Marion, NC

Yesterday, we drove a whopping 40 miles down the mountains to Marion, NC to attend the North Carolina State Samboree RV Rally with a bunch of friends from our local RV club, the Sams-O-Wake. We'll be staying here for the rest of the week enjoying a lot of socializing, looking at vendors and just plain having fun before returning home on Sunday. This will be our first time home in about 6 weeks but we'll only be there for a few days. Stay tuned...more to come.

Asheville, NC

Well, we're finally back in our home state again. We arrived in Asheville yesterday, made arrangements for today's activities and went out for my birthday dinner.

This morning, we went to Biltmore House where we spent several hours touring the estate on Segways - our second Segway experience of the trip. We rode the X2 offroad version and needed it as we rode over gravel paths and across fields and up and down hills. One stop gave us a unique view of the back of the Biltmore House from atop a large hill. What a fun experience!

In the afternoon we toured through the house seeing all four floors and the basement area. The last time we were here, only the first and second floors were open. There is a lot to see in this old home. We also toured the gardens which were in full bloom. Totally breathtaking. It costs a lot more to tour the Biltmore than it did 10+ years ago but it was worth every penny.

To make a perfect day even better, an old friend, Tom Lawton, picked me up at the RV and took me to a local old-time music jam where we spent the evening playing music. What a great way to end the day. Thanks, Tom!

Knoxville, TN

Our first stop today was the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN. We expected a small display of local arts and crafts but were completely surprised by the number of buildings (34) with most holding a vast collection of old artifacts and furnished rooms showing the life and times of the residents of the Appalacian Mountains. One building (my favorite) had displays of old musical instruments...fiddles, banjos, dulcimers, and even some very unusual instruments like an ironing board dulcimer and a banjo made out of a toilet seat. There were peacocks and turkeys roaming freely as we toured the various buildings. There was even a bluegrass band playing on one of the porches. A very interesting place indeed.

Our next stop was Oak Ridge, TN, that was built under a cloak of great secrecy during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. This is where the world's first atomic weapons were produced. We toured the American Museum of Science and Technology which, while interesting, was more of a children's learning area. We decided to drive around the Oak Ridge facility (which we heard was interesting) but instead led to a potential security risk to the USA! As we entered the Y-12 Site, we were informed by the guard that this was a secured area. "No problem," I said, "I'll just back up and do a u-turn." The guard said I had to wait to be 'escorted' out of the area. After having to fill out an information sheet, having my driver's licence scanned for their records, and having my hands and car scanned for explosive devices (no kidding!), a security vehicle showed up and escorted us as we did our u-turn. So much for our paranoid society and so much for wanting to tour the area.

From there we went somewhere a lot safer...Norris Dam. It was constructed in the mid-1930's as the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority. We got to drive across the dam (without being accused of anything) and visited several scenic overlooks. A very beautiful dam indeed.

Nashville, TN

This is Susan's second and my fourth time to Nashville, so we didn't go see the usual Grand Old Opry sites. Instead, we started the day with a visit to The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. We took a walking tour of the house and grounds plus a horse-drawn carriage tour of the back of the property where the crops grew, the water well still flows and the old slave quarters used to be. The house still has its original wallpaper and furnishings.

From there, we went to visit the Lane Motor Museum, without a doubt one of the most unique car collections we have ever seen. We found out about the museum from a friend's email about an old unusual car called a Helicron that is half car and half airplane (e.g. propellor powered) just one day before we went to Nashville. We just had to see it but, unfortunately, the Helicron was out on tour when we were there. But the other cars in the collection were so unusual and interesting that only seeing a model of the Helicron wasn't a real disappointment. If you ever get to Nashville, check this place out!


After dinner, we went to the Fort Negley Visitors Center where I got to play in an old-time music jam with the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association. I was surprised to see an old friend, Ed Gregory, that I had met at NashCamp several years ago. We played music for several hours and had a great time. Oh how I miss playing old-time...

Memphis, TN - Day 3

Our destination today was Beale Street - Memphis' Center for Southern Folklore. This three-block long area is packed with unique blues music bars, restaurants, shops and other blues related memorials and businesses. A few blocks away was The Peabody hotel where we watched its famous ducks enjoy their day in the elaborate lobby fountain. Then it was back to Beale Street where we had a delicious lunch at BB King's Blues Club. Then we hopped onto one of Memphis' famous Riverfront Trolleys where, for only 50 cents each, we enjoyed a relaxing trolley ride through the old riverfront area. Tomorrow will be a travel day for us as we head out for Nashville.

Memphis, TN - Day 2

After waiting for the morning rain to quit, we drove to downtown Memphis and boarded the faux sternwheeler Island Queen. I say faux because it was the river that caused the paddlewheel to turn instead of the other way round. Regardless, it took us on a scenic 1.5 hour cruise up and down the Mississippi River while we listened to narration about river life and local history.

Then we went to the National Civil Rights Museum and walked through a museum about the history of civil rights. The museum is located at the site of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated by James Earl Ray in April 1968. Across the street, we visited the room where the fatal shot was fired and even saw the rifle that was used in the killing.

Memphis, TN

This morning, we drove to the Graceland RV Park in Memphis, TN. The directions we were given said to turn in at the Heartbreak Hotel and drive to the end of Lonely Street. So we did. Three guesses as to where we spent the day. Give up? The Graceland Mansion...where else? What an interesting tour. We got to see two of the three floors of the mansion with displays of many of Elvis' awards and costumes, the Elvis Automobile Museum, his two private jets (the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II), plus several other special exhibits covering his Hollywood years, military service and pop culture. Of course, each of the areas exited into a different gift shop but that should come as no big surprise to any traveler. Before leaving the mansion, we stopped at the Meditation Garden to view the graves of Elvis and his family. Talk about good timing, as we left the last of the exhibits, the rain that we had been expecting finally hit but we were able to walk back to the RV before it got too heavy. Whew!