A County Fair and Rocky Top, Tennessee

We have been pleasantly surprised with the number of things to do while we are staying at Raccoon Valley in eastern Tennessee. We are in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in the middle of an area rich in agriculture.

So it is fitting that we should make the drive to Clinton, Tennessee--home of the Anderson County Fair.

We found out that this county fair was voted the best in all of Tennessee, so of course we needed to find out why. We also found that Wednesday was senior citizen day, with free admission and special events planned for old folks like us. It started with the 4-H girls baking home-made biscuits, and we were happy to help eat them.

We were greeted with a goody bag filled with snacks and things that senior citizens enjoy. We also had a blue grass concert and free ice cream before the day was over. In between, we were a little sad that we didn't win any of the many door prizes. We were totally out of the running for the oldest female (95) and oldest male (93), and the longest married couple (64 years). But Denisa was sure that Mark could have won the knobby knee contest if he would have just went up on the stage.

After the program was over, we wandered through the exhibits of the Anderson County Fair. There were some beautiful lilies in the flower competition.

We especially liked the animal exhibits. This would be the grand champion rooster of Anderson County, Tennessee

There was a children's petting zoo, with friendly animals that enjoyed the attention from the adoring crowd.

In this section we also found this unusual four-horned sheep. The sign said this guy was a Jacob 4-horn sheep "thought to be described in Genesis as the sheep Jacob raised." Generally the males have 2-4 horns, but they can have as many as 6.

Their trademark is their spotted black and white fleece.

It was a warm day at the fair, and we felt a little like this goat--looking for a way to get to somewhere cooler.

Not far from the fair in Clinton, Tennessee, is a place we have sung about for years. Rocky Top is the fight song for the University of Tennessee, and we have been humming it ever since we crossed the state border.

Even though the song is very old, the city by this name is not. Formerly named Lake City, Tennessee, they wanted to adopt the song's name-sake. There were legal battles concerning the song's copyright, and it wasn't until 2014 that court litigation approved the re-naming to Rocky Top, Tennessee. As we drove through town, we saw several businesses, a dentist's office, and a church that still carried Lake City in their titles.

As we drove around our new home base in the foothills of the Appalachians, we enjoyed the valleys surrounded by wooded hills. Most of the valleys are punctuated by white flower umbrellas that stand about a foot above the thick grass. A close-up of these white umbrellas see that they are made up of hundreds of tiny flowers about the size of a grain of rice. It seems we have wandered into another of God's wonders!