Although I did not blog yesterday, I have a cross to post for Sunday! I made it in the garden at The Biltmore!  Actually, I took a picture of part of a fence and turned it one quarter turn.

We arrived in Charleston about noon yesterday(Sun., Sept 29, 13), in time for our 1:30 boat reservation to go to Ft. Sumter. It was a sunny day but the ride was lovely.  I thought the fort was very interesting and today we visited Boone Hill plantation where many of the bricks for it were made.
       We took a ferry from Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant. America's most tragic conflict ignited at Ft. Sumter on April 12, 1861. Most say this is where the Civil War began, and they do re-inactments every year.  It remains a memorial to all who fought to hold it.  I had not seen projectiles imbedded in the sides of a fort before, and we have been to a few in the Caribbean. The cannons seemed so massive too. 

We could not believe the size of the bridge between Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, but  people were running and walking and biking along the side and we hear they have 5K's there. Lindy, that can be your next adventure, to run here!

 

 

Mt. Pleasant is the name of the neat place Mike found across the bay from Charleston and The Shem Creek Inn only has 52 rooms. Our room faces a water inlet where private and chartered boats come and go. Yesterday a shrimp boat was parked outside.  One couple who comes every years says they have seen them unload fish at a company just two doors up from the hotel. We chose a restaurant next door one way last night and had lunch next door the opposite way today! Both were great!

 

Boone Hall Plantation and working farm that we toured today was quite fascinating. The 3/4 mile gravel road is lined with live, moss draped oak trees on both sides. It is the longest one like it in the U.S. and they copied it for use in Gone With the Wind. They did not have the technology we have now, so they painted the scene on glass to put behind the scenes. I just watched it last month and am impressed with how real it looked!  None of that movie was filmed outside of California, which I learned by internet research after I watched it!  The man who gave us our tour was awesome, as well as the driver on our tour around the farm( currently being used as a corn maze, pumpkin patch and various Halloween activities.(That is big holiday in the East, I have noticed!) The gardens were pretty and most interesting and new to me, were slave cabins. Inside was a depiction of a part of their life and a taped message about it also. The displays were very good. At one end was a local sweet grass basket weaver, and the opposite end was a dramatization by a Black woman who was fantastic! She talked and sang her presentation. We gave her a standing ovation! Not to be missed also, on both sides near the front of the home, were two gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A contrast of homes, as I am reading in a new book I bought : WE LIVED IN A CABIN IN THE YARD 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we are off to Charleston to see The Battery, and the market, and whatever else we can cram into one day. We ran down tonight to get our bearings and found a better parking area for tomorrow. It was too late for a carriage tour, but a lovely evening to stroll, eat more seafood, and walk out to a pier and view of  the harbour just after the sun set.  The main street into the area is so  narrow, was Mike's first comment!

 

After  2 and 1/2 days in Asheville, I need to catch up before we head out for Charleston early tomorrow. We can now say we have seen the largest house inAmerica. It is only 175,000 square feet though, and has 45 bathrooms, none of which may the public use. It goes without saying, NOBODY would want to clean THAT many bathrooms. 

      It was truly impressive as are the grounds surrounding it. My audio tour took between 1 1/2 and 2 hrs. inside. We did one of the garden areas, and the winery, and then left for the day. This morning, we went back to do the gardens. That went pretty fast since much of it is not in bloom and I only took  a few dozen pictures. NOT to worry, Kara and Lindy, I will put them on a separate Snapfish page. :-)  Mike was sweet and patient, and since it was a cool morning, we both enjoyed the walk and peace and quiet with few people. However, I wanted to take a last peak inside the Biltmore before we left, and as soon as we entered (using our 2 day ticket which our B & B gave us) I knew we were in trouble. After three rooms of wall to wall people, we turned around and left. Saturday is NOT the day to tour inside, at least this time of year. Their Christmas Celebration sounds excessive, but neat. They put up 45 Christmas trees.

 

God's creation is so AMAZING!!!

      Tonight we went to a wonderful restaurant in an old house called The Corner Kitchen. The food was amazing.  We met a nice couple who live two hours away and come to this restaurant each time they come to town. Afterwards we walked to an old cemetery that we had been passing by.
     
SATURDAY NIGHT....Sept. 28th, 2013

Many of you know that yesterday was my Birthday , so Mike said we should do whatever and go to a show in the evening.  Sept. 25, 2013 started out rainy and continued most of the day and evening, but didn't dampen our spirits. My first phone call was from Kylie and I was inside buying tickets for last night so we missed it. I was so touched and HUMORED by it, that I had to call her right away, as she had not left for school.  She sang me a new and different B-day song. I also chatted with Grandson Jayden, who was very chipper!  Next Mike took me to the BIGGEST  Christmas store in the East, and it was SEVERAL ROOMS, in Pigeon Ford.   I only bought three ornaments, and two are gifts!  Pretty good, don't you think?

 

     Next we started towards the other end of the town of Gatlinburg to an Arts and Crafts community that is an 8 mi. loop. It was still raining quite a bit, so we went to an English PUB for lunch.  We were the first guests of the day, and she explained their menu,homemade pub food, NOT restaurant food. I was so hungry by then that I could have eaten anything and I DID ! We had the works: shared two dinners and if you see the pictures, you will KNOW it was not my usual Weight Watcher fare. HOWEVER, it WAS MY BIRTHDAY!!!

 We visited several shops and I purchased a few gifts, before we headed to our motel to get ready for the Lumberjack Show which was at 5 P.M. We also had "lumberjack food" there, not light either. The show was very entertaining and funny.

