Blue Ridge Parkway NC

Well, this Parkway is just wonderful. When we started we did not appreciate that it was a 470 mile long park, and we plan to drive around 400 of those miles by the time we are finished. We set off for this area a week ago, stopping to visit with an old friend of mine that I did my midwifery course with back in 1973, and actually last saw in '81 ~ but, as it is with old friends, we just picked up right where we left off, and greatly enjoyed our visit.

When we were in Asheville, NC we spent a long day touring the Biltmore Estate ~ described as a quiet “country getaway” by its owner ~ it was designed by Richard Morris Hunt for George Vanderbilt. It took 6 years to complete and was opened on Christmas Eve 1895.

This “little retreat” with its impressive entrance hall 7 stories high, happens to have 250 rooms, includes 65 bathrooms and in total has 12 acres under roof! This amazing and wonderful French Style Villa, houses unimaginable art treasures even today, and it was interesting to learn that during WWII The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC stored their priceless paintings and sculptures here, in an empty room, for safekeeping.
Every imaginable luxury/pastime was provided for guests, typically 30 at any given time. These included a bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, library, gun room for hunting parties, music room, and then of course there are the gardens to stroll in, or horses always at the ready to ride.
Can you just imagine the number of staff it took just to keep this home 'ticking over' not to mention the gardeners. The servants quarters alone is another story.....

As far as the eye can see, the landscape around this home appears to be naturally rolling forests, however George commissioned Frederick Law Olmested (same chap who designed Central Park in New York) to plant more than 3 million trees, taking 10 yrs. to complete.

On a MUCH smaller and intimate scale we spent another day walking around “Connemara” ~the estate of Carl Sandburg. ~ Sandburg was a well known poet, lecturer and Pulitzer-winning author. He was known for being “ The voice for the American people” and he and his wife spent 22 yrs. living on this quiet estate. I rather like the following quotation of his... “ It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness: to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, “ Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going ”

We are now meandering North along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, comprised of 81,000 acres, described as having unsurpassed diversity of climate, vegetation, and photographic zones. This Park has been open to the public for the past 75 years, Sadly, the majestic views are becoming more difficult to see due to a haze caused by pollution. The visibility today is now decreased by 40% in the winter and 80% in the summer months making it difficult to capture decent long distance photographs. However, it it not only about the beautiful views, but the feel to the air, the pine, woodsy smell, the sound of insects/songbirds/butterflies/babbling streams, or just the quiet reflection of a lake ~ the peace that one experiences when one just takes the time to “be still” and drink in the natural beauty that surrounds us, is just so soothing for the soul, yet we tend to miss this during all those years of ~ “living to work.”

With no timetable it has been refreshing to drive short distances stopping along the way to take hikes, have a picnic or just sit and enjoy the scenery .... yes life is good, it's 3 weeks on the road now and we are still friends!!

Click the photo of the "Ancient Vagabonds" for more.

Myrtle Beach and Brookgreen Gardens

What a delightful week we have had relaxing in the comfortable home of our dear friend Juanita. (For those of you who remember our Alaskan travels of 2009, Juanita is wife #2.) We are thoroughly enjoying the locally grown produce from the farmers markets ~ feasting on salad fixings, sweet corn, watermelon. Also enjoying the fresh fish, shrimp, and BBQ ribs.

We managed to avoid the holiday crowds by lying low over the 4th of July w/e, I was just delighted to have the Wimbleton finals to watch during the day. In the evening, with camping chairs slung over our shoulders, we walked the one mile down to Surfside Beach, where we enjoyed one of the best firework displays we have ever seen.

While the majority of the holiday makers were enjoying the beach, on the 5th and 6th, we happily explored "Brookgreen Gardens" which back in the 1850s was a rice plantation, owned by a Joshua John Ward. It was documented that in some years he harvested 4 million ~ yes I am correct when I say million ~ pounds of rice, thanks to the 1000+ slaves he "owned" at that time. (Is it any wonder that these wealthy men of the South were in fear of slavery being abolished, but I digress.)

In 1931 Archer and Anne Hyatt Huntington (not related to the Hyatt Hotel family) bought this land and created the beginnings of Brookgreen Gardens, and created an “Outdoor Sculpture Museum" and display garden. The complete collection comprises over 1200 works, spanning the entire period of American sculpture from the early 1800's to the present. But, only 500 sculptures are displayed at a time throughout the 50 acres of these gardens. The expansive lawns, serene flower gardens, and numerous lakes provides a haven for the numerous varieties of butterflies, birds and many small wild animals, all of which we enjoyed during our hours spent there. One’s senses are just delighted with lingering fragrances throughout the many flower gardens. While we ate our picnic lunch, beside one of the beautiful reflecting lakes, butterflies danced in the breeze and bull frogs serenaded us from afar.

Set apart in a corner of this "garden" is a Labyrinth, which we chose to walk, for it is said, that if one does, "it connects the past with the present and refreshes one’s soul".

This truly is a garden to revisit over the seasons, and not one to be missed for those passing this way.

Click the photo for more.

