Road Trip: Smokey Mountain National Park

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny so we decided to spend the day in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I had forgotten how beautiful it is here in the Smoky Mountains.

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." – Edward Abbey

Swollen brooks run down through the woods to join the Little River as it runs through the valley.

And the sights and sounds of Spring are all around us.

We were looking forward to driving the eleven mile loop road through Cades Cove.  

From the Smoky Mountains web page:

"The first European settlers arrived in Cades Cove in the early 1820s. They quickly built log homes, barns, corn cribs, smokehouses and cleared land for farming. The land was rich and fertile and provided the settlers with abundant crops, such as corn."

"When the states of Tennessee and North Carolina begin to purchase land for the creation of the national park, the first large piece of land purchased in 1927 included most of the land in the mountains north of Cades Cove. A few families welcomed the state's effort to buy land for the park; they willingly sold their land and moved out of the Cove.  Some residents signed life-leases that allowed them to live on their land for the rest of their life. As residents left the cove and the community dispersed, there was no longer a need for facilities and services. The last school in Cades Cove closed in 1944 and the post office closed in 1947."

"Today, the National Park Service manages and maintains Cades Cove as it looked in the early days of the settlers. In 1945, the National Park Service designated Cades Cove as a "historical area" and restored several of the older log cabins and barns. "

After learning about Henry Lawson on Tuesday, we weren't totally surprised to learn that the Dan Lawson family once lived at Cades Cove. DH's grandparents were farmers in rural Amelia County Virginia. Now we're even more curious about possible ancestral connections to the many Lawson families who farmed here.

When you sit quietly and look out over these mountains, you realize how well the name "Smoky Mountains" fits them. They are every shade of blue and gray.

"The Smoky Mountains are a rare jewel…Why not have a place where you can still see the stars? There is value to keeping things primitive." – James Dawson

If you look carefully, you can see mountain roads on each side of the Little River down in the valley.

Later in the afternoon, we passed yet another "Lawson" home and business; this one belonged to Paul Lawson (DH's brother;s name).

Again, DH went to the door to introduce himself. But the house was closed up with shades drawn as if no one had lived there in awhile.

DH was disappointed to think that maybe Paul Lawson was deceased as well. We would have like to say "Hello" and ask about possible relatives in Virginia.

We're so thankful for this trip and the opportunity to watch Spring arrive as we travel through the South. What a beautiful part of the country!

"You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so…get on your way." 

– Dr. Seuss

Who knows what today will bring?

We're off on another Tennessee adventure!

This post is linked to:

Thursday Favorite Things at the Eclectic Red Barn
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Road Trip: The Low Country

After three days in the camper with some kind of food poisoning, DH and I finally emerged yesterday, ready to enjoy the time we have left in the low country. We're staying in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, just over the bridge from Charleston.

NOTE:  If you've ever watched "Naked and Afraid" on the Discovery Channel (a very strange show BTW), we could have starred in our own episode entitled, "Naked and Afraid in a Tiny Camper". But, we're better now and have been trying to make up for lost time.

Yesterday afternoon we visited Oakland Plantation here in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The land that our canpground sits on was once part of the plantation and, although the plantation is not open to the public, the owners do allow a tour guide from the campground to take campers through the plantation on a wagon.

Our wagon driver/tour guide was quite a character; at each wagon stop he'd tell a joke. He did not have a Southern accent either.  His was the Yorkshire accent of Northern England. DH and I spent time in Yorkshire in 2017 and that, along with the fact that my grandmother had the very same accent, made it easily recognizable. Our driver has lived in SC for 40 years after spending his youth in the UK. 

As we drove, he told the story of the enslaved young man who planted these trees; look how beautiful they are now!

The Oakland house, dating from 1750, is the oldest house in Mt Pleasant. Although it's smaller than many plantation houses, it is unique in that it is one of the few plantation houses that survived the civil war. Most were burned. Six slave families were living in this house toward the end of the war and, for that reason, the building was spared.

We passed the slave graveyard on the way out. Only a few of the graves have stone markers. Our guide noted that the rest were marked with either a shell or, more commonly, a cup, bowl, or plate that the deceased enslaved person used at his or her last meal. This practice can be traced back to Africa, where a wide variety of items used by the dead individual were placed on a grave. The area is now fenced off out of respect for the people interred there.

After our carriage ride, we finally made it to Red's Ice House, our favorite annual stop for shrimp, Margaritas, dolphin watching (and people watching!), and sunsets.

Red's is in the part of Mt. Pleasant known as Shem Creek, where a large fleet of shrimp boats are moored. We love to eat outside on the deck where you can see the creek and enjoy the dolphins and the sunset.


