A Day at the Bush Gardens

After weeks of travel and sightseeing, we decided to take a day off for some frivolous fun.
At the end of the day, Matthew and Dad started riding a Roller coaster called the Loch Ness, and rode it 3 times before the park closed on us.  :)

Williamsburg Part 3

Blacksmith pictures:  Tools, working, and examples of the different types of nails used

Williamsburg Part 2

book binding:

Williamsburg Part 1

We loved Williamsburg, lots of costumes, authentic looking buildings, and lovely skits at the end of each day.

These poor children were locked up. :(

Jason Loved the Printing Press and the whole process.

Atlantic Ocean

Shenendoah

We took one day to drive half of Skyline Drive in Shenendoah. We quickly decided that we were still early in the season, as most of the trees on the upper half were bare and empty. The views of the valley below were very nice and green.


After driving half way through, we jumped off the skyline drive and walked through the forest and to a stream.

Monticello

Monticello has been one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Learning about Thomas Jefferson, his influencers as as well as his influence.
He had many inventions, many many writings, and his legacy: His Abode.

We enjoyed his house, as well as his gardens and surrounding trees and orchards.

the children on the immense rear lawn.

This is not the original grave marker, but has the same inscription.
Jefferson was most proud of his work on the Declaration of Independence.

Jason is thinking of reading some of the authors that influenced Thomas Jefferson, such as John Locke and Thomas Paine. :)

Smoky Mountain farm recreation

One of the other highlights for us in the Smoky Mountains was a re-creation of a farmstead. They recovered old farm buildings from around the valleys and put them together in one spot. Meat shed, barn, house, outhouse, corn house, etc.
This site wasn't staffed, but we were free to walk around and check it all out and read the signs.

Grist Mill

After we crossed the Smoky Mountains for the day, we found a Grist Mill on the North Carolina side.
It was a hot day, so splashing around in the water chute was a great idea. This mill was "turbine driven" instead of wheel drivin, and could do something like 12 horse power on a good day.
(Grinding Wheel:)


We were able to watch corn being ground, and on the way out, Jason bought a big bag of the corn meal.
We've had some cooked up for breakfast as mush, and everyone loved it.




Corn being fed into the grinder from a hopper:

We're newly inspired to checkout the Mill up in Washington this fall now. :)

Great Smoky Mountains

We spent a couple days at the Smokey Mountains. It was a beautiful place, but still during spring break on the east coast.
The eastern mountains aren't nearly as spectacular as the Rockys, but they have beautiful flowers and some nice rivers. (and a waterfall or two)
The main difference here is the type of trees. (from Jason's point of view)
We hiked a bit over a mile (all uphill) to see a waterfall.

On our drive, we also found a certain elevation that had some nice Trilliums, and they are distinctly different from the Western trilliums. (leaves are different shape, color inside, etc.)

We were a bit early for the higher elevation trees, but the ones that we did see showed nice colors. More reds and yellow/greens than we're used to.



It sounds like May is the best time in Spring for a visit, with trees all out, and full set of flowers blooming?

Memphis

We liked Memphis much more than Little Rock.
We had an RV site about 30 feet from the Mississippi river, and watched and heard the barges going up and down all day and night.

In town, we rode the trolley around town and the kids loved it. They are really old and wooden, and the controls seems to be from the 50's still.

We later took a ride on a modern sternwheeler and listened to an interesting local guide. Very windy, but a nice ride.



The town was quaint downtown, and was very nice with the trolleys and carriages running around.

We also watched the ducks waddle downstairs at a hotel downtown for fun.

I Have a Dream

While in memphis, we drove around and came across the National Civil Rights, built into the remains of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was shot.
We were not familiar with the story, so we learned a lot.  We did not tour the whole museum, just the entry / outside, and the giftshop.  We bought a couple books and watched the video, and the book that we all read was very educational and much less expensive. (Museums are typically charging $12 to $24 PER ADULT and $6.50 to $12 PER CHILD on this side of the Mississippi...)

Little Rock

The highlight of our night in Little Rock was eating out.
We arrived late, ~4:45 and after the visitors center had closed.
Jason did not like driving around the town, and we didn't know the area.  We decided to visit this restaurant below, which was back by our RV site.
On the way back, we got stuck in horrible freeway traffic and arrived late and hot.  It Turns out that a truck had lost it's load of "Pig Renderings" all over the freeway.

Anyways, by the time we arrived, we were hungry and ready for something good to eat. :)

We ate Pickled Onions and ate Catfish at a restaurant called "Cock of the Walk".
Sarah surprised us by being the first to try the pickled onions and really liking them.
(Yes, breath was bad afterwards!)

Outside was what looked like an albino Peacock? Is that where the name came from???

We also watched turtles outside in the pond.