Tennessee and Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We always enjoy our visits through Tennessee.  There are so many beautiful, interesting, and new places to see.  We found a nice city campground in Bristol about one mile from the Bristol Motor Speedway, a Nascar short track.  Luckily, no races today.  Otherwise there would be no available camping.

A bonus is a very quick rainbow.

How nice of those dark clouds to be in the right spot!

Sp glad we stopped at Jonesborough, Tennessee's oldest town.

The town has made an effort to keep the main street in historic condition.

The accommodations are looking quite comfortable.

We had a great lunch in town at JJ's. But there were many choices.

A young Andrew Jackson practiced law in town and lived for a while here.

The town is know for its National Storytelling Festival , held the first weekend in October..
The festival began in 1973. On the weekend , there are five large tents that will hold up to a thousand or more each.  Storytellers are performing all day long and attendees can plan to visit their favorites from children's stories to adult stories.  Schools bus thousands of children to the children's tent .
Imagine a Garrison Keiler or such spinning stories .
Storytelling Festival
Click on the link above to see some of the storytellers and the schedule for this year.

On to Davy Crockett Brithplace State park in Limestone.

There are many Davy Crockett memorial places in Tennessee.  As a frontiersman, he moved west a number of times for different reasons. He excelled at hunting and trails. An admitted terrible shot, he still knew how to get his target. One time he killed over 100 bears in one day---according to tales that he told.  The park is beside the Nolichucky River.

A U.S. Congressman for three terms  , you can imagine the reactions to the above speech.

No matter, how they reacted, everyone listened. He differed from President Jackson on the Indian Relocation act. This was Jackson's law to move native Indians from their homeland in Tennessee to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears.  Crockett thought it wrong and he lost his election because of his beliefs.  Most of us remember the Disney TV series and movie with Fess Parker, ending with his ill fated stand with others at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

Nice hike in the park.

Looking back at the park from the Nolichucky River.

On to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A very quiet road until we hit Gatlinburg---Busy!

Jan and I move right on through to Elkmont Campground.
No reservations, but we luck out and find a very nice one for 2 nights.
$10 per night with Senior Pass

We talked with this gentleman.  It's a 1960's GMC which is in perfect shape.  It has been modified.

The trailers from the era do have a lot of class.

Many hikes begin or cross through Elkmont. 

This hike took us up to an old settlement form the early 1900's.

20 or more cabins--some large houses--are still standing from when the 

park claimed the land in the 1920's.

This is Daisy Town. Daisy Town ghost town

Twenty miles of park road takes us over to Cades Cove Campground.

This campground is the most popular one and we have to move each night.

But we are happy to have a site .

"Cove" in this area refers to a flat valley between mountains--nothing to do with water.

Typical of the road between Elkmont and Cades Cove

Plenty of room for Lady Blue!

Some days the traffic stretches for miles and miles to come to Cades Cove for the 

11 mile loop.  No wait this time but well worth the travel.

Many views are spectacular.  Some visitors park at a spot, take out their folding chairs, sit down in the fields, and just look at the view and wait for wildlife to happen by.

This was a successful community in the 1800's.
This property was the Cable grist mill and saw mill.
The grist mill still works and a docent is on hand most days to grind corn flour and more.

A mixed construction, including bricks made on site.

Jan is ready to move in !!!
A porch and a fireplace--Good to go!

As we said on the last post, we promised Madison to add the rest of our pictures from
the performance of Firebird by Maine Dance Theater.
This is Alianah as The Firebird

Choreographer Rhiannon Pelletier, principal ballerina with Maine State Ballet

MacKenzie as The Ogre and

Malcom as Castle Guard

Ezra as Prince Ivan

Madison as a Princess

Madison and Mya as Princess Elena

The Ogre and Kotchei's Creatures

Madison and Princesses

 Well done !

Great production.

