Thank you to all of you people who have accompanied us on our travels this Fall, we have had a great time and we hope you have enjoyed reading about it.
Our next trip will be in the Spring. We have started a Blog for it.
We have called it 'Going North to the South'.
The web address is http://www.09spring.blogspot.com (that is zero nine at the front)
We hope you will join us there, we take off on 9th of February from Manchester Airport.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Letting you down
Oh Dear I have let people down.
I have neglectd to say anything about the final 3 weeks of our vacation.
Mind you I have now found out how many people do read the Blog, becaue a lot of people have come upo to me and said "ave you finishd the Blog yet, it seemed to just end without being completed", or similar.
It often happens this way.
After we left Amelia Island we drove to Connie and Jims, then on to Sertoma for the Thanksgiving Bluegrasss festiva, which was excellent.
We stayed at Sertoma for the following week and had a great time at the Soggy Bottom Christmas Party.
Then we took the Trailer back to Connie and Jims to store it for the winter.
On Wednesday 10th Dec we packed up and drov our hire car to Orlando Airport, where we boarded the plane. We had an uneventful fligjht back to Manchester.
When we arrived the only bit of e xcitment was that the car did not work adn we had to be taken back to Middlesbrough by Recovory Truck. The problem was a siezed alternator. Once that was fixed we were ready to go again.
Now we are planning our next road trip.
Thank you to all of you people who have accompanied us on our travels this Fall, we have had a great time and we hope you have enjoyed reading about it.
I have neglectd to say anything about the final 3 weeks of our vacation.
Mind you I have now found out how many people do read the Blog, becaue a lot of people have come upo to me and said "ave you finishd the Blog yet, it seemed to just end without being completed", or similar.
It often happens this way.
After we left Amelia Island we drove to Connie and Jims, then on to Sertoma for the Thanksgiving Bluegrasss festiva, which was excellent.
We stayed at Sertoma for the following week and had a great time at the Soggy Bottom Christmas Party.
Then we took the Trailer back to Connie and Jims to store it for the winter.
On Wednesday 10th Dec we packed up and drov our hire car to Orlando Airport, where we boarded the plane. We had an uneventful fligjht back to Manchester.
When we arrived the only bit of e xcitment was that the car did not work adn we had to be taken back to Middlesbrough by Recovory Truck. The problem was a siezed alternator. Once that was fixed we were ready to go again.
Now we are planning our next road trip.
Thank you to all of you people who have accompanied us on our travels this Fall, we have had a great time and we hope you have enjoyed reading about it.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Amelia Island - Friday
Today we visited Fernandina Beach, which is the historic part of Amelia.
It has a very quaint main street, with lots of twee shops, though many seemed to have a 60's feel to them, as though here was the end of the line for hippies who had dropped out of the all the places that unconventional hippies drop out to.
There were shops that had decorated VW microbuses, a cigar shop that had a range of rock and folk guitars, a drug store that had gone straight, even the tour trolley bus was called Polly. The whole place was very 'cool man' (I think so anyway), in a nice way. The oldest house in the 'Historic district' was 1860, only just Anti-Bellum. We had a great time doing the walking tour, everyone is so laid back. The Chamber of Commerce lady took time to chat and tell us about her vacation in Las Vegas, but also gave us a whole heap of information booklets and maps, there was even one for the famous Amelia Island Lighthouse. The Trolley Man wasn't even at his trolley, a local lady said that he was probably gassing and gossiping somewhere, but would be back soon, the trolley eventually passed us about half an hour late. Even a driver stopped for a conversation when Sally and I were undecided about crossing a road. He just waited for us to make up our mind. A local passer-by stopped and gave us a mini life history of how he had ended up in Amelia. The guy in the Indian Trading Post Tobacco Store chatted for a good while about the range of second hand guitars he had, which were very nice.
After our wander we went to see the Famous Amelia Island Lighthouse. You would think that lighthouses would be easy to see, since they are built big and bright and are designed to be easily seen. Well not this one. We drove round for a bit (it was on the pretty maps we had) and eventually drove onto a housing area, in a back street, between two houses, behind some trees. But it was closed, the pretty maps didn't tell us what the Famous Amelia Island Lighthouse Pamphlet did tell us, but it was in the small print, so we did not notice. It had been closed for several decades awaiting renovation. It was to be opened again sometime soon - we decided not to wait.
All in all Amelia Island is a lovely place. It is a resort at the end of a road which goes nowhere but Amelia Island, which makes it very quiet and peaceful. Very nice.
It has a very quaint main street, with lots of twee shops, though many seemed to have a 60's feel to them, as though here was the end of the line for hippies who had dropped out of the all the places that unconventional hippies drop out to.
There were shops that had decorated VW microbuses, a cigar shop that had a range of rock and folk guitars, a drug store that had gone straight, even the tour trolley bus was called Polly. The whole place was very 'cool man' (I think so anyway), in a nice way. The oldest house in the 'Historic district' was 1860, only just Anti-Bellum. We had a great time doing the walking tour, everyone is so laid back. The Chamber of Commerce lady took time to chat and tell us about her vacation in Las Vegas, but also gave us a whole heap of information booklets and maps, there was even one for the famous Amelia Island Lighthouse. The Trolley Man wasn't even at his trolley, a local lady said that he was probably gassing and gossiping somewhere, but would be back soon, the trolley eventually passed us about half an hour late. Even a driver stopped for a conversation when Sally and I were undecided about crossing a road. He just waited for us to make up our mind. A local passer-by stopped and gave us a mini life history of how he had ended up in Amelia. The guy in the Indian Trading Post Tobacco Store chatted for a good while about the range of second hand guitars he had, which were very nice.
After our wander we went to see the Famous Amelia Island Lighthouse. You would think that lighthouses would be easy to see, since they are built big and bright and are designed to be easily seen. Well not this one. We drove round for a bit (it was on the pretty maps we had) and eventually drove onto a housing area, in a back street, between two houses, behind some trees. But it was closed, the pretty maps didn't tell us what the Famous Amelia Island Lighthouse Pamphlet did tell us, but it was in the small print, so we did not notice. It had been closed for several decades awaiting renovation. It was to be opened again sometime soon - we decided not to wait.
All in all Amelia Island is a lovely place. It is a resort at the end of a road which goes nowhere but Amelia Island, which makes it very quiet and peaceful. Very nice.
Amelia Island sunrise
Got out this morning early. Boy was it cold!!!!!!
Which reminds me of a poem I have written
"the Sky is blue,
The sea is cold
It wrinkles my skin
Before I get Old!
But I think the results were worth it.
Which reminds me of a poem I have written
"the Sky is blue,
The sea is cold
It wrinkles my skin
Before I get Old!
But I think the results were worth it.
Amelia Island - Thursday
Having arrived back in Florida we have camped at Fort Clinch State Park, about as far north as you can get in Florida, and it feels it. This morning (Friday) I got up early to take pics. of the dawn and there was a biting North wind, you could feel the Canadian prairies in it (Does Canada have prairies?), I am getting ahead of myself here. We are always trying to rest, relax and do nothing, however we get bored and interesting things appear, so we do them. On Thursday we had a quick look at the beach, which was as interesting as sand dunes and a sandy beach, which stretches for miles can be. I walked along the water line a bit, picked up a couple of giant pink barnacle shells, a conch, saw a jelly fish, some King Crabs, pelicans, then an Osprey stooping to catch a fish. The damage caused by Fay (as informed by the Ranger) was evident in the eroded dunes. While Sally watched from a bench very conveniently placed at the end of the boardwalk. Very pleasant.
In the afternoon we wandered over to Fort Clinch, which is a very well preserved 19 C fort in the state park. We tagged on to a group of OSHER students (a bit like our University of the Third Age) as they were given a guided tour by a weather beaten old sargeant from the civil war. He was a most excellent guide. He gave us a real insight into life in the fort, transporting us back 1864 when the New York Corps of Engineers liberated the fort from the confederates. He gave us lots of detail about the rations, clothes, the place of women in the fort, the hospital and the jail. Very informative, one of the best tours we have had (and we have donea few this vacation).
It had been a very clear and sunny day and relatively warm, so after a 'cup' of chilli we lit a camp fire and sat out for an hour or two. Planning our day for Friday when we would assault the main street of Historic Fernandina.
In the afternoon we wandered over to Fort Clinch, which is a very well preserved 19 C fort in the state park. We tagged on to a group of OSHER students (a bit like our University of the Third Age) as they were given a guided tour by a weather beaten old sargeant from the civil war. He was a most excellent guide. He gave us a real insight into life in the fort, transporting us back 1864 when the New York Corps of Engineers liberated the fort from the confederates. He gave us lots of detail about the rations, clothes, the place of women in the fort, the hospital and the jail. Very informative, one of the best tours we have had (and we have donea few this vacation).
It had been a very clear and sunny day and relatively warm, so after a 'cup' of chilli we lit a camp fire and sat out for an hour or two. Planning our day for Friday when we would assault the main street of Historic Fernandina.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Smallest Church in America
On Wednesday as said goodbye to Savannah and travelled South. We turned off I95 onto the 17 to visit a little place called South Newport which has a little wayside church, when I say little I mean "very small". It will hold a congregation of 12, plus the minister. It has stained glass windows and an alter and lectern. It measures 15 and 10 feet.
It is a little bit of peace in a noisy world. Well worth the small detour for a visit and a good place for a picnic (benches are provided).
Over the last couple of weeks I have been amazed at the size of the estuaries and islands that stretch from North Carolina to Jacksonville. It is a huge flat area that has amazing animals and plants as well as a fascinating history.
I have uploaded some pictures I have taken recently.
We made Amelia Island in good time and were able to get a beach site at Fort Clinch State Park.
It is cold, but bright blue skies and a blazing sun make it feel much better.
We have done a touch of shopping and are ready to tackle all that Amelia Island has to offer.
It is a little bit of peace in a noisy world. Well worth the small detour for a visit and a good place for a picnic (benches are provided).
Over the last couple of weeks I have been amazed at the size of the estuaries and islands that stretch from North Carolina to Jacksonville. It is a huge flat area that has amazing animals and plants as well as a fascinating history.
I have uploaded some pictures I have taken recently.
We made Amelia Island in good time and were able to get a beach site at Fort Clinch State Park.
It is cold, but bright blue skies and a blazing sun make it feel much better.
We have done a touch of shopping and are ready to tackle all that Amelia Island has to offer.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Chillesville in Savannah and a trip round the world!
We have spent a couple of days chilling out, in more ways than one (temp down near freezing at night). Yesterday we just stayed around the campground, went for a short walk to the nature area, saw a Pot Bellied Woodpecker having a go at a dead pine.
Today we had another lazy day, this afternoon we took a quick look in the local Target.
A local celebrated feature in Savannah suburbia is the Savannah Mortgage Company. "Who?" you say "Why?" you say. Well this company has enabled me to go round the world in one day, well in about 2 minutes. "How?" you say. In their back yard there is an enormous propane gas tank, about 10 metres in diameter. It is completely spherical. The have had the bright idea of painting a map of the world on to it. So it sits there as an enormous globe. So when we visited it I was able to walk right round the world!! Oh what fun.
We found his attraction on an interesting website called Roadside America.
Tomorrow we leave for Amelia Island, once more in Florida.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Savannah on a Sunday
Today the sun rose into a clear blue sky. It was fresh, but bright.
Today we went back into Savannah to walk around a bit.
Parking is free on a weekend. We parked and started our DIY tour by going to the City Market - oh, it must be Coffee Time. We stopped at the Savannah Candy Store, which also sold coffee and cakes. Sally had, no, ordered, an apple muffin. I ordered a piece of Pecan Toffee Cheesecake, mmm, or rather, mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm and 'Can we have a box please, for the other half of the piece of cheesecake and Sally's muffin as well. It was enormous, I don't think that the woman could get more than five pieces from a full cheesecake, and it was about 4 inches deep, in five layers, separated by toffee, encrusted with sugar roasted pecans. Oh! was it good. AND, only cost $3.00 !!! The highlight of my holiday.
We strolled pleasantly down to the Riverside and looked at the river cruises, on the fancy (but false) paddle steamers. I noticed a little tug like boat tie up and Lo, it was a ferry (fond memories of the 'deal of the decade' when we took the Staten Island Ferry out of New York in 1978 for 25c). On enquiring the ferry across the Savannah River was Free! So we strolled down the riverside walk and then took the ferry back up the river. It was delightful and a great way to see the waterfront.
We started a short walk through the squares. Near to Oglethorpe Square is the Lewis Theater and we stopped for lunch at a fairly pretentious bistro on Broughton and Abercorn St. Continuing on we really appreciated the buildings that we saw, they were old and often beautiful. The highlight for me was Chippewa Square. It is here, on the north side that they filmed the bench scenes for Forrest Gump, very deep moment here. This was a very pleasant day, very relaxed.
We both have decided that we like Savannah a lot and would recommend it for a visit to anybody.
Today we went back into Savannah to walk around a bit.
Parking is free on a weekend. We parked and started our DIY tour by going to the City Market - oh, it must be Coffee Time. We stopped at the Savannah Candy Store, which also sold coffee and cakes. Sally had, no, ordered, an apple muffin. I ordered a piece of Pecan Toffee Cheesecake, mmm, or rather, mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm and 'Can we have a box please, for the other half of the piece of cheesecake and Sally's muffin as well. It was enormous, I don't think that the woman could get more than five pieces from a full cheesecake, and it was about 4 inches deep, in five layers, separated by toffee, encrusted with sugar roasted pecans. Oh! was it good. AND, only cost $3.00 !!! The highlight of my holiday.
We strolled pleasantly down to the Riverside and looked at the river cruises, on the fancy (but false) paddle steamers. I noticed a little tug like boat tie up and Lo, it was a ferry (fond memories of the 'deal of the decade' when we took the Staten Island Ferry out of New York in 1978 for 25c). On enquiring the ferry across the Savannah River was Free! So we strolled down the riverside walk and then took the ferry back up the river. It was delightful and a great way to see the waterfront.
We started a short walk through the squares. Near to Oglethorpe Square is the Lewis Theater and we stopped for lunch at a fairly pretentious bistro on Broughton and Abercorn St. Continuing on we really appreciated the buildings that we saw, they were old and often beautiful. The highlight for me was Chippewa Square. It is here, on the north side that they filmed the bench scenes for Forrest Gump, very deep moment here. This was a very pleasant day, very relaxed.
