Biltmore

We just finished visiting the estate of George Washington Vanderbilt (grandson of Cornelious), the largest home in America. What really surprised me was the elegance of the surrounding businesses. We couldn't take picture inside Biltmore, but these pictures were taken inside McDonalds!!!

A walk in a calendar

We spent all day in Great Smoky Mtn National Park and whether we were driving, hiking or just sitting on a bench, the scenery was breathtaking. I took so many pictures with my camera and each one I thought belonged on a calendar. 

My phone pictures don't show the brilliant colors but with 140 different deciduous trees, each corner we turned held more suprises. 

When we entered the park it was sunny and 50 degrees so we decided to go to the top and do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail. By the time we were at 6600 feet it was 32 degrees and blowing so hard, limbs were falling everywhere. We made it about a mile just to say we had done it but then we turned around and headed back down to the valley. You can see that Scott was all bundled up. 

The hike on the valley floor was much warmer and walking along the Deep Creek(a misnomer) was really nice. With all the waterfalls , it sort of reminded me of Silver Falls. 

We talked to several local people about the effect the shut down had on them and they all said, if the weather doesn't hold allowing tourists to continue coming through November, they may have to close. GSMNP is a little different in that they don't charge an entrance fee. This is because some of the roads are used for local traffic. So during the shutdown, the people in Townsend couldn't even get to Gaitlanburg. That's just WRONG. The people we talked to near Mammoth Caves, we're hurting too. What do we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Zippidy Do Dah

As we were eating breakfast this morning (I think I'm ODing on cinnamon rolls), we struck up a conversation with a local boy-an engineer with the TVA- and he wanted to know if we'd been to the Red River Canyon which was only an hour away. Since we have no agenda it was OFF WE GO and it was terrific. The falls, the drive and the quaint little towns we drove through were quite an experience. 

And then it was on up the road to Great Smoky Mountain National park. We (and several thousand tourists) were here to enjoy the fall colors. The going is slow but the views are amazing and we wandered around the old cabins and tried to imagine what life was like here 150 years ago. I think this mountain cabin says it all. 

Exploring

Today was our second day in Chattanooga and we just sort of went where the wind took us. We started out by driving to Lookout Mountain and visiting Point Park, a national park where you can learn about the civil war battles that took place here. Losing Chattanooga which was the center of several railroads was the turning point for the confederates as that made it possible for Sherman to take Atlanta. The view was great up there and we even drove into Georgia since it was so close. 

From there we drove back to the hotel and decided to walk downtown (further than we thought) and go to the aquarium. For $50, we decided to skip it and just see what the waterfront had to offer. It was so much fun. We visited the old Deta Queen which is now a hotel (how cool is that?)

Walked around the fountains 

And even played hopscotch (I have proof that Scott was stepping on the line)

It was such a beautiful day and we enjoyed playing and talking with people. Now my feet need to rest. 

Serendipity

Our main reason for visiting here was to ride the Chattanooga Choo Choo and it really doesn't exist. Yes, there is a steam train that runs from Knoxville and on down to Atlanta and it has been in operation since before the civil war BUT there is no track 29 like in the song. Oh well

While on the train we met another couple who told us about a riverboat that went on the Tennessee River and it was a super 3 hour trip. For starters, it was sunny and we haven't seen much of that since we've been on this trip. The captain gave a wonderful narration the whole way and we learned a lot about this area both past and present. Trivia--the tow truck was invented here and there is even an international tow truck museum here!

We fell in love with Chattanooga and extended our visit another day. 

So much to see

Nashville was full of adventures. We went to see Fontanel (home of Barbara Mandrell and her husband).  It was a 27,000 square foot log 'cabin'. Talk about impressive. Then we went to see the Hermitage which was Andrew Jackson's home. He was the fifth richest president so we got to see how the 1% live intro different centuries. Last night we walked down Broadway in Nashville where EVERY bar had singers performing trying to get discovered. We heard some amazing music, all for the price of a bottle of beer (yes, even I drank one) and tips for the musicians along the way. 

Travel in'

After a week of visiting old friends in Virginia, Scott and I took off on our own to go exploring. In the past 3 days, we've walked through historic Elizabethtown when Abe Lincoln lived as a boy, visited the Kentucky Derby and saw Churchill Downs, went to the Louisville Slugger factory, stayed in Mammoth Cave Lodge where we did some hiking both above and below ground and now we are sitting in the Grand Ole Opry. Whew!

Comical picture.

Rain

Okay, we didn't expect the rain to follow us to Virginia so our "exercise" is walking in Fair Oaks Mall. 

Testing

I'm back

Okay, after 2 years and several attempts to get back to this, I'm going to try and post pictures from our upcoming trip.  I'm not sure how I got to this page to begin with but the question is, can I do with my cell phone?  Stay tuned.