Another one in the books | Rock City Barns 2025
It’s April 2025, and I feel like I have just given birth. Ask any writer or author and she will tell you the same thing. Planning, writing and finally delivering a book that has been boiling on the stove for months or years is like giving birth.—only without immediate gratification.
My editor has received the story of the barns - as I see it. Now, we wait.
However, I have to share these names because without these amazing people and places, the page would be blank and the story untold:
Rock City Inc., especially Meagan Jolley, Laura Price, Jamie Ann Rennick, Pepper Raper, Will Jackson and the Innovation Art Specialists, Jack Glenn, Doug Chapin, and the ever-inspiring patriarch of the institution, Bill Chapin. Thank you for opening your doors, your records, and your hearts to us so that we could understand the entire story.
Starbucks on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, our mobile office and favorite caffeine provider; Clumpies Ice Cream Co., for the tastiest hand-crafted treat in the mountains.
Chanticleer Inn Bed and Breakfast, Lookout Mountain; Hotel Indigo, Chattanooga; Hilton Knoxville Airport, Knoxville; and Jeannine O’Malley of Peaceful Side of the Smokies Tourism; for lodging and care during our road trips.
Chattanooga Public Library for their wealth of historical photos.
Barn owners Ian and Jessica Mercer, Darren and Michelle Henderson, Tim Ward, and Jeff Walters for sharing their decades of barn stories;
Observers who were our eyes when we couldn’t be there – Tom and Lois Adkinson, Amanda Kennon, Karon Warren, Brent Moore, Cody Williams, Eric Williams;
Painters Troy Freeman (FreeSky Studios) and Roy Davis (R&R Outdoor Advertising) for offering a fresh perspective;
Stephanie Stuckey of Stuckey’s Inc. for remembering and doing her part to revive the Great American Road Trip in the twenty-first century, and proving that being stuck in a hot vehicle for multiple hours with siblings and parents made the journey as fabulous as the destination – at least, it made for a great story;
Joe Baker (Ole Smoky Distillery) and Amanda Knudsen for sharing the Ole Smoky portion of the story;
Andrea Weigl, PR, (Rhodes Motor Lodge, Boone NC) and the Greene’s Motel legacy;
Joe Gartrell (The History Press), editor and believer in the timeless inspiration of an old barn;
And Len Garrison, my favorite road trip partner, who always captures beautiful imagery when my words aren’t enough.