We both have decided that we like Savannah a lot and would recommend it for a visit to anybody.
Saturday in Savannah
Charleston and Savannah should be similar. They are both river mouth(ish) ports, both were established at about the same time, by the British settlers. They are no more than 100 miles apart. they have both been rebuilt several times. They have the same climate, they are both built on flat land (well Savannah almost is). Yet they are completely different.
Charleston grew organically, building outwards from a small walled town, always conscious that it was on a peninsula and land would always be at a premium. Savannah appears to have been built to a plan. It has a layout that, like a crystal lattice, ensures that the city is timeless and tranquil. Charleston is normal, it is Savannah that is strange. Instead of basing the town on the normal central crossroads, with a town square and roads parallel to the main thoroughfares its civic leaders laid out a matrix of about 30 small squares, each no more than 60 yards on each side. Each square is laid out with trees or gardens, each is surrounded by a road, houses, shops, banks, churches and civic buildings are built around he squares. The squares are about 100 yards from each other and are linked to the next by narrow roads. The effect of this is that even with the advent of the car you cannot move rapidly through the town, you have to keep negotiating these squares, driving round them to continue on the road of your choice. Every 100 yards, in any direction, you will come to a cool, shady, square, which you can walk through, or sit in, as you wish. There are, to be fair, a number of through roads which are threaded between the squares, but the feel of the place is dominated by the squares. We spent several hours wandering from square to square, each one different, each one surrounded by historic buildings. It was clean and tidy, a great pleasure to be in. I was reminded of the the nicer back streets of Paris, or Amsterdam.
On Saturday,when we first arrived we took a trolley ride to get ourselves oriented, no more carriages after the Charleston experience (just as well as it poured with rain half-way round the tour). This was great fun and very informative.
Charleston grew organically, building outwards from a small walled town, always conscious that it was on a peninsula and land would always be at a premium. Savannah appears to have been built to a plan. It has a layout that, like a crystal lattice, ensures that the city is timeless and tranquil. Charleston is normal, it is Savannah that is strange. Instead of basing the town on the normal central crossroads, with a town square and roads parallel to the main thoroughfares its civic leaders laid out a matrix of about 30 small squares, each no more than 60 yards on each side. Each square is laid out with trees or gardens, each is surrounded by a road, houses, shops, banks, churches and civic buildings are built around he squares. The squares are about 100 yards from each other and are linked to the next by narrow roads. The effect of this is that even with the advent of the car you cannot move rapidly through the town, you have to keep negotiating these squares, driving round them to continue on the road of your choice. Every 100 yards, in any direction, you will come to a cool, shady, square, which you can walk through, or sit in, as you wish. There are, to be fair, a number of through roads which are threaded between the squares, but the feel of the place is dominated by the squares. We spent several hours wandering from square to square, each one different, each one surrounded by historic buildings. It was clean and tidy, a great pleasure to be in. I was reminded of the the nicer back streets of Paris, or Amsterdam.
On Saturday,when we first arrived we took a trolley ride to get ourselves oriented, no more carriages after the Charleston experience (just as well as it poured with rain half-way round the tour). This was great fun and very informative.
Friday, November 14, 2008
The Country round Charleston
I can understand why the rich and well to do moved into Charleston. I cannot really understand why they stayed there. On Wednesday and Thursday we took time to visit the area surrounding Charleston.
On Wednesday we visited the oldest plantation house, Drayton Hall, which dates from around 1740. The hall is now empty, but an excellent guide showed us many interesting features of the house and provided some of its history. we really enjoyed this visit. The grounds were also very attractive, with a long river frontage. This visit opened up a new world of the use of archecture and interior design as a means to explain and define the purpose and status of the house and each room. I must investigate this further.
Thursday was supposed to be a quiet day, so we visited a local, small, nature reserve. The Caw-Caw Interpretative Center. This park is based on an old rice plantation and still has the visible remains of the rice fields and irrigation system. The production of rice is an important and integral part of the history of South Carolina and the growth and development of the plantation culture. I may return to say more of it later.
The production of rice in eastern USA collapsed when cotton became more profitable around 1800. So the rice fields, which though they were fresh water, were constructed as part of the the estuaries of the area, were often abandoned as they could not be used to grow anything else. Because they were fresh water they became swamps. This park shows how the habitat has changed over the last 200 years. It is very tranquil and beautiful. We saw a large alligator (saw is not really the correct word, it was sunning itself across the path, forcing us to retrace our steps) and a large snake sat in the fork of a tree. A very pleasant park,well away form the bustle of Charleston.
On Wednesday we visited the oldest plantation house, Drayton Hall, which dates from around 1740. The hall is now empty, but an excellent guide showed us many interesting features of the house and provided some of its history. we really enjoyed this visit. The grounds were also very attractive, with a long river frontage. This visit opened up a new world of the use of archecture and interior design as a means to explain and define the purpose and status of the house and each room. I must investigate this further.
Thursday was supposed to be a quiet day, so we visited a local, small, nature reserve. The Caw-Caw Interpretative Center. This park is based on an old rice plantation and still has the visible remains of the rice fields and irrigation system. The production of rice is an important and integral part of the history of South Carolina and the growth and development of the plantation culture. I may return to say more of it later.
The production of rice in eastern USA collapsed when cotton became more profitable around 1800. So the rice fields, which though they were fresh water, were constructed as part of the the estuaries of the area, were often abandoned as they could not be used to grow anything else. Because they were fresh water they became swamps. This park shows how the habitat has changed over the last 200 years. It is very tranquil and beautiful. We saw a large alligator (saw is not really the correct word, it was sunning itself across the path, forcing us to retrace our steps) and a large snake sat in the fork of a tree. A very pleasant park,well away form the bustle of Charleston.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Today we are impressed
Today was one of the highlights of the holiday. A visit to Fort Sumter. A nice ride on a little cruise ship and an hour on the fort that saw the start of the Civil War in 1861. It was fascinating to hear, read and see the story of the fort, not just when Major Anderson was forced to surrrender the fort at the start of the war, but also how the confederates held the fort against the might of the Union navy for nearly two years, to keep the symbol of their struggle. What was easily gained, without a single fatality was not so easily kept. In the end the confederates abandoned the fort, in favour of more important objectives. So there never was a military victory for the Union, despite firing up to 10,000 rounds of canon and large rifle fire from three other forts and 9 ironclad vessels.
When we returned to Charleston we had a little walk to some of the very fine houses to the north of the old town walls. The pleasant weather made this a very nice day.
When we returned to Charleston we had a little walk to some of the very fine houses to the north of the old town walls. The pleasant weather made this a very nice day.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Charleston's chance to impress
So today was Charleston’s chance to impress and ignite our enthusiasm.
Shame was, for me it didn’t really. There were lots of beautiful buildings, but I don’t think we got to the stories behind the houses.
There were endless leafy avenues with oak, or magnolia or palmetto.
On reflection I think that here is too much. I couldn't get the whole picture of what Charleston is about, so felt left out, unable to find ‘It’ that makes Charleston so famous and well loved by all who visit.
We had decided that after the fun of the carriage ride in Wilmington we would have another in Charleston, to set the scene. What we were not prepared for was the industry that carriage rides have become in Charleston. Having found the carriage area we found our first problem - parking. When we had sorted that we approached the carriages, which were pulled up like a taxi rank, however to get to the front we had to pass a number of people who were trying to sell us tickets for their companies carriage – a bit like Star Maps in L.A., or coach tours in Las Vegas, Time Shares in Atlantic City. They had you as the Mark, you were the idiot tourist. They were in control of what we were going to do – I don’t like that. So we fought off the touts and duly went to the front carriage and asked him if he was available, ‘yes’ he said, ‘Now’ I said, ‘No’ he said. ‘When’ I said. ‘in twenty minutes’ he said. As he drove off from the front of the line, with an empty carriage. We were confused to say the least. It seems that we had to choose a tout, go with them to their ticket office, then to their stables, then we could ride in a carriage. This was feeling so like being marked for a Time Share. Which of the five companies to choose, we didn’t know, or have the criteria to make a decision, which is awful. We eventually went for the guy in the bright red ‘Red Barn’ jacket, because he was most insistent, not the best way to choose something, but there you are. It seems that the carriages just line up like taxies as a piece of showmanship, to let people know that there are carriage rides!!!
So we eventually get to get on a carriage, but were forced to sit four to a seat, which was clearly meant for two people to ride on. We then get to go on the tour. Well we trotted (well the mules did) round various back streets and leafy lanes, with the guide giving us wisecracks, which at least she thought were clever. There seemed to be an awful lot about the fire (1861), the earthquake (1876), the hurricanes, about the colour of the houses and how difficult it is to make alterations because of the planning laws. However we left the tour knowing very little more about Charleston than when we started. Which was slightly dissatisfying. Still we tried to cheer ourselves up by having a shrimp lunch at Bubba Gumps (named after the film, not vica versa).That was good, then we had a bit of a wander round the streets, which were very pretty, but I think just too many for us to take in, so we came home, however as we approached the car we were forced to enter a coffee/wine bar, and forced to sit and drink and nice Latte and Capuccino, and forced to share a massive piece of cake, called Hummingbird cake, similar to carrot cake and just as scrummy. When we escaped from there we were decidedly full, if not feeling sick.
We returned to the campground to only to find that the very special Festival of Lights, which starts on Friday, was all lit up, they were having a check to see that it all worked, so we were able to drive round the park and admire the light show, with hardly anybody else there at all, so now we do not feel so bad about moving on Friday.
Tonight we had a campfire, nice and bright and warm.
Shame was, for me it didn’t really. There were lots of beautiful buildings, but I don’t think we got to the stories behind the houses.
There were endless leafy avenues with oak, or magnolia or palmetto.
On reflection I think that here is too much. I couldn't get the whole picture of what Charleston is about, so felt left out, unable to find ‘It’ that makes Charleston so famous and well loved by all who visit.
We had decided that after the fun of the carriage ride in Wilmington we would have another in Charleston, to set the scene. What we were not prepared for was the industry that carriage rides have become in Charleston. Having found the carriage area we found our first problem - parking. When we had sorted that we approached the carriages, which were pulled up like a taxi rank, however to get to the front we had to pass a number of people who were trying to sell us tickets for their companies carriage – a bit like Star Maps in L.A., or coach tours in Las Vegas, Time Shares in Atlantic City. They had you as the Mark, you were the idiot tourist. They were in control of what we were going to do – I don’t like that. So we fought off the touts and duly went to the front carriage and asked him if he was available, ‘yes’ he said, ‘Now’ I said, ‘No’ he said. ‘When’ I said. ‘in twenty minutes’ he said. As he drove off from the front of the line, with an empty carriage. We were confused to say the least. It seems that we had to choose a tout, go with them to their ticket office, then to their stables, then we could ride in a carriage. This was feeling so like being marked for a Time Share. Which of the five companies to choose, we didn’t know, or have the criteria to make a decision, which is awful. We eventually went for the guy in the bright red ‘Red Barn’ jacket, because he was most insistent, not the best way to choose something, but there you are. It seems that the carriages just line up like taxies as a piece of showmanship, to let people know that there are carriage rides!!!
So we eventually get to get on a carriage, but were forced to sit four to a seat, which was clearly meant for two people to ride on. We then get to go on the tour. Well we trotted (well the mules did) round various back streets and leafy lanes, with the guide giving us wisecracks, which at least she thought were clever. There seemed to be an awful lot about the fire (1861), the earthquake (1876), the hurricanes, about the colour of the houses and how difficult it is to make alterations because of the planning laws. However we left the tour knowing very little more about Charleston than when we started. Which was slightly dissatisfying. Still we tried to cheer ourselves up by having a shrimp lunch at Bubba Gumps (named after the film, not vica versa).That was good, then we had a bit of a wander round the streets, which were very pretty, but I think just too many for us to take in, so we came home, however as we approached the car we were forced to enter a coffee/wine bar, and forced to sit and drink and nice Latte and Capuccino, and forced to share a massive piece of cake, called Hummingbird cake, similar to carrot cake and just as scrummy. When we escaped from there we were decidedly full, if not feeling sick.
We returned to the campground to only to find that the very special Festival of Lights, which starts on Friday, was all lit up, they were having a check to see that it all worked, so we were able to drive round the park and admire the light show, with hardly anybody else there at all, so now we do not feel so bad about moving on Friday.
Tonight we had a campfire, nice and bright and warm.
Charlston cut short
We planned to stay in Charleston until Sunday, to give us a good chance to see everything at a leisurely pace. We had good reports of St James Island County Park Campground so booked in there. The only problem was that the campground was full from Friday onwards. Why? Because The park is the host to a Festival Of Lights, where they lay out millions of lights in all sorts of scenes for Christmas. This is so popular that the campground (which is in the park) is full from 15th Nov until Jan 5th when the display finishes. This meant that we could only stay until Thursday night, double shame really as we would be short of time and miss the Festival of Lights, still we took the booking and duly arrived on Sunday afternoon. It is indeed a very pleasant campground (though very pricy at $39.50 pe night!!! Our most expensive park ever).
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Something Different and something the same
We had decided that as we were on the sand bar to the south of Wilmington we would take the ferry to Southport, cutting off a road journey of about 40 miles. After we had visited Fort Fisher we went and waited in line for the ferry and, with a bit of careful driving, were loaded on by the nice chaps who worked the ferry. It was about a 25 minute boat ride, down the Neuse River, passing the local features, such as the nuclear power station, I told you the area was a lot like Teesside. Passing a large oil tanker, watching the kite surfers. Not a bad excursion for $15, including the trailer. $5 for just a car. we really enjoyed being on the water, it blew away some cobwebs.
We drove down the coast to Myrtle Beach. 15 years ago this was a sleepy section of the South Carolina coast about 30 miles long. Its assets were that land was cheap, that it is a stretch of coast that does not have islands, so it has an easily accessible beach.
It has now been 'developed' It is now a 15 mile long strip mall. Business Route 17 runs parallel to the coast and is literally one shop, garage, crazy gold, mall, superstore, beachware store, restaurant, waffle house after another, for at least 15 miles. There are now more high rise buildings that Atlantic City (personal opinion, not fact). It has 118 golf courses (not including the crazy golf).
Still we have arrived here at the Myrtle Beach State Park campground and it is lovely. We have walked to the seashore and onto the pier, wher we watched loads of people catching loads of fish (called Spot, because it has a black spot just behind the gills, not because they didn't like the name Fido).