 Later we rode the trolly downtown from our motel and walked back in order to walk off our dinner. It was lightly raining, but we enjoyed the stroll and fresh air.  I ended the day with two more Birthday calls, and one all the way from my sister Patrice who is in Victoria B.C.  What a special treat! I heard from a lot of friends through texts and emails too. 

Mon. morning we decided to visit one historic site before we left beautiful Franklin, Tenn., so we went to the Carter House. It was an interesting 1 hour tour and told us lots of history about THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN, which was one of the bloodiest battles. It is amazing that one of the buildings still standing has bullet holes that went in the back and came out the front. We learned lots about the history of the area.

 

 

THE ROCKING CHAIR fascinated me as a bullet went right through it on the upper slat of the back, and fortunately the family was in the basement!

That afternoon we continued on through gorgeous scenery until we reached our destination, the home of Cathy and Dave Caffee, old friends from the early 80's at Gateway Christian Church in Aurora. They live in the hills near Walland, TN. and he preaches in another town.   It was so wonderful to reconnect and catch up with their family and get acquainted with their two daughters living at home. The treated us to a lovely dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, and then we visited until way too late for people OUR age. Mind you, they are 10 years younger than we are!  I hated to leave their wonderful home but didn't want to wear out our welcome!

Kathy drew us a wonderful map Tues. morning, Sept 24th, to point us to all the neat stops in the Smoky Mtn. Natl. Park on the way to Gatlinburg.  It was such a nice place to enjoy a picnic lunch, and then a 1.3 mi. hike to Laurel Falls!  That was good exercise, even if we did get a tad sweaty for their generous humidity.

 

 

We arrived in Gatlinburg, Tenn. later that afternoon and settled into our motel.  We decided that the first impression of the town was "Estes Park on Steroids" .

Sun. morning we left our motel with expectations of a leisurely drive to Tenn. Not far into the drive we realized it would not be that. The highway signs, bridges, and some construction made it interesting, to say the least. We did stumble upon a BEAUTIFUL 90ft. high cross at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, which 51 churches had gone together to build. It was in the little piece of Kentucky that we entered for a very short time and Mike and I had been worshipping by singing praise music together in the car.  The cross was one of the AHAAA, GOD Moments!!!  It just sprang up out of nowhere.

     After that we had some minutes of humor when we entered Fulton to go and buy coffee at McDonald's. We decided the waitress had become a zombie and never found her way out, since she didn't recognize what we asked for, even though we called it exactly what it said it was on the menu. Brewed coffee.  I guess not very many people order unflavored coffee. Then we got lost in the town and were afraid we would never find our way out, like she hadn't.  I guess you had to be there...........

On Sunday afternoon we arrived in Franklin, Tenn. It was a very quaint and BUSY town, so we walked around in the afternoon and saw the historic square.  We didn't go in too many shops and got bored, so as usual, we got off the beaten tracks and walked in the neighborhoods, which is always fun in a historic district. After working up an appetite, we ate dinner in a small Italian restaurant. There was only one other set of guests between 5 and 6:30, so we hope they stay in business!  We thought Zolo's was quite good, and not super expensive either.

This one is for you, Patrice and Kathy H.

 

This was the picture I tried to add the first night but nothing was working. That is why you got two blogs with the same date and similar information, and NO pictures. I now have good internet again so will attempt to catch everyone up, or at least until I crash.  

Good evening from Poplar Bluff, Mo. after 1 1/2 days in beautiful Kearney, Ne. with Mike's parents. The weather was gorgeous so we walked the neighborhood and saw the new development around town, plus walked the 110 steps up to the tower at a Yanney Park. She fed us her amazing meals and helped us pack our cooler to start our adventure.
      Today was a sprint-we traveled almost 12 hours, and 730 miles. Instead of wildlife we should have counted roadkill--Mike's guestimate is 2-3 skunks, 5 armadillos, 1 possum, 1 snake, and too many raccoons to count. Yuck! The scenery in Missouri has been lush, and green, and gorgeous!  NO pine beetle kill here!!  Mike was able to get the entire Neb. football game on Satellite Radio so he was  happy driver, but I helped too.

Hello from Poplar Bluffs , MO.
 Today we left Kearney after a wonderful visit with Mike's parents!  They spoiled us with delicious meal, fun fellowship, and a tour of all the new development in Kearney!  Shirley also helped us pack our cooler for our SPRINT DAY. Today we traveled almost 12 hours and covered 730 miles!  It is a long way from Northwest Mo. to Southeast, Mo., but the roadkill count was entertaining. Mike estimated :  three skunks, 5 armadillo, 1 snake, a possum, and too many raccoons to count! Most of all we loved the beautiful rolling hills and green forests-gorgeous scenery and NO Beetle kill!  I can't wait to get to Tennessee tomorrow--our first NEW state.

     We praise GOD for the help of Samaritan's Purse Volunteers who have helped brother Doug and his wife Stacey cleanup their flooded house in Longmont. They might get back in as early as this weekend, although I doubt the garden level basement will be finished, as they can live in their other two levels and work on it in their spare time.

      We sincerely appreciate your prayers for continued safety as we drive.

 Love, Julie and Mike

THIS is my first, experimental Blog, so I am trying out the site. The picture I am downloading is from Greece in 2007. After trapsing aroud the Mediterranean, then Europe some more, and going on mission trips to St. Vincent.............ta da!!!!!!!!!  We are going on a Road TRIP !  We'll let you peek in on us some as we try to check out some of the dry parts of the United States, hopefully.  We are sad to leave everyone here cleaning up flood debris, but Mike has been planning this adventure for a year.  All the Colorado flood Victims will be in our prayers daily.  -jkm- aka mom-aka gramme