Living Our Dream

After leaving Salisbury, NC, we drove west and a little north to Sevierville (pronounced se-VERE-ville), TN. On the way, we could see the relatively flat terrain of the Piedmont change to become more mountainous as we approached the Smokies.

In Sevierville, we stayed at River Plantation RV Park, a Good Sam member. It's a very nice RV park with several hundred sites. The sites aren't too close together and are angled for good privacy. The pads and roads are gravel, but there are cement patios and grass between the sites. There are some trees; but, they were very accommodating in the office to give us one of the numerous sites where satellite reception isn't a problem. There is a little noise from a nearby quarry - machinery humming, trucks growling, and backup beepers beeping.

River Plantation also has a number of riverfront sites overlooking the Little Pigeon River, including several "signature" riverfront sites that are extra wide and are all concrete.

Sevierville is about a 10-minute drive from Pigeon Forge and about a 45-minute drive from Gatlinburg, TN. We visited the Smokies as a family back in 1989 when Lora was a sophomore in high school. It was our vacation stop on our way to research Asbury College in Wilmore, KY (where she ultimately attended). Back then, we stayed in a motel in nearby Townsend, outside the congested areas, but we visited Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Pigeon Forge has grown from a large tourist area into a huge tourist area. We remember only a few go-cart tracks, several miniature golf courses, some motels and restaurants, the Dixieland Stampede dinner show, and, of course, Dollywood. Now there have to be dozens of go-cart tracks and miniature golf courses, wall-to-wall motels and fast food, and dozens of shows (some with dinner, some without).

Gatlinburg hasn't changed too much. Being in the foothills of the Smokies, it really has nowhere to expand because of the terrain. The T-shirt shops are still there along with the downtown motels, fast food, gift shops and tattoo parlors. The hillside mini-golf (Hillbilly Golf) where we played when we were here in 1989 with our daughter, Lora, is still there. They have gotten rid of the on-street parking, so they now have 4 lanes of traffic instead of just two; but traffic really wasn't too bad in the middle of the week, especially since it was off-season.

One thing we remembered about the Gatlinburg area that we wanted to visit again this trip was the nearby artist community. The artist community is centered around Glade and Buckhorn Roads off U.S. 321 to the northeast of Gatlinburg. Although as full-timers we don't usually need anything, this time we were looking for a candy dish (for Candyman :)), and we thought one of the potters might have something. We did enjoy stopping at a number of shops (pottery and others), but didn't find a candy dish we liked. Ah well, since we don't buy much, it'll give us a good reason to "shop" in our future travels. We did happen upon one shop that had some interesting pottery demonstrations. Those are real leaves pressed into the soft clay of the pot shown in the photo below. Then they carve around the leaves and smooth the pot with a damp sponge. The leaves will burn away when the pot is fired leaving a textured impression.

The pottery also had a little stage set up with some nice entertainment of Appalachian-style folk music where the audience was invited to join along playing "instruments" like the washboard.

Along Buckhorn Road on the way to the artist community is a charming inn called, appropriately enough, Buckhorn Inn. We remembered the inn from when we were in the area in 1989 so we stopped and took a few photos. The photo below shows the entrance to the inn.

Here we are at a nearby overlook...

...enjoying the beautiful view.

Also along Buckhorn Road is a little restaurant called the Wild Plum Tea Room. They serve soups, salads, and sandwiches. We ate there in 1989, but since it was past lunchtime, we just stopped for photos this time.

The other area we wanted to visit again was Cades Cove. Cades Cove is in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and is a valley surrounded by mountains. Historians are unsure, but the name probably comes from either the name of a local chief's wife, Kate, or more likely from a little known Native American leader known as Chief Kade.

Cades Cove was once a thriving community of around 700. Over farming and the promise of more fertile land in the mid-west lead to the decline of the community. In the mid 1920s and the late 1930s, the National Park service began plans to form the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Inclusion of Cades Cove was not in the original plans, but was it was later added. The park was officially established in 1934 and the last resident left Cades Cove in 1937, although the congregation of the Primitive Baptist Church continued to meet until 1960 in their church in Cades Cove in defiance of the Park Service. Although the Park Service originally planned to allow the entire area to return to its natural forested state, they eventually decided to demolish only more modern buildings and keep the buildings that represented pioneer life in 19th century Appalachia. Today in Cades Cove there are several churches, cabins, barns, and a grist mill. The grist mill, which still operates, is shown in the photo below.

There is an 11-mile loop that takes you around the cove. There are numerous stops along the way where you can look out over the fields and where you can park to walk the many trails and explore the old churches, cabins, and outbuildings. The buildings are very picturesque in the natural surroundings today, but one can only imagine how hard life was. This is the Tipton Homestead, which is right along the loop road.

Also, along the loop road is the tiny Carter Shields cabin.

We stopped and hiked the 1-mile round trip to the Elijah Oliver cabin, which is shown in the photo below. The section to the right is the kitchen, perhaps one of the first 'split-level' houses in the U.S. :)

The cantilever barn is another structure seen in several places around Cades Cove and many other locations in eastern Tennessee. These barns have a cantilever or overhang, which was a second-story loft used to store hay. The overhang provided an area where they could park their wagons and be protected from the weather.

