Defeated Again

Oh! We just couldn't resist that little play on words. We have so enjoyed our week at Defeated Creek Campground in Carthage. This is one of our favorite campgrounds, and it was a treat to return. This place is quite popular, and we arrived at the tail end of Spring Break. So, the pickin's were mighty slim when it came to available sites. Site number 5 has to be the most unlevel spot in the place. It has more dips, twists and turns than any slab of concrete should. But, we made it work.


Even the sloping sites feature a nice view. The weather has been chilly this week. But, we did make some time to kick back and relax.


After the Easter weekend, the park really cleared out. During most of the week these two were our closest neighbors.


One of the things we love about Defeated Creek are the beautiful sunsets over the lake. We were pleased to see they are just as beautiful in the Spring as they are in the Fall.


As lovely as our campground is, the real reason we're here is to visit with friends Lisa and Tony and their boys. They were camped in the park through the holiday weekend. We all got together for a couple of tasty dinners accompanied by Tony's trademark campfires. It was wonderful to catch up with them. The timing of our visit coincided with the start of son Rick's t-ball season. It was so fun to watch him and his teammates. Just look at that swing!


And how about that form? Rick was obviously practicing for some dramatic action in the outfield. His teammate? Not so much.


Of course, every ballplayer knows the best part of the game is the drink and snack!


This week, we got to spend time with some of the good folks from the local high school, where Lisa works. Last night, we joined the Smith County High School staff trivia team at a local eatery for their weekly trivia competition. These folks are good! As always, they came away the winners. And, Paul and I were able to help 'em out just a bit. All these miles traveling down the highway while listening to country music paid off when we were quickly able to identify the lyrics to Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup.


This afternoon, we stopped by the school for a visit. We stopped in the office and one of the soon-to-be-graduating students gave us an awesome tour of the place. The free tour wrapped up at Lisa's classroom. It was great to meet her students and helpers. Many thanks to Lisa and her family for their warm hospitality. We hope everybody has a wonderful Summer!


We're enjoying one more sunset at Defeated Creek. As the saying goes, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight." Here's hoping we have smooth sailing into Kentucky tomorrow. After this wonderful week, we're already looking forward to the next time we can return to Defeated again!

The Hermitage

We ventured toward Nashville early this morning to check out the home of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. The Hermitage is a 1,000-acre museum and national historic landmark located about 15 miles east of the capital city.  The mansion isn't the easiest thing to spot when you arrive at this rural retreat. It sits at the end of a cedar-lined heart-shaped drive.


As we approached the home, a costumed docent explained that Andrew Jackson owned the property from 1804 until 1845. In 1819, Jackson hired a crew of carpenters and masons to build this two-story Federal-style home. In 1831, Jackson had the place expanded and added the massive front columns. The idea was to make the home look more "presidential". Today, The Hermitage is owned and operated by the Ladies' Hermitage Association.


No photographs are allowed inside the mansion, but I was actually standing outside when I snapped this shot of the dining room. The house is decorated to reflect how it might have looked in the years Jackson lived here during his retirement.


Behind the home, a kitchen outbuilding sits to the right. Along the picket fence stands a bell like the one the Jacksons used to call the slaves from other areas on the farm.


At the time of his death in 1845, Jackson owned approximately 150 slaves who provided the labor for this cotton plantation. The slaves were quartered in three different locations on the property. The only slave quarters that remain on the property is known as Alfred's Cabin. Alfred Jackson was an enslaved and later free man who lived at the Hermitage his entire life.


A one-acre formal garden next to the house is planted with iris, peonies and other annuals that were available in the first half of the 19th century.


Jackson and his wife Rachel are entombed in a corner of the garden. The graves of other family members are nearby.


Just a few steps from the Jackson tomb sits a small, simple tombstone marking the grave of "faithful servant" Alfred, whose cabin is shown above. Alfred lived at The Hermitage longer than anyone. When the house opened as a museum, Alfred was the first tour guide. He died in 1901 at age 98, and his funeral was held in the center hall of the mansion. Standing here we wondered what a story Alfred might have told about his century of change in this peaceful place.

Waynesville

We love the Smokey Mountains. So, when our travels brought us back to North Carolina, we decided to look for a spot west of Asheville to chill for a few days. We found just that in Waynesville, a small town just outside of Pigsah National Forest.


