From the Low Country to the High Country

Last weekend we drove from Charleston, South Carolina to Asheville, North Carolina...the coast to the mountains - about 260 miles of a major change in the landscape!  We heard on the news that the President and Mrs. Obama were in Asheville for the weekend, also,  We heard that they stood in line for a half hour (give or take) for lunch at a little bitty place - 12 Bones BBQ - just down the road from our campground.  The Obamas stayed at the Grove Park Inn (we saw the place on a tour - wow!) and they had dinner at a very unassuming restaurant called the Corner Kitchen (they dined at the table just inside the top front window).

We understand that Tiger Woods was also here in Asheville at the beginning of the week to oversee the design plans for his soon-to-be signature golf course.  Oh, and then we were passed on the street by (left to right) actress Andie McDowell (trust me - I saw her face and heard her voice!), her 15-year old daughter and Andie's friend or sister - oh, yeah...we are so where it's at!

When we got to our campground , I took this picture from the back of our campsite...

...and then we took off for a nice drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway...

I think Denny did a great job of capturing the mountains and the valley below! 

A few days ago, we took a tour of the Biltmore Estate and the neighboring Biltmore Village; we were out all day, but it seemed only a moment.  In fact, I still feel locked in the era of the late 1880's to the early 1900's - it must have been a magical time.  See for yourself!

We were only allowed to take exterior pictures.... this is, of course, the Biltmore House; a 250-room French chateau, completed in 1895 by the then 33-year-old bachelor, George Washington Vanderbilt.  George brought his new bride, Edith, here after their 4-month honeymoon in Europe in 1898.  Can you imagine turning the corner and seeing this little mountain villa for the first time?!

Before our 2+ hour tour of the home, we toured the gardens...

...here is Denny on the azalea trail.

I call this "Wisteria Lane"

Denny took this shot of the azaleas....we walked up that sidewalk and the plants were shoulder-height!

I love this angle of the tulips in the walled garden.  I was told that they are about to pull the tulips up and plant snapdragons and poppies - oh, what a glorious sight that will be!

This shows one of the many garden areas around the house.

Vanderbilt house cats?!  No, just gargoyles.

After our tour, we had a terrific lunch in the Stable Cafe.  Yes, we ate in the horse barn!

On the way home that day, we drove through Biltmore Village, which has shops and cottages built by good ol' George, back in the day.  He also built, and worshipped in, the Cathedral of All Souls (Episcopal).  This beautiful church was consecrated in 1896. 

Dear old George died in 1914, at the age of 51, from complications of a ruptured appendix.  He left behind his wife of 16 years and his 13-year-old daughter, Cornelia.  Their daughter was born in the Biltmore House, as were her 2 sons (now in their 80's).  Cornelia's sons and their children (and grandchildren) keep the house open to the public every day of the year.  We were told that 4,000 people visit it every day.  I, for one, am thankful that they do so...it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens - oh, my!

I hadn't planned to write again so soon, but we saw the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens today and I couldn't help but share!  This old rice plantation has been the ancestral home of the Drayton family - without interruption - since 1676...think on that!  During the Civil War, the Union cavalry burned down the majority of the house; only the ground level remained.  So the family moved a house from another property (actually floated it down the river in sections!) and incorporated it onto the old homestead, and this is what it has looked like for the past 140+ years:

The family have been avid conservationists throughout the years, and the gardens are world famous.  [Apparently, this is one of the Top 25 Most Visited Historic Houses in America - perhaps you've seen it?!]  We toured the grounds for almost 2 hours and, needless to say, our cameras were very busy.

Natural beauty was all around us; and there was an easy, relaxed air about the place...it was all so southern!  And then we saw this glorious albino peacock

- well, glory be, it jes' looked to me like an angel had descended from the heavens, dahlin'!

Thank goodness we leave for North Carolina tomorrow; that 'suthun' accent could become permanent! 

Later, y'all  =]

Note to Self: Be in the Moment!

It seems as though we've been going non-stop since we arrived in Charleston on the 17th. 

There is so much to do and to see here - and the weather has been amenable to every last outing!

If the scores on the golf course weren't terrific, the views certainly were!  We have loved the Spanish Moss hanging in the live oaks everywhere across the southern states we've seen so far.  The effect seems somehow cool and sultry at the same time.

I always enjoy exploring a cemetery.  This view is through the gate at the French Protestant (Huguenot) Church, circa 1845.  Many of the headstones are so old and worn, they are unrecognizable.  There are many beautiful churches in Charleston; the earliest being St. Michael's Episcopal Church (1761) - it's reported that both George Washington and Robert E. Lee worshipped there when in the area.

These 2 lovely Easter-colored cottages were just a sampling of the abodes we discovered along the avenue bordering Waterfront Park.  I took so many pictures of the yellow one on the corner, I was afraid they'd come and arrest me for stalking the place!  = ]

This lovely fountain, with the pineapple representing 'hospitality,' says it all for us.  Charleston has been a wonderfully welcoming city.