We drove down the coast to Myrtle Beach. 15 years ago this was a sleepy section of the South Carolina coast about 30 miles long. Its assets were that land was cheap, that it is a stretch of coast that does not have islands, so it has an easily accessible beach.
It has now been 'developed' It is now a 15 mile long strip mall. Business Route 17 runs parallel to the coast and is literally one shop, garage, crazy gold, mall, superstore, beachware store, restaurant, waffle house after another, for at least 15 miles. There are now more high rise buildings that Atlantic City (personal opinion, not fact). It has 118 golf courses (not including the crazy golf).
Still we have arrived here at the Myrtle Beach State Park campground and it is lovely. We have walked to the seashore and onto the pier, wher we watched loads of people catching loads of fish (called Spot, because it has a black spot just behind the gills, not because they didn't like the name Fido).
Fort Fisher - The South's last outpost on the sea
Warning, this section may be boring to many.
We packed up today and moved on, but as we left Carolina Beach we called in at Fort Fisher. This fort was the last to fall in the Civil war. The visitor centre tells the story of how the South was able to get supplies during the war. Any group of fighting men in 'modern' warfare is only the sharp end of a long line of logistics tht stretches, ultimately, back to factories and farms. The North had the advantage of a well established industrial base. The South had to rely mainly on foreign governements to supply arms in exchange for cotton. So its 'supply line' stretched all the way to europe. In order to strangle the supply of materials the North moved quickly to blockade as many sourthern ports as it could. By 1864 the only port which remained open was Wilmington, which has a direct rail link with Richmond and so was very important.
Wilmington remained open because of its position on an estuary, which had two openings to the sea and a lot of dangerous sand bars. This meant that to blockade it required covering a length of coast 50 miles long. very difficult. As the noose tightened on Wilmington there were up to 62 ships blockading the port. Another factor was the building of Fort Fisher on the outer sand banks at the entrance to the River Neuse. As the war progressed what was a small gun battery was developed into a huge fort with sand ramparts, the biggest of which was 60 feet high. Cannon and large rifle enabled Fort Fisher to very effectively protect the entrance to the estuary.
Materials coming into the port were brought from the Bahamas, Bermuda or Nova Scotia on ships called 'Blockade Runners'. Small, fast, steamships which would navigate the estuary at night, dodging the blockade ships and the dangerous sand banks, until they caould come under the protection of the guns of Fort Fisher. Dangers were many, but profits were high. The development of naval and marine tecnology leapt ahead as people tried to outwit the blockaders.
The town of Wilmington grew at a tremendous pace as it was the only route left to supply the war needs of the the South.
Fort Fisher ultimately fell in January of 1865, just 1 month after Shermans march to Savannah, 100 miles to the south and 2 months before Johnstone surrendered to Sherman a hundered miles to the north. The battle for Fort Fisher was a major combined assault by both naval and land forces. An armada of ships bombarded the fort, up to 10,000 shells and cannonballs landed on the fort. While a force of up to 10,000 men were landed to the north of the fort and advanced on it. Inside fort tere were barely 2000 men and only 44 large guns. It did not really stand a chance. It fell within the day, with 4000 killed or injured.
The stranglehold was now complete and Wilmington became impotent as a port. Not a shot was fired on it. The fall of Fort Fisher was another major blow to the South's war effort, no longer could the South get arms and materials. This action made it's capitulation as inevitable as the loss of any, or all, its armies would have done.
We packed up today and moved on, but as we left Carolina Beach we called in at Fort Fisher. This fort was the last to fall in the Civil war. The visitor centre tells the story of how the South was able to get supplies during the war. Any group of fighting men in 'modern' warfare is only the sharp end of a long line of logistics tht stretches, ultimately, back to factories and farms. The North had the advantage of a well established industrial base. The South had to rely mainly on foreign governements to supply arms in exchange for cotton. So its 'supply line' stretched all the way to europe. In order to strangle the supply of materials the North moved quickly to blockade as many sourthern ports as it could. By 1864 the only port which remained open was Wilmington, which has a direct rail link with Richmond and so was very important.
Wilmington remained open because of its position on an estuary, which had two openings to the sea and a lot of dangerous sand bars. This meant that to blockade it required covering a length of coast 50 miles long. very difficult. As the noose tightened on Wilmington there were up to 62 ships blockading the port. Another factor was the building of Fort Fisher on the outer sand banks at the entrance to the River Neuse. As the war progressed what was a small gun battery was developed into a huge fort with sand ramparts, the biggest of which was 60 feet high. Cannon and large rifle enabled Fort Fisher to very effectively protect the entrance to the estuary.
Materials coming into the port were brought from the Bahamas, Bermuda or Nova Scotia on ships called 'Blockade Runners'. Small, fast, steamships which would navigate the estuary at night, dodging the blockade ships and the dangerous sand banks, until they caould come under the protection of the guns of Fort Fisher. Dangers were many, but profits were high. The development of naval and marine tecnology leapt ahead as people tried to outwit the blockaders.
The town of Wilmington grew at a tremendous pace as it was the only route left to supply the war needs of the the South.
Fort Fisher ultimately fell in January of 1865, just 1 month after Shermans march to Savannah, 100 miles to the south and 2 months before Johnstone surrendered to Sherman a hundered miles to the north. The battle for Fort Fisher was a major combined assault by both naval and land forces. An armada of ships bombarded the fort, up to 10,000 shells and cannonballs landed on the fort. While a force of up to 10,000 men were landed to the north of the fort and advanced on it. Inside fort tere were barely 2000 men and only 44 large guns. It did not really stand a chance. It fell within the day, with 4000 killed or injured.
The stranglehold was now complete and Wilmington became impotent as a port. Not a shot was fired on it. The fall of Fort Fisher was another major blow to the South's war effort, no longer could the South get arms and materials. This action made it's capitulation as inevitable as the loss of any, or all, its armies would have done.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A day in the life of Wilmington
No, Americans are not like English people.
‘Up North’ we always, without fail say that ‘Southerners’ are not friendly.
Well I would like at this point to say that compared to the average American (that we have met), Northerners are just as unfriendly and insular.
Without fail wherever we have travelled (and that is quite a long way now) we have found, without exception, that ‘the man in the street’, the next person in the queue (yes Americans do queue, even more assiduously than we do), the person behind the counter, the people on the next table at the café, or restaurant will always give a friendly smile, a ‘how you doin’, a ‘hello’. Drivers will stop to let you cross the street, or car park in front of them. People will hold open doors. There is often a dish of pennies on a counter for people who have slightly too little change. It is taken as almost an insult if your groceries are not packed for you, at the slightest sign of inconvenience the trolley will be taken and unloaded for you (no tip expected). People stand for old and disabled. One of the reasons for our enjoyment of America is that people do care, do take the time to say ‘Hi’, going shopping is a pleasure, sitting in a café is a social experience. And we love that.
Today we explored Wilmington. A town you probably have never heard of. It has a population of perhaps 150,000 in its conurbation, about the size of Middlesbrough; in fact it is very similar to Middlesbrough. It has a river frontage, with warehouses, it has an old district, with some fine large houses (a bit like Oxford and Cambridge Road) built in the 19th and 20th Century, with a few 18th C buildings. It was a boom town in the 19thC, based on being a port, the railways, shipbuilding and chemicals (the man who discovered Acetylene came from Wilmington). Though it was the largest blockade running port for the Confederates, and the last port to fall, it was never fired upon and remained largely untouched by the destruction which followed the war. Nothing remarkable there.
It will be most appreciated by the British for its shipbuilding. In the Second world war, in 36 months, it built 243 ‘liberty ships’. Cargo ships which plied the North Atlantic carrying vital food and munitions supplies.
So why did we like it? Well the weather was exceptional, clear blue skies, upper 70’s, low humidity. The whole place seemed to be interesting. Houses had stories to them, buildings were all different, some of the earliest skyscrapers, interesting warehouses converted to shops, loads of coffee shops (though not one Starbucks, etc did I see). We were able to take a carriage ride round the town at a leisurely pace, with very little traffic. The driver not only pointed out the buildings, but also people we saw, by name.
The riverside had been renovated and turned into a walkway. There was trolley ride one could take. The local trams were free to use.
But what really made Wilmington a top experience was the people. Even without our propensity for instant life history exchanges (not once were grandchildren mentioned, oops sorry, we had to explain about Bens Birthday to the waitress, oh and waiter, that fixed up the power supply for the laptop in Fat Tony’s bar) we seemed to be party to so many cameo scenes. (oh yes Wilmington is quite famous (but only within about 15 miles) as a movie town as it has a Screen Gems studio and is the backdrop for loads of films and Dawson’s Creek and other stuff).
1. Sat a pavement café table having a coffee at 10.30, waiting for the next tour trolley. Woman on next table starts to tell us how nice the carriage ride is, and it was excellent.
2. Woman in the nice information booth happily explained about her next vacation which was to be in Ireland, but also expressed joy at Sally’s choice of hat.
3. Walking along street, group of handicapped people catch up and come past, giving cheery welcomes then talking about what they are doing there; one of them came from Florida. We walked along and talked for a bit, they were on their way to The Dixie Grill for lunch.
4. Looking for a sandwich, we go into a coffee shop which looks ok, but they do not do sandwiches, so a long conversation ensues between the two ladies who discuss various options as to where we can get a good sandwich.
5. Walking past another coffee shop (I told you there were a lot of them) three youths sat there, one asks about my camera, just as we were passing (one could easily have found that aggressive, but no, we talk cameras for a bit, then we talk politics, about Obama, We swap names, he is Tim. The we wander on.
6. We go into a shop for an ice cream. We can’t just say ‘oh I will have a choc ice’. It is an intimate discussion of the variety of flavours, with each description there is a little scoop of ice-cream produced, ‘here try this’. About ten minutes later we have made our choice and are strolling down the sidewalk with ice creams at the ready.
7. We sit down (again by the information kiosk, as it happens) and a young man comes up. ‘hey, where did you get those ice creams, my wife would love an ice cream’, followed by a short conversation.
8. Couple with two dogs comes along; family with 2 little girls plus bump come and pet dogs, long conversation ensues with two families and information woman, we were only watching, though somehow included in the whole conversation and activity.
9. Still sitting a man with a clipboard comes along, stands around for a bit. Then gets messages over his walkie talkie. We chat to him for a bit. He is the Harbour Master, casually waiting to greet a boat arriving at the dock behind us.
Now I can almost guarantee that I could go into Middlesbrough, visit the information centre, get and ice cream, have coffee, walk around, have lunch, go to the riverside and not have a pleasant conversation with anybody. I think that is one of the reasons we enjoy being in America.
Notes:
Blue Velvet A film shot in Wilmington
Anna MacNeil - Whistlers Mother
‘Up North’ we always, without fail say that ‘Southerners’ are not friendly.
Well I would like at this point to say that compared to the average American (that we have met), Northerners are just as unfriendly and insular.
Without fail wherever we have travelled (and that is quite a long way now) we have found, without exception, that ‘the man in the street’, the next person in the queue (yes Americans do queue, even more assiduously than we do), the person behind the counter, the people on the next table at the café, or restaurant will always give a friendly smile, a ‘how you doin’, a ‘hello’. Drivers will stop to let you cross the street, or car park in front of them. People will hold open doors. There is often a dish of pennies on a counter for people who have slightly too little change. It is taken as almost an insult if your groceries are not packed for you, at the slightest sign of inconvenience the trolley will be taken and unloaded for you (no tip expected). People stand for old and disabled. One of the reasons for our enjoyment of America is that people do care, do take the time to say ‘Hi’, going shopping is a pleasure, sitting in a café is a social experience. And we love that.
Today we explored Wilmington. A town you probably have never heard of. It has a population of perhaps 150,000 in its conurbation, about the size of Middlesbrough; in fact it is very similar to Middlesbrough. It has a river frontage, with warehouses, it has an old district, with some fine large houses (a bit like Oxford and Cambridge Road) built in the 19th and 20th Century, with a few 18th C buildings. It was a boom town in the 19thC, based on being a port, the railways, shipbuilding and chemicals (the man who discovered Acetylene came from Wilmington). Though it was the largest blockade running port for the Confederates, and the last port to fall, it was never fired upon and remained largely untouched by the destruction which followed the war. Nothing remarkable there.
It will be most appreciated by the British for its shipbuilding. In the Second world war, in 36 months, it built 243 ‘liberty ships’. Cargo ships which plied the North Atlantic carrying vital food and munitions supplies.
So why did we like it? Well the weather was exceptional, clear blue skies, upper 70’s, low humidity. The whole place seemed to be interesting. Houses had stories to them, buildings were all different, some of the earliest skyscrapers, interesting warehouses converted to shops, loads of coffee shops (though not one Starbucks, etc did I see). We were able to take a carriage ride round the town at a leisurely pace, with very little traffic. The driver not only pointed out the buildings, but also people we saw, by name.
The riverside had been renovated and turned into a walkway. There was trolley ride one could take. The local trams were free to use.
But what really made Wilmington a top experience was the people. Even without our propensity for instant life history exchanges (not once were grandchildren mentioned, oops sorry, we had to explain about Bens Birthday to the waitress, oh and waiter, that fixed up the power supply for the laptop in Fat Tony’s bar) we seemed to be party to so many cameo scenes. (oh yes Wilmington is quite famous (but only within about 15 miles) as a movie town as it has a Screen Gems studio and is the backdrop for loads of films and Dawson’s Creek and other stuff).
1. Sat a pavement café table having a coffee at 10.30, waiting for the next tour trolley. Woman on next table starts to tell us how nice the carriage ride is, and it was excellent.
2. Woman in the nice information booth happily explained about her next vacation which was to be in Ireland, but also expressed joy at Sally’s choice of hat.
3. Walking along street, group of handicapped people catch up and come past, giving cheery welcomes then talking about what they are doing there; one of them came from Florida. We walked along and talked for a bit, they were on their way to The Dixie Grill for lunch.
4. Looking for a sandwich, we go into a coffee shop which looks ok, but they do not do sandwiches, so a long conversation ensues between the two ladies who discuss various options as to where we can get a good sandwich.
5. Walking past another coffee shop (I told you there were a lot of them) three youths sat there, one asks about my camera, just as we were passing (one could easily have found that aggressive, but no, we talk cameras for a bit, then we talk politics, about Obama, We swap names, he is Tim. The we wander on.
