Travel Experiences with Jeff and Cindy Barganier
Clarksville, Tennessee
Windows to the World Sphere
Clarksville’s about five hours up Interstate 65 to Nashville then northwest on I-24. The city abuts Kentucky’s border and Fort Campbell, home of the famed 101st Airborne Division. Named for Revolutionary War hero General George Rogers Clark, this fifth largest Tennessee city, (pop. 166,722) was founded in 1785, and is the home of Austin Peay State University. (Once stationed at Ft. Campbell as a U.S. Army Reservist, I received a tour of the post. But that’s a future story.) As Cindy and I cruise north through Tennessee, we’re passing vibrant green hills of plush hardwood forests and cleared fields of yellow clover. Billboards advertise whiskey distilleries and Jack Daniels Heritage Museum. As we approach downtown Clarksville, majestic church spires appear on the horizon. We drive to Clarksville’s amazing Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, circa 1889, and park in the museum parking lot. The Coca-Cola Café is just inside the door to the left. We ponder stopping in for refreshments, but they’re setting up for a party. We quickly discover the museum is a wonderful introduction to Clarksville’s interesting history, including its connection to Fort Campbell. Highlighted
42 BOOM!
June 2022
RiverRegionBoom.com
Wilma Rudolph, Olympic Champion 1960's
Customs House Museum
are notable native sons and daughters like WWII fighter pilot Frank Adkins; and Olympian Wilma Rudolph, once known as The Fastest Woman in the World. As a child, Rudolph had polio, double pneumonia, and scarlet fever, leaving her unable to walk without a brace. Her doctors told her she would never walk again. But her mother told her she could do anything she chose to believe. She won her first Olympic medal at only 16, and went on to break three world track records in the 1960’s Olympics in Rome!
of the rose windows of the church in the background. We stroll down Strawberry Alley—once a strawberry patch—where we find a Balloon Mural spelling out CLARKSVILLE. The whimsical Children’s Fountain makes us smile. Roxy Regional Theatre on Franklin Street opened in 1947. Beyond the Roxy, we come to the café Yada, allegedly the only “cicchetti” bar in Tennessee. As we loiter in front of Yada, a charming young lady named Josie—perhaps sensing we’re lost seniors— offers her assistance. “So, tell us about Yada,” I ask.
We depart the museum for a walking tour of downtown, viewing stunning art and architecture at every turn: Montgomery County Courthouse with its stately 2nd Empire clocktower (1879); Trinity Episcopal Church, circa 1877; First Presbyterian Church, circa 1822. We snap a photo at Downtown Commons, featuring the Windows to the World Sphere. Each piece of handwrought iron is made to copy the shape
She replies, “Yada is a Yiddish term. You know how you say, ‘yada, yada, yada,’ like, you get me. You don’t have to speak English. But the people around you understand each other. So, that’s kind of the environment there. It’s very friendly. Like, everybody who works there gets each other. It’s a very friendly environment. And the dining experience is part of that. The dining experience is called cicchetti. Cicchetti is basically a style of service where there are small, sharable The River Region’s 50+ Lifestage Magazine