Charleston

Well, Savannah was very quaint, but Charleston is more Majestic and Grand, both cities just steeped in history. As before, we started off our sightseeing via a 90 min guided bus tour and then hoofed it on foot around the Historic District for a few hours. The abundance of wrought iron work around the homes was very interesting, it was a sign of wealth, and the double bowed staircases leading to the front doors was so the gentlemen could use one side and the ladies the other, it would have been most improper for a gentleman to see the ankles of a lady, if he did, it was expected that he would make a proposal of marriage! The cobblestones laid in the streets were once used as ballast in the ships coming over from England. For the return trip their holds were filled with tobacco, rice, indigo dye or cotton.

Trying to decide which home see in more detail was a challenge, as they are all so varied and interesting, however, we did choose one, the Nathaniel Russell House, widely recognized as one of America's most important "Neoclassical" dwellings, geometrically shaped rooms (oval, square, and rectangle on each of its 3 floors) and a magnificent free-flying staircase leading to all levels. (I could see myself living in this home back in the 1700's! (as the lady naturally, not as the staff!)

On our way to Myrtle Beach, we stopped at one of the Plantations in Charleston, called “Boone’s Farm Plantation”, the grand home is still occupied, and the land still being used as a small farm, the produce from which we are presently enjoying with some home cooking, which after a week of eating on the road is pretty tasty. It was a most educational experience ~ History came alive for us, especially the slave history and we could actually visualize ourselves there as one of the slaves. In one of their original cabins there were finger imprints in the handmade bricks in the fireplace hearth..... all rather humbling.

The slave art of Sweetgrass basket weaving is still done to this day ~ a typical basket is priced from $90-$300 ~ and only found in the Charleston area. Like lots of other dying arts, the baskets are expected to increase in value so, we were advised that if we bought one, not to let the kids get rid of it in a garage sale after we pass on, but rather we should mention it in our will for it to be kept in the family! Good salesmanship but still very interesting! I am making a list of books I want to read, to enhance our visit here in the South.

There just was not enough time to see it all, so we didn't try; instead we have decided to spend more time in Charleston on our return trip in Sep. The reason we did not stay longer at this time was due to it being the 4th of July holiday w/e, so, instead of being caught up in all the crowds, we are quietly relaxing in Myrtle Beach at our dear friend, Juanita's, home (she is back in Denali Park Alaska, working again until Sep). As part of our “down time” we are enjoying watching the Wimbledon finals. Ron is presently off at a Stock Car Race while I am enjoying some knitting time.

One week into the trip ~ driven 900 miles ~ walked 30 miles.

Click the photo for more.

Southern Hospitality at its Best

So here we are at the beginning of our 3-month road trip, with our first stop in Savannah, a 7 hour drive from Anna Maria Island.

We found this quaint old city ~ which really had more of a “town” feel ~ to be absolutely delightful. Our first glimpse of the historic downtown area was a trolley tour, giving us an overview of the city before deciding which areas to explore on foot later in the day. It was a good opportunity to appreciate the history and architecture of the Savannah’s 22 squares in the Old Historic Downtown District. We found the layout of squares with their trees, grand homes and beautiful gardens to be just enchanting.

It really is all about the trees ~ huge live oaks ~ massively draped in Spanish moss. The squares each had a charm of their own, with statues or water fountains as added features. We actually walked 14 of these lovely squares, continually finding something to delight us.

We experienced our first taste of southern cooking from Paula Deans restaurant (arch enemy to Weight Watchers)...... oh my how do those southern gals manage to keep their figures, as it truly is 'finger licking good'.

The old Colonial Park Cemetery which is right in the middle of this district was both sobering, because we both realized we are more than twice the age of most of the deceased, and fascinating because many of the head stones had been defaced (by the changing of dates/details)during the Civil War when the troops were garrisoned there.

We have had a wonderful "Couch Surfing" experience, first night staying with George and Jake. George was a restaurateur for 10 years and treated us to a most delicious gourmet dinner, with classical music playing in the background; it was most charming and entertaining. In addition to tending his own extensive flower and vegetable garden (oh and did I mention hens), George is also know as “The Gardner” to some of the historic, downtown gardens.

Our 2nd and 3rd nights were spent with Nancy ~ a friendly gentle lady, her friendly dog and shy cat, ~ in her farmhouse, again another knowledgeable gardener, on the lovely "Isle of Hope"…such a charming community and again another wonderful experience. We enjoyed our stay in both of these homes enormously.

Click the photo to see more.

Autumn in Denali

Well, we are winding down now with only a few days left, however, we just had to share with you our "fall season" which has occurred over the past couple of weeks. As with most of our photos taken here in Denali, we find it very difficult to fully capture the wonder and grandeur of this beautiful park. Click the photo to see some more.

We awaken most mornings now with temps in the low 40’s or high 30's but have been fortunate for the past few days to savor midday 70's before the evening coolness creeps back once again. Autumn is truly here; the reds and yellows have burst forth and painted the tundra and mountains with a glorious patchwork. Ron, on an early morning hike a couple days ago, noticed how some parts of local streams are freezing at night. And, how some of the glacier-fed streams are turning clear as the temp drops and the glaciers stop thawing so the streams are now being fed instead by snow melt and rain. We have also been watching how the Ptarmigan, that were all white in May and turned brown after we arrived, are now turning white again. Winter is just around the corner!