6. We go into a shop for an ice cream. We can’t just say ‘oh I will have a choc ice’. It is an intimate discussion of the variety of flavours, with each description there is a little scoop of ice-cream produced, ‘here try this’. About ten minutes later we have made our choice and are strolling down the sidewalk with ice creams at the ready.
7. We sit down (again by the information kiosk, as it happens) and a young man comes up. ‘hey, where did you get those ice creams, my wife would love an ice cream’, followed by a short conversation.
8. Couple with two dogs comes along; family with 2 little girls plus bump come and pet dogs, long conversation ensues with two families and information woman, we were only watching, though somehow included in the whole conversation and activity.
9. Still sitting a man with a clipboard comes along, stands around for a bit. Then gets messages over his walkie talkie. We chat to him for a bit. He is the Harbour Master, casually waiting to greet a boat arriving at the dock behind us.
Now I can almost guarantee that I could go into Middlesbrough, visit the information centre, get and ice cream, have coffee, walk around, have lunch, go to the riverside and not have a pleasant conversation with anybody. I think that is one of the reasons we enjoy being in America.
Notes:
Blue Velvet A film shot in Wilmington
Anna MacNeil - Whistlers Mother
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Moving down to the coast
Tuesday 4th November
This afternon, we went into Fayetteville in the rain. It was too wet to wander down the historic part of town, which looked quite ineresting, so we wandered round the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, instead. It was very interesting and well set out. We were particulary interested in the account of the D-Day landings - especially the mention of the paratrooper who got caught on the steeple of the Church in St. Mare-Eglise, as we had spent a holiday visiting the landing beaches in Normandy the year of the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
We had a long chat to a serving soldier who was waiting to be retired through ill health after being wounded in Iraq. He was great to talk to and told us that he had served for 21 years in the army, having been stationed all over Europe with his family. He had been in actual combat several times during his career, eventually being wounded in Iraq. We wish him well in his retirement.
We had a great steak dinner at Chris's Steakhouse, recommended by the museum staff, before heading back to the trailer.
Wednesday 5th Nov.
Just remembered that it's Bonfire Night back home - will miss our visit to Stockton Riverside to see the firework display. All quiet here - no celebrations - but big celebrations for Halloween. It's also Rod's (Terry's brother) birthday today. Happy Birthday Rod.
Today we moved down to Wilmington on the coast. The weather is warmer and the sun actually shone today. We plan to stay here for four nights so we can explore the local area.
This afternon, we went into Fayetteville in the rain. It was too wet to wander down the historic part of town, which looked quite ineresting, so we wandered round the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, instead. It was very interesting and well set out. We were particulary interested in the account of the D-Day landings - especially the mention of the paratrooper who got caught on the steeple of the Church in St. Mare-Eglise, as we had spent a holiday visiting the landing beaches in Normandy the year of the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
We had a long chat to a serving soldier who was waiting to be retired through ill health after being wounded in Iraq. He was great to talk to and told us that he had served for 21 years in the army, having been stationed all over Europe with his family. He had been in actual combat several times during his career, eventually being wounded in Iraq. We wish him well in his retirement.
We had a great steak dinner at Chris's Steakhouse, recommended by the museum staff, before heading back to the trailer.
Wednesday 5th Nov.
Just remembered that it's Bonfire Night back home - will miss our visit to Stockton Riverside to see the firework display. All quiet here - no celebrations - but big celebrations for Halloween. It's also Rod's (Terry's brother) birthday today. Happy Birthday Rod.
Today we moved down to Wilmington on the coast. The weather is warmer and the sun actually shone today. We plan to stay here for four nights so we can explore the local area.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Its Election Day
Sally and I are sat in our trailer, listening to the election coverage. Interestingly we are finding the most comprehensive coverage is from BBC Radio five.
So over the last few weeks we have been immersed in Election Fever. Every where we have been, in supermarkets, restaurants, museums, people we have spoken to have been eager to tell where they stand and to find out who we would support. World events have washed over the campaigns, pushing opinion this way and that. First terrorism, then Irag, then Sub-prime, the effect of women in politics, with Clinton, then Palin. Always the question of race. Recently the world financial crisis. Every time Obama seems to have been able to get through it clean, whereas McCain has had to consistently fight against the failings of the current administration. He is republican, Bush is Republican, so McCain smells of the rotting flesh of Bush's presidency. For this reason alone I think that Obama will win the election tonight.
So over the last few weeks we have been immersed in Election Fever. Every where we have been, in supermarkets, restaurants, museums, people we have spoken to have been eager to tell where they stand and to find out who we would support. World events have washed over the campaigns, pushing opinion this way and that. First terrorism, then Irag, then Sub-prime, the effect of women in politics, with Clinton, then Palin. Always the question of race. Recently the world financial crisis. Every time Obama seems to have been able to get through it clean, whereas McCain has had to consistently fight against the failings of the current administration. He is republican, Bush is Republican, so McCain smells of the rotting flesh of Bush's presidency. For this reason alone I think that Obama will win the election tonight.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Out and About in Durham and Raleigh NC
We have safely arrived at the Falls Lake State Park Campground, just outside Durham NC.
It is a very pretty site, not many people camping, best of all the weather is warmer.
we have now got into campfires. I spent some time each morning collecting wood for our fire in the evening.
On Saturday we visited Raleigh, in particular the Museum for Natural History, because they currently have an exhibition showing some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The exhibition was excellent, the pieces we saw were very small, each one was perhaps postcard size, but it was amazing to see something that was central to the belief of millions of people and is at least 2000 years old. Bits of the bible written at the time of Jesus, by the the people who knew him, in the area where he was. It was a very inspiring artifact.
The weather was pleasnt so we had a walk over to the Old Capitol Building. Very interesting.#
Sunday November 2nd
Remembered to put the old clocks back. Today we took a short trip to Durham, to see the Bennett Farm. This is an old farm in which General Johnstone signed the surrender of his army to Gen Sherman in 1865. This more or less signalled the end of the Civil War.
Following this we had a look at the Duke University, which is quite famous in this area. We first had a wander round the Duke Gardens, which were beautiful and realy interesting. Quite busy with families and students on a warm November day.
Then we had a look round the University chapel, which was built on very grand line. Similar in some ways to Our own Durham cathedral back home in England. Though much newer.
Monday 3rd November.
Today we moved on to Fayetteville, which is to the south of Raleigh. We are making this stop because there is rain forecast at Wilmington, which is our next destination, which we hope to get to for Wednesday.
On the way to Fayetteville we stopped off to look at Bentonville Battleground. It wa here that the last major battle of the Civil War took place. Gen Johnstone attacked part of Shermans army as it was marching North after his infamous 'March To The Sea'.
Johnstone was hopelesly outnumbered, but it was his last opportunity to break Sherman's men before it was re-supplied and met up with Gen Grant's Army at Richmond.
Johnstne lost this battle, which then led to him havng to surrender to Sherman and Bennett Farm
It is a very pretty site, not many people camping, best of all the weather is warmer.
we have now got into campfires. I spent some time each morning collecting wood for our fire in the evening.
On Saturday we visited Raleigh, in particular the Museum for Natural History, because they currently have an exhibition showing some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The exhibition was excellent, the pieces we saw were very small, each one was perhaps postcard size, but it was amazing to see something that was central to the belief of millions of people and is at least 2000 years old. Bits of the bible written at the time of Jesus, by the the people who knew him, in the area where he was. It was a very inspiring artifact.
The weather was pleasnt so we had a walk over to the Old Capitol Building. Very interesting.#
Sunday November 2nd
Remembered to put the old clocks back. Today we took a short trip to Durham, to see the Bennett Farm. This is an old farm in which General Johnstone signed the surrender of his army to Gen Sherman in 1865. This more or less signalled the end of the Civil War.
Following this we had a look at the Duke University, which is quite famous in this area. We first had a wander round the Duke Gardens, which were beautiful and realy interesting. Quite busy with families and students on a warm November day.
Then we had a look round the University chapel, which was built on very grand line. Similar in some ways to Our own Durham cathedral back home in England. Though much newer.
Monday 3rd November.
Today we moved on to Fayetteville, which is to the south of Raleigh. We are making this stop because there is rain forecast at Wilmington, which is our next destination, which we hope to get to for Wednesday.
On the way to Fayetteville we stopped off to look at Bentonville Battleground. It wa here that the last major battle of the Civil War took place. Gen Johnstone attacked part of Shermans army as it was marching North after his infamous 'March To The Sea'.
Johnstone was hopelesly outnumbered, but it was his last opportunity to break Sherman's men before it was re-supplied and met up with Gen Grant's Army at Richmond.
Johnstne lost this battle, which then led to him havng to surrender to Sherman and Bennett Farm
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Krugers and Leaving Boone
Well we got to see The Kruger Brothers.
They were absolutely brilliant. Great interplay between banjo and guitar, some of the best base playing I have heard and really accomplished singing. A great evening.
For example was interesting to hear the Motzart's Rudestki March played in Reggae style on a banjo and it sounded great.
So that was a great evening. To be followed by a cold night.
Tuesday was miserable, cold and snowy. Sally was very tired, so we spent a quiet day keeping warm. I finally gave in and went abought a second electric heater from Walmart. Wednesday was still cold, however I went to walmart to get yet another heater, because as is not unusual with Walmart, the first one didn't work properly. Sally and I also managed to get out and visit the Famous Mast General Store just outside of Boone. It was a big old general store that opened in 1883 and still looks pretty much the same today, though it has updated its product lines several times. They do a nice line in outdoor clothes. I even thought about a hat. The one that took my fancy was an oiled leather wide brimmed cowboy type hat, which though I am sure it was a snip at $39.95 (plus tax), I thought too expensive just to look good round the campfire. Right in the middle of the store was a big pot belly stove which we gratefully sat rounf for a bit, chatting to some visitors frm Pheonix, AZ. It turns out that their favourite author is James Herriot, quite close to home for us.
Thursday.
Today we left Boone early on Thursday, expecting to get to Greensboro, but we left so early (before 10.00, just) that before we knew it we were past Greensboro and able to get to one of the few State Parks in North Carolina which have water and electric hook-ups, Lake Falls. You can't book it, it is first come first served. So I was happy to get here on Thursday afternoon rather than Friday, when it may be busy.
As it is we have settled into a nice site, with a great view of the lake. We were able to collect wood and have a lovely camp fire, Sally enjoyed poking the fire with a stick, while I got the old BBQ out and we had a nice Beef Burger in a bun.
We sat out until the fire died and it got too cold to just sit.
we hope to be here for a couple of days and do some relaxing and some sight seeing round the Durham and Raleigh Area.
They were absolutely brilliant. Great interplay between banjo and guitar, some of the best base playing I have heard and really accomplished singing. A great evening.
For example was interesting to hear the Motzart's Rudestki March played in Reggae style on a banjo and it sounded great.
So that was a great evening. To be followed by a cold night.
Tuesday was miserable, cold and snowy. Sally was very tired, so we spent a quiet day keeping warm. I finally gave in and went abought a second electric heater from Walmart. Wednesday was still cold, however I went to walmart to get yet another heater, because as is not unusual with Walmart, the first one didn't work properly. Sally and I also managed to get out and visit the Famous Mast General Store just outside of Boone. It was a big old general store that opened in 1883 and still looks pretty much the same today, though it has updated its product lines several times. They do a nice line in outdoor clothes. I even thought about a hat. The one that took my fancy was an oiled leather wide brimmed cowboy type hat, which though I am sure it was a snip at $39.95 (plus tax), I thought too expensive just to look good round the campfire. Right in the middle of the store was a big pot belly stove which we gratefully sat rounf for a bit, chatting to some visitors frm Pheonix, AZ. It turns out that their favourite author is James Herriot, quite close to home for us.
Thursday.
Today we left Boone early on Thursday, expecting to get to Greensboro, but we left so early (before 10.00, just) that before we knew it we were past Greensboro and able to get to one of the few State Parks in North Carolina which have water and electric hook-ups, Lake Falls. You can't book it, it is first come first served. So I was happy to get here on Thursday afternoon rather than Friday, when it may be busy.
As it is we have settled into a nice site, with a great view of the lake. We were able to collect wood and have a lovely camp fire, Sally enjoyed poking the fire with a stick, while I got the old BBQ out and we had a nice Beef Burger in a bun.
We sat out until the fire died and it got too cold to just sit.
we hope to be here for a couple of days and do some relaxing and some sight seeing round the Durham and Raleigh Area.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Kruger Brothers
Monday, well here we are. We have now been back in the States for four weeks. We are having a rest day, Sally has crashed out and I am getting the chance to catch up with the blog.
Tonight we are going out again (I know, its nothing but the high life). On Saturday we managed to get tickets to see the Kruger Brothers in concert at Blowing Rock. The concert is tonight, so we will drive over and hopefully have another good evening of Bluegrass. The Kruger Brothers are actually from Switzerland, but have lived in North Carolina for many years. We had originally planned to attend a blugrass festival with them, but stayed at Hiawassee to see the Fiddle Convention instead. So this concert is a bonus for us.
The weather forcast says that snow is expected tonight and tomorrow, though it is not expected to lay. We are not far enough north that our weather is affected by the Great Lakes! The precipitation we get here is referred to as the Great Lakes Effect.
We don't expect a lot, but will wait and see how much that is.
Tonight we are going out again (I know, its nothing but the high life). On Saturday we managed to get tickets to see the Kruger Brothers in concert at Blowing Rock. The concert is tonight, so we will drive over and hopefully have another good evening of Bluegrass. The Kruger Brothers are actually from Switzerland, but have lived in North Carolina for many years. We had originally planned to attend a blugrass festival with them, but stayed at Hiawassee to see the Fiddle Convention instead. So this concert is a bonus for us.
The weather forcast says that snow is expected tonight and tomorrow, though it is not expected to lay. We are not far enough north that our weather is affected by the Great Lakes! The precipitation we get here is referred to as the Great Lakes Effect.
We don't expect a lot, but will wait and see how much that is.
A weekend in Boone NC
Saturday 25th Oct
Saturday dawned cold, damp and cloudy in Boone. It looked like it was going to be miserable, so Sally and I decided to go to neighbouring Blowing Rock (a town and a local feature). We were no mre than 5 miles from Boone, but the sky was clear, the sun was shining, though it was still chilly (looking away north to Boone, you could still see the heavy clouds). We walked round Blowing Rock, which has a small but interesting main street, looking in the shop windows, which were all decorated for Halloween or Christmas, and listened to the local High School Band. As usual everyone seemed very friendly. As we passed a house the owner (presumed) was standing outside giving away apples from his garden, which was very nice. We had a quick chat as we each put a bright red apple into our pockets. It was very pleasant. We stopped in a cafe for some lunch then drove off to see the Famous Blowing Rock rock.
