The Elderhostel is a non-profit national program which seeks to give learning and travel opportunities to adults over age 55 and over. About 2,000 cultural and educational centers nationwide host the program, one of which is Tusculum College."Elderhostel is based on the belief that retirement does not mean withdrawal from meaningful activity, and that the later years are an opportunity to enjoy new challenges," the organization states. This year's participants in Tusculum's program, around 30 in all, represented a wide range of states, including California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois, among others. Several areas of Tennessee were also represented.

Above and at right, participants are pictured at Horse Creek Park, part of the Cherokee National Forest, in Greene County, Tennessee. Dr. Bob Davis of the Tusculum Biology Department showed the group how to capture and identify stream insects and crustaceans in order to determine water quality. (The stream was determined to be very clean.)

Dr. Davis also made the group a large outdoor breakfast at the park, where some were introduced to grits, a Southern breakfast staple, for the first time. Dee Winningham, who lived in Chicago for 30 years, declared that she now intends to eat them everyday.

 

 The group also visited the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park in Limestone, Tennessee. Those pictured are standing on the porch of a replica of the log cabin where Crockett was born. Some were surprised to learn that Crockett was not in fact "born on a mountaintop," but instead on the banks of the Nolichucky River.

 

Learn more about the National Elderhostel Program