The "Black Bear" is a coffee house across the street, where I occasionally go to enjoy a quiet moment and a "decent" cup of coffee and read, however I found myself yesterday content enough to just feast my eyes on the autumn changes in the surrounding mountains ~Yes I will miss the clear crisp air which I am sure will be most noticeable when we exit the plane at Tampa on Sept 30th.

We had a treat last week.......a free opera evening in the lobby of the Princess Hotel....... staring baritone David Cangelosi. He truly deserved the standing ovation ~ we heard ballads sung in Italian, French, German as well as English....he actually brought a tear to my eye when singing "Oh Danny Boy."

It is strange that our "constant daylight" no longer exists; it is truly dark now by 10pm. However, we have yet to see the "Northern Lights.” It has been either too cloudy or the moon too bright…we do hope that we get a chance to see them before we leave.

Everyone is gearing up for departure ~ deciding what clothing to donate to the hardy locals who tough it out year round and mailing boxes of accumulated stuff home. We have our paperwork submitted for our train ride to Anchorage and are blowing the dust off the suitcases. The air is filled with folk calling out their farewells.... So with this, we too will bid our goodbye to the Magic of Denali.

This has been a fabulous adventure and we hope you have enjoyed sharing it with us. Stay tuned for the next one – yet to be determined.

Salmon Fishing

So, Les, one of the bartenders in our bar, is also a fishing guide. He is a local, a bit of a character and calls himself an “Eskimo.” Five of us (Mary, myself, our friend Juanita and another young couple) decide to go fishing with Les to try our luck. We all set off one morning, in pouring rain so Mary wimps out and stays home, for the two-hour drive south to the closest salmon river from us near the town of Talkeetna. We all pile into Les’s beat-up old van and go flying down the road with all the gear, a cooler of ice and of course Les’s shotgun because there have been bear sightings lately near Montana Creek, our destination.

After buying our licenses, we wondered downstream to try our luck. By this time the weather has cleared and the sky was clear and blue like only it can in Alaska. There were lots of fish in the creek, some swimming upstream to spawn and others dead and floating downstream having competed their responsibility. I was using a fly rod and reel for the first time…a little tricky to begin but I quickly got the hang of it. We were using single hook spinners and began catching right from the beginning, however, they were all small pink salmon and we had expected to catch a few large silver kings. After a couple of hours of catch and release I suppose the group had caught about 25 or so. We then moved on to the mouth of the creek and found even more fish available…it really is quite spectacular to see all these fish making their way upstream.

We spent the remainder of the day catching fish along some of the most pristine scenery I have seen. We did see fresh signs of bear…tracks and scat (full of berry seeds…the food of choice this time of year)…so we kept the gun handy. Toward the end of the day we started keeping the biggest pinks so we could take a few back. It was a great day.

A couple of nights later the cook in the hotel restaurant grilled of few of the salmon and we all had a evening snack in the bar. It was a great day and another of the wonderful adventure we have experienced this summer.

Click the photo above to see a few more from the day.

Christmas in the Park

On Aug 25th we celebrated "Christmas." Apparently, back in the early 1900's some guests were stranded in Yellowstone by an early snowstorm, so, the resort workers decided to have a Christmas party to keep the folks entertained and the practice of "Christmas in the Park "continues toady at all the National Parks. Ours started off on the 23rd when our dining hall was decked out with red and green streamers, balloons and a Christmas Tree with an invitation posted on the bulletin board to gather for the making of paper snowflakes that evening which later completed the decorations (the genuine snowflakes had already fallen producing a dusting of snow on the nearby lower mountain range which we have hiked in the past.)

Dec 24th was the "cookie decorating" gathering...... neither event were we able to participate in due to our work schedules, however, we did get to enjoy the turkey dinner with all the trimmings on the 25th. ..... So, that brought us to "Boxing Day" 26th, our regular scheduled day off, we took a 7 mile hike to "walk off" the calories from the previous day's over indulgence. It was a raw cold day, the kind where you can see your breath and one needed scarf, gloves and several insulating layers, however, over a period of several hours while hiking through the wooded trails, the rain eventually stopped making for a very pleasant day. After a short nap! we had a night out at the Princess Hotel (our competition ) for a dinner/show musical evening, before calling it a day.

We are still hoping to see "The Northern Lights" before we leave, though they are more commonly seen during the winter months, ~ it is all a matter of having perfect conditions, that being ~ a clear night .......lately it has been socked in heavy rain cloud, however, we really can't complain as overall the temp has been unseasonably warm these past 3 months. Each day now there are more and more employees leaving with a noticeable decrease in the noise level in the dining room ~ we will be off ourselves on the noon train for Anchorage on Sept 17th, it really feels strange now realizing we only have three more weeks left. Has the summer gone quickly? ....No I don't think so..... but it has definitely been a fun adventure, where we feel very lucky to have immersed ourselves in such majestic beauty and awesome wildlife.