Blowing Rock, the rock was very interesting as there is a story about unrequited love for a couple of Indians that is attributed to the rock and the views are fabulous, looking out on to Grandfather Mountain and as far away as Mount Mitchell (highest point in the Appalachians and therefore the east coast of USA). After this, as the weather was still bright and sunny, we took a short drive along part of the Blue Ridge Mountain, Parkway, again some great views, to Moses H Cone (Yes that was his name)Memorial Park, which was very pretty and has a lovely house which is now used as a showplace for local arts and crafts. We drove back to Boone, which still had cloudy skies, and went to a local roadside grill for a steak dinner. In the evening we sat round our neighbours campfire and talked till late. They are a lovely family from Bristol TN. Tom and Sherry who have four children, The oldest of them, Tommy (fourth grade) was very interested in everything, I mean everything. We sat and talked and compared currencies, Bonfire night and Halloween, our weights and measures The Boy Scout Movement (they also use Jungle Book characters) and goodness knows what else. He seemed to want to collect all sorts of information for his social studies class at school. This was fair enough as he had shown us a salamander he had caught earlier in the day. We had given him some of our UK money. As they left to go home he gave us a toy butterfly that he had collected from Burger King, very touching.
Sunday 26th October
The much promised sunny weather hit Boone today, so we took the opprotunity of clear skies to drive another section of the BRMP. The section south of Boone is probably the most famous and busiest section. This was Sunday, the weather was really fine, it was also the end of the Fall season and Boone was heaving with people who had come for the college football game. The little single lane coutry (BRMP) road was practically bumper to bumper. Every park area was busy with families out for the day having BBQ,s. On this section is the famous (to some) Linn Viaduct, this is a dramatic viaduct that hugs the side of the mountain. It was also the last part of the BRMP to be finished (1987). It looks very impressive. Further on are the Linville Falls. Sally and I negotiated the short walk to the first of the Falls and enjoyed the view, it reminded us of our recent trip to High Force in Teesdale with Helen and Kim.
Saturday dawned cold, damp and cloudy in Boone. It looked like it was going to be miserable, so Sally and I decided to go to neighbouring Blowing Rock (a town and a local feature). We were no mre than 5 miles from Boone, but the sky was clear, the sun was shining, though it was still chilly (looking away north to Boone, you could still see the heavy clouds). We walked round Blowing Rock, which has a small but interesting main street, looking in the shop windows, which were all decorated for Halloween or Christmas, and listened to the local High School Band. As usual everyone seemed very friendly. As we passed a house the owner (presumed) was standing outside giving away apples from his garden, which was very nice. We had a quick chat as we each put a bright red apple into our pockets. It was very pleasant. We stopped in a cafe for some lunch then drove off to see the Famous Blowing Rock rock.
Blowing Rock, the rock was very interesting as there is a story about unrequited love for a couple of Indians that is attributed to the rock and the views are fabulous, looking out on to Grandfather Mountain and as far away as Mount Mitchell (highest point in the Appalachians and therefore the east coast of USA). After this, as the weather was still bright and sunny, we took a short drive along part of the Blue Ridge Mountain, Parkway, again some great views, to Moses H Cone (Yes that was his name)Memorial Park, which was very pretty and has a lovely house which is now used as a showplace for local arts and crafts. We drove back to Boone, which still had cloudy skies, and went to a local roadside grill for a steak dinner. In the evening we sat round our neighbours campfire and talked till late. They are a lovely family from Bristol TN. Tom and Sherry who have four children, The oldest of them, Tommy (fourth grade) was very interested in everything, I mean everything. We sat and talked and compared currencies, Bonfire night and Halloween, our weights and measures The Boy Scout Movement (they also use Jungle Book characters) and goodness knows what else. He seemed to want to collect all sorts of information for his social studies class at school. This was fair enough as he had shown us a salamander he had caught earlier in the day. We had given him some of our UK money. As they left to go home he gave us a toy butterfly that he had collected from Burger King, very touching.
Sunday 26th October
The much promised sunny weather hit Boone today, so we took the opprotunity of clear skies to drive another section of the BRMP. The section south of Boone is probably the most famous and busiest section. This was Sunday, the weather was really fine, it was also the end of the Fall season and Boone was heaving with people who had come for the college football game. The little single lane coutry (BRMP) road was practically bumper to bumper. Every park area was busy with families out for the day having BBQ,s. On this section is the famous (to some) Linn Viaduct, this is a dramatic viaduct that hugs the side of the mountain. It was also the last part of the BRMP to be finished (1987). It looks very impressive. Further on are the Linville Falls. Sally and I negotiated the short walk to the first of the Falls and enjoyed the view, it reminded us of our recent trip to High Force in Teesdale with Helen and Kim.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Doc Watson Concert
Well we made it! Last night we attended a concert given by Doc Watson at the Farthing Memorial Hall, part of the Appalachian State University. The concert was sold out, but we had booked tickets back in August and had tickets for the fifth row, just left of centre.
The weather was awful, it had rained all day, so we had just mooched around. We had breakfast in the Boone Drug Store - a genuine Dug Store, with a griddle, boothes, a pharmacy and shop which sold all sorts of odd bits. I didn't see a Soda Fountain though. After that we wandered the mains street, which like the cowby towns of old had covered sidewalks and big square fronts, with tin shack (not quite) buildings behind. We crossed the main street to visit the Mast General Store. which had all sorts of fascinating clothes and equipment. The interest lasted until we saw the prices. Still raining we visted WalMart and the local Mall, then back to the trailer for a rest.
In the evening we drove, through the rain still, to the auditorium and seated ourselves, the people to our left were from Florida, but had a house in NC, they aparently are called SnowFlakes. The lady to our right was 80, and as we exchanged life histories it became clear that she had been a Moonmaid, which was the vocal backing group for a 40's Big Band called The Vaugh Monroe Orchestra. Her name is Tinker (Cunningham) Rautenberg. It was fascinating to talk to her.
The Doc Watson concert was excellent. Doc sung some of his old songs and told stories of his early days, supported and questioned by David Holt, who was also very good. A chap called Riley Baugus also played, his claim to fame is that he is a local player, he also performed some of the music for Cold Mountain, and played on the recent Alison Kraus/Robert Plant record. Doc Watson is very gentle in his approach, so it made for a relaxing evening. Our early booking paid off as we had seats in the fifth row and the 1750 seater auditorium was sold out for the concert. Although videoing and photography was not allowed I sneaked a couple of pics as a record of our evening.
The weather was awful, it had rained all day, so we had just mooched around. We had breakfast in the Boone Drug Store - a genuine Dug Store, with a griddle, boothes, a pharmacy and shop which sold all sorts of odd bits. I didn't see a Soda Fountain though. After that we wandered the mains street, which like the cowby towns of old had covered sidewalks and big square fronts, with tin shack (not quite) buildings behind. We crossed the main street to visit the Mast General Store. which had all sorts of fascinating clothes and equipment. The interest lasted until we saw the prices. Still raining we visted WalMart and the local Mall, then back to the trailer for a rest.
In the evening we drove, through the rain still, to the auditorium and seated ourselves, the people to our left were from Florida, but had a house in NC, they aparently are called SnowFlakes. The lady to our right was 80, and as we exchanged life histories it became clear that she had been a Moonmaid, which was the vocal backing group for a 40's Big Band called The Vaugh Monroe Orchestra. Her name is Tinker (Cunningham) Rautenberg. It was fascinating to talk to her.
The Doc Watson concert was excellent. Doc sung some of his old songs and told stories of his early days, supported and questioned by David Holt, who was also very good. A chap called Riley Baugus also played, his claim to fame is that he is a local player, he also performed some of the music for Cold Mountain, and played on the recent Alison Kraus/Robert Plant record. Doc Watson is very gentle in his approach, so it made for a relaxing evening. Our early booking paid off as we had seats in the fifth row and the 1750 seater auditorium was sold out for the concert. Although videoing and photography was not allowed I sneaked a couple of pics as a record of our evening.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
North Carolina is Calling Us
Sunday 19th October
We moved our Trailer onto a hook up site for Sunday night and got an early night ready for our trip north into North Carolina.
Monday 20th
Monday dawned bright, clear and cold. We packed as quickly as possible and set off. We arrived at Winngray Campsite, just outside Maggie Valley. It is a pretty site, but very cramped and the owner/manager did not make things easy. However, we were excited because tomorrow we could take our first drive onto the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. In the evening Sally and I drove into Ashveville to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We went to the 'Fiddlin Pig', a BBQ joint which has live bluegrass music. We had been invited to go by the father of Seth Taylor, who won the flatpick guitar competition at Hiawassee, as Seth's band were playing that night.
We really enjoyed the music and were picked on by the band because of our anniversary. They played a waltz (Faded Love), so we got up to have a dance, it was very nice of them.
Tuesday 21st October
We took a short drive through Maggie Valley, a very popular town with tourists, as it is handily placed for the Smokey Mountains, The Cherokee reservation and the start of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway (BRMP), as well as being very pretty. It is also a centre for bluegrass music.
We then drove up to join a section of the BRMP. Literally 'Up' as it is a road which has been built to run along the top most ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At the southern end it rarely drops below 4000 ft and tops out at 6059 feet. If we haven't mentioned it before it is a real feat of engineering. It was started in 1935 as a scenic roadway, much of it being built to find work for people in the Great Depression, though it was not actually finished until 1987. It is 469 miles long and crosses North Carolina and Virginia. It has no commercial outlets, neither are commercial vehicles allowed on it. It has restricted access, so you really feel that you are away from the real world.
The views are often obscured by the many trees on either side, so we were completly amazed when we drove onto the BRMP and drove for about 2 miles up the fairly narrow winding roadway and stopped at the first scenic overview. You felt as thought you were on the top of the world, with mountains stretching for mile after mile to the horizon in every direction. It was a reall joy just to cruise this roadway in the sky, stopping every few miles to admire the view. I think it took us about 2 hours to drive the first 10 miles that day.
Wednesday 22nd October.
Today we wanted to drive a longer stretch of the BRMP. We chose to join it at Mount Pisgah. This is one of the only places where there is a restaurant, shop hotel and campground on the Parkway. They are all built on the top of a ridge at about 5200ft, with the inevitable spectaclualr views. The next mountain after Pisgah is Cold Mountain, now made famous by the book and film of the same name. We drove about 35 miles on the Parkway, but kept stopping for stunning views.
We returned in the evening and prepared to move on to Boone the next day. We must decide if this is the last we will see of this area, or should we change out plans and come back to drive more of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway - You dear reader will have to wait to find out, becaue we do not know yet.
Thursday 23rd October
We have arrived safely at Flintlock Campground just outside Boone. We are here to see Doc Watson in concert tomorrow night
We moved our Trailer onto a hook up site for Sunday night and got an early night ready for our trip north into North Carolina.
Monday 20th
Monday dawned bright, clear and cold. We packed as quickly as possible and set off. We arrived at Winngray Campsite, just outside Maggie Valley. It is a pretty site, but very cramped and the owner/manager did not make things easy. However, we were excited because tomorrow we could take our first drive onto the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. In the evening Sally and I drove into Ashveville to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We went to the 'Fiddlin Pig', a BBQ joint which has live bluegrass music. We had been invited to go by the father of Seth Taylor, who won the flatpick guitar competition at Hiawassee, as Seth's band were playing that night.
We really enjoyed the music and were picked on by the band because of our anniversary. They played a waltz (Faded Love), so we got up to have a dance, it was very nice of them.
Tuesday 21st October
We took a short drive through Maggie Valley, a very popular town with tourists, as it is handily placed for the Smokey Mountains, The Cherokee reservation and the start of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway (BRMP), as well as being very pretty. It is also a centre for bluegrass music.
We then drove up to join a section of the BRMP. Literally 'Up' as it is a road which has been built to run along the top most ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At the southern end it rarely drops below 4000 ft and tops out at 6059 feet. If we haven't mentioned it before it is a real feat of engineering. It was started in 1935 as a scenic roadway, much of it being built to find work for people in the Great Depression, though it was not actually finished until 1987. It is 469 miles long and crosses North Carolina and Virginia. It has no commercial outlets, neither are commercial vehicles allowed on it. It has restricted access, so you really feel that you are away from the real world.
The views are often obscured by the many trees on either side, so we were completly amazed when we drove onto the BRMP and drove for about 2 miles up the fairly narrow winding roadway and stopped at the first scenic overview. You felt as thought you were on the top of the world, with mountains stretching for mile after mile to the horizon in every direction. It was a reall joy just to cruise this roadway in the sky, stopping every few miles to admire the view. I think it took us about 2 hours to drive the first 10 miles that day.
Wednesday 22nd October.
Today we wanted to drive a longer stretch of the BRMP. We chose to join it at Mount Pisgah. This is one of the only places where there is a restaurant, shop hotel and campground on the Parkway. They are all built on the top of a ridge at about 5200ft, with the inevitable spectaclualr views. The next mountain after Pisgah is Cold Mountain, now made famous by the book and film of the same name. We drove about 35 miles on the Parkway, but kept stopping for stunning views.
We returned in the evening and prepared to move on to Boone the next day. We must decide if this is the last we will see of this area, or should we change out plans and come back to drive more of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway - You dear reader will have to wait to find out, becaue we do not know yet.
Thursday 23rd October
We have arrived safely at Flintlock Campground just outside Boone. We are here to see Doc Watson in concert tomorrow night
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Georgia in the Fall Festival
Monday 13th Oct
Spent a very lazy day just relaxing, reading, enjoying the warm sun and clear blue skies, In the evening playing instruments by the light of a campfire well after the sun went down. Perfect.
This area of South Carolina has some fascinating geology, particularly metamorphic geomorphology. Which you will only probably want to look at if you are tired of life
Tuesday 14th Oct
We moved from the foothills of South Carolina, up state, through Georgia's Blue ridge Mountains, to Hiawassee, which is on the border with North Carolina, to go to the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival. We met up with Bob and Jinny, two wonderful people from Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch and parked next to them in the boat ramp area of the Festival grounds. This is our first attempt at dry camping in the trailer. Dry camping is the American term for camping without hook ups - water or electrics. We do this regularly in England, but our trailer here uses a lot of power so we were wondering how we'd cope. Thank goodness that Bob has been so generous with hooking us up to his RV and recharging our battery with his massive 15kW generator. We have had battery trouble and it's run right down a couple of times. It looks like we've sorted the problem out now and we are doing well.
