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!

Travelin' The Great River Road

Yesterday was a travel day. We drove from Vicksburg, MS up to Robinsonville, MS (just below the MS/TN state line) where we're now staying in the Sam's Town Casino RV Park (the third largest gambling area in the USA). We can see two different casinos from our RV but we don't plan on donating money to either of them.

This morning, we drove along the Great River Road to Helena, Arkansas (known as the Main Street of the Blues) where we toured through the Delta Cultural Center (with historical displays of the lives of Delta inhabitants) and radio station KFFA, 1360 AM, where the King Biscuit Flour Hour (a famous live blues show) is broadcast.

Then we drove down to Clarksdale, Mississippi where we toured the Delta Blues Museum. It was suggested that we have lunch at the Ground Zero Blues Club that was just around the corner from the museum. Located in a very dilapidated part of town, it didn't look very attractive as you can see in the first picture but we went inside anyway. The inside was awesome! There were people's autographs and 'art' (drawings) covering everthing (walls, tables, chairs, columns, floor, you name it) and there were guitars (including one made from an old 5-gallon gas can) and other blues instruments hanging everywhere. This place is owned by Morgan Freeman and features live blues bands almost every evening. We enjoyed our lunch and won't soon forget this place.

Vicksburg, MS

We visited the Vicksburg National Military Park and hired a NPS guide to show us around the enormous park (over 16 miles of roadway). He drove our car and gave us a complete, detailed story of the entire Civil War battle as it unfolded throughout the area. There were numerous monuments, statues and plaques throughout the park with most of them sponsored by the Federal states (they did win after all).

Near the end of our three-hour tour, we stopped and looked at the U.S.S. Cairo - an ironclad ship that was sunk during the war and was recovered from the Mississippi River in the 1970's (almost exactly 100 years after it's sinking). The original guns, engines, and most of the hull were used to make the reconstructed ship. The tour was very informative indeed.

Natchez Trace Parkway

Today's travels took us along the Natchez Trace Parkway (which Susan described as the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains). It runs 444 miles from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN but we only did the first 87 miles so we could go to Vicksburg. It was a nice 2-lane 50 mph road with scenic spots along the way. There were a few sites we couldn't see due to narrow roads or low bridge clearances (we were driving the RV). Our favorite stop was at the Sunken Old Trace which is part of the original early 1800's road that has been preserved. Talk about a worn down path...

Natchez, MS Day 2

We spent today touring old homes in Natchez. The first three that we saw were only open for the town's annual Spring Pilgrimage event. They were Magnolia Hall (1858), Shields Town House (1860) and Airlie (1790) - each distinct in architecture and setting but all of them showing the opulence of the wealthy people of the times. After a delicious lunch at the Magnolia Grill located in Nachez Under the Hill (e.g. right on the Mississippi River), we drove out to see Mammy's Cupboard - a most unusual building indeed. From there, we toured Longwood, the largest octagonal house in America, which was started in 1859 by a wealthy cotton planter, Haller Nutt. Construction was stopped in 1861 due to the start of the Civil War and it was never completed. A most interesting place to see...

Natchez, MS

Despite the colder weather, we decided to start heading north today and will spend the next few nights in Natchez, MS. The RV park we're staying in is literally right on the Mississippi River and we have an awesome view of the river and Natchez from our site (here's Susan in front of the RV enjoying the view). After getting settled in, we went to the Natchez Visitor's Center and got tickets to their Spring Pilgrimage (tours of old homes only open once a year) - which we'll do tomorrow - and tickets for a horse-drawn carriage tour of historic Natchez that we took this afternoon.

Livingston, LA again

We liked Lakeside RV Park that we visited a few weeks ago so much that we decided to stay there again. Today, we drove back to the Great River Road area to visit some more old plantations. Our first stop was at the Laura Plantation, a Creole plantation dating back over 200 years. Our hour-long tour really covered a lot of the Creole history of the area.

A few miles down the road we visited Oak Alley Plantation that got its name from the twenty-eight evenly spaced oak trees planted in the early 1700's in two rows leading to the Mississippi River. These three-hundred year old oaks were simply awesome. The beautiful house was built in 1837 by a rich Creole sugar planter to take advantage of the view provided by the oaks. Again, we learned more about the history of the Creole people. We even sipped on a mint julep while sitting on the veranda. When in Rome...

On the Road Again

On Wednesday, 4/1, we decided to head North a bit so we went to Waco, TX for the next stop. The weather North of us didn't look good, so we decided to alter plans and go back South again. After a overnight rest in Willis, TX, our next stop was in Beaumont, TX. We visited a nice botanical gardens near the campground and did a little mall-walking. No pictures this time...sorry. This morning, we drove back to Lakeside RV Park in Livingston, LA (where we stayed a few weeks ago). Tomorrow, we hope to go see some more old homes and plantations in the New Orleans area. Then, on Monday, we'll start following the Mississippi River north for a while. Stay tuned...