Travel Log: Bristol

The year was 1772. The location: a rugged community and fort that's now known as Sycamore Shoals, present-day Elizabethton. The purpose: elect five men to "govern and direct for the common good of all the people."

When the ink dried on that settlement that was signed, the Watauga Association had just penned America's first constitution written by white men west of the Appalachians. The outline was said to have been modeled after that drafted by the Iroquois League of Nations, which was five Native American tribes in the region.

Not bad for a tiny town this writer's from.

Today, just down the road in Bristol, there's a modern-day coliseum where settlements are often taken care of with a bumper and a wall. There's history in East Tennessee, as well as across the State Street center line in Virginia. The challenge is not to know the history, but to explore and experience it for yourself while you're there, whether it's the 3,800 caves Tennessee offers, the miles of freshwater or a simple sandwich and fried Oreo while bluegrass music blares from a lone speaker.

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• Tennessee claims to be within a day's drive of 65 percent of the United States' population. It borders eight other states, tied for most in the nation (Missouri).

• Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Tennessee, located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at an elevation of 6,643 feet. It is the second-highest point east of the Mississippi River (Mt. Mitchell at 6,684 feet in North Carolina).

• Tennessee gets its "Volunteer State" nickname from its citizens' eagerness to answer its country's call on two different occasions. First, Gen. Andrew Jackson brought 1,500 volunteer citizens to fight in the War of 1812. Second, Gov. Aaron V. Brown asked for 2,800 men to fight Santa Ana in the Mexican War and a resounding 30,000 volunteers enlisted.

• Greeneville is home to several distinctions. Andrew Johnson was alderman, mayor, state representative and state senator from Greeneville, and he later became governor and president of the United States. The city was also home to Davy Crockett, a soldier and politician celebrated as "King of the Wild Frontier."

• While Nashville is celebrated as country music's home now, Bristol is country music's birthplace. Ralph Peer recorded several local musicians in 1927 on the Victor Records label, with talent including the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. Halfway across the state in Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry has the longest-running live radio program in the world and has been broadcast since 1925. And of course, pinned in West Tennessee is a little place called Graceland, where a king once lived.

Best Burger: Burger Bar
Best Barbecue: Ridgewood Barbecue
Best Restaurant: Alta Cucina

Admitted as a State: June 1, 1796, as 16th state
Capital: Nashville
Nickname: Volunteer State
Population Rank: 17th
Largest City: Memphis

Volunteer Parkway (how fitting) leads you to the race track, but reading the map could never portray the display Bristol Motor Speedway has on passers-by. From either direction, the unveiling of the East Tennessee racing cathedral is dramatic. Visitors are driving along their four-lane road (two lanes amid farmland if you know the back route through Chinquapin Grove) when the road turns and there appears the rising steel.

It's quite impressive, whether you see it every day going to work or twice a year when race cars inhabit the facility. The track Web site calls it the "Holy Grail of Motorsports." Hard to argue if you're from the South.
• Bristol Motor Speedway Fan Guide

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