Tuesday 14th October
The Festival grounds are in the most beautiful setting: wooded hills and mountains surround the beautiful lake, which is set off to perfection with the autumn leaves changing colour - red, orange, yellow and brown. We look out over the lake. There is a big concert hall where they have had concerts twice daily and where the music competitions are to be held. Today we took a walk round the craft section of the festival and were very impressed with the lovely crafts for sale: from basket weaving to quilting and wood turnings to decorated ostrich eggs. The evening concert was headlined by a Country and Western Star, Ronnie McDowell and supported by Little Thunder. He was very popular and performed to a massive audience.
Wednesday 15th Oct.
Decided to have a trip round one of the scenic routes leading us to the town of Helen. Bob and Jinny came with us - Terry and Bob rearranged the seating in our Chevvy van and got both my wheelchair and Jinny's electric scooter in the back!!! The route was very pretty with lots of mountains, trees and the occasional lookout where you got a stunning view of the mountains, once you got away from the trees. One parking spot was where the Appalachian Trail (2000 mile cross country walk) crossed our road. So Terry took a stroll along it, but not very far (about 10 yards), though we did talk to some real walkers who were spending a week doing the first 60 miles from Amalicola to the North Carolina Border. Very nice. Helen is interesting as it was a typical hill town, very quiet and quite run down until the local business men got together to try to rejuvenate the place, back in the early 60's. They came up with a Bavarian theme and procede to revamp all the buildings into replicas of Bavarian architecture, so you see painted houses etc just as you would in the Alpine towns. Very bizarre. It is now a thriving tourist attraction with the attendant souvenir shops, expensive eating places and lots of people. Jinny was absolutely thrilled to actually be able to go into the shops and down the main street as they have passed through Helen many times in their RV (on the way to Hiawassee) and never been able to find anywhere to park. We had a great lunch in a restaurant just out of town, recommended by some local people, not so crowded but not any cheaper.
Once back at Hiawassee, the evening concert was started off by a group of local youngsters called Showtime International who brought a touch of glamour to the proceedings and were, in fact very entertaining and were quite good singers. Then it was, again, a Country and Western star, Connie Smith, fresh from the 'Grand Ole Opry' in Nashville, who also sang to a packed auditorium.
Thursday 16th Oct.
We spent some time going round the rest of the craft stalls and the area of the showground given over to the reconstruction of a Georgian Mountain community in the latter part of the 19th century. Very interesting to see a one roomed wooden schoolhouse actually built in 1901, with room for one teacher and the kids sat on rough wooden benches and a log cabin, one roomed, dating from the late 1870's furnished as it would have been - very primitive and spartan. There was a saw mill actually making planks, and other demonstrations of quilting, bee keepng etc. It must have been a hard life but in a very beautiful area.
We went to the afternoon concert, Country and Western singing again with John Conlee, Janie Fricke and T G Sheppard. We have decided that this genre of music is not quite our cup of tea, but it was nice to hear live music.
We had a quiet evening in the trailer trying to get some rest. These festivals can be very tiring. The weather has changed as it has been drizzling and the temperature has dropped. First day in long trousers and socks!!!
Small footnote from todays wanderings
While in the school house Terry got talking to a fascinating lady who was an ex-school teacher. It transpired that she and her husband had been brought up and went to school in Madison (remember we visited that last Friday, come on keep up with the programme), so we talked about the buildings and houses we had seen. It was a fascinating conversation as she told us about the house her husband had been brought up in, which we had seen last week. Then as she remenisced she talked about her husbands Great
Grandmother, who was apparently known as 'The Georgia Wonder' as she travelled the Vaudeville stages as a clairvoyant, with the reputation of being able to 'move' things without touching them! She in fact became one of the most famous women of her time in America (about 1860). She mysteriously disappeared, in fact she had married her agent and retired to Madison. As we were about to part she mentioned that her husband was in charge of the Log Cabin Homestead, just down the street from the school house in this little village museum. We both laughed as she said how it would shock him if someone were to go up to him and say "Hey, I know you, your Lula Hurst's great grandson aren't you." Well of course that was an open invitation. As Sally and I continued through the village I saw the Log Cabin Homestead, I duly engaged the old fellow who was lounging on the porch (his name badge showed him to be the womans husband), after considerable conversation, we were about to introduce ourselves to each other and I said to him, "I know you, your the Great Grandson of Lula Hurst, the Georgia Wonder". Well he froze, and went white as a sheet. At which point, for the sake of his health, I had to put him at ease and told him that I had just been speaking to his wife. He was still amazed that just a passing conversation had led me to know that he was the great grandson of the famous Georgia Wonder, where he lived and where he went to school. Then we both had a good laugh about it. "Oh What Larks Pip"
Friday 17th Oct/Sat 18th Oct
Very cold night last night- had to get the extra comforter out! Brrr!
This was the start of the Georgia Official State Fiddlers Convention with competitions in fiddle, harmonica, buck dancing, dulcimer, dobro, old time banjo, 5 finger banjo, bluegrass band, finger style guitar, flat pick guitar, banjo and mandolin. More information on http://www.georgiamountainfairgrounds.com/
The next two days were a surfeit of excellent music as musicians battled it out to win 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in each catagory. There were some wonderful youngsters ( teens) who were very talented. Seth, aged 15, won the flat pick guitar over adults much older than him. He was brilliant. We found out that his family were camped two down from us! There was another young lad who won the dobro - I've a long way to go !!!! - he was fabulous. The Junior Fiddle was won by a very talented teenage girl and who then had to compete against the Senior fiddle winner to see who was the Georgia Mountain Fiddle King or Queen. She won, much to her amazement, but it was well deserved. It was an extremely enjoyable two days - long and tiring but fantastic.
Sunday 19th Oct.
This morning, Bob and Jinny moved off to go visit friends near Atlanta. We will miss them as we have had such a good time together.
We went to the Interfaith Worship Service in the concert hall this morning, which was good. Then there was a three hour concert of Gospel Music in the afternoon. Three bands played. The Diplomats, Karen Peck and New River and the Isaacs. What a way to finish the festival. It was great. We are big fans of the Isaacs since we saw them at Palatka in February this year and they didn't disappoint. We got seats right in the front row so we had a great view. Everything has finished now and we are spending a quiet evening here before we move on tomorrow.
What a week we've had. We are very tired and will need some time to chill out.
We seem to have lost the warm weather and it was decidedly chilly this morning, there are reports of frost from some of the higher areas but by lunchtime the sun was out and it looked lovely, but still chilly. The water in the lake we are camped by is still warm, so the lake has been shrouded in mists in the early morming. I've dug out my winter coat and warm trousers and worn my gloves for the first time today. Still, we are up in the mountains so what do we expect?
Spent a very lazy day just relaxing, reading, enjoying the warm sun and clear blue skies, In the evening playing instruments by the light of a campfire well after the sun went down. Perfect.
This area of South Carolina has some fascinating geology, particularly metamorphic geomorphology. Which you will only probably want to look at if you are tired of life
Tuesday 14th Oct
We moved from the foothills of South Carolina, up state, through Georgia's Blue ridge Mountains, to Hiawassee, which is on the border with North Carolina, to go to the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival. We met up with Bob and Jinny, two wonderful people from Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch and parked next to them in the boat ramp area of the Festival grounds. This is our first attempt at dry camping in the trailer. Dry camping is the American term for camping without hook ups - water or electrics. We do this regularly in England, but our trailer here uses a lot of power so we were wondering how we'd cope. Thank goodness that Bob has been so generous with hooking us up to his RV and recharging our battery with his massive 15kW generator. We have had battery trouble and it's run right down a couple of times. It looks like we've sorted the problem out now and we are doing well.
Tuesday 14th October
The Festival grounds are in the most beautiful setting: wooded hills and mountains surround the beautiful lake, which is set off to perfection with the autumn leaves changing colour - red, orange, yellow and brown. We look out over the lake. There is a big concert hall where they have had concerts twice daily and where the music competitions are to be held. Today we took a walk round the craft section of the festival and were very impressed with the lovely crafts for sale: from basket weaving to quilting and wood turnings to decorated ostrich eggs. The evening concert was headlined by a Country and Western Star, Ronnie McDowell and supported by Little Thunder. He was very popular and performed to a massive audience.
Wednesday 15th Oct.
Decided to have a trip round one of the scenic routes leading us to the town of Helen. Bob and Jinny came with us - Terry and Bob rearranged the seating in our Chevvy van and got both my wheelchair and Jinny's electric scooter in the back!!! The route was very pretty with lots of mountains, trees and the occasional lookout where you got a stunning view of the mountains, once you got away from the trees. One parking spot was where the Appalachian Trail (2000 mile cross country walk) crossed our road. So Terry took a stroll along it, but not very far (about 10 yards), though we did talk to some real walkers who were spending a week doing the first 60 miles from Amalicola to the North Carolina Border. Very nice. Helen is interesting as it was a typical hill town, very quiet and quite run down until the local business men got together to try to rejuvenate the place, back in the early 60's. They came up with a Bavarian theme and procede to revamp all the buildings into replicas of Bavarian architecture, so you see painted houses etc just as you would in the Alpine towns. Very bizarre. It is now a thriving tourist attraction with the attendant souvenir shops, expensive eating places and lots of people. Jinny was absolutely thrilled to actually be able to go into the shops and down the main street as they have passed through Helen many times in their RV (on the way to Hiawassee) and never been able to find anywhere to park. We had a great lunch in a restaurant just out of town, recommended by some local people, not so crowded but not any cheaper.
Once back at Hiawassee, the evening concert was started off by a group of local youngsters called Showtime International who brought a touch of glamour to the proceedings and were, in fact very entertaining and were quite good singers. Then it was, again, a Country and Western star, Connie Smith, fresh from the 'Grand Ole Opry' in Nashville, who also sang to a packed auditorium.
Thursday 16th Oct.
We spent some time going round the rest of the craft stalls and the area of the showground given over to the reconstruction of a Georgian Mountain community in the latter part of the 19th century. Very interesting to see a one roomed wooden schoolhouse actually built in 1901, with room for one teacher and the kids sat on rough wooden benches and a log cabin, one roomed, dating from the late 1870's furnished as it would have been - very primitive and spartan. There was a saw mill actually making planks, and other demonstrations of quilting, bee keepng etc. It must have been a hard life but in a very beautiful area.
We went to the afternoon concert, Country and Western singing again with John Conlee, Janie Fricke and T G Sheppard. We have decided that this genre of music is not quite our cup of tea, but it was nice to hear live music.
We had a quiet evening in the trailer trying to get some rest. These festivals can be very tiring. The weather has changed as it has been drizzling and the temperature has dropped. First day in long trousers and socks!!!
Small footnote from todays wanderings
While in the school house Terry got talking to a fascinating lady who was an ex-school teacher. It transpired that she and her husband had been brought up and went to school in Madison (remember we visited that last Friday, come on keep up with the programme), so we talked about the buildings and houses we had seen. It was a fascinating conversation as she told us about the house her husband had been brought up in, which we had seen last week. Then as she remenisced she talked about her husbands Great
Grandmother, who was apparently known as 'The Georgia Wonder' as she travelled the Vaudeville stages as a clairvoyant, with the reputation of being able to 'move' things without touching them! She in fact became one of the most famous women of her time in America (about 1860). She mysteriously disappeared, in fact she had married her agent and retired to Madison. As we were about to part she mentioned that her husband was in charge of the Log Cabin Homestead, just down the street from the school house in this little village museum. We both laughed as she said how it would shock him if someone were to go up to him and say "Hey, I know you, your Lula Hurst's great grandson aren't you." Well of course that was an open invitation. As Sally and I continued through the village I saw the Log Cabin Homestead, I duly engaged the old fellow who was lounging on the porch (his name badge showed him to be the womans husband), after considerable conversation, we were about to introduce ourselves to each other and I said to him, "I know you, your the Great Grandson of Lula Hurst, the Georgia Wonder". Well he froze, and went white as a sheet. At which point, for the sake of his health, I had to put him at ease and told him that I had just been speaking to his wife. He was still amazed that just a passing conversation had led me to know that he was the great grandson of the famous Georgia Wonder, where he lived and where he went to school. Then we both had a good laugh about it. "Oh What Larks Pip"
Friday 17th Oct/Sat 18th Oct
Very cold night last night- had to get the extra comforter out! Brrr!
This was the start of the Georgia Official State Fiddlers Convention with competitions in fiddle, harmonica, buck dancing, dulcimer, dobro, old time banjo, 5 finger banjo, bluegrass band, finger style guitar, flat pick guitar, banjo and mandolin. More information on http://www.georgiamountainfairgrounds.com/
The next two days were a surfeit of excellent music as musicians battled it out to win 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in each catagory. There were some wonderful youngsters ( teens) who were very talented. Seth, aged 15, won the flat pick guitar over adults much older than him. He was brilliant. We found out that his family were camped two down from us! There was another young lad who won the dobro - I've a long way to go !!!! - he was fabulous. The Junior Fiddle was won by a very talented teenage girl and who then had to compete against the Senior fiddle winner to see who was the Georgia Mountain Fiddle King or Queen. She won, much to her amazement, but it was well deserved. It was an extremely enjoyable two days - long and tiring but fantastic.
Sunday 19th Oct.
This morning, Bob and Jinny moved off to go visit friends near Atlanta. We will miss them as we have had such a good time together.
We went to the Interfaith Worship Service in the concert hall this morning, which was good. Then there was a three hour concert of Gospel Music in the afternoon. Three bands played. The Diplomats, Karen Peck and New River and the Isaacs. What a way to finish the festival. It was great. We are big fans of the Isaacs since we saw them at Palatka in February this year and they didn't disappoint. We got seats right in the front row so we had a great view. Everything has finished now and we are spending a quiet evening here before we move on tomorrow.
What a week we've had. We are very tired and will need some time to chill out.
We seem to have lost the warm weather and it was decidedly chilly this morning, there are reports of frost from some of the higher areas but by lunchtime the sun was out and it looked lovely, but still chilly. The water in the lake we are camped by is still warm, so the lake has been shrouded in mists in the early morming. I've dug out my winter coat and warm trousers and worn my gloves for the first time today. Still, we are up in the mountains so what do we expect?
