Day #140 – The Wren’s Nest

Cartersville GA

There were so many things we wanted to see in Atlanta, but we had just one day.  We chose The Wren’s Nest (http://www.wrensnestonline.com), home of author Joel Chandler Harris.  It was a very important place for Kelly to visit and it was on the outskirts of town which made for easier navigation and parking.

When Kelly was little, her father used to read the Uncle Remus stories to her.  She still treasures these memories.  You know that Kelly loves all things Disney and the movie “Song of the South” was no exception.  She has collected most of the Disney films and was quite bothered that she could not find this movie.  When she found out Disney had sold the rights to it, in an effort to distance itself from the racial turmoil caused by the movie, she was hugely disappointed.  She saw the stories as a way to connect with her father, and saw a moral in each one.

When I was little, my parents censored all kinds of things from me.  The Uncle Remus stories were one.  The first time I rode the Splash Mountain ride at Disney World, I was surprised by the racial undertones.  That ride was my first introduction to Uncle Remus.

We went to the Wren’s Nest hoping to explore our own inherent prejudices and learn more about this issue.  Our guide for the tour was an elderly Black woman.  She had been raised to believe that the only wrong thing Mr. Harris had done was not share his profits from the African-American stories with the African-American community.  She started working at the Wren’s Nest as a housekeeper because she needed the work.  She implied that her friends and family nearly shunned her for this, but she kept the job.  She continued working there, eventually becoming a docent, as she learned more about Mr. Harris and how he came to write the stories.

We learned that Alice Walker wrote a scathing essay, accusing Mr. Harris of stealing her culture.  We learned that historians are grateful to him because he preserved stories from a lost culture, right down to the dialect.  African-Americans seem to be as divided on the issues as White people.  Explore the website – read the essays on the issue – and decide for yourself.

After our visit, we went to Chanterelle's Cafe & Catering (646 Evans St SW
Atlanta, GA 30310) for lunch.  One of the other docents recommended it.  It was a bit soul, a bit Cajun, and a bit French.  It was altogether yummy.  Kelly had macaroni and cheese, French peas, and Salisbury steak.  I had shrimp Creole with basil squash.  We both ate until we had puppy belly.  I told the owner that I wanted to wash pots and chop vegetables in her kitchen just so I could watch them make that amazing food.

On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (http://www.nps.gov/kemo).  The battles that took place here began after the Confederacy began to weaken and the Union army was finally beginning to show its strength. The Union strategy, under General William T. Sherman, was the same time and again in this overall campaign for Atlanta.  He would hold the entrenched Confederates in place while sending another part of his army around and behind their flank.  Sometimes he was successful in cutting their supply lines and sometimes not.  Either way, the Confederates continued to fall back.  They dug in at Kennesaw Mountain.  This had been a previous stronghold, so there were already trenches and cannons in place.  There were a series of battles, over the course of three weeks.  The Union counted 3,000 deaths and the Confederates counted 800.  In the end, the Union took the mountain.