On The Road Again

And-----------We're Back!!!
After having such a great summer we are back on the road again.  Currently in Bristol, Tennessee.
The above picture is from the past week up on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Jan and I spent some great times this summer with family and friends.  Also had time for some new explores with Lady Blue.
Lots of pictures from the summer. So, we were thinking we would start off with a few pictures from the past few days followed by some family pictures .
Later on, in the next few weeks (we hope), we will add more pictures from the summer as well as current travels.

We were lucky to have some excellent color on our recent travels

The above pictures were from the Tioga, Pennsylvania area

The Blue Ridge is 469 miles from the Shenandoah to the Great Smoky Mountains.

We spent some time on the Skyline Drive in the Spring and now drove about 100 plus miles on the  Blue Ridge that we had not traveled previously.

The Parkway travels on the top of a ridge and for these 100 miles it offers spectacular views on both sides of the road.  

The sign here indicates that during mid to late September you might see up to 1200 hawks migrating south through the valley. That is 1,200 hawks on a single day!! The high ridges provide updrafts to help them on their way.

Even though this is the prime season for travel on the Ridge, the traffic is very light. Speed limit

 is 45 mph and sometimes less.  

Jan and I loved our spot at Peaks of Otter National Park Campground.  $8 per night gave us this view of the Peaks of Otter Lodge

This is the Johnson Farm, first built in the early 1800's. 

This is how it looked around 1920.

They were subsistence farmers, raising enough vegetables and meat for their own use and some local sales.

Bruce is at it again!!

And what would you do if it did move???

Jan tries her own version.

Scott, Sean, Madison and Alison at Scott and Rachel's

Rachel knows how to take the full group selfies!

Or is that a groupie????

This was at the Bookstore Restaurant in Wellfleet, Mass.

This link offers good information and pictures The Bookstore Restaurant

Lucas, Emilie, Gary, Jan,Bruce,Scott, and Rachel.

Lilly was there, but she is quietly observing from her car seat nearby.

Auntie Ali and Lucas having fun.  

And yes, no standing on the chairs.  OOPS!

Lilly, Uncle Sean, and Cousin Madison.

Lilly is a happy girl!

Scott loves to cook.

Homemade pizza dough

Homemade sauce.

Even homemade tomatoes!

The COOL GUYS!

In front of the Frying Pan art gallery at Wellfleet Harbor.

Brothers engineering.

Worth the effort when it rains.

Cousins Emilie and Lucas don't have a lot of chances to see each other.

What a treat!

Emilie, Lucas , Jan , and Lilly.

Even Lilly loves North of Highland Camping Area

North Of Highland Camping Area

Lady Blue also loves the campground, fitting in perfectly to our dry camping site for

two weeks.

Tradition says birthday cake time at the campground!

Not always easy to bake a cake at your campsite!!

18 candles for Emilie!

Not family.

But definitely a star of Cape Cod Camping are

local Wellfleet oysters!!!

Bruce, Alison, and Jan

Great dinner and visit with Alison and Keith(taking the picture)

at Woody's Sports Grille  in Waterboro, Maine.

Woody's Sports Grille

Check the pictures and the menu in the link.

We loved the Reuben, Wings, Fried pickles, Fried mushrooms,Lobster Roll,  and more.

Bailey is now a fan of Truro, Cape Cod.

And especially Head of the Meadow Beach!

Picking up gear at the registration for the Maine Marathon.

Kind of reminds us of College Class Registration Days.

Sean crossing the finish line for the 

Maine Marathon in Portland, Maine.

Good time too!!

Bruce takes a group selfie??

Bruce, Jan , Linda, and Gary.

Great dinner at Mac's ,Provincetown

Mac's Fish House Provincetown

For those who have been here before, this is on Shank Painter Road.

Used to be Clem and Ursie's as well as other titles years before.

Great food! 

Early in the Spring, Gary decided that Truro was good for fishing.

We all thought it was wonderful of him to share part of this 

Striped Bass with all of us in August!!!

We really missed Madison at the Cape this year, but were so happy to

see her at her birthday party and here at the marathon cheering Dad on.

We were also thrilled to catch Madison in Igor Stravinsky's

Firebird.

What a wonderful production.  

Look for more pictures to come from the production.