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tourists abroad in Georgia
Now that we have sorted the A?C for the Trailer Sally and I have slowed down the pace a bit. From Lake Juliette we travelled only 50 miles to Madison, then another 80 miles to Lake Hartnell State Park in South Carolina.
About 20 miles north of Lake Juliette we passed through a small town called Monticello, quite unremarkable, except as we drove in to the town the road came into the corner of the town square. It was uncanny, the town square looked exactly like the 50’s version of the town square in Back To The Future!!!, with the little hedge going round the gardens in the middle of the square, café on the corner opposite the town hall, which had columns and a town hall clock. We were there in Hill Valley Town Square. Unfortunately my camera was still set on manual exposure from taking pics the previous night and the picuter I took while driving, was hopelessly overexposed.
We arrived at the Country Boys RV park in plenty of time for lunch. We then set out to explore Madison.
Madison is famous as the town that Sherman didn’t burn down in his march to the sea.
The town is very proud that it has a number of houses which predate the Civil War. They have produced a walking tour which highlights many of the older and finer houses. We had a very pleasant afternoon wandering round gawping at these houses, the oldest of which dates from 1811. We have put some of the pictures on a slide show
Saturday
Moving On
We decided that we liked The Country Boys RV Park so much we would move on that morning. We managed to get away really early, only to ‘pop into Wal-Mart for a few things’ One hour and $100 later we left Madison and drove north.
We planned to pass through the sleepy town of Athens. However not realising the following:
1. It was Saturday
2. That Georgia University is in Athens
3. That the Georgia Bulls were playing at home
4. That the Georgia Bulls are the Georgia University Football Team and that playing a home game meant that about 60,000 people turn up at just bout the time we were passing through.
Fortunately we went on the bypass, but every road we crossed over was at a standstill and traffic on our road was very heavy. We still have not got to a football game.
We arrived at Hartnell Lake State Park in plenty of time to set up and relax. We have another site which looks out over the lake. The air is cooler and dryer here. We could sit out and feel pleasantly warm. We had a lovely evening playing and singing together round a campfire. Sally playing her Dobro and me singing and playing guitar. We sang for about 2 hours, without Sally getting impatient at me once (truly).
About 20 miles north of Lake Juliette we passed through a small town called Monticello, quite unremarkable, except as we drove in to the town the road came into the corner of the town square. It was uncanny, the town square looked exactly like the 50’s version of the town square in Back To The Future!!!, with the little hedge going round the gardens in the middle of the square, café on the corner opposite the town hall, which had columns and a town hall clock. We were there in Hill Valley Town Square. Unfortunately my camera was still set on manual exposure from taking pics the previous night and the picuter I took while driving, was hopelessly overexposed.
We arrived at the Country Boys RV park in plenty of time for lunch. We then set out to explore Madison.
Madison is famous as the town that Sherman didn’t burn down in his march to the sea.
The town is very proud that it has a number of houses which predate the Civil War. They have produced a walking tour which highlights many of the older and finer houses. We had a very pleasant afternoon wandering round gawping at these houses, the oldest of which dates from 1811. We have put some of the pictures on a slide show
Saturday
Moving On
We decided that we liked The Country Boys RV Park so much we would move on that morning. We managed to get away really early, only to ‘pop into Wal-Mart for a few things’ One hour and $100 later we left Madison and drove north.
We planned to pass through the sleepy town of Athens. However not realising the following:
1. It was Saturday
2. That Georgia University is in Athens
3. That the Georgia Bulls were playing at home
4. That the Georgia Bulls are the Georgia University Football Team and that playing a home game meant that about 60,000 people turn up at just bout the time we were passing through.
Fortunately we went on the bypass, but every road we crossed over was at a standstill and traffic on our road was very heavy. We still have not got to a football game.
We arrived at Hartnell Lake State Park in plenty of time to set up and relax. We have another site which looks out over the lake. The air is cooler and dryer here. We could sit out and feel pleasantly warm. We had a lovely evening playing and singing together round a campfire. Sally playing her Dobro and me singing and playing guitar. We sang for about 2 hours, without Sally getting impatient at me once (truly).
Friday, October 10, 2008
Visiting Macon, Georgia
By Thursday, the rain had stopped and we decided to visit Historic Macon. A 12 minute film at the Tourist Information Centre set the scene for us. You can see more pictures of
We started just outside Macon at the site of Indian Mounds, Ocmulgee National Monument. This was a chance to see how the Native American people lived up to about 1,000 years ago. The site was very interesting. Terry was very impressed with the visitor's centre, which was a beautiful Art Deco building, started in the 1930's by the national Monument Service, but not finished till the 50's. The Site was a very important place for the Mississipian People who lived and traded there. There were several very large mounds which had been extensively excavated in the 1930's. Lots of artifacts had been found which led to a greater understanding of how these people lived. There was a reconstructed Meeting Chamber - the floor was original, but the roof rafters,roof and earth topping were new. The chamber was almost totally round with seats made out of clay round the perimeter. They were smallest near the entrance but got wider and higher until the three seats opposite the entrance were raised the highest and were in the shape of an eagle's head. There was a fire pit in the middle. It is not known what this chamber was used for - religious, ceremonial or trading matters, but we found it quite impressive.
Lunch was eaten at Shelley's Sandwich bar, right next to the Tourist Information, very good soup and sandwich, finished off with some scrumtious, melt in the mouth, homemade chocolate chip cookies. We got talkin to the lady who served us, who happened to be Shelley's daughter, Miss Cherry Blossom in Macon in 1998. As we were leaving, she came over and placed two wrapped cookies into our hands. How kind. We enjoyed them later after our evening meal.
We followed the route the defunct Trolley bus took and saw some very impressive houses and buildings dating from 1810 onwards. We toured the Hay House, built in 1853, which was described as the 'Palace of the South' when it was completed. It was very ornate and ahead of it's time with some of it's features. Very interesting. Macon is a very beautiful town/city with class houses and leafy streets.
Back at the campsite we had the most magnificent sunset to watch as we sat eating dinner looking over the lake. What a perfect ending to a good day.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Moving into Georgia
Monday saw us travelling up the I 75 to Macon in Georgia. Another first - we saw cotton growing by the side of the road - Georgia is still a big cotton area. We found a Camping World shop which had a replacement electric tongue jack and made a detour to buy it. We tried a campsite just across the road but it was closed so we pulled under a canopy over the turning circle to phone another campsite. When we moved off there was a graunching noise - guess what - the air-conditioning unit had hit the canopy!!!! Disaster. Terry climbed up onto the roof to assess the damage. The shroud was in pieces and the unit bent. We made it safe before driving to the campsite. What a find as our pitch is right on the edge of beautiful lake Juliette. We had a magnificent sunset to watch as Terry put a tarp. over the aircon.
Tuesday
Tuesday was spent trying to work out whether the air con was repairable or not and contacting the insurance company. While we were waiting for the assessor to phone we decided to eat lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe, of Fried Green Tomato fame. Yes, this is the cafe in Juliette, Georgia, where they filmed the actual film, even though the book, on which the film is based , is set in Alabama. The food was great and we did have fried green tomatoes - they were quite delicious. Kathryn - eat your heart out!!!!
A very kind camper came to look at the air con - he used to work repairing air con units and declared the unit would have to be replaced. We spent a hot afternoon and night trying to keep cool, despite two electric fans bought from Walmart, working flat out.
Wednesday
At 7.45 this morning, we discovered that fire ants were marching in droves into our trailer. Now, fire ants are not to be played with. They are small, but ferocious. They have a habit of quietly marching up your legs and then they all bite at once, leaving you jumping around the place trying to dislodge the little blighters.The bites turn septic with little pus filled heads and are very uncomfortable. We hastily got the Raid and started squirting them. They had come up the electricity cable, in through the cupboard, turned left into the bathroom, one column marching round to the bedroom and another round the shower unit. Raid kills them instantly, but after we had sprayed everywhere, the trailer looked like a war zone with everything flung out from the corners and underneath lockers and dead ants littering the place. Victory - we won!! Terry was mortified as he normally srays bug spray round the trailer tyres etc when we pitch camp, but because of the problems with the air con unit the night before, he had forgotten to do it.
After breakfast, we packed up and brought the trailer to the Camping World place. They are replacing the air con unit after the insurers gave the go- ahead. At the moment we are sitting in the truck outside a laundrette, filling in time doing the washing, while the repairs are being done. Why do things conspire against you? We have had fine weather up till today, but today the heavens opened and it's rained. When it rains in the South, it really rains. Terry got soaked while packing up . Then we drove through torrential rain till we got to Camping World, when it eased off. Great we thought, until we had to disconnect the trailer and it started pouring again.
Perhaps, when we get the trailer fixed, we can do what we came here to do. We want to go into historic Macon tomorrow.It's claim to fame is that Otis Reading and Little Richard hail from here. So get ready to rock and roll!!!!
Tuesday
Tuesday was spent trying to work out whether the air con was repairable or not and contacting the insurance company. While we were waiting for the assessor to phone we decided to eat lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe, of Fried Green Tomato fame. Yes, this is the cafe in Juliette, Georgia, where they filmed the actual film, even though the book, on which the film is based , is set in Alabama. The food was great and we did have fried green tomatoes - they were quite delicious. Kathryn - eat your heart out!!!!
A very kind camper came to look at the air con - he used to work repairing air con units and declared the unit would have to be replaced. We spent a hot afternoon and night trying to keep cool, despite two electric fans bought from Walmart, working flat out.
Wednesday
At 7.45 this morning, we discovered that fire ants were marching in droves into our trailer. Now, fire ants are not to be played with. They are small, but ferocious. They have a habit of quietly marching up your legs and then they all bite at once, leaving you jumping around the place trying to dislodge the little blighters.The bites turn septic with little pus filled heads and are very uncomfortable. We hastily got the Raid and started squirting them. They had come up the electricity cable, in through the cupboard, turned left into the bathroom, one column marching round to the bedroom and another round the shower unit. Raid kills them instantly, but after we had sprayed everywhere, the trailer looked like a war zone with everything flung out from the corners and underneath lockers and dead ants littering the place. Victory - we won!! Terry was mortified as he normally srays bug spray round the trailer tyres etc when we pitch camp, but because of the problems with the air con unit the night before, he had forgotten to do it.
After breakfast, we packed up and brought the trailer to the Camping World place. They are replacing the air con unit after the insurers gave the go- ahead. At the moment we are sitting in the truck outside a laundrette, filling in time doing the washing, while the repairs are being done. Why do things conspire against you? We have had fine weather up till today, but today the heavens opened and it's rained. When it rains in the South, it really rains. Terry got soaked while packing up . Then we drove through torrential rain till we got to Camping World, when it eased off. Great we thought, until we had to disconnect the trailer and it started pouring again.
Perhaps, when we get the trailer fixed, we can do what we came here to do. We want to go into historic Macon tomorrow.It's claim to fame is that Otis Reading and Little Richard hail from here. So get ready to rock and roll!!!!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
SBBB October weekend
We arrived in good time and got set up.Then we all made the extremely good decision to go to Remington’s for a steak dinner. Nobody told us that this was about 25 miles away, still it was a good traditional Roadhouse Steak House, where we all enjoyed great Prime Rib. Followed by a visit to the DQ (Dairy Queen) next door. Then back to Sertoma for some pickin’ until 1.30, when I gave out and went to bed. Great day.
Saturday
Saturday started bright and clear. It was a busy day. Everybody meets for coffee and donuts (yes Sally even had a cup of coffee, decaf though), renews friendships and shares whats happening. Then we had to sort out buying bits and paying fees. That brought us very quickly to lunch time, which was a pot luck lunch with Marilee, Tina, Jan, Larry, Lois and Ed (who had arrived for the day). Though we were only able to contribute the lemonade. The at noon the club holds a formal meeting, then at 1.00 was an auction of all sorts of bits and pieces of junk and stuff. Sally stayed for a bit and went for a kip, people were drifting away and I was about to go when Marilee asked if I was going to bid on the Dobro for Sally. “What.Dobro?”. “The one that Earl has just brought in late”. Because it was a late entry there were very few people there to bid for it, so apart from one lady, Nancy, I was able to buy it for Sally at a snip. We kept the Dobro under wraps unitl we were all settled down to play in the afternoon, when I presented the dobro to Sally, who could not believe that I had actually bought her one in such a short time. (mind you we had talked about getting one for several months). She is amazing and very quickly picked up how to play the basics onit and was able to join in playing. Great.
The whole club had a pot luck supper, based on Sauerkraut and Sausage. Very nice meal.
After we started to pick at our trailer and were soon joined by a number of people. Also as dusk approached we were joined by swarms of mosquito, so we all rapidly reassembled inside our trailer. There were 13 of us inside playing away and squashing the mozzies that had come in with us. I really ought to write and tell Starcraft that many people complimented the acoustics in side our trailer. WE played inside until about 10.30 then a few of us had a wander round the campsite and played along with a great bunch which included C.J. Hodge, a very extrovert banjo player (that means extrovert squared). It was a great time. I feel that my playing is coming on a lot and I have found more confidence to make mistakes with my singing (I find difficult to remember all the ).
Bed at 2.30
Sunday
Another nice day. Rushed to get to the Pavilion for a Gospel Hour. It was good.
Packed up and left to return to Istachatta for a lunch with Marilee and Tina, to collect the Tongue Jack, which was not fixed, though Jim had tried, the tube just would not straighten (I am not really surprised as it really is difficult to realign a bent tube). Thanks for trying Jim, much appreciated.
In the afternoon we said our farewells and drove north 130 miles to return to Stephen Foster State Park at White Springs (hi Walter, sorry we couldn’t stop by) which we have great affection for after our visit to the Florida Folk Festival last November. It is a lovely town and a beautiful State Park.
Today we drive into Georgia.