One of the negatives of being a 'full-time RV'er' is that you are, in a way, on vacation all the time.  Now, that may not sound like a bad thing, but it is if you feel as though you should be investigating your surroundings ...all...the...time.  It feels wrong somehow for us to just stay home!  We seem to be always going, seeing, doing; or else we are planning our next move and what we will go, and see, and do when we get there.  It can be exhausting.  Denny and I had a nice talk this morning over coffee about remembering to 'be in the moment;' to slow down and smell the roses.  We had a lovely day doing nothing - like grocery shopping, checking out the area mall, and just enjoying our campground.  Sometimes the most mundane moments can be the sweetest.

And nothing could be sweeter than my dear Denny - that's him in his Ian Poulter cap checking his email...

Here's to the good times; the busy and the lazy ones!

Love and Hugs,

The Featherstones

Living on the Edge

We've been hugging the coastline during the last several days.  In Georgia, we have been staying at the River's End Campground & RV Park on Tybee Island.  The campground sits at the convergence of the Savannah River and the Atlantic Ocean.  We've really enjoyed our evening walks on the beaches...checking out the seagulls...
 

...and the interesting sights on the beach - these are shell-encrusted pier remnants, we think.

Denny, my lighthouse groupie, was delighted to be able to tour the Tybee Lighthouse Museum. 

Oh, and then there was this delightful little beach house we ran across...

Wow, wouldn't THAT be a nice spot to hang your hat!!  =]

We've also reeeeeeeallly enjoyed being only 20 miles from Savannah's Historic District.  We took a trolley tour, thoroughly delighting in the narrative; and then did it again and got off a few times to look a little more closely at some of the sights.  This is what we saw...

Forsyth Fountain

The Mercer-Williams House...it was the home of Johnny Mercer's grandfather.  Johnny wrote the song, "Moon River," among others. (The house was highlighted in the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt)

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - the oldest Catholic church in Georgia (terrific picture, Denny!)

...and then there was this house - I don't know much about it, I just LOVE it!!

Today we took a little day trip up the coast to South Carolina to see the lovely retirement home of some friends of ours on Hilton Head Island.  We won't show the pictures of the property in case this blog lands on 'Entertainment Tonight' or something...ya gotta protect your friends!!  Anywho, we did find the island breathtakingly beautiful.  We walked along the beach and snapped some shots of sights and views of Port Royal Sound....

no, I said it's not theirs!  This is 'one of the fancy dancy houses!'

 And here is my handsome husband, Dennis!

In a few days we head north to Charleston, North Carolina.  We met a lovely woman from Charleston on a tour when we were in Natchez, Mississippi.  She had a warm, friendly personality and she just loved to brag on Charleston!  We'd heard about a certain rivalry between the citizens of Savannah and Charleston, but really saw it come to life as this exhuberant woman announced to one and all that "whatever you see in Savannah...well, just multiply that by 1000 and you'll have Charleston, y'all!" 

All of this southern talk makes me think of the recent passing of a beautiful belle, Dixie Carter.  Rest in peace, Miz Sugarbaker, you will be missed!

Images of our Last Few Days

Since leaving Natchez, Mississippi a few days ago, we feel as though we haven't given our cameras a rest! Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we stopped at the Oak Alley Plantation for lunch and a tour. This was the place that we'd heard was a location for filming 'Gone With the Wind' - not so, apparently, but we could see why someone thought it might have been....

In about 1720 someone planted these 28 live oak trees. 100 years later, the plantation was built as the country home for Mr. Roman and his young bride. This would have been the entrance as guests arrived from steamboats coming down the Mississippi River.

I'm tall, but these rhododendrons are crazy tall!

...can you believe the size of these yucca plants?!?!?!

This is the back of the house...er, mansion.

A view from the 1st floor balcony to the Mississippi.

In New Orleans, we really were quite pleasantly surprised. The devastation of Katrina is still evident in parts of the city, but St. Charles Avenue's beautiful homes, the French Quarter, and the walkways along the Mississippi River by the steamboat were all cleaned up. The city is clearly happy for the incoming visitors as we were welcomed with open arms.

You can just see Andrew Jackson's statue in Jackson Square between the street and St. Mary's Cathedral. The streets were just watered down because there was a film crew shooting in the area. Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman are doing a film called "Red" - we saw the film crew, not the stars.

This lovely statue of the baby Jesus with Mary was brought to New Orleans by 12 Ursuline nuns. They established a cloistered convent there in the early 1700's.

Upon this balcony, Elvis Presley was filmed in the movie, "King Creole." (you can see that Dennis is extremely excited about that fact...or maybe not)

...saving the best for last: Beignets and Cafe au Lait from

Cafe du Monde!!! Oh yeah, tasted as good as they look!

We are amazed at how much ground we cover in any given day since leaving Texas. My good friend, Nancy Evans, told me recently of a sign she saw in a saloon in Post, Texas years ago that read, "the sun has ris, the sun has set, and here I is in Texas yet!" Well, yesterday we travelled only 200 miles but were in 4 states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Tomorrow we head out for Savannah, Georgia where we'll 'reside' for about a week while taking in the area. April has been a wonderful month for travelling these southern states; the temperatures have been mild and the air dry. We hope you are having a splendid springtime!

