Going Gray

Asheville

A visit to the River Arts District is first up.  Cool area along the river being redeveloped for artists’ studios and galleries.  The studios are in old factory buildings.  We checked out several different artists’ studios and made some fun purchases.  Look out for ho ho ho.

On the Road to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN

Great timing for the great views and a herd of bugling elk!!  And random other animals.

Here for listening pleasure elk bugling:

 

We entered the park in North Carolina and exited in Tennessee.  Another stop in the park included a small taxidermy exhibit.  FUN!!!

 

We Love Dolly Parton

And finally, the piece de resistance..what we have been looking forward to….a touch of Dollywood.  Tickets to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede., a combination of Hillbilly Disney, the circus, Lipizzaner stallion show and a giant country fare feeding of the masses. Glenda particularly enjoyed the racing mini pigs, rooting for Abe Link Sausage and General Grunt.  Susan was mesmerized by a performer dressed as an Indian dressed as a glow-in-the-dark giant bird..flapping its one wing while it held the hand of another Indian on a horse.  She was confused but into it!!

P.S. The gps-guided route to the show through hillbilly gully full of hairpin turns and trailer homes was almost as exhilarating as the performance itself.  The route included a stretch on the aptly named Boogertown Road.

Pictures below:

Listen again.  A couple snippets:

 

Up next Nashville, TN via Oak Ridge and Lynchburg!

Asheville

Good morning from our fun millennial-run  hotel!

Glenda, genealogist in training, took over and we think we found the birthplace of Frank’s father, Malcolm in 1913 in Asheville, NC.  Take note Johnson kids and cousins!!  Your southern roots are showing!!  The house was in a fantastic, historic neighborhood called the Montford district and was surrounded by cool craftsman homes of that era.  Here are some pics:

Onward to somethings big!!  It’s a big theme!!  We discovered a monument to laundresses worldwide right here in Asheville.  The world’s biggest iron! Fabulous!!

Biltmore

From big irons to big houses.  The Biltmore Estate, the biggest private home in the U.S., is next.  Such an informative and interesting tour of the house.  We were especially drawn to the laundry facilities in the basement.  Obviously inspired by our big iron visit.  The laundresses at the Biltmore had to heave around irons that weighed 14 pounds and they had to crisp up 1000 napkins!

The Biltmore

Craft Beers and Trivia

When in Rome…so when in Asheville, go to the breweries and we did!!  One World Brewery and Jack of the Wood.  Trivia night at Jack of the Wood pub.  Our first trivia experience….we didn’t come in last…a rousing success.  And we were only a twosome compared to the average team size of 8-20 or at least it seemed like that.

Next up: Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN.

Walking Around Lexington

We started this morning at the crack of 10:40 am with a walk around the hotel neighborhood and then headed into downtown Lexington, home to both VMI and Washington  & Lee. Charming and fun college town. The campuses couldn’t be more different even though they are smack up against each other.

Although VMI’s grounds were stark and severe, we never had so many “Good morning, ladies” with hats tipped in our lives!

Lots of history in this town, including Stonewall Jackson’s house.

Special Guest Appearance

Today we were so excited to have a special guest join us for a lunch engagement. Chris Campbell made a special appearance. Here we are:

Back On The Road

We only had time for one stop so it had to be a really special one. Here it is, the world’s second largest pencil!!

It was everything we’d hoped for!!! We hope you agree.

Asheville

We arrive in Asheville and immediately require a feeding. Glenda – always very, very busy in the passenger seat – googled, open-tabled, trip advisored and found a great restaurant called Table. Fun cocktails, interesting menu and delicious food.

Found our way to our hotel after dinner, a way-too-hip-for-us millennial spot. Everyone we’ve seen is between 25 and 35. And we saw this sign by the elevator but don’t get it. Can anyone out there explain? Millennials, we need your help!!!

 

Shenandoah National Park

Good morning!!  Another beautiful day on the road.  Coffee on the back porch, with a view or two!! https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm

Today is our communing with nature day.  We drive along the Skyline Drive/ Blue Ridge Parkway and stop along the way for hiking and exploration.  The drive in the daytime is for sure less stressful than the night time drive getting to the resort which was fraught with dark and winding roads and deer in the headlights…just sayin’

The visitor center midway gave us another stamportunity with multiple stamps..along with a very helpful gentleman ranger who gave us multiple suggestions for hikes.