Wildlife abounds in the Smokies and especially in Cades Cove. Deer are frequently seen grazing in the fields and there are also black bear. Back when we visited in 1989, we found the best time to view wildlife was dusk. On several evenings we joined a long string of vehicles driving slowly around the loop. We always saw deer in the fields and raccoons and 'possum at the small streams and we did see one bear. Unfortunately on this trip, we were staying farther away so we only drove the loop during the day. We did see several deer, but couldn't get a good angle for any photos.

Despite our mid-week visit, we were surprised at the number of families with children who were visiting; and although the leaves on the trees were barely turning, the line of vehicles making the loop was continuous. We didn't even want to imagine what the traffic would be like on a summer day or a weekend at peak fall leaf season!

There are additional photos and information on Cades Cove in Photo Album 025: Smokies and Knoxville.

We had only made reservations in Sevierville for a relatively quick three-night stop. We could have used more time, but decided not to extend our stay since we had seen the two major things in the area we wanted to see. We were on our way to the Escapees Raccoon Valley Campground north of Knoxville, and we wanted to be in Raccoon Valley long enough to take advantage of their lower weekly rates for at least a couple of weeks. That would also give us a little time to relax, catch up on our grocery shopping, relax, let the campground budget recuperate, relax, groom the dog, relax...well, you get the picture.

Raccoon Valley was only about an hour drive from Sevierville, and we arrived around noon. We had heard that this particular Escapee park was rarely full so we were surprised to find the campground WAS full! Unknown to us, there was a bluegrass music festival going on all week at the nearby Museum of Appalachia. However, our experience during our almost three-week stay is that it was full almost every night we were there.

Escapees parks do not accept reservations, but they have a system of first in/first out. If you arrive and there are no sites available, you can stay in the dry camp area until a site opens up. Fortunately, enough people were leaving voluntarily after our one-night stay in dry camp that we had our choice of three 30 amp sites and one 50 amp site. We chose the 50 amp site, which costs a little extra, but which had a little more room than the 30 amp sites. The Escapees Raccoon Valley Campground is a former KOA so most of the sites are quite narrow and fairly short. Most of the 50 amp pull-throughs are longer and the back-ins are wider to provide enough parking space for your tow vehicle or toad, even with a fairly long RV.

The Museum of Appalachia was one exit north on I-75. In the early 1960s, John Rice Irwin traveled the back roads of Tennessee, Kentucky, and western Virginia and began to collect thousands of pioneer artifacts from colorful mountain folk, including his own ancestors. John's goal in establishing his museum was not to present cold, lifeless facts; but to capture the heart and soul of the hard-working mountain people. He does this through folk art, tools, music, buildings, and most importantly, through the stories of people who lived in this area.

We waited until the music festival was over to visit the museum to avoid the crowds. We were able to stroll leisurely through the many artifacts and buildings and get a real flavor for how the people lived.

Most of the tools are displayed in the display barn. These harness-making tools, however, are displayed in the actual harness/saddle shop originally belonging to Hobart and Larry Hagood. The shop, shown in the photo below, was originally located in Persia, TN.

Hobart Hagood became a rural mail carrier in the early 1900s. The rigors of his long, daily deliveries made it necessary for him to repair and replace his own leather harnesses. Soon he began to repair and make harnesses and saddles for his neighbors and became a master leather craftsman. Hobart made leather goods for the Amish in Pennsylvania, for the pleasure horses of Florida, and for the mining mules and ponies of Kentucky and Virginia. When Hobart passed away in 1961, his youngest son, Larry, who was also a rural mail carrier, took over the leather business. Larry retired in 1984 and sold the building and tools to John Rice Irwin in 1991.

Paul was struck by the creativity and tenacity of the people. Most of what they had, they made themselves. There were troughs used for curing and storing meat that were made from huge, hollowed-out logs. There were carvings of people, animals, and miniature tools that were very intricate. There was also a large collection of musical instruments. Some were factory-made, but many were made locally by hand. Some of these were crude, but many were surprisingly sophisticated. There were fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, and dulcimers. In the photo below, you can see examples of some of the banjos. Notice the ham can banjo on the wall near the center of the photo and the hub cap banjo below it and to the left. There are rectangular and octagonal banjos at the upper left.

John Rice Irwin also has a collection of authentic log cabins, barns, and other out buildings on the grounds as well as a school and a chapel. The photo below shows the house that was built by Nathaniel Peters in the nearby village of Lutrell about 1840. His oldest daughter, Cordelia, was born here and raised her nine children in this house where she died at age 87.

The little shack in the photo below belonged to Tom Cassidy, who was a friend of John Rice Irwin. Tom died in 1989 and John acquired the cabin from Tom's last surviving brother, 88-year old Harve, and moved it to the museum grounds in 2007.

The photo below shows the interior of Tom Cassidy's one-room cabin. After over a year in the motor home with its 300 sq. ft. of living space, we weren't as appalled by the size of this cabin as we might have been were we still in our stick house.

