Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Day 4-5 now in Pigeon Forge

We made the drive from Charleston SC to Pigeon Forge TN yesterday and now we are here to play and relax a little bit. Oh, did I mention shop? Yes, shop. That’s Lori’s definition of relaxation is to shop and my definition of, of, never mind, I stay in trouble enough as it is. Either way she got all her shopping out of the way and then we were off to play.

We signed up to do a little ATV riding just outside of Pigeon Forge. I made the mistake on signing up on the 11 mile ride that included rookies. Next time, I signup for the advance class. Either way, I drove and Lori rode along with me and we crawled up mountain to a elevation of about 2400 feet. It was pretty but on a scale to 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest for a good adrenaline rush, I’d give it a 1. Lori had fun, so I guess we are good.

After our little ATV run, we drove over to the Apple Farmhouse Restaurant so Lori could do some more shopping, yes shopping, and then have a 5 course dinner. This is by far one of the best restaurants that I have eaten at in the Pigeon Forge area. The Apple fritters and Apple butter are to die for. The funny thing is, I really do not care for apple butter, but their stuff is good stuff. Lori and I left this place in pain because there was just to much food.

The final thing that we did for the day was to go see a local show. The Grand Majestic Theatre to hear singers sing songs from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and beyond. The show was good, not fantastic, but good and I would recommend it.

Tomorrow we head out of Pigeon Forge and make our way over to Gary and Lisa Mace’s for a cookout. We will be staying with the Mace’s one night and then start making our way back to Stephens City. I might actually get Lori to look at another possible retirement spot, but we will see how that goes when the time comes. This is all for today and enjoy the few pictures I have from the ATV ride.

Pictures of the Day.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Day 3 in Charleston, SC

Today was our final day planned for Charleston, SC and the only thing we had on the things to do list was to see a Plantation or two. Well it came down to one and that was the Middleton Place just northwest of Charleston out Route 61. I basically choose this Plantation because the original owner son was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Arthur Middleton was the son that signed. Arthur Middleton’s Grandson signed South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession and that was the beginning of the end of the family wealth. All in all they had twenty plantations throughout South Carolina and were one of the most wealthy families in the area. Did this impress me? Nope. What really caught my eye was the amount of slaves that they owned and how they placed a value on each individual. Most of the slaves were referred to by a single name so it would make it all most impossible to trace a family tree. This part of American History bothers me more than any one thing that I have ever read about.

So in conclusion, I’m glad I’m American, I’m so glad the south lost for so many reasons. We take so much for granted in our country now and in my eyes that is a shame. Anyways, here are the pictures of the Middleton plantation.

Pictures for the day.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Our first two days in Charleston, SC.

The trip down from Stephens City, Va. was pretty uneventful  in that traffic was light and the weather nice. We left home at 6am in the morning so we could hit Mac’ Speed Shop in Charlotte, NC which was recommended from a fellow BBQ lover. It was good, portions were large, tea was sweet, but Wilbur’s Barbecue in Goldsboro NC still does it better.

Our first full day in Charleston began with us doing a 2.5 hour walking tour around the Historic District with a guide. It is always better when the person giving the tour grew up in the area and to top it off, his family roots in Charleston dated back to 1790. That just made me jealous because I always wanted to research my own tree. Maybe this amongst other things will finally light that fire under my butt. If you are ever in Charleston, lookup Footprint Tours by MICHAEL TROUCHE on Tripadvisor and you will not regret it. After the tour we got a quick lunch at Poogan's Porch and went right back to walking. We ended up walking down Market street and Lori and I got to see some of the local tourist trap shopping, but overall I even enjoyed it. Did we buy anything? I think not, but my feet were tired and it started raining, so we left to find Fort Moultrie. While in route, we ran into a Submarine exhibit or monument that was dedicated to all Submarine Navy personal that made the ultimate sacrifice of life and time to serve our country. Eventually we found Fort Moultrie, but it was to late to tour it. So we called it a day.

Day two we got started fairly early to a large breakfast at Crakerbarrel which was intentional to hold us most of the day. I knew after breakfast where I wanted to go, so I headed east to Tangier Outlets so Lori could do some shopping. I was going to lock the doors and windows, then circle the mall and just tease her so she couldn’t shop, but my heart just couldn’t do it. She spent the better part of 2 hours walking around shopping, buying this that until finally it was time for H.L. Hunley tour.

Not very often in life do you get to see something in History or in the past come to life in front of you, but here it is. They located the Sub in 1995, recovery in 2002 I think, then buried the 8 men 2 years later on the 140 anniversary of their death. They are still in the process of research and restoring the sub to save it for histories sake. In case you do not know, this was the first submarine in the world to actually sink an enemy vessel while submerged. This was a hand cranked vessel and amazing considering that this feat was not repeated again until World War I. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures of the actual vessel yet, but it is and was worth the visit. If you do not enjoy History, then this is not for you.

After the Hunley tour, we tracked back over to Fort Moultrie and completed that tour. Not to much to see there, but it was easy to understand why that spot in the sand was so critical to the defenses of Charleston SC. Tomorrow we will visit at least one Plantation called, Middleton Place. Below you will find 60 plus picture of Charleston and stuff. Enjoy.

Our Pictures so far in Charleston.