There are few parks in Waynesville that are closer to the interstate. Trails End RV Park is a bit farther off the beaten (but not too beaten) path, and worth the few extra miles. We knew very little about this place, but we trusted our intuition and are glad we did. The owner and camp hosts were friendly and accommodating.


This is the kind of place that fills up in the Summer. We were definitely a bit ahead of the busy season. Every morning we watched the fog dance around the mountains as the skies cleared.


Afternoon showers and thunderstorms were common, but brief. How's that for a rainbow? Spectacular!


A "must do" for this stop was to trek a few miles on the Appalachian Trail. We made our way to the Max Patch trailhead and enjoyed a three-mile hike on the AT. That barely scratches the surface of the 2,181-mile trail. But, it's a start!


Max Patch served up some spectacular 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains. Looking off to the north and west, we could see Tennessee. And, provided the weather holds out, that's where we'll be off to tomorrow!

Back to Gaffney

If you're traveling along I-85 between Spartanburg, SC and Charlotte, NC and you come across this giant peach, you've arrived in Gaffney, SC. We've yet to pass by these parts during peach season, but anytime we're in the neighborhood, we take time to stop. You see, this "peachy" town is the home of Freightliner Custom Chassis, where Bullwinkle's chassis was born.


Not too far from the factory sits FCCC's only factory-owned service center. It is, in our humble opinion, the best place for chassis service in the country. They work exclusively on motorhomes, school busses and small delivery trucks. But, it's mostly motorhomes, especially this time of year. Unlike every other Freightliner service center we've visited, this place welcomes motorhomes. And, they definitely know what they're doing. We're calling this next leg of our travels the Spring Moose Maintenance Tour. We're making Gaffney our first stop with Bullwinkle's annual chassis maintenance check-up.


We'll be in northern Iowa (on the third - and hopefully final - stop on our maintenance tour) before the first appointment here becomes available, so we decided to take our chances as a "work-in". We arrived at the service center Tuesday afternoon and checked in with Pat, the friendliest customer service person in the world. She invited us to set up camp in one of the dozen or so sites in their lot. From our corner spot, we watched the parade of motorhomes moving in and out of the service bays. This place is very busy this time of year!


We made the most of our waiting time to enjoy the pleasant early Spring weather. We did a bit of geocaching, explored downtown Gaffney and appreciated the beautiful dogwoods in bloom.


Yesterday afternoon, Pat made us an offer. If we could have the moose ready to roll in 15 minutes, they could work us in. We had no idea we could get this moose ready to move so quickly! Before we knew it, Bullwinkle was in a bay ready for his "spa" treatment, and we were sitting in the comforts of the waiting room, cats and all. A few hours later, the moose was released and we were free to roam about the country. Given the late hour, we decided to spend another night at Camp Freightliner.


This morning, we took in the plant tour. No pictures were allowed inside, so you'll just have to trust us when we say this it was very interesting. We got an up close and personal look at how all of Bullwinkle's essential parts come together. And, the factory was humming today. According to our guide, business is definitely looking up!


With our business complete in Gaffney, we decided to head for the hills. We made the short drive to North Carolina and are all settled in to our quiet spot in beautiful Waynesville.

Beaufort

With a bit of stormy weather between Hilton Head and Gaffney, it didn't take much to convince us to extend our stay another night. We made use of our "extra" time by daytripping to nearby Beaufort. A highlight of this Low Country gem is a tour of the southern plantation homes in its historic district. Today, many visitors took advantage of the horse-drawn carriage tours to take in the sights.

Visitors are discouraged from driving through these historic neighborhoods. The three-centuries-old streets are narrow. The ancient live oaks make touring in any high-profile vehicle impossible, and dangerous. We opted to take our time on this beautiful spring day and explore the neighborhoods on foot. We picked up a walking tour map at the Visitor's Center and spent a couple of hours making our way around this charming town.

Several of the most lavish homes are situated right on the water. Imagine the sweet teas and mint juleps that have been enjoyed on the sprawling lawn and wrap around porch of this fine historic home.

This collection of historic homes is largely privately owned. The folks who buy these pieces of history must get used to the foot and carriage traffic through their very special neighborhood. Strolling down this sidewalk we got a real sense of old-time Beaufort.

Other homes are not quite as approachable. Many of these majestic beauties are guarded by lovely iron and brick gates.

