"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us"
Everybody has mobile devices. Always in touch, up to date on social media. Anywhere in the world. Bullshit. Just spent the last 3 days about 5 miles from downtown Huntsville Alabama, no voice no data and very limited text
Where we are now near Lumpkin,Georgia is not much better. Maybe other providers have good signal coverage, but Verizon sucks. Will try and catch up on our activities, I hate being behind
Gathering Georgia peaches...
What is that old fool rambling about now? Just being honest. Remember back in April, the 29th, to be exact. We stopped in Cave city to visit Mammoth Cave. If you don't remember you can page back to confirm. Well OK, what does that have to do with the title...
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I believe the old saying goes something like "...the best laid plans..". Well so it went today. To avoid the CMA fest going to centennial plaza to see the Parthenon seem plausible. In case not familiar, go HERE. Well it might not have been part of CMA but it was BUSY. We could not even find a parking spot so we gave up and went on to plan B.
After extracting ourselves from downtown Nashville, we drove to the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson. Once again if not familiar go HERE. We opted for the house tour which was well worth the added cost. Sorry, no pictures allowed inside. Full of antiques and as it was in 1800's. After his term as president he died in one of the rooms.
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At this point you might want to research either "Petticoat Affair" or "the Peggy Eaton story" I will give you a minute....
You back? Good. Now what is the mystery? Remember back in May and in particular this POST? No, not Manassas, Mary and her research. Part of the research that led us to Patrick the immigrant, also led us down unexpected paths. One path led Mary to Peggy Eaton, daughter of William Robert O'Neill, who is Mary's 4th great grandfather which makes Peggy Eaton a 3rd great aunt. So one of Mary's relatives caused quite a stir in Washington. Didn't see that coming did you!
We have visited many cities, with and without a camper. You go to your city of choice, visit whatever it has that attracted you. Then move on to next city and repeat the cycle. Not so fast buckaroo. No longer can one just roam about and do that, for the most part. What we have discovered on this trip is that popular attractions now have timed entrance tickets. And we have found some attractions with the times filled months in advance. Gee, have to reserve camping spots months in advance, now have to reserve time to see whatever months in advance. Way, way to much regimentation for this old fool. And ticket prices! What the hell are families doing if they want to enrich their children's learning? We have passed on seeing some things due to pricing. Can we afford it? Yes but value received for cost paid equation is way out of balance.
We are outside of Nashville at a nice COE park and are lake front. Great spot. Unbeknown to us, this is the week for CMA fest (country music awards). They are expecting 90,000 plus attendees on Broadway. Guess where we WON'T be! Never fear things to see and do not related to CMA fest.
In planning my route i was looking for a place to stop between Knoxville and Nashville. I stumbled upon this jewel. If you have read this blog at all you know I pay homage to the young men of the CCC's. I may of reached the top. This park is dedicated to those men and so this post is as well.
To the men of the CCC's, THANK YOU for making my life so much better.
...gather ye rosebuds while ye may...
An unexpected surprise. We did not know of it in advance but it was basically next door to the national forest we were camping in. We visited and are glad we did. It was a rainy day, (surprise, surprise) so we did not cover all the many acres. Beautiful gardens, education areas for children of any age. We especially liked the bonsai gardens. Amazing and beautiful. As stated it was a rainy day and my trusty phone/camera took some of the crappiest photos ever. Look up the arboretum for more info if interested.
On the parkway was this wonderful folk art center. It was filled with handcrafted items from many mediums, wood, glass, quilts etc. A lot to look at and admire and yes purchase. Some of those treasures found there way into one of our storage bins...
gathering rosebuds, or treasures..