Until next time,

Lori & Dennis

Ramblin' by the River

We've had a great beginning to our 2nd year as 'full-timers.' We learned while watching a local news station out of Shreveport that the tri-state area in northeastern Louisiana is referred to as "The ArkLaTex." We tasted fried pickled green tomatoes for the first time and liked 'em. We found that the correct way to pronounce Natchitoches is "Nagatish." (This is a town in Louisiana that was established in 1714...and is located due east of Nacogdoches, Texas...which is pronounced, I believe, just the way you would suppose - except the 'g' is silent!)

After following a suggestion of Denny's son, Denny, we decided to stop for a few days in Natchez, Mississippi. It was a terrific idea, Den - thanks for the tip! Our campground is wonderful; it sits right on the bank of the Mississippi River in Vidalia, Louisiana, across from Natchez. We thoroughly enjoy watching the barges moving along the river. Actually, just watching the river is pretty impressive in itself. We like to get out and walk on the paved walkway along the bank of the river. Between all the activity on the water itself and the goings-on of the campers (volleyball, swimming/hot tubbing, picnicking, etc.), I can't think of a better place to take in the sights.

This morning we were enveloped in a thick fog. As it began to clear, the fog hung close to the surface of the water. This was the view of the water traffic...

Yes, that is a barge nestled into that fog! Later on, after the fog had long cleared and we'd returned to the campground from our explorations, I snapped this shot near the same spot on the river...

The Mighty Mississipi is a busy place, no matter the weather! We spent Saturday on a city tour called the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage. People from all over the world come to experience the month-long festivities, and they've been doing so since 1932. We enjoyed listening to our bus driver, James, fill us in on some of the history of Natchez, as he delivered us to several antebellum homes. The homes (mansions!) were glorious and the tour guides, decked out in period dress, entertained us with stories of the families that lived here...fascinating!

Longwood was one such home. Unfortunately, it was never completed. The 6-story, 30,000 square foot octagonal-shaped home to the Nutt family was begun in 1860. The basement was the only level that had been completed by the time the Civil War began. The builders and their workforce had come down from the northeast; when they heard news of the war, they literally dropped their tools and went home. Mr. Nutt died 4 years later of a stroke (at age 48). Julia, his widow, raised their 8 children and remained in the home until her death in 1897. Now, it is true that they lived in the basement, but it was 10,000 square feet of absolute opulence! My camera could not capture the beauty of this home; you'll have to check it out for yourself. =]

The grounds at Longwood are spectacular as well, as was the case all over town. The azaleas are beginning to show themselves, as well as tulips and wisteria. I loved the combinations of flowers with the live oaks covered in hanging moss.

We've only just scratched the surface of this area, but our time here is running out. We'll attend Easter service on Sunday at the beautiful Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez. The following day we'll be off to New Orleans. Someone mentioned that we could see Twelve Oaks (Ashley Wilkes' home in "Gone With the Wind") during that portion of our trip. We'll look into it and let you know!

No Foolin' - we are moving on!

This morning ended our 6-month stay in central Texas. As we prepared to pull out of our Lake Travis campground winter home, I had to convince our friends in the office that our leaving was no "April Fool" joke. My dear, sweet Denny apparently inherited his father's wanderlust and the road has been calling his name.

In spite of all the fun we've had; and maybe because of it, it was hard for me to leave. Poor Denny glanced over at me as we looked back at Round Rock in our rear view mirror and he saw a few tears sliding down my face. Don't get me wrong; I am excited to the 'nth' degree about the new adventures we'll have visiting the southeastern portion of the United States. I was just missing folks...already!

We've had such a grand time with family and friends; we are truly blessed. Being present to sing "Happy Birthday!" to my daughter, my mother, and Denny's son-in-law, Rick; in addition to all the walks, talks, meals and moments we've had with dear ones - these are all gifts we so enjoy and for which we are extremely thankful!

Today we put in about 300 miles between dinner and breakfast - yes, one can most assuredly travel all day and still be in the great state of Texas! We are stopping for the night in Carthage, just shy of Louisiana. We hope to outrun a rainstorm that is apparently following our path - about a day or so behind us. This is one of those times when we hope that the weathermen are wrong! One cannot always have sunny skies, though, and wonderful things can come from rainy days.

The byways that we travelled today teased us with a smattering of wild flowers; a hint of the colorful array that is forecast for the coming weeks. The bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and what I call 'black-eyed Susans' should be fantastic after the rains of spring. While we'll miss all of that, we anticipate a lovely display of azaleas and dogwood near Savannah and Charleston....and who knows what else? We'll have to have our cameras ready for all that is in store!

Here is a funny shot of Denny as he parked his rig in a truckers' parking lot in Buffalo, Texas. We think we're pretty cool with our big truck as we cruise down the road...this kind of puts things in perspective, eh?!?

Just the look on his face makes it all worth while, though! =]

Happy Easter, everyone; enjoy your springtime surprises.

Life is blossoming all around you!