If you're a fan of the movie "The Big Chill", this place should look familiar. The Edgar Fripp House, aka Tidalhom, was the set for Harold and Sarah Cooper's home where they reunited with college friends. The handsome antebellum home was also cast in the movie The Great Santini.

When it comes to majesty, here it's a toss up as to which has more, the stunning house or the striking live oak dripping in Spanish moss. It's all gorgeous.

Blooming azaleas provided a colorful frame for this lovely home.

Of course, there's more to historic Beaufort than beautiful old homes. Our walking tour included a most informative stop at St. Helena's Episcopal Church. This very proud religious community is celebrating its tricentennial this year.

After all that walking, we enjoyed a tasty lunch near Waterfront Park. This expansive park features walkways, benches, a bandstand and a playground, and plenty of room to roam and enjoy the views of the Beaufort River. This is just the kind of place you could stay awhile. But, we really do have to get moving. Vowing to return and spend more time when we pass this way again, we made our way back to Hilton Head Island.

Tomorrow's forecast looks like smooth sailing to Gaffney. Our fingers are crossed that our stay there will be short.

Hilton Head Island Revisited

Our trip to Hilton Head began with a fuel stop north of St. Marys. If you're traveling in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, The Peach State will save you a few bucks when you fill your tank. We hadn't filled Bullwinkle's 100-gallon tank since the middle of January. This stop was an eye-popper. And, this was just one swipe of a credit card. Flying J limits transactions to $150. We put three credit cards to work at this stop.

By the time we arrived here in Hilton Head, the cost of fuel was a distant memory. Island views like this make the price of diesel worth every penny.

We have returned to Hilton Head RV Resort, where we stayed in Fall 2009. It was a treat tucking Bullwinkle into this palmetto shaded spot for a few days of rest, relaxation, reconnecting with family and basketball.

With our beloved Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet Sixteen", we incorporated basketball into our schedule, as we did in Bonifay. Friday night we cheered the Jayhawks on to a close victory against NC State. So, it was on to the "Elite Eight".

This evening we watched Kansas defeat North Carolina to move on to the Final Four next weekend. We watched the game with Paul's Uncle Lyman, who is a big Tarheel fan. But, as a Kansas native, he really couldn't lose. We very much enjoyed the time we've spent together the last few days.

We also enjoyed a wonderful visit with Paul's Cousin Nona, who was quite busy with special events at work this week. We so appreciate her sharing some of her very rare time off with us.


Nona's husband Mike was also hard at work this week, so this afternoon before the game we stopped by Hampton Lake, the beautiful community in nearby Bluffton where he was hosting several open houses. Mike invited us to poke around the neighborhood, and we happily obliged. This model was one of our favorites.

One of the things we love about Hampton Lake is that the community is designed around the lake. Nearly every home features a water view. Many homes also featured spacious "Carolina rooms".

We decided we like Carolina rooms! Our favorite featured plenty of space for fireside outdoor dining. Wherever we live, someday we'd love to have a house with a taste of Carolina like this.

Between basketball, family and house hunting, we made time to see a few sites we missed on our previous visit. The Honey Horn Plantation has a history dating back some 300 years. The 68-acre property is now part of the Coastal Discovery Museum, which highlights the heritage and history of the Low Country.

Rockers on the porch of the main house make it easy to imagine life on Hilton Head Island during a quieter time.

Behind the house, a 1200-square-foot butterfly enclosure is home to some 13 species of native butterflies. Our visit was a bit early for prime butterfly spotting, but we were lucky to see a few early arrivals.

Honey Horn also features three boardwalks that extend over the salt marsh. At low tide, the boardwalks provide a great venue for watching crabs and other creatures in the mud. During a sudden downpour, as we experienced, the boardwalk became a place for Paul to race the rain. One moment it was dry (but quite humid). The next it was a deluge! Thankfully, the storm was short lived, and there was a sturdy shelter at the end of the boardwalk.

Despite the sudden downpour, we especially enjoyed our stroll around Honey Horn. Truth is, I'm a sucker for the flowering dogwoods and majestic moss-draped live oak trees of the low country. And, Honey Horn treated us to plenty of both. This photo doesn't do either justice. But, trust us, they were lovely.

As our Jayhawks are moving on to New Orleans, it's time for us to move on from this charming island. We're hoping to get Bullwinkle in for some annual maintenance at the place where his chassis was built. Then, we're planning to watch the Final Four from somewhere in North Carolina. (And, yes, we're finding some poetic justice in that.) Rock chalk!