Dogs are allowed and the locals bring them to the bar with them. The dogs sit there patiently, in an odd variety of dogginess, as their masters share stories about them over a cold one.

We always order the "Killer Shrimp" - very spicy! They're served with french bread for dipping. This time we tried crab cakes as well; they were delicious. And of, course, Margaritas!

Today is our last day here in Mt. Pleasant. The weather continues to be perfect, sunny and in the low 70's. We decided to take an afternoon ride to Georgetown, SC, which is north of here, about halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It's the third oldest city in South Carolina. In her recent autobiography, Michelle Obama traced her roots to Jim Robinson, an enslaved man from Georgetown plantation; he was her great-great grandfather.

We stopped for lunch at the Big Fish (Big Tuna). 

We ate here a few years ago and really enjoyed the seafood . . . 

 and laid back low-country atmosphere.

Right inside the door, they have a parrot.

And he talks!

Because my sister insists that DH looks like Jimmy Buffet, I had to take a picture of him with the parrot. She's always kidding him that he aka Jimmy needs one, so, Joanne, this one's for you!

I ordered the She Crab Soup. It's a local Charleston favorite - hot, creamy, and delicious! The soup is named for the She-Crab, or female crab, as the orange crab roe is an ingredient in traditional she-crab soup. In case you'd like to try it, here's a local  recipe for She Crab Soup.

Tomorrow morning we're heading for Tennessee. We'll miss South Carolina with its live oaks, 

Palmettos, gorgeous islands and beaches, sunsets and seafood. 

Hopefully we'll be back next year!

Kennebunk to Charleston

We had to drop tax documents off in Kennebunk last week. Our accountant's office in is the old Kesslon Shoe factory, which has now been renovated into offices and shops. I was happy to have a quiet hour to walk along the main street of our old home town.

 

I vacationed with my family in this area as a child, worked the summer hotels here as a college student, and raised my children in this town. Memories are everywhere I step.

Although businesses on Maine St. come and go, much of the architecture of the town remains as I remember it.

 

Some things are new . . . like this covered ice skating rink where the old Mobil station used to be.

It sure beats the little rink we used to make by flooding the back yard of our old house on Cat Mousam Road in the winter!

And I discovered "Camp Wool", a little shop on Main St. that's new to me. It's filled with wool in all its forms,  displayed with antiques, fiber books and supplies, penny rugs, patterns, and so much more.

 

Small Towns to Visit #3: Webbs Mills, Maine

This afternoon we took a ride to the little crossroads town of Webbs Mills, Maine. Webbs Mills, which is now a part of the towns of Casco and Raymond, is typical of tiny rural New England villages that still look much as they did 100 years ago.

On a beautiful day like today, we like to head out of North Windham on 302, open the car windows, tale a right, and ride over the hills of Rt. 85 (Webbs Mills Rd.) catching occasional views of distant lakes below. Our destination on these rides is often Bitter Sweet Barn in Webb's Mills.

Bitter Sweet Barn bills itself as a "Mercantile" and sells unique country décor, jewelry, garden art, and gifts, beautifully displayed in a 300 year old barn pretty close to the official "middle of nowhere".

 

There is not much else in Webbs Mills now, except for some historical homes, a general store, and small church at the crossroads which anchor the little settlement.

 

But the garden at Bitter Sweet Farm is worth the drive...it is quirky, creative, organic and just "rusty" enough to suit my fancy each time I visit.

I love these rusty vintage pedal cars mounted to a track . . . like a whimsical vintage roller coaster zooming through the flower garden.

 

And how about this old rusty bed in the garden...complete with giant old rusty bed bugs. We had our daughter, Kristen, with us today and she got a real kick out of these "big bugs". This is a garden that doesn't take itself too seriously . . . how much fun is that?

Most of the structures in the garden are made from recycled, reused, or mismatched  "found objects. I love that too!

Like these shutters, hugging an old window that looks inward to the center of the garden itself, framing the sunflowers in the background.

 And how about these HUGE red flowers surrounding a little shady area to sit and listen to the sounds of late-August nature in transition.

How about this trellis? It's made of mismatched cast-off doors . . .

and anchored by a flower-filled vintage washing machine!

 

 This is a very happy garden . . .

 that doesn't take itself too seriously.

And I love it!

 

You never know what you'll find when you choose to take the road less traveled.

 So, if you're looking for a place to ride to this fall, consider Webbs Mills, Maine.

There's not much there but . . .

That's exactly the point.

 

p.s. I'll be sewing zippers together all day tomorrow . . . keep posted for the final results and a fun tutorial . . . Coming soon, I promise!

 

I'll be sharing this post at the following blog parties: 

 Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors

Nifty Thrifty Sunday  at Nifty Thrifty Things

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home