Another interesting story is that of Harrison Mayes. Young Harrison Mayes was a coal miner when he was injured in a mining accident in 1918 near the Tennesee/Kentucky line and was not expected to live. Harrison asked the Lord to pull him through promising Him he would be a faithful servant the rest of his life. Harrison did survive and soon found preaching was not his calling. While continuing to work at the mines, one day Harrison had an inspiration to paint "Sin Not" on the side of his black hog. The old sow ran loose in the coal camp and when everyone quickly became aware of Harrison's message, he knew he had found his calling.

Harrison began painting similar messages on trees, rocks, barns, and coal cars bound for distant towns. When he became concerned about permanency, he hit on the idea of making concrete signs. Harrison Mayes never depended on donations, but he continued to work in the mines and even worked extra shifts so he could afford to make the signs and hire trucks and drivers (he never learned to drive) to deliver and erect the signs. He started in east Tennessee and eventually had signs in as many as 44 states and several foreign countries. Before modern highways and interstates were built, these signs were common sights along the roads of America.

In addition to cabins, a corn crib, barns, and numerous shops, mills, and other out buildings belonging to ordinary folks, the museum has the cabin that belonged to the family of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Again, we were fascinated to pick up a thread of history from an area we previously visited. We saw Samuel Clemens home in Hannibal, MO earlier this year, now we ran across the cabin that belonged to his parents when they lived in 'Possum Trot, TN. Samuel was born 5 months after his parents left Tennessee in 1835.

There are lots of additional interesting photos (especially the Ukuweewee Banjo) and information on the Museum of Appalachia in Photo Album 025: Smokies and Knoxville.

The little town of Rugby, TN lies a about an hour's drive northwest of Raccoon Valley where we were staying. Rugby is a restored Victorian village that was founded in 1880 by British author and social reformer, Thomas Hughes. Rugby was intended to be a Utopia of sorts, incorporating English culture and customs into a class-less American cooperative society.

In England, upper class families left the family estate and wealth to the first-born son. Siblings were given either a lump-sum amount from the estate or a trust was established on their behalf. In the 1870s, there was an economic recession in Britain and many of the younger sons exhausted their allotted funds and their trusts ran out of money. Hughes felt it would be beneficial for these young men to begin anew, working hard at agricultural pursuits in America.

Because of the English heritage, Rugby stands in stark contrast to the rough hewn log buildings found elsewhere in Appalachia. The photo below shows Kingstone Lisle, home of Rugby founder Thomas Hughes. Hughes' home was a little larger than most in Rugby, but it typical of the style.

This view below of the parlor of Hughes' home shows a grand piano, which is originally from Rugby and is similar to the one owned by Hughes.

The photo below shows Thomas Hughes' desk in Kingstone Lisle.

Rugby had a public library which opened in 1882 and which is shown in the photo below.

The library is virtually unchanged since it opened and its collection of 7,000 books is intact. It is the oldest public library with its original collection.

Christ Church Episcopal has been used continuously for worship since it first opened in 1887. Its early furnishings, light fixtures, and organ are still used during weekly services.

At its peak, Rugby had about 350 residents and over 70 buildings. It only flourished for about 10 years, and some say the decline began with the fire that destroyed its popular Tabard Inn in 1884. A number of other things contributed to the decline of Rugby including the fact that it was managed from far-away England and that Thomas Hughes probably initially paid too much for the land. By 1900, most of the original inhabitants had left, but Rugby was never abandoned. Several residents, some of them children of the original settlers, remained and struggled to keep Rugby's heritage alive.

In 1966, the non-profit organization of Historic Rugby was formed and began restoration and preservation of Rugby. Over 65,000 people visit Rugby each year. There is even a small, modern housing development adjacent to Historic Rugby that has newly-built Victorian-style homes.

We enjoyed lunch at the Harrow Road Cafe, named after the first Rugby Restaurant. Featured were English specialities such as shepherd's pie and Welsh Rarebit and the famous Harrow Road spoon rolls. Prices were moderate...sandwiches under $5 and lunch specials between $5 and 10. Homemade desserts sounded delicious, but alas we were full.

We had a very nice time in eastern Tennessee. We enjoyed the slower pace, watching the leaves turn, and learning more about the hard-working pioneer people who carved an existence out of what was then wilderness. There's more to see but the night temps are going to the mid-30's with morning frost. It's time to head outta here. :) We're not the only ones! One night in the 30s and 10 sites emptied out the next day! From here, we travel to Myrtle Beach for a week at the ocean and then SOUTH.

Last year after leaving Williamsburg we traveled south along the coast, so this year we decided to travel inland. We headed southwest across Virginia and into central North Carolina to Salisbury. We stayed at Bass Lake RV Resort, which is part of Western Horizons Resorts. Although it is a membership campground, they accept a membership in any campground organization including Passport America. (Note: Bass Lack RV Resort is no longer Passport America.) The sites are fairly generous in size and are gravel with grass between.