Saturday
Saturday started bright and clear. It was a busy day. Everybody meets for coffee and donuts (yes Sally even had a cup of coffee, decaf though), renews friendships and shares whats happening. Then we had to sort out buying bits and paying fees. That brought us very quickly to lunch time, which was a pot luck lunch with Marilee, Tina, Jan, Larry, Lois and Ed (who had arrived for the day). Though we were only able to contribute the lemonade. The at noon the club holds a formal meeting, then at 1.00 was an auction of all sorts of bits and pieces of junk and stuff. Sally stayed for a bit and went for a kip, people were drifting away and I was about to go when Marilee asked if I was going to bid on the Dobro for Sally. “What.Dobro?”. “The one that Earl has just brought in late”. Because it was a late entry there were very few people there to bid for it, so apart from one lady, Nancy, I was able to buy it for Sally at a snip. We kept the Dobro under wraps unitl we were all settled down to play in the afternoon, when I presented the dobro to Sally, who could not believe that I had actually bought her one in such a short time. (mind you we had talked about getting one for several months). She is amazing and very quickly picked up how to play the basics onit and was able to join in playing. Great.
The whole club had a pot luck supper, based on Sauerkraut and Sausage. Very nice meal.
After we started to pick at our trailer and were soon joined by a number of people. Also as dusk approached we were joined by swarms of mosquito, so we all rapidly reassembled inside our trailer. There were 13 of us inside playing away and squashing the mozzies that had come in with us. I really ought to write and tell Starcraft that many people complimented the acoustics in side our trailer. WE played inside until about 10.30 then a few of us had a wander round the campsite and played along with a great bunch which included C.J. Hodge, a very extrovert banjo player (that means extrovert squared). It was a great time. I feel that my playing is coming on a lot and I have found more confidence to make mistakes with my singing (I find difficult to remember all the ).
Bed at 2.30
Sunday
Another nice day. Rushed to get to the Pavilion for a Gospel Hour. It was good.
Packed up and left to return to Istachatta for a lunch with Marilee and Tina, to collect the Tongue Jack, which was not fixed, though Jim had tried, the tube just would not straighten (I am not really surprised as it really is difficult to realign a bent tube). Thanks for trying Jim, much appreciated.
In the afternoon we said our farewells and drove north 130 miles to return to Stephen Foster State Park at White Springs (hi Walter, sorry we couldn’t stop by) which we have great affection for after our visit to the Florida Folk Festival last November. It is a lovely town and a beautiful State Park.
Today we drive into Georgia.
We’re Istachatta bound
Thursday
The drive to Istachatta (isn’t that a great name) should have been short and uneventful. However I managed to drive off Jim and Connie’s cornet pad with the tongue jack still down, bending the post in the process, so the jack would not come up or go down. So I had to remove it until I could get it fixed. That small problem surmounted we arrived at our friend Marilee’s house in time to say ‘hi’ to her and her sister Tina and to set up and run – to visit Marilees’s Pickin Group friends for supper and a pick. This was a beautiful meal. Marlyn and Bill have a lovely house on the banks of the Withlacoochee River. They had organised a lovely meal. Jan and Larry brought an excellent Lasagna, which we are still eating as it was huge (what was left was divided amongst us to go home with). We met Lois and Ed for the first time, they are a lovely couple with lots of stories. Marlyn had baked a lovely cheesecake, so we were very full by the time we started playing. I as usual had to fight to remember words and music, but it was a brilliant evening and they are very patient. Marilee lent Sally her Dobro (a guitar which is played flat on your knees and played using a metal slide instead of fingers on the fret board. It is difficult to master to start with, but Sally did really well.
This was an evening we will remember for a long time. It reflected all that is good and great in sharing and hospitality.
Friday.
Next morning we were due to leave for Sertoma, for the Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch weekend. I spent some time trying fix the tongue jack, with little effect. Tina prepared a huge breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, hash brownies and fried onions and peppers,-delicious.
Then Marilee and Tina introduced us to their latest friend – their new Jamboree Camper Van (well new to them). It was made in 1985 and had been standing for a few years when they purchased it. They had already done a lot of work on the inside to make it cosy for the weekend at Sertoma. I left the tongue jack for Jim to have a look at and we left for Sertoma, with a max speed of 45 m.p.h. while Tina got used to driving the camper.
The drive to Istachatta (isn’t that a great name) should have been short and uneventful. However I managed to drive off Jim and Connie’s cornet pad with the tongue jack still down, bending the post in the process, so the jack would not come up or go down. So I had to remove it until I could get it fixed. That small problem surmounted we arrived at our friend Marilee’s house in time to say ‘hi’ to her and her sister Tina and to set up and run – to visit Marilees’s Pickin Group friends for supper and a pick. This was a beautiful meal. Marlyn and Bill have a lovely house on the banks of the Withlacoochee River. They had organised a lovely meal. Jan and Larry brought an excellent Lasagna, which we are still eating as it was huge (what was left was divided amongst us to go home with). We met Lois and Ed for the first time, they are a lovely couple with lots of stories. Marlyn had baked a lovely cheesecake, so we were very full by the time we started playing. I as usual had to fight to remember words and music, but it was a brilliant evening and they are very patient. Marilee lent Sally her Dobro (a guitar which is played flat on your knees and played using a metal slide instead of fingers on the fret board. It is difficult to master to start with, but Sally did really well.
This was an evening we will remember for a long time. It reflected all that is good and great in sharing and hospitality.
Friday.
Next morning we were due to leave for Sertoma, for the Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch weekend. I spent some time trying fix the tongue jack, with little effect. Tina prepared a huge breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, hash brownies and fried onions and peppers,-delicious.
Then Marilee and Tina introduced us to their latest friend – their new Jamboree Camper Van (well new to them). It was made in 1985 and had been standing for a few years when they purchased it. They had already done a lot of work on the inside to make it cosy for the weekend at Sertoma. I left the tongue jack for Jim to have a look at and we left for Sertoma, with a max speed of 45 m.p.h. while Tina got used to driving the camper.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Safely arrived
Well, we are here. Yippee!
Travelling went well.The drive to Manchester went well when we actually got going. We had just driven round the corner from home, when I looked to see if my backrest was in the car, as it wasn't in the house. No sign of it. So we turned round and went back home. 45 minutes later we still couldn't find it and so set off again. Eventually, we worked out that I had left it in the pub,at Hutton-le-Hole, where we had had lunch the previous Wednesday. After our late arrival at the motel, Terry phoned the pub and they had got it. We arranged for our daugher Helen to go down to collect it.Thank goodness as it's quite an essential piece of equipment for me. Fortunately, we have another backrest in the USA - so I've purloined it - Terry will have to do without!!
The flight to Orlando went without any hitches and we arrived on time to collect a hire car. We made it out of the airport 1 hour and 10 minutes after landing. We drove to Summerfield wondering if all would be well with the trailer and truck.We were very relieved and pleased to discover that all was well with them both.Dusty and dirty on the outside, but perfect inside. The guitar and mandolin seem to be fine too. One or two hornet's nests in the doors of the truck but they were easily got rid of. No ant infestation this time - thank goodness. We are so very grateful to Jim and Connie for storing our rig under their pole-barn, where it has been somewhat sheltered from the fierce Florida sun and the torrential rain.
Yesterday and today have been spent in unpacking, ironing all the creases out of out stored clothes, shopping for food, washing the outside of the truck and trailer, buying a new mobile phone and getting connected to the internet. We have now got a data card and so will be able to access the internet wherever we can get coverge, which will be infinitely preferable to driving round to find an unsecured network - sometimes not successfully. Terry is a very happy bunny!!!
Today has been hot and sunny - up in the 80's. It is so nice to feel hot - after the dreadful summer we have had in England. It's very liberating to be in sleeveless tops and shorts and not muffled up in warm clothes. Long may this continue!
Tommorrow, we are going to Istachatta to stay overnight with Marilee (we met at Soggy Bottom) have a meal and join in a session with the Back Porch Pickers, Marilee's Bluegrass band. We are looking forward to this. We have decided to go to Soggy Bottom, a Bluegrass group, this weekend as Terry really enjoys picking. Then we are heading North towards Georgia on Sunday.
Travelling went well.The drive to Manchester went well when we actually got going. We had just driven round the corner from home, when I looked to see if my backrest was in the car, as it wasn't in the house. No sign of it. So we turned round and went back home. 45 minutes later we still couldn't find it and so set off again. Eventually, we worked out that I had left it in the pub,at Hutton-le-Hole, where we had had lunch the previous Wednesday. After our late arrival at the motel, Terry phoned the pub and they had got it. We arranged for our daugher Helen to go down to collect it.Thank goodness as it's quite an essential piece of equipment for me. Fortunately, we have another backrest in the USA - so I've purloined it - Terry will have to do without!!
The flight to Orlando went without any hitches and we arrived on time to collect a hire car. We made it out of the airport 1 hour and 10 minutes after landing. We drove to Summerfield wondering if all would be well with the trailer and truck.We were very relieved and pleased to discover that all was well with them both.Dusty and dirty on the outside, but perfect inside. The guitar and mandolin seem to be fine too. One or two hornet's nests in the doors of the truck but they were easily got rid of. No ant infestation this time - thank goodness. We are so very grateful to Jim and Connie for storing our rig under their pole-barn, where it has been somewhat sheltered from the fierce Florida sun and the torrential rain.
Yesterday and today have been spent in unpacking, ironing all the creases out of out stored clothes, shopping for food, washing the outside of the truck and trailer, buying a new mobile phone and getting connected to the internet. We have now got a data card and so will be able to access the internet wherever we can get coverge, which will be infinitely preferable to driving round to find an unsecured network - sometimes not successfully. Terry is a very happy bunny!!!
Today has been hot and sunny - up in the 80's. It is so nice to feel hot - after the dreadful summer we have had in England. It's very liberating to be in sleeveless tops and shorts and not muffled up in warm clothes. Long may this continue!
Tommorrow, we are going to Istachatta to stay overnight with Marilee (we met at Soggy Bottom) have a meal and join in a session with the Back Porch Pickers, Marilee's Bluegrass band. We are looking forward to this. We have decided to go to Soggy Bottom, a Bluegrass group, this weekend as Terry really enjoys picking. Then we are heading North towards Georgia on Sunday.
Friday, September 26, 2008
D day minus 2
Why is it that the week before setting off is always so hectic? You always find something that has been overlooked. This time it was the annual travel insurance that expires on 10th November that we had forgotten to renew. Terry phoned the insurance company two minutes before they close for the weekend!!! But we managed to get it sorted for the insurance to carry on in November and we can breathe again!!!!
We have been steadily working through a long list of things to do to get ready and it has shortened quite considerably. Terry has been very busy investigating what we can do and see in Georgia and the Carolinas and booking all the relevant things for us.
This week we have been showing our daughter, Helen's friend,Kim, who lives in Colorado, round our local area. She is over for a three week holiday, so we have been trying to take her to all our beauty spots and historical places before we leave. We have been to Durham to see the Norman Cathedral and Castle, Whitby, which is a lovely old fishing port, a tour round some of the most pretty Yorkshire villages and various other local places. One includes a church with the most complete medieval wall paintings in the country.Very cool - Kim's remark! She and Helen went on the overnight coach to London last night and are having two days there to see the sights. They will be back before we leave on Sunday. They plan to go to York and Edinburgh soon.
We set off from home on Sunday to travel to Manchester where we will stay overnight in a motel, before getting to the airport at 7 am for the 10.30 a.m. flight on Monday.
Getting excited. Can't wait to have some warm weather as we have had a diabolical summer with only 20 days of warmth over 70. Camping has been such fun in the cold and rain!!!!
We are looking forward to renewing our friendships with some of the lovely folk we have met on our travels.
USA here we come gain!! Yippee!!
We have been steadily working through a long list of things to do to get ready and it has shortened quite considerably. Terry has been very busy investigating what we can do and see in Georgia and the Carolinas and booking all the relevant things for us.
This week we have been showing our daughter, Helen's friend,Kim, who lives in Colorado, round our local area. She is over for a three week holiday, so we have been trying to take her to all our beauty spots and historical places before we leave. We have been to Durham to see the Norman Cathedral and Castle, Whitby, which is a lovely old fishing port, a tour round some of the most pretty Yorkshire villages and various other local places. One includes a church with the most complete medieval wall paintings in the country.Very cool - Kim's remark! She and Helen went on the overnight coach to London last night and are having two days there to see the sights. They will be back before we leave on Sunday. They plan to go to York and Edinburgh soon.
We set off from home on Sunday to travel to Manchester where we will stay overnight in a motel, before getting to the airport at 7 am for the 10.30 a.m. flight on Monday.
Getting excited. Can't wait to have some warm weather as we have had a diabolical summer with only 20 days of warmth over 70. Camping has been such fun in the cold and rain!!!!
We are looking forward to renewing our friendships with some of the lovely folk we have met on our travels.
USA here we come gain!! Yippee!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
We're On The Road Again
USA here we come.
Sally and I are ready to embark on our fourth adventure to the USA.
We have been carefully watching world events over the summer. First the rise in gas prices, then the fall in the pound. The horror of watching not one (Fay), not two (Hannah) not three (Gustav)but four hurricanes (Ike) rip through or threaten the Florida area. Then most recently the turmoil in world finances. All these things have been very unsettling when you are more 5000 mile away from your retirement dream.
But next week we will find out how our little home on wheels is, will there be any mold, ants, cockroaches, wasp nests or leaks. Will the engine start on the van, will the gas have turned to jelly with the heat (yes, we did put additive in. Will our guitar and mandolin have survived the heat.
We are so grateful to Connie and Jim for storing it in their pole barn, which should have protected it from the worst of the summer weather.
In our preparation we have rejoined Passport America. Booked the rental car (managed to get a priority 'fastcheck' card for Budget, hope it works). Booked the hotel the night before we fly. Booked the car park, we have the car collected from the departure drop off. The only thing left to d now is to book a campground for our first night going north.
Sally and I are ready to embark on our fourth adventure to the USA.
We have been carefully watching world events over the summer. First the rise in gas prices, then the fall in the pound. The horror of watching not one (Fay), not two (Hannah) not three (Gustav)but four hurricanes (Ike) rip through or threaten the Florida area. Then most recently the turmoil in world finances. All these things have been very unsettling when you are more 5000 mile away from your retirement dream.
But next week we will find out how our little home on wheels is, will there be any mold, ants, cockroaches, wasp nests or leaks. Will the engine start on the van, will the gas have turned to jelly with the heat (yes, we did put additive in. Will our guitar and mandolin have survived the heat.
We are so grateful to Connie and Jim for storing it in their pole barn, which should have protected it from the worst of the summer weather.
In our preparation we have rejoined Passport America. Booked the rental car (managed to get a priority 'fastcheck' card for Budget, hope it works). Booked the hotel the night before we fly. Booked the car park, we have the car collected from the departure drop off. The only thing left to d now is to book a campground for our first night going north.
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