It starts with Christmas...
Margie Fairchild ca. 1935
The year is 1935 and Miz Josie is the wise and witty owner of a wayside inn at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains - Tumble Inn. The country is enduring the hardships of the Great Depression but life in McLeod County, Tennessee, maintains the steady course of a simple existence. The stories from Tumble Inn are told by the calendar and there is never a dull month. A blizzard brings the outside world to Tumble Inn in the person of a mysterious stranger. A moonshiner’s still causes a night of fear among the neighbors. Celebrations abound at every opportunity, from the Strawberry Festival to the Fourth of July. Every occasion brings something unexpected and special. Layered with mountain lore and vivid detail “Tales From Tumble Inn” takes the reader on a gentle trip to another time and another place, one not soon forgotten.
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Miz Josie never forgot how the house got its name. Folks from Hoop 'N Hollow often took a shortcut over her hill. One night two merrymakers, who had taken to their cups all night, had stumbled at the top of the rise and found themselves tumbling down right to Miz Josie’s back porch. The next morning they woke up asking the obvious, “How’d we get, here on this dang porch?” Miz Josie had stood over them with a well-meaning frown and said, “You just tumbled in. . . .” From that day on, the name stood and Tumble Inn became a place on the map.
(excerpt from Chapter 1, Christmas at the Inn)
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Miz Josie never forgot how the house got its name. Folks from Hoop 'N Hollow often took a shortcut over her hill. One night two merrymakers, who had taken to their cups all night, had stumbled at the top of the rise and found themselves tumbling down right to Miz Josie’s back porch. The next morning they woke up asking the obvious, “How’d we get, here on this dang porch?” Miz Josie had stood over them with a well-meaning frown and said, “You just tumbled in. . . .” From that day on, the name stood and Tumble Inn became a place on the map.
(excerpt from Chapter 1, Christmas at the Inn)