There are numerous trees, but we asked for a site that would be good for satellite and had no problems. The campground had no traffic or train noise and was very quiet...except for a maintenance worker running a leaf blower almost all day...almost every day, even though not many leaves were falling yet. The campground was planning to stay open only through the weekend of October 13-14, which is a NASCAR race weekend at nearby Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte.

Salisbury, NC is about mid-way between Winston-Salem and Charlotte and is near the heart of the area where many NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series race shops are located. Many of the shops have museums with cars that were driven by famous drivers and with trophies their teams have won. A lot of the shops also have viewing areas where fans can see some of the work that is being done on the race cars.

Paul has been a race car fan since he was in his teens. Margery had a short-lived interest in racing when we were first married. We both drove autocrosses garnering a few pewter trophies in the process. An autocross is a timed automobile gymkhana where drivers navigate a course set up on a parking lot using pylons. Of course, that was when shopping centers were still closed on Sundays. :) We drove our everyday road cars and sometimes had to race against dedicated weekend race vehicles, making for keen competition. That made walking away with a trophy a thrill or, in some cases, it meant the competitor who usually had the fastest car didn't show up that particular weekend. :) We even traveled to Watkins Glen for the Grand Prix in October the first couple years of our marriage. We still marvel at arriving home at 2 a.m. on a race weekend and going to work a mere 5 hours later at 7 a.m. Ahhhhh, youth! Anyway, in recent years Margery has adopted a renewed interest in motor sports, and now we both enjoy NASCAR. With Lora marrying into a family of NASCAR fans and being able to play in the Bell NASCAR Family Challenge (a fantasy racing league where you are awarded points based on how well the drivers you picked that week did) has added to our enjoyment of the sport.

The first race shop we stopped at was Richard Childress Racing, home of Nextel Cup drivers Kevin Harvick (#29), Clint Boyer (#07), and Jeff Burton (#31). All three of these drivers are in the top group of 12 drivers vying for the championship as the season nears its end.

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) moved into new shops and offices in 2002. They converted their old shop into a museum dedicated primarily to Dale Earnhardt (Sr.), who raced for RCR prior to his death in an accident during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Although there are differing opinions, Dale Earnhardt is considered by many to be the best stock car driver ever. He won 67 races and is tied at 7 with Richard Petty for the most season championship wins. His aggressive driving style earned him the nickname of "The Intimidator." The museum displays many of Dale's cars. Some of them are set up as though they are in the process of being worked on to be prepared for a race using some of the equipment from the original race shop.

The photo below shows the car Dale Earnhardt drove to his one and only Daytona 500 win in 1998.

When building the new race shops, RCR designed the Fan Walk, which is on the second floor of the building where some of the offices are located and which overlooks several areas of the shop. You can see the garage where they back in the haulers that carry the race cars. We were there on a Tuesday and they had already unloaded the haulers from the race the weekend before and were cleaning the trailers out in preparation for loading up for the next race. The platform at the back of the truck lifts the race cars to the upper level of the trailer. Parts and tools are stored in the lower level.

You can get a great overhead view of the assembly shop. Each driver has numerous cars representing a sizable investment for the team owner. Different types of car are used for different types of track and each type of car will have one of more backup cars.

We also visited the Hendrick Motorsports complex in Charlotte. Hendrick is the home of drivers Jimmy Johnson (#48), Jeff Gordon (#24), Kyle Busch (#5), and Casey Mears (#25). Of these, all but Casey Mears are in the top group of 12 drivers in contention for the championship. Here is Margery in the Hendrick museum looking at cars driven by Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon that won the Daytona 500 over the past several years.

The blue and silver car to the left was the same car we saw as the 2006 Daytona 500 winner when we toured the track at Daytona last December. They keep the winning car on display for a year. The car still has champagne stains and confetti on it from the celebration in the winner's circle. As the 2007 winner, Kevin Harvick's car (#29) is on display at Daytona now and will remain there until is replaced by the 2008 winner in February.

At Hendrick Motorsports, you get a closer view of some of the cars rather than the bigger, overhead view you get at RCR. Here are some of Kyle Busch's cars being worked on.

Both the race shops we visited were absolutely spotless. The floor in the individual work areas is covered with a steel plate. There was a technician working under the car on the left in the photo above and he was sliding around on the steel plate on his back without a creeper. When he got up his shirt was spotless - not a spec of dust nor a drop of oil!

There are more photos of the NASCAR race shops in Photo Album 024: Central North Carolina.

Charlotte is also the location of one of the more popular NASCAR tracks, Lowe's Motor Speedway. Last December when we were in Florida, we drove to Daytona for a tour of that speedway. So, while we were in Charlotte, we took advantage of the tour offered at Lowe's Motor Speedway as well. We were there about 2 weeks ahead of the upcoming races (October 13 & 14), but they were already setting up tents for souvenir vendors in one of the parking lots. The infield, garages, and camping areas were empty, but in a little over a week they would be bustling with activity as fans and race teams arrive.

At Lowe's, as at Daytona, the tour went through the garage areas, past the pits, past the grandstands (which hold 165,000 fans), past the infield camping areas, and included a stop at the winner's circle.

