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June 9, 2006
News from Middle Tennessee
Coffee County is a brutal place. In May, outside a local watering hole/boxing ring known as The Playing Field, I saw a man attempt to pull a knife in a fight, get beat unconscious, only to subsequently rise from a pool of his own blood, refuse medical treatment, and fade into the Coffee County night. No charges were filed, and the police refuse to investigate the assault. Can you say "malfeasance"?
The bar has since been closed. However, it was not closed due to this brutal assault. The Playing Field was an extremely rough bar. In 2005 alone, the police were called to The Playing Field over 100 times.
Now, the bar has been sold to a guy from Murfreesboro, TN, and the city of Tullahoma is trying to decide if they want to grant the new owner a license to sell beer. (Liquor sales are handled by the state.) Now, Coffee County is a dry county, but let's not sweat the details here, people.
And, apparently, beating people nearly to death isn't that uncommon in the area. I found this story about a some people from the general vicinity that were at a party in Northern Alabama (we're only about 20 miles from the state line as the crow flies). His friend got beat so severely at a party that he sustained head injuries that "if they weren't the cause of death were contributing factors." And who did they prosecute? His friend for trying to drive him to the hospital. Nice.
Meanwhile, just to the South and East of Tullahoma, halfway between the town of Sewanee and Sherwood, where they steal cars and haul them up into the hills into a clandestine network of chop shops, lies a vast limestone cave formation known as "Buggytop Cave" or the "Lost Cove Cave". It runs for miles underground. I know about it because they resuced a 300 pound man named "Tiny" from it two weeks ago. OK. His name wasn't Tiny. But he did get trapped down in there and have to spend the night. And there was some concern about hypothermia. Seriously. Even for a 300 pound man in Middle Tennessee in May. This is because the caves are about 50 degress or so, and he was soaking wet. (Page 1, Page 2).
I have been down into this cave and, I must say, it's very nice. I wandered around in it for 30 minutes, turned of my flashlight, say daylight, went for it, and came out a different entrance. I went in the Buggytop window, and came out the Peter window. There's a third entrace at the "Big Sink", which I've not been able to locate as of yet, but it's not for lack of effort. The cave goes for approximately a mile underground. There are no ropes. No steps. No gates. No fences. No guardrails. No lights. No admission. Just an open cave with a creek flowing through it that goes as far as you want to go and then some. So, if I disappear, and no one can find me, this is where I am. Send help. :)
Posted by Peenie Wallie on June 9, 2006 at 9:24 AM
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