Dreher Island State Park, South Carolina

Friday July 19^th. In the evening we returned to the Majestic Theater to see the show called, “America’s Hit Parade”. In addition to four of the cast from the Soul of Motown show, the Hit Parade had four additional female performers and one male performer. The male was an Elvis impersonator and you could say the lead performer, but neither show billed any one of the cast as the headliner. The Hit Parade covered songs from the 50’s up to the 80’s. The performers sang and danced in costumes to match the songs, this made some skits like The Village People’s “YMCA” hilarious. It was a very good show, but after having just seeing the Motown show the night before this one seemed tamer. This is no refection on the cast; it was probably because the “white but polite” audience was silent except for the appropriate applauses.

On Saturday July 20^th we left Pigeon Forge and the state of Tennessee via I-40. The interstate passes thru the mountains just north of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It meanders thru the mountains rather than making a dramatic gap crossing like Newfound or the Cumberland but it is a very scenic ride just the same. Like a lot of mountain valleys this one has a wild river running down it and the road is adjacent to it most of the way. At the Apex of the mountains we entered North Carolina and drove the 90+/- miles thru the state to the South Carolina border without stopping.

Entering South Carolina we had to accept the realization that the New England trip aka the Honeymoon trip is almost over and we will be home soon. Not that living at the beach is any kind of hardship; we do consider Myrtle Beach to be pretty near paradise.

We decided not to spend the tail end of the trip as a long drive down the interstate so we deviated just west of Columbia and got a site at Dreher Island State Park. The park campground is on a small island; our motorhome is backed into a site just steps from Lake Murray. We will spend two nights here before running the remaining 150 miles to our home.

Pigeon Forge Tennessee

Wednesday July 17 we said goodbye to Paul and Betty and the beautiful mountain region where they live. We drove 150 miles to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and the tourist destination area called Pigeon Forge. I have for a long time been misinformed about the rise of the area as a tourist destination. Country Singer Dolly Parton’s roots are in nearby Sevierville and her name is used on one of the attractions synonymous with Pigeon Forge, Dollywood.

I always assumed Dollywood was the start of the tourist industry here. The area was very isolated until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created nearby in 1934. Gradually overtime a few tourist venues were opened along Rt 441 the road to the park thru Pigeon Forge. In 1982 the town initiated an aggressive development plan that centered on the tourist industry. In 1985 the owners of an existing attraction called Silver Dollar City approached Ms. Parton and proposed a partnership in the promotion and operation of Silver Dollar City. Dolly became a minor partner and the park was renamed Dollywood. 

Anyhow visitors today are not likely to meet many people who remember the isolated mountain hamlet of long ago. Rt. 441 still runs thru Pigeon Forge but it is now a 6 lane highway with endless outlet malls, restaurants, hotels, music venues and attractions of all sorts. It’s kind of like Myrtle Beach without the beach.

On Thursday evening we went to the Grand Majestic Theater to see a show called “Soul of Motown”. The very talented cast of five men and one woman sang and danced for 2 ½ hours in a tribute show to all the legends of Motown. Millie and I enjoyed the show beyond our expectations, in part due to the tour bus load of Afro-Americans that we were seated with. In black theater, audience participation is both expected and encouraged, so as you can imagine our seating section was the liveliest.

Friday July 19 Driving east from Pigeon Forge we passed through the town of Gatlinburg on our way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Approximately 15 miles into the park (all uphill) you reach the scenic overlook at Newfound Gap. In addition to the panoramic view the overlook is the location of the Tennessee/ North Carolina border and the spot where President F.D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940.  You can also walk on part of the Appalachian Trail at the Newfound Gap.

Tonight we are going back to the Majestic Theater to see another show, this one called America’s Hit Parade. It is billed as “A singing and dancing sensation taking you through all the greatest hits of the decades”.

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia

On Sunday (July14) we left the Dixie Caverns campground and drove about a hundred miles to a National Park Service campground called Grindstone. It is located in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in the southwest corner of Virginia. This is a very mountainous region and is the site of the highest point in Virginia which is 5729 feet above sea level. Grindstone is in an old growth forest, the tall trees and the canopy of green leaves only allowing speckled sunlight on the rhododendrons and moss covered boulders below.  The rhododendrons are flowering right now; dressing the mountain in its summer best, especially scenic is down by the campground wading pool. Cool spring water bubbles its way down the rocky stream bed to fill the sparkling pool. On weekends when the campground fills with families, intrepid youngsters will brave the pool of crisp mountain water and swear it’s not cold even as their lips turn blue.