The Daytona Speedway tours are done in open trams while the Lowe's tours are done in vans. With the open trams, you could see more and get better photos; but the tour in the vans at Lowe's includes one lap around the 1.5 mile speedway at 85 mph. While the NASCAR drivers will be doing close to 200 mph, 85 was still a thrill in a big, clunky van. You could feel the G-forces as we rounded the turns with the 24 degree banking.

During times when there are no races at Lowe's, they host several driving schools. The driving experiences range from several laps around the track riding with an instructor ($), to driving a race car yourself ($$) following an instructor's car (to insure you take the proper line around the track and that you don't get carried away and go too fast), to a multi-day driving school ($$$$). Here is one of the cars from the school coming up on the start/finish line. He was probably going about 140 mph.

We found this central area of North Carolina to be loaded with interesting things to see, even if you are not into NASCAR. For example, the town of Salisbury, where our campground was located, had a National Cemetery that dates back to the Civil War. In addition to more recent veterans, there are 11,700 Union soldiers buried here who were prisoners at the Salisbury Confederate Prison. This monument was erected to the memory of the unknown Union soldiers who died in the prison.

Salisbury has a 6,000 sq. ft. mural on the side of a downtown building. The mural was painted from 1978 to 1981 by a local artist and depicts downtown Salisbury at the end of the 19th century. The artist used real people as models for the characters in the mural.

Salisbury is also home to Catawba College and Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary. Catawba bears the name of an Indian tribe in the area and was founded in 1851 by German pioneers. During the Civil War the college was operated as a high school before returning to college status in 1865. In 1890 Catawba became co-educational graduating its first woman student in 1893. Today it continues to be affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Livingstone College was originally founded in 1879 by group of A.M.E. Zion ministers as Zion Wesley Institute for the purpose of training ministers. Dr. Charles Joseph Price, an African-American born in 1854, was the impetus to moving the Institute to college status in 1882. It was re-named Livingston College in 1887 in honor of the Scottish physician and missionary to Africa Dr. David Livingstone. Hood Theological Seminary is named after James Walker Hood who was a bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church and one of the founders of the above-mentioned Zion Wesley Institute. During much of his career, Bishop Hood cherished a dream of training qualified Negro youths for the Christian ministry. It took ten years but on October 7, 1903, the first class of a new bachelor of divinity program was enrolled. In 1904 the theological department was upgraded to a school and in 2001 the seminary began operating independently of the college.

Being a product of a public education that focused on only the high points of our history, we have become fascinated by all the history we are learning as we travel. It's like putting muscle and flesh on the skeleton. Margery, particularly, has always had an interest in learning about the history and life on college campuses. She continues to be amazed by the number of small colleges there are across the U.S. Surfing through these college websites not only enlarges our understanding of the history but also the social culture of the schools...a microcosm of society. For instance, what is the first thought that comes to mind when we think of the Civil War? For us, it's slavery. But who was to know that following the Civil War Charles Joseph Price, an African-American born in 1954 in Elizabeth City, NC, would receive an education that would prepare him for higher education. He eventually studied theology at Pennsylvania's Lincoln University graduating valedictorian in 1879.

A few miles north of where we stayed in Salisbury is Winston-Salem. Old Salem was founded in the mid-1700s by the Moravians, who were German-speaking Protestants originally from an area of Europe that today is known as the Czech Republic. The Moravians first came to Georgia in 1735 as part of a missionary movement to preach the gospel to the America Indians. Because of the Moravians were continually threatened by the constant battles between the English colonists and the Spanish in Florida, they left Georgia for Pennsylvania where they established Bethlehem, Lititiz, and Nazareth. The Moravians in Bethlehem, PA, were approached by the Earl of Granville, who owned the vast Carolina tract. He wanted the Moravians to settle in his frontier territory because they were known as honest, industrious people. Two other area towns were settled first, then Salem was established in 1766 with the intention that it would be a more central town and serve a wider geographical area than the first two towns. Salem would be a trade and craft center.

The church was the center of life in Salem. It owned all the land. Although individuals could build houses and shops, they leased the land from the church. The people were pious, industrious, and peace-loving.

Today there are about 100 restored and reconstructed buildings in Old Salem ranging from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s. Although the streets and shops are open to visitors, tickets are required to tour various historic buildings. Since it was rather late in the day when we got there, we decided not to purchase tickets and just tour the streets and view the buildings from the outside. The photo below is the hat shop.

The Moravians divided themselves into groups called choirs (from a Greek word meaning "group"). Each group or choir had definite community tasks for which it was responsible in addition to religious and educational activities. The choirs were instituted because of a belief that the church could best meet the needs and interests of its members if they were divided according to age, gender, and marital status. This is the single brothers' house where single men lived dormitory-style until they married.

Abutting Old Salem is Salem College, the 13th oldest college in the nation and the oldest educational institution for women. The college was founded by the Moravians in 1772 because they believed that women deserved an education comparable to that given men...a bit forward-thinking for the 18th century! Salem is also noted for being one of the top ten character-building colleges in the nation because of their unique Salem Signature program integrating career and life preparation with study in the liberal arts.

