (one is extra long and goes down a hill), three big tire swings, and some animals to check out. There is a lot more, and you can see a complete description at their website, listed above.

The Farm is located in Winchester. It's a little off the beaten path, but isn't everything around here? So, when you get to the farm, you pay, and walk through a small gift shop featuring some really cool gourds. The tractor ride pulls a large wagon around the farm. We went down a big hill, and back up again, then under a tunnel, which had gourds hanging from it.

The Farm also has a large area to eat, with picnic tables and a snack bar. A word of caution: during the time we went, in the fall, there were many yellow jackets flying around the trashcans. If you do choose to bring food when these bees are present, I would suggest eating far away from the trash cans. And if you or your kids are allergic to bees, certainly bring your epi pen, or use other precautions.

Cowan Railroad Museum

The Cowan Railroad Museum was a lot of fun! It is a small museum, but has lots of artifacts that you can touch and a really cool model train where you can go underneath and look up into a plastic bubble. There are also a lot of old pictures of the train station, and everything that went with it like old maps, records books and supplies. The pictures were well maintained and it was pretty cool to look at pictures of the very building you are standing in.

The town of Cowan is also very nice. It was especially beautiful as we visited in the fall, and the colors of the leaves and the rolling hills made a great back drop to the museum. There were several restaurants near the museum, which is located in the heart of the main street running through town.

 

Of course, the best part was being able to get on the old train outside. There is a steam engine, platform, box car and caboose.

I could definitely see this becoming something we do again. Next time, I'd like to walk downtown and visit the various souvenir shops, restaurants and shops.

Short Springs- Machine Falls

I've wanted to visit this place since before we moved here, and we finally did last Saturday. No where did we find online that warned us of what we would actually be experiencing, so I hope this will be helpful to some of you out there! The Short Springs Natural Area is a short drive from downtown Tullahoma. It's actually in the city limits. When you arrive at the water tower that bears the name of Short Springs, you will park you car and walk across the street to the trail head. The trail is about 1/2 a mile long and most of it is on a steep decline into the stream and falls.

Part of the decline has man-made steps on it, but it is still very rocky and steep. I was wearing flip flops and my husband, slip ons, so needless to say, we were not prepared. My son was a trooper. He was so determined to get to the bottom to see the falls. So down we went, and when we got to the bottom, we had to scale slippery, moss covered rocks, so be careful!
Anyway, you will trek through the actual stream, so wear shoes you don't mind getting wet. We turned a bend, and there it was! Machine falls is really pretty. It's tucked under trees and is kind of in a canyon. There is a shallow, and very clear, pool at the bottom of the falls that is very refreshing after the long hike down the hill. Even though it was not what we expected, we are really happy we decided to go ahead and make the hike. You won't be dissapointed if you decide to do the same. Short springs is a must-visit for anyone passing through or moving to Tullahoma!



 

The Exchange

https://exchange931.com/

I began my search for all things Tullahoma in June when we found out we would be moving here. After almost four months, and having already lived here for two, I have finally found the website that would have been so helpful to me months back. It is the website that goes with the Exchange newspaper. It's like craigslist for Tullahoma. The link is above. Enjoy!