Grindstone is one of the nicest campgrounds I’ve ever been in. Millie and I haven’t discussed it’s rating on our 1-5 scale but in spite of it not having internet, cell phone service, cable TV or full utility hookups, I think we will still rate it very high.

After setting up our campsite we drove about 6 miles to visit Millie’s sister Betty and her husband Paul. They have a blueberry grove on their property and Millie and I picked 3 gallons of berries in about an hour.

On Monday (July 15) we drove to Damascus Virginia to an outfitter where we rented bicycles and arranged for a shuttle to the summit of White Top Mountain. An almost 18 mile section of the Virginia Creeper Trail runs from White Top to the town of Damascus, and here’s the good part, it is a wide smooth old railroad bed  and all downhill! The first ten miles is an average 6 degree decline and you use brakes most of the time, rarely pedaling at all. The rest is still down hill at about 2 degrees and requires occasional casual pedaling. Most of the route is thru National forest and is very scenic as it follows a river down the mountain. We crossed over approximately 25 trestles and bridges as the trail switched from one side of the river to the other. Part of the Appalachian Trail follows the Creeper trail so we saw some of the back pack trekkers walking their way south to Georgia. We also met hikers, horse back riders and a few folks with questionable mental capabilities. The last group were easy to spot, they were the bicyclist’s who where pedaling uphill!

I’m giving the Virginia Creeper trail my highest recommendation, it takes about four hours to traverse the down hill section and it is very easy to do, we saw families with kids as young as 5-6 pedaling their own bikes, younger kids behind a parent on a tandem bike and a toddler in a  bike trailer. There are several outfitters in Damascus offering bike rentals and shuttle service, there are at least two rest stop facilities along the trail and a trailside restaurant at about the half way point.

                                        Junction of Virginia Creeper and Appalachian Trails

When we got off the trail we called Paul and Betty and made arrangements to meet them at a Mexican restaurant in Chilhowie. After our long day on the trail Millie and I both ate our entire dinner, something we rarely do. Most of the time we take half of our restaurant meals home with us.

Tuesday (July 16) we enjoyed the campground taking the girls for several walks. We also visited Paul and Betty again where I used their internet service to make reservations at our next destination. Betty made a delicious homemade pizza which we savored alfresco on their porch; afterwards we had a desert of ice cream and blueberry pie made with fruit from their berry patch.

PA-MD-WV-VA

Saturday July 13, 2013. We’ve spent two more days’ traveling south. Since the last posting we’ve left New York and traveled into Pennsylvania spending Friday night at the Hershey Thousand Trails Campground. The Hershey TT Campground is one of the crown jewels of this membership campground company and it is always clean and inviting.

Today we traveled a little over 300 miles down I-81 passing thru Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. As it passes thru Virginia I-81 parallels Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is one of our favorite roads. The Virginia section of I-81 has panoramic vista’s that are as spectacular as any we’ve seen in the country.

We are overnighting in a small campground behind a tourist attraction called Dixie Caverns. It’s not much to look at, actually a little shabby, but it is reasonably priced and has cable TV with over 70 channels! 

Tomorrow we move on to Mount Rogers National Recreation area, we plan on staying there for a few days. Millie has family in the area that we will visit, we also hope to rent bikes and ride the Virginia Creeper Trail.

Maine to New Hampshire to Vermont to New York

July 10/11 2013. Not much to report we are in driving mode, covering about 500 miles in the last two days. Our first day we traveled 200+/- miles from Bar Harbor Maine west to Lancaster New Hampshire. 

We stayed in a large almost empty campground, the campground roads were paved but the ground was very saturated. The owner directed us to a site that was fairly solid ground. It rained all night and I was concerned about leaving in the morning but we didn’t have any trouble.

Day two we drove the rest of the way west across New Hampshire and then turned south on I-91 in Vermont. The interstate meanders thru mountains and valleys as it follows the Connecticut River. It is one of the most scenic turnpikes we’ve seen. At the bottom of Vermont we turned west again drove the width of Vermont and entered New York State. 