Please see Photo Album 024: Central North Carolina for more photos and information on Old Salem.

The Moravians also brought us delicious spice cookies. These cookies are thin and crispy and are loaded with cinnamon, ginger, and clove. We were first introduced to Moravian cookies when Margery received some as a gift years ago. There are a number of bakeries in the Winston-Salem area, including the bakery at Old Salem; but we found Mrs. Hanes' Cookies to be a little less expensive. One reason they were less expensive is we were able to buy cookies in cellophane bags at the factory. All the other cookies we found were in the traditional cardboard tubes or in tins, which protect the thin, crisp cookies from damage during shipping. Although Mrs. Hanes' Cookies uses the tubes and tins for shipping as well, the bags are available only at the factory. Mrs. Hanes Cookies still rolls, bakes, and packs all their cookies by hand. We prefer the original Moravian spice cookies, but there are also other flavors such as sugar, lemon, and black walnut.

Mrs. Hanes Cookies is a 7th generation business of making these thin, crisp ginger cookies. EACH cookie is hand rolled and hand cut. They make 100,000 lbs. of cookies a year. At 100 cookies per pound of dough, that's 10 MILLION cookies a year...hand rolled, hand cut, and hand packed! The ladies in the photo below are packing cookies at the end of the day.

Personal tours of 1 hour in length are available January - September. We'll be back for a tour....and more cookies!

While in Winston-Salem, we found Ronnie's Country Store. It was a neighborhood store opened in 1925 by W. G. White where rural Piedmont residents would come into town by wagon and mule to buy supplies. The store was bought by Ronnie and Carolyn Horton in 1994 and continues to operate today with the same look and feel it had years ago. They sell fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, country ham, and bulk candy. It was fun looking around and Paul (aka Candyman) found some Sunkist Fruit Gems candy to take home.

We found out barbecue is almost a religion in North Carolina. We are talking pork barbecue (generally "pulled" or chopped), not ribs. Eastern-style NC barbecue is all about the meat. It is made from the whole hog and is slow cooked (up to 18 hours) at low temperature. There is a small amount of vinegar or vinegar-based sauce, but it is more a moistening agent rather than a flavoring.

Western or Lexington-style NC barbecue is made from pork shoulder and has more barbecue sauce. North Carolina barbecue (or "Q" for short) is traditionally served with sides such as cole slaw (frequently served on the barbecue sandwich), hush puppies, onion rings, and sweet tea.

Even though we were pretty far west in North Carolina, there were still a few good eastern-style "Q" restaurants in the area. However, since we like the flavor of good barbecue sauce and since we were very close to Lexington, we decided to try Lexington-style "Q."

Our first stop was Bar B Q King in Charlotte. Bar B Q King is an old fashioned drive-in with curb service. We picked Bar B Q King because of the good review it received by Jane and Michael Stern on their website roadfood.com. Roadfood.com is dedicated to regional foods found along the highways, byways, small towns and cities of America. Their website identifies themselves as follows: "Roadfood is almost always informal and inexpensive; and the best Roadfood restaurants are colorful places enjoyed by locals (and savvy travelers) for their character as well as their menu."  Bar B Q King has also been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

We each ordered a barbecue sandwich, and we got a large sweet tea and an order of onion rings to share. The barbecue was served with slaw on the sandwich and was good, but it didn't quite have enough sauce for our taste. However, the Bar B Q King onion rings were outstanding! You usually only get about a half a dozen onion rings (if you're lucky) with a regular-size order, so we asked for a large order. We got the biggest pile of onion rings we ever saw! Their onion rings are hand cut and hand dipped. They were nice and crunchy and not too greasy. We were stuffed by the time we were done. Dinner was canceled. :)

Our second sampling of North Carolina "Q" was at Speedy's Barbecue in Lexington, NC. Their barbecue sandwich was also served with cole slaw on it and with extra sauce on the side. The extra sauce allowed us to add more to get the flavor we wanted, but the pork had an excellent flavor all its own that could still be tasted even with the extra sauce. Even though we liked Speedy's barbecue better than Bar B Q King, Pierce's in Williamsburg is still our favorite. As with Bar B Q King, it was one of Speedy's side dishes that we really loved. At Bar B Q King it was the onion rings, and at Speedy's it was the hush puppies. Hush puppies are small globs of corn bread dough that are deep fried. All the ones we had seen up to this time were more or less round balls. Speedy's were little logs about 1 1/2" long. The cornbread was deliciously sweet and soft on the inside, crisp on the outside, and not at all greasy. We thought we would get 8 or 10 hush puppies. There had to be 30 or 40 in the basket! There were so many we couldn't finish them and took a bunch home.

We enjoyed our stay in central North Carolina very much. We definitely plan to come back someday, and we'll have to allow more time.

Since we have been in Williamsburg many times before, we didn't feel compelled to do a lot of sightseeing and were hoping to continue our slower pace. We were in Williamsburg twice last year (once in July with Lora and J. Michael right before we went full-time and again in early November). So this time, we didn't even buy tickets to the restored area. We love the restored area, but we didn't need to see any of the buildings and exhibits on this trip. At this point in time, we're happy to just sit on a bench for a while along Duke of Gloucester Street and watch the Colonials walk by and the carriages going up and down the street.

