One of my favorite things to do is to look at very old photos of Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee.

Here's a classic from Marty Evans at Historic Nashville. This is the oldest known picture of Nashville:

Below the photo it says: The Market at Nashville

Check out Marty's other pictures...

I snapped this picture on my way home from work today...

I wasn't sure what I'd get... the scene was so magnificent in person, yet all I had was my little pocket-sized digital-cam in the car.

Looking for colorful leaves? Hoping to catch the fiery fall colors before they fade?

We are too. This weekend, we plan to capture some of nature's most colorful beauty in photographs. So we'll arm ourselves with our Canon digital camera, tripod, zoom lens, macro lens, adjustable flash, freshly charged battery, and a spare memory card, then we'll be hitting the backcountry roads of Tennessee!

More leaf-peeping tips for ALL states!

The good news for Tennesseans like us is this state is filled with places that display spectacular Autumn scenery. The bad news is that you'll have plenty of company out there. People tend to head to the mountains in search of the best Fall color. In fact, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg gets 1 million visitors each and every October alone!

Some of the less popular places that are highly recommended for their colorful fall foliage (and much smaller crowds) include:

Asheville, North Carolina area (2,000 foot elevation), including Hendersonville and Brevard. The unique thing about this area: the abundance of waterfalls! Many of the waterfalls are located right along the main roads, and others can be accessed within state parks like the Dupont State Forest.

Balsam Mountain -- just outside of Cherokee, North Carolina.

Cherokee National Forest (from Chattanooga to Bristol along the TN/NC border).

Closer to home, around Nashville Tennessee, you can take a drive on the Natchez Trace Parkway, motor along the winding roads within Edwin Warner and Percy Warner parks, or take a stroll through Radnor Lake State Natural Area for the most peaceful and quiet experience you can find.

Around Nashville, the third week in October is typically the "best" time for viewing Fall colors at their peak.

Whether you make a concentrated effort to get out and explore nature's beauty, or you just decide on a spontaneous drive to a nearby park to check out the awesome color... I encourage you to at least take a brief moment to appreciate life's colorful rewards!

Even in my own town, I love to be a tourist and soak in all the exciting parts about the city!

Last week for example, we drove through downtown Nashville (Jim driving, and me with digital camera in hand) and spent a good hour just seeing the sights and taking pictures.