Oak Ridge, TN

Tiger swallowtail at the Arboretum

One of the day trips that Wayne Lohrmann and I took was to Oak Ridge, TN We left to visit the American Museum of Science and Energy, but on our way there, we got sidetracked at the University of Tennessee Arboretum. It was a warm partly cloudy day, around 80 degrees, and we walked for several miles on the trails in the woods.

The Arboretum serves as a collection of native trees and plants as well as varieties of species from around the country that will grow well in Tennessee. They have a large collection of holly varieties, for example. Many of the trees in the woods are labeled, which was useful at this time of year since most were without distinguishing leaves. The once had a large stand of American Chestnut trees, but as with nearly all chestnuts in the US, theirs were wipes out by the blight. Later, they had a great collection of American Chestnut stumps, and the school kids would play a game counting those. But even those are now virtually gone.

Unfortunately, we were probably a week or two early from the peak spring bloom there. Daffodils and redbuds, and a few of the dogwood and tulip trees were in bloom, but the rest were well before their peak. We enjoyed the information and the walk in the woods regardless.

Flying hair from the Van De Graaf generator

Later we went to the American Museum of Science and Energy. Oak Ridge was one of the "secret cities" built in 1943 where atomic energy and methods of refining uranium were developed in preparation to build the atom bombs which ended World War II. A thorough history of this development and the lifestyles are presented in the museums galleries and halls.

Oak Ridge is also close to the Tennessee Valley Authority projects which built huge hydroelectric dams and lakes to provide power for the country during the depression. The museum notes this, and provides information on all of the major energy sources that have been used in the country, as well as the alternative energy sources now under consideration. There are large exhibits on coal, nuclear, natural gas, solar and wind power.

The human kaleidescope

After walking 4 miles in the Arboretum, by the time we had spent 2 hours in the museum, we were thoroughly exhausted. We went home to tornado warnings just north of the campground. No tornadoes bothered us, though, and Wayne and Mary Jo treated us to a wonderful Tennessee barbecue dinner.