Asheville North Carolina

 

We took the short (85 mile) drive over to Asheville North Carolina on Sunday and spent three days in Asheville. The main attraction was the Biltmore Estate but there is so much more to the town than just that.

I'll start at the Biltmore since that's the main reason we stopped.




This is the mansion as you walk from the parking lot. It's majestic to say the least.  The construction started in 1898 and took 1000 workers 6 years to complete.




The house is over 175,000 square feet with 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms. George Vanderbilt started the project when he was still single and completed it after he was married. He and his wife Edith lived here till his death in 1924.

This is the family dining room which was used for just the family when no guests were present.

The formal dining room was used when they entertained which they did often.







This is one of the many rooms used for gatherings. The guests would come here before dinner for cocktails and conversation.





This is Edith's bedroom. She and George had separate bedrooms since they changed clothes several times a day and were assisted by either a maid or a butler.



If you were a guest of the Vanderbilt's you might have used this guest bedroom. Not your basic motel 6!




If you were a servant you were given a salary, board and room. You might have lived in this servants room.

We walked the gardens and the conservatory in the background. A staff of 2000 employees maintain the grounds and provide guest services. It is the largest privately owned and operated historical monument in the U.S.

We took two guided tours, the rooftop tour and the upstairs downstairs tour. These added immensely to our understanding of the time and culture.

Wednesday we spent downtown and were amazed at the houses and buildings dating back to the early 1900's.

Now it's off to Lexington Ky for some horse viewing. More from there.

Gatllinburg and the Smokie Mountians

We headed East and wound our way to Gatlinburg at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

We drove from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove through the park. One hour and 24 miles later we were rewarded with Buildings dating from the early 1800's This is a church that served the community living there at that time.

The village at the end of the loop consisted of buildings from the 1800's Here a water wheel was still functioning, grinding wheat into flour. It's the best one I have ever seen.




Bears are prevalent in the mountains and we saw three sets of Mom and cubs on our 11mile loop.






A three mile round trip hike to Laurel falls completed the day. Once again it was back home and a dip in the pool.






Friday we headed up to Clingmans Dome at the top of the park. It's a 20 mile drive up and ends at 6600 feet with a spectacular view.





At the top there is a observation tower with a great 360 degree view of the park. What a beautiful place.

Another view on the way down and then off to another three mile hike to the Grotto.

We completed our visit in the park and spent the next day wandering around Gatlinburg. It's a crazy town and not the quaint little village we had hoped for. Off to Asheville on Sunday to visit the Biltmore Mansion. More from there.

Nashville

We stopped in Nashville for three days and saw some great sights.

The first stop on our visit was Andrew Jackson's Hermitage. We learned a lot about Jackson and his life both as a president and as a plantation owner.

We took a short hike and found this cabin from the 1850's It was one of the houses that his slaves occupied when the plantation was in operation.

He and his wife are buried beneath this monument in the garden on the grounds.




The next day it was off to tour downtown. Our first stop was the Ryman Auditorium. Known as the church of country music it was originally a church built by Ryman after his conversion to Christianity.





We took the backstage tour and ended up on the stage. What a feeling of history.






This is the view that the performers have when on stage. The auditorium is small by todays' standards holding only about 2000 but what a intimate setting for the Grand Ole Oprey.



We completed our tour with visits to the country hall of fame and the Johnny Cash Museum. We drove past the Parthenon a little west of downtown and then back to town for a beer and rest.

We were fortunate to get tickets for the Grand Ole Oprey on Tuesday evening and saw a "A" list lineup of Diamond Rio, Tracy Lawrence, Bill Anderson. Darius Rucker, Martina Mcbride, Vince Gill and Dirks Bentley.
We had a great time in Nashville and would love to go back.

Vicksburg

We arrived in Vicksburg after a short 70 mile drive and spent Monday afternoon just getting our bearings.

Tuesday morning it was off to visit the Vicksburg national battlefield. After a 20 minute movie we proceeded to drive the 16 mile loop that toured the battlefield.