Occasionally, someone in costume will slip out of one of the buildings and sit on a bench and play a penny whistle, recorder, or guitar.

We even unloaded our bikes and rode in the restored area.

There are more photos of the restored area in Photo Album 023: Williamsburg.

When we were in the area last fall, we went to Jamestown. This year, we decided to go to Yorktown. Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are known as the Historic Triangle and are very important to America's colonial history. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first successful English settlement in the New World and thus was the start of the American colonial period. Although the Spanish had been in the New World about a century by the time the English got here, we Americans trace our origins back to the English. Williamsburg, which was originally called Middle Plantation, was renamed after the capitol of the Virginia Colony was moved there from Jamestown in 1698. As the capitol of the colony, Williamsburg became a cultural, commercial, and political hub. Williamsburg, along with cities to the north such as Boston and Philadelphia, was an important center for developments leading to the American Revolution. Patrick Henry (famous for his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech) was from Virginia and sat in the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg. Yorktown was the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution where British General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington in 1781. Even though the armistice wasn't signed for another 2 years, the American victory at Yorktown assured our independence and marked the end of the colonial period.

Today in Yorktown, there is a shopping area along the York River called River Walk Landing. The walkways and shopping areas are covered with paver bricks which gives the area a very quaint feel and make its very handicap accessible. There are a number of upscale shops with colonial-style architecture...

...as well as a small beach.

Twice a month June through September and once a month October through December they have Market Days, which is primarily a farmers' market where vendors sell fresh produce, seafood, plants and flowers, handmade soaps, and art.

Although the market was the primary reason we went to Yorktown, we were pleasantly surprised how much there was to do and see. There are a several historic buildings, although much of the town was destroyed during the siege in 1781, by a fire in 1814, and during the Civil War. There is also the Watermen's Museum, the Yorktown Victory Center, and Yorktown Battlefield. The photo below is a type of boat called a deadrise they were restoring on the grounds of the Watermen's Museum. The deadrise is popular in the Chesapeak Bay area because it can operate nearly everywhere on the bay for crabbing, oystering, and fishing.

We also learned that Yorktown was the place where the Olympic flame first arrived in America on January 31, 1980, on its way to the Winter Games.

While we were in Yorktown, we decided to visit the battlefield, which is part of the National Park Service. As usual, there is an excellent introductory movie that gives a lot of background information. There is a small museum with some of George Washington's military tents and General Cornwallis' campaign table as well as some other artifacts. There are ranger-guided walking tours of the battlefield, but we opted for the self-guided driving tour. The driving tour takes you past original and reconstructed earthworks and siege lines and includes a stop at the Moore House where the terms of surrender were negotiated on October 17, 1781.

For us, no trip to Williamsburg would be complete without a visit to the Williamsburg Pottery, especially since we were staying in their campground. The pottery was founded in 1938 by William E. Maloney to make reproduction colonial saltglaze pottery for sale at low prices. This was about the same time that John D. Rockefeller was completing the initial restoration of historic Williamsburg. In time, Maloney added discounted china and glassware to keep customers coming back. The business mushroomed into major area attraction with 32 buildings covering 200 acres. They carry a variety of items - imports, closeouts, seconds, and first quality merchandise that include silk and dried flowers, glassware and china, woodenware, stone sculptures, concrete lawn ornaments, rugs, baskets, live plants, and much more. And, yes, they still make the saltglaze pottery on site. Over the years, the pottery has changed some. Gone are the huge crowds that were there when we first found the place in the early 70s. Back then, there weren't many places to find the type of merchandise and the prices the Pottery had so people flocked there looking for bargains. Now that almost everything we buy is imported and there are discount stores like Wal-Mart and places like Prime Outlets, the popularity of the Pottery has waned somewhat. But it's still a fun place to go and look around. You never know what they might have that you didn't know you needed.

Another "must" stop for us in Williamsburg is Pierce's Pitt Barbecue. Pierce's has been voted one of the south's best barbecues three times by readers of Southern Living magazine. Pierce's was started in 1971 by Julius "Doc" Pierce who brought his mother's secret sauce recipe from Tennessee to Virginia. We like our barbecues "with," which means served with coleslaw on top of the meat. The slightly sweet coleslaw is a nice compliment to the vinegar-based barbecue sauce. In case you're wondering why the name has two "t's" in the word "Pitt," when the first sign was delivered it was incorrect. The sign maker reportedly wanted to charge Doc $25 to fix it, but the budget was so tight Doc couldn't afford it and the second "t" stayed. The restaurant is on the original site and the original building still stands, although it is unrecognizable because it is surrounded by additions. Pierce's is a little hard to find, but it is well worth the search. Today, there are a number of signs leading the way and if you still can't find it, just ask a local. One of the best signs of a good, inexpensive restaurant is that locals go there.

