Walking Tall

Green Acres RV Resort
Savannah, TN
Site #27

We knew we didn't have far to travel today but the weather forecast was for heat warnings in Jackson.  We left Jackson RV Park about 8:30 and we were the last ones out of that dump.  The sites were so narrow, the slides hung over the painted lines on the asphalt.  

We did turn over 150,000 miles on our truck today.

Did you notice we were in Savannah?  It's been on my bucket list forever.  Every time we get close, it gets so hot and humid, we change direction and head for the mountains.  Well the weather in this short distance is much cooler and dryer than Jackson.  But once again, it's not the Savannah on my bucket list.  No moss is growing here.  We're in Tennessee but a lovely area of Tennessee.  It's on the Tennessee river near the borders of Arkansas and Mississippi.

We knew as we turned in the driveway of Green Acres, this was a nice resort.  The owners were very friendly and helpful.  It's not a huge park, but very well maintained.  This is definitely a come back park and maybe one we might want to extend our stay.  

After lunch we decided to drive to Adamsville to visit the Sheriff Buford Pusser Home and Museum which is open from 11 to 5 pm. As we entered the home, we were greeted by a woman who went to school with Buford.  She told us all the behind the scenes stories.  We were so happy that we had her all to ourselves.  Although, Bill and I both said we needed LC Boyer to give us lessons on the southern language.  We did have a little trouble understanding every word.

We watched a short film, that explained what the people of the area thought about Buford.  the video also contained a segment by his daughter which told of his life. 

The present home is the second home on that site.  Buford's first home burned down and Buford replaced it with a little better one.  One thing I noticed was there were four exit doors as he was concerned about fire.  

Buford's daughter left it with all of his furnishings and personal belongings and the city bought it with all the contents to make the museum.  

This was a big kitchen for the 70's.  There was a large table to the left.

This was the other side of the kitchen.  There was also a couch but this was his favorite chair.

There was a sign by the doorway that read, "Points of Interest--This is the exact location of Buford's and Pauline's bedroom in the house that burned in 1971.  After Pauline's death, Buford asked for this furniture to be removed.  It was placed in storage and replaced with new furniture before Buford came home from the hospital.

After the house burned in 1971 this room was used by family members and as a guest bedroom with the original furniture."

Here's the doorway Elvis Presley slipped out of.

There was only one bathroom in the main level.

The downstairs is where Buford made his bedroom after Pauline was murdered.  He wouldn't sleep in their room anymore.  

There was a glass partition in his bedroom, which showed in a reflection in this photo. One note, there were no windows in Buford's downstairs (basement)bedroom.  He could drive into the garage and go directly to his room and no one would see him enter the home.  

All of his clothing is still in the closet.  One note, he never wore a uniform as a Sheriff.  Do you think at 6'6'' and 250 pounds they didn't have one to fit?  

 This was his bathroom and it had a huge round looking tub/shower that I couldn't capture in a photo.

The downstairs held all kinds of artifacts from Buford's life.  Here's the sticks he used.  

Here's the movie script from Walking Tall.  The docent said the movie was about 85% accurate.

It's history, but gory, so you might want to omit reading this next photo description.

These were items that he confiscated from prisoners.

I was amazed at all the famous people who visited him.

This was the door to his office that the department gave to the museum.

There was a room full of police department patches and badges that visitors have donated to the museum. 

Sheriff Pusser was the youngest sheriff in Tennessee history.  He also was the first to hire a black deputy.  

They have a big celebration every year and recognize a law enforcement person.  There was a plaque for Sheriff Joe Arapio.  Our docent said he gave all the museum employees pink underwear when he visited the home and museum.

I'm sure you'll recognize this as a moonshine still.

Here's what is left of the Corvette he was driving when he lost his life.  His daughter was driving on highway 64 and came upon the accident.  She pulled him out of the burning car and he died shortly afterward.

The night before his death, he was given 13 one hundred dollar bills as a bonus for signing the movie contract, which was still in his wallet at the time of the accident.

Do you wonder if it was an accident?  The following is a report stating that no alterations had been made to the Corvette prior to the accident. 

It was a great museum I highly recommend.  There was so much more I could blog about but don't want to spoil your visit by telling too much.  

Guess what we did when we came home?

I did say this was a very clean and neat park or we wouldn't have gone into the pool.

And yes, he did get wet.

Turtle Safely.......