There were monuments around every corner provided by each state that had soldiers in the battle. After a 47 days siege Grant defeated the confederate army. It was a major turning point of the civil war. The Mississippi river was finally under union control.

The USS Cairo was a ironclad union ship that was sank up river from Vicksburg in 1862. They raised her in 1964 and have restored the ship as you see here.

The ship had 13 cannon each with a crew of 6 and was powered by  steam driven pistons and a paddle wheel. Her undoing was a mine in the Yazoo river.

From the top of the ridge you could see the Mississippi River as it snakes it's course through the countryside.

In the afternoon we visited the old courthouse in Vicksburg. Here, Jefferson Davis got his start in politics by announcing his candidacy for the state Senate. It's a pretty good museum.

On Wednesday morning we visited the mural on the waterfront and was amazed at the detailed artwork. The mural is about a block long and tells the story of Vicksburg.

We went to the old depot and wandered the museum which now resides there. It's a wonderful structure.





In the afternoon we drove over to the small town of Raymond to visit the "battlefield park". What we found was this line of cannons and that's all. The good part was that we saw some of rural Mississippi.


Tomorrow we head for Memphis and then on to Nashville.  More from there.

Bald Knob and Natchez

We spent two great days with friends Buddy and Mary.

We parked in their yard by the pond with the catfish and frogs. We went to a pot luck lunch in the little town of Russell and then drove down to Hurricane wild life preserve. A interesting day looking at sights only the locals can show us.

Thursday morning we said goodbye to Buddy and Mary, hoping it won't be another 8 years till we meet again, and made our way South over the back roads of Arkansas and Louisiana.



We made our way to Vidalia, La just across the bridge over the Mississippi from Natchez, Mississippi.




We sat by the trailer and watched the barges go up and down the river. It's a great spot to spend three days.





 We toured three Antebellum houses on Friday. Stanton Hall shown here, Roaslie and Longwood. The houses are amazing. Natchez has the finest collection of these houses in the country because Gen
Grant was so impressed that he spared Natchez during the civil war.




This is Longwood which was never finished. The lower floor is complete but the upper four floors were never finished. The house was to be 38,000 Sq ft when done.



Today (Sat) we drove a little of the Natchez Trace, a 444 mile road from Natchez to Nashville used in the 1860's by people returning from taking boats with goods for sale down the Mississippi to Natchez or New Orleans. They had no way to get the boats back up river so they sold them for lumber and walked home. This is Mount Locust Inn which served as a inn for travelers on the road. Dinner and lodging for the night cost $0.25.

We drove to our last house and toured Melrose. It was built over 8 years in the 1830's and was representative of wealthy society residences of that time. Cotton made a large number of people very rich.





This is the dining room at Melrose. It is representative of the houses we visited.







This is the study where the men would gather after dinner to smoke cigars and drink brandy. Here in the 1860's you were known by your house and the number of slaves you owned. Society here was very structured and resembled the English society of that time.

Off to Vicksburg on Monday morning. tomorrow is a relaxing day with Church and time to watch the barges on the river.

Branson and Eureka Springs

We headed down to Branson to take in a couple of shows and enjoy the area.

We took in a couple of shows the best of which was the musical Moses at the Sight and Sound theater. Then we spent a day just looking around. We took a 40 mile train trip on a 1950's vintage train.

On the way we passed over the White River which runs through Branson. The rest of the day was spent  in just roaming the area with lunch outdoors on the patio overlooking the river.




We drove to Eureka Springs in Northwest Arkansas and then continued to Bentonville to the Crystal Bridges museum. There was a exhibit of Chihuly Glass and other art.



On  the grounds was also a house designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. We took a tour and just enjoyed the house. Interesting architecture but I wouldn't want to

live in it.

On the way home we  stopped at the Pea Ridge National battlefield monument. Here a major battle of the civil war was fought. This is the Elkhorn Tavern built in about 1830 and rebuilt after it was burned after the battle. It was a home and not a real tavern.


Back in Eureka Springs we visited the