A number of years ago on one of our many previous trips to the Williamsburg area, we took a cruise of nearby Hampton Roads. At that time, we opted for a cruise aboard a sailboat. The sailboat cruise didn't include the Norfolk Naval Base, so we always felt we missed out on something important. So on this trip, we decided to take a cruise aboard the Miss Hampton II.

The cruise included not only the harbor, but also the Naval Station Norfolk plus a stop at Fort Wool, an island fort accessible only by boat.

The young man who was the tour guide for the cruise was excellent. He had so many interesting facts about the ships at the naval base and so much information about the harbor, the Chesepeake Bay, and the history of the area! Hampton Roads is both the name of the harbor area and the land that surrounds the harbor and including cities such as Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Newport News. The name "Hampton" honors one of the founders of the Virginia Company of London (which sent the first settlers) who was the 3rd Earl of Southampton. The name "roads" comes from roadstead, which is an old nautical term meaning a place outside a harbor where ships can lie at anchor.

Hampton Roads is at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is approximately 195 miles long and 35 miles wide and is an estuary into which 48 major and 92 minor rivers flow. Five of those rivers converge at Hampton Roads. The headwaters are in Cooperstown, New York.

The area is rich in history from the earliest colonial times. We passed by the spot where the original Jamestown settlers first landed in 1607. Because the settlers were unable to find a suitable water source, they sailed farther southwest and then up the James River to the site that would become Jamestown. Incidentally, the landing date of 1607 means Jamestown is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year.

Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, (a great National Geographic Kids link) was a notorious pirate who plundered merchant ships in this area (as well as in the Carolinas and the Caribbean) in the early 18th century. Blackbeard was killed and his head was displayed on a pole in the Hampton Roads area in 1718. Interestingly, his reign of terror lasted only two years which didn't seem like a very long time for the notoriety he holds.

The battle between the first iron-clad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack took place at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862. The Merrimack, which is more correctly called the CSS Virginia, was built on the burned out hull of a Union ship, the USS Merrimack by the Confederates. The Confederates rechristened the ship the Virginia. During the battle, the two ships pounded each other for hours, mostly at close range; but neither was able to inflict serious damage on the other and the battle ended in a stalemate. Two months later in May, 1862 the Confederates left the Norfolk area due to developments on land. They knew they would not be able to get the Virginia past the fleet of Union warships, so they deliberately ran the Virginia aground and set her on fire to prevent her from being captured. In December, 1862, the Monitor sank in bad weather off Cape Hatteras while under tow to Beaufort, North Carolina. Although neither ship lasted long, the iron-clads spelled the end of the wooden warship.

Speaking of warships, the Norfolk Naval Base was very impressive. The base covers 3,200 acres and is the world's largest naval base. Approximately 75 to 80 ships call this their home port. Of all the ships, the aircraft carriers are the most awesome. When we were there, the USS Harry S. Truman was in port. The Harry S. Truman is a Nimitz-class nuclear supercarrier. She is 1,092 feet long, 252 feet wide, and 20 stories tall. She carries approximately 90 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. There is a crew of 3,200 with an air wing of 2,480. The Harry S. Truman has a top speed of over 30 knots (56+ mph). Notice the wake of a patrol boat that had just passed by in the foreground and another patrol boat to the right in the photo of the Harry S. Truman below. The base is very well protected.

Also in port were numerous amphibious assault ships, guided missile destroyers, frigates, and submarines. We were very impressed by the facilities at Norfolk and by the tremendous might and power of our military. We thank all those military personnel, past and present, who have sacrificed so much that we might live in freedom.

On our way to Williamsburg a few days prior to our cruise, we crossed the Chesapeake Bay by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Here in the southern part of the bay there are several other bridge/tunnel complexes. The reason tunnels are used instead of bridges is because of the naval base. If we were attacked, our navy could be trapped in port by a downed bridge.

On the way back to the dock, the cruise made a stop at Fort Wool, which was constructed on a man-made island.

Work on the island was started in 1818. Construction of the fort was started in 1826; but the fort was still incomplete at the start of the Civil War because the island, which was essentially a pile of rock in the water, was still settling. The fort was used through WWII with the addition of anti-aircraft searchlights and radar.

For more photos and information about our harbor cruise, please see Photo Album 023: Williamsburg.

To the south of Williamsburg across the James River in an area known as Scotland lie Surry and Isle of Wight Counties. The real fun part of the trip across the James is the ride on the Jamsetown Ferry. The ferry is operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation and is free. The photo below shows the view from the upper deck of the ferry as it approaches the south shore of the James River.

The town of Surrey was settled shortly after Jamestown across the river when a fort was built on the south banks in 1609. Isle of Wight County was established in 1634 and Surry County broke away from James City County in 1652. The town of Smithfield was established on the banks of the Pagan River in 1752 and is the home of Smithfield Ham. Many of the towns on the south banks of the James River have quaint historic districts. Here is a view of historic Smithfield.

There are more photos and information about out ferry trip to Surry and Smithfield in Photo Album 023: Williamsburg.

Although we intended to continue our slower pace, we did see quite a bit while in the Williamsburg area. Since we were there for 10 days, we didn't feel rushed.