In July. W.O. Greene and his wife, Catherine, organized a trip up Monteagle and to St Mary’s Retreat with several stops - including a rum distillery, a night at the retreat house, a visit to a train museum, and a final stop at a grist mill, museum, and an adjacent country store.
2007 July NBCC Drive to St Mary’s
JD, Al, and Jack discuss the leadership of the tour
The cars in front of the rum distillery
For years the building was a school
And then it was used as a community center
The warehouse was the old gymnasium
Still has the basket up and who remembers ‘Sweet Lucy’?
Mr Pritchard describes his family’s hand made rum distilling process
He and his wife served as tour guides
One of the copper kettles used to separate the alcohol from the steam
The heart of the still
The main work area was the old garage
It was a very informative tour
The original still
Aging rum - in 16 gallon barrels not 55
The complete product line
One could purchase some of the wares
At last we made it up Monteagle to St  Mary’s Retreat house
The main retreat house
The ladies enjoying a little rest
One of the cottages on the grounds
The view was spectacular
 
Jack and Mary go exploring on one of the many trails
The clouds did not provide the best  sunset
But we caught some of it
 
Dinner is served
All in all, a very peaceful place
The library at the University of the South
The University of the South was an original SEC school
The train museum was in the old station house
The old switch-gear electrical control panel
There were big trains
And little trains
What train museum would be complete without a model train layout?
What the interior would have looked like in the late 1800’s
A display of conductor’s hats and other curios
A recent acquisition
On to the mill
I’ll bet that was a noisy engine
The mill was an imposing building for it’s time
 
The bulk corn being loaded into the mill
 
The waterwheel’s power is transfered by lots of overhead wheels and belts
 
A very interesting place
Not sure this is up to OSHA standards
Corn meal on the left, grits on the right
Don’t pay any attention to that man operating the printing press!
Here is an old cotton gin
 
The dam for the retainment pond
A peaceful creek
Many critters live in the creek
The mill with the overshot wheel
The mill race leading from the retainment to the wheel
The overflow
A good view of the overshot wheel
The adjacent Bread and Breakfast and country store
This was an old log cabin
A good place for lazy afternoons
Inside the country store
An old phonograph
And a player piano
An even older phonograph