Last week, I found myself in downtown Loudon with couple of hours to kill. It was early
evening and most of the businesses were closed, but it was still daylight. I walked around
the courthouse square and up and down several nearby streets. It was average small town
America.

Loudon is the county seat of Loudon County. Both were named for the Earl of Loudoun,
but somewhere down the line they Americanized the spelling. I wonder if Loudon
County Virginia and Loudon, N.H. are named for the same guy. I guess he got around a
lot.

Loudon (Tn) is an old riverboat landing town on the Tennessee River. It was
incorporated in 1857. For a while, the railroad from Chattanooga to Knoxville stopped
there and travelers had to cross the river on a Ferry and catch a stage coach on into
Knoxville. It was about 30 miles. A large log building known as the Carmichael Inn still
stands near the court house. Many railroad/ riverboat/ stage coach passengers stayed
there while waiting for connections.

You may wonder why I mention this. Well, Loudon strikes me as the kind of town that
tourist are looking for these days. It has historic buildings, street names like Wharf Street
and Ferry Street, a '50's style cafe' and antique stores. There is even an icecream parlor
diagonally across from the courthouse. One big attraction is the fountain which attracts
all kinds of practical jokers. Periodically, some prankster dumps something into the
fountain. Soap, detergent, dye, fish, ducklings or anything else handy. On the evening
that I was there, it had been dosed with both detergent and red dye. Sometimes the suds flow across the street and have been known to cause accidents. This has been going
on for at least the four decades that I have been here, maybe longer.

Now doesn't that sound like a fun place?
Howard