After a 300+/- mile run today we are overnighting in a small campground that boarders the Susquehanna River. It is the head waters of the same Susquehanna that flows thru Pennsylvania and Maryland before emptying in the Chesapeake Bay. Now that I think about it we were at the Chesapeake Bay terminus of this river earlier in this trip. It was in the June 11 blog posting, we walked out to the Turkey Point lighthouse where five rivers converge to form the head of the bay. The Susquehanna is one of those five; the other four rivers are The Elk, The Bohemia, The Sassafras, and The Northeast.

                                            Southern terminus of Susquehanna River at Turkey Point Maryland

The travel plan for the next few days is Pennsylvania tomorrow, stopping at the Hershey Thousand Trails Campground, Virginia the next day, overnighting near Staunton around the beginning of Skyline Drive and then Grindstone Campground in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area down in the Southwestern corner of Virginia.

Arcadia National Park, Maine

Sunday July 7 2013. We found the Boston area to be very interesting and you could easily spend an entire vacation there, but it was time for us to move on. I-95 is the most direct route for the first half of our 200+/- mile journey to Arcadia National Park in Maine. Soon we were passing thru long sections of undeveloped forest; it didn’t take long for us to realize there are more trees than people in Maine. I suspect the reason is the harsh winters for it is a beautiful place and you’d think more people would be living here.

About half way to Arcadia we stopped in the town of Gardiner and met with an army comrade of mine, Bob Lamarre and his wife Nancy.  Bob and I have corresponded via the internet but this was our first face to face meeting, I look forward to meeting guys from “our” war, we have a bond that transcends time and it’s always good to see them. 

It is an interesting story of how the internet expands our lives, Bob and I both served with the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam but not at the same time. He left country several days before I got there. It wasn’t until 35+/- years later that we made contact on the 195^th’s website. The commonality between us was Bob’s brother Larry who also served in the 195^th and whom I knew very well. Unfortunately Larry Lamarre succumbed to leukemia some years ago.

After our all too brief visit we continued on to Arcadia National Park. Arcadia is everything you’ve heard about it. It is one of the most scenic wildernesses we’ve ever seen. The thousands of acres of woodlands are located on an island set in the rocky shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Centerpiece of the park is Cadillac Mountain, you can drive to the summit which is 1500 feet above sea level,. Once there you can hike amongst the rocky outcroppings and take in spectacular views of the park and surrounding islands as well as the Atlantic Ocean.

On Mount Desert Island but just outside the park boundary is the small town of Bar Harbor or as the Mainers say it “Ba Haba”.  It is the quintessential tourist town and I must add a very well done version. It has a history dating to the 1700s, preserved waterfront business district; the stores now vending merchandise for the visitors, a vibrant restaurant scene, whale watching charter boats and a water view public park. Millie and I enjoyed lunch overlooking the harbor at the Fish House Grill. Afterwards we bought some homemade blueberry ice cream from BEN & BILL'S CHOCOLATE EMPORIUM. We sat on a bench along the main street and watched the passing parade while we enjoyed the delicious treat. 

Visits to JFK Library and Salem

Friday July 5 2013. Temperatures are projected to be near 100 with a heat index of 105 today so we opted for an air conditioned attraction. We drove down to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in south Boston. It is located on a picturesque harbor side campus overlooking Massachusetts Bay.

The span of the exhibit timeline was JFK from student to President. No mention of his assassination, Oswald, or Dallas was made; only in a small black passage were there little TV screens running news footage of his funeral.

I’m going to give this attraction a must see rating. Even if you were around in 1960’s and think you know the JFK story, I’m sure you will be affected by the presentation, it’s one of those thought provoking experiences.

 Saturday July 6, 2013. We got up and moving early today as we had an early reservation in Salem Massachusetts. Instead our usual guided bus or trolley ride we went on a guided Segway tour of the infamous Salem Witch trials. Our guide, Arielle first gave us an orientation on the two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicles that we would be riding. After practicing in the tour company’s indoor class room we drove our Segways out the door and out into the historic downtown. Arielle told us all about the witch trials, which took place in a nine month period in 1692/1693 and resulted in the deaths of 20 people. Nineteen were hanged and one was pressed to death, none of the Salem witches were burned at the stake.

After returning to the motorhome we discussed where our next destination would be. We have to be home in a couple weeks so must stop our northern trek soon and as we used to say in the boating world, turn the pointy end toward home. Tomorrow morning we go to Arcadia National Park in Maine, it will be our northern most stop.