Crossville Tile Factory Tour, Nashville TN

Brian Lefholz and I joined a large group from all over California and headed east to Crossville Tennessee to tour the factory of Crossville Tile. It was an extremely fun and educational experience. We toured two factories, their oldest and their newest. The oldest of the two was a hodgepodge of activity. We bounced from room to room like a pinball, trying our best to make sense of the tile making process. Needless to say it was extremely confusing and I couldn’t exactly tell you I learned a whole lot except for that the good people of Crossville start every sentence with, “This here is…”. Now on to the new factory… much more informative. Our tour guide was a barrel of laughs and he really deconstructed the tile manufacturing process so that a one semester high school ceramic class attendee such as myself could understand it. What was extremely valuable was that we were essentially able to follow the same piece of tile from start to finish learning the in’s and outs of the production, packaging, and shipping process.

Real quick, I have to give props to the employees of the factory; everyone we met with really seemed to love their job and have a passion for what they were doing. It said a lot about how Crossville runs their operation.

As for Nashville… it gets a big ‘F’ for FABULOUS! I think I speak for Brian when I say it was a blast and a half. Made up of Second Avenue, Lower Broadway, and Printer’s Alley, the district serves up the best of Nashville’s historic past, dining, shopping, and nightlife like you’ll only find in Music City. Day or night, you are guaranteed to experience live music at a number of bars and restaurant in the area. Nashville certainly has more than its fair share of talent. If you ever have a chance to go, I recommend getting an ‘Alley-Gator’ shooter at the Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar and treating yourself to a sweet baked potato (brown sugar, butter, and a sprinkle of heaven) at one of the top 10 restaurant in the US, The Stockyard.

-Amber