Exploring

Today Tina, Hope, and I went to Kingston Springs, a community just a few miles from where we live, to check out a new yarn shop. We met some neat people who have businesses and live there. Fun! We ate lunch at the Red Tree Coffee Shop which was comfortable and relaxed. The owner and her friends were friendly and interesting and served delicious sandwiches and salads. We all had the same thing while we looked around at original art and gifts. They have music performances every Friday night, so we're planning to go there sometime soon for that.

We enjoyed our morning and early afternoon and have decided to explore more areas near here. For some reason, none of us had ever been to Kingston Springs before today, and I'd always wondered about it and what people meant by "downtown" there. It's basically one short street with several entertaining places to go.

Natural Tunnel nearby

The Red Tree Coffee Shop mobilized volunteers during the recent flood. That area is right on the Harpeth River and was hit hard. They were without electricity and homes for a while. Owners of the coffee shop were on the news because of all they did to help people during that time. Here's an article about it. And a video of the news report about them HERE.

Article from WSMV by Bob Sellers

KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. -- When the recent mid-state flooding hit, the small town of Kingston Springs in Cheatham County was isolated, as the Harpeth River owned the town's roads and bridges. Almost everyone was without power that Monday, except for the Red Tree Coffee Shop.

Special Section: Flood Recovery | Watch This Story

"Everybody was just kind of wandering around, just walking because there was water in so much of the streets and everything … we just opened the doors and had a place for people just to say, 'Hey, are you OK?'" said Amy Bruce, the coffee shop's co-owner.

And that was just the beginning. On Tuesday morning, Bruce, who runs the shop with her sister, Katie Conley, sent out an e-mail and a message on Facebook for anyone who could get to the Red Tree to get there as soon as they could. Two hours later, they had a 100 people at the shop.

They set up volunteer teams, finding out what people needed and what people had. They went to work, pulling out insulation, knocking down walls and putting piles of trash out near the curb. It brought the town together with donations of food, elbow grease and spirit.

"That's whenever all these awesome people would take over a section of something, like, 'I'll take over child care.' 'I'll take over organizing.' 'I'll take over organizing the volunteer list, getting all their contact information,'" said Bruce. "And all these girls just did it. It was really awesome to watch."

Bruce talked about a woman who lost so much in the flood but who said it was one of the best things that ever happened to her because she had never known how many friends she had.Those friends will be getting together again to volunteer Saturday at 7:30 a.m. at the Red Tree.