Hikes

Through the woods, past an orchard end in a cemetery.  Up to a summit with interesting cascading rocks and a reconstituted 1890’s subsistence farm complete with dulcimer playing by old people.  Pictures below  include a picture of the trail map that Glenda insisted we must go right when, in fact, it was pretty clear we needed to go left.  Clearly map reading was not a prerequisite for a successful Verizon career.  Thankfully, Susan prevailed and we are thus writing this post.  Glenda adds that Susan’s skills in this area are only marginally better.  Susan agrees and it is a miracle we made it cross country and back in 2012 now that we think about it.

Lexington, VA

Home of Virginia Military Institute and men in white uniform.  A brewery filled with men in white uniforms.  Devil’s Backbone Brewery.  A brewery, food truck and 22 year old military cadets.  How millennial.  We fit right in!!!!

Valley Views

Up Next: Asheville, NC

 

 

Oops

We missed some crucial moments from day 1 in our previous post. And just like we don’t like to miss a meal, we don’t want you to miss a moment. So here goes…

Saying hello to enormous Amish people

Our first stamportunity

Jim and the battlefield tour

Promptly at 9:30 am we met Jim, tour guide extraordinaire, teacher (with a short-lived foray into law enforcement), and history buff. Glenda loved his promptness and Susan was enthralled with his law enforcement experience. We then embarked on our 2-hour private tour (Skipper Jim turned the 2 hours into 3, which we loved).

Random Facts

1. Structure of Civil War Army people:

Army > Corps > Division > Brigade > Regiment > Company

2. The national park service owns about 6,000 acres of Gettysburg but the battlefield “theater” included about 30,000 acres.

3. About 15,000 people turned out for the sesquicentennial re-enactment of Pickett’s charge.

4. Most Gettysburgers remained in place during the 3-day siege and hunkered down in their basements.

5. A Gettysburg College professor recorded the weather during the battle which was hot and humid (July 1,2 and 3).  Duh.

6.  About 51,000 men were killed, wounded or captured as a result of the  3 day battle.

On to Shenandoah National Park 

Plan: Glimpse a marker of the Mason-Dixon Line and then head to the visitor center at Front Royal, the north entrance to Shenandoah, get our bearings and take a hike….

OK, you try and find a marker of the Mason-Dixon Line. We hunted high and low (under very stressful driving conditions – just ask Susan) and ok, we didn’t find it! But, we did find this (see photo below) and we’re calling it our MDLM (Mason-Dixon Line Marker) because who in their right mind puts a random piece of public art where a historical marker should be? Please weigh in.

Plan interrupted!!!!  2nd major clog en route

Recalculating!!! Recalculating!!!!  Divert to Harpers Ferry WV.   Glenda missed a sight and needed a return trip!!

Harpers Ferry offered another stamportunity, history lesson on abolitionist John Brown, view of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, and an overall charming village.

The Final Leg

En route to our accommodations Skyland Resort…(can I put quotation marks around resort?) Here’s what we saw:

We arrive at the “Resort” in our resort wear freshly purchased at Bergdorfs –natch!

5 minutes later, headlamp still in place…

Looking for my resort wear.  Where is it???

So, it’s five years later. Do you notice anything different? There’s the gray hair, of course. But how about the matching eyeglass loops? As for the things you can’t see – the prescriptions, the “readers”,  a few extra pounds (maybe they are visible!) and an older, wiser and perhaps grumpier attitude. We haven’t had to get orthotics yet but maybe soon!

On The Road Day 1 Thursday September 28, Weehawken to Gettysburg PA

The first minor set back…we are stuck in a major road clog barely out of our beloved Jers across into PA.  We sat in park for half an hour, finally turned off the engine, got out a snack and voila….the traffic starts to move!

Onto the Fork in the road – Centerport, PA

Roadside America – Indoor Miniature Village – Shartlesville, PA

This was a most extraordinary, astounding, surprising place. A man and his family worked on this for over 50 years; he died in 1963 so time stopped then. Trains, trolleys, mini people, hill and dale and buttons to push that activate motion. Fantastic! Oh, and an employee supervising everything with binoculars.

Ahhh….the finale..Kate Smith, Jesus, the Statue of Liberty and the American Flag.  Enjoy!!………

Glenda prepares the lunch

Shoe House Road – Hallam, PA

Signs along the way…looks like an official DOT sign..what on earth does fresh oil and chips mean?  And we’re back on the Lincoln Highway which runs from NYC (passing through Weehawken naturally) to San Fran .  Cool!!

The day’s not over yet; more to come…

We managed to get 2 things in when we arrived in Gettysburg…the cyclorama a huge painting/diorama in the round of the battle, painted in 1883; and a visit to the National Military Cemetery where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address. Wow!!

The end of Day 1!  wooooooooo

 

 

 

 

 

We’re already gray….and now we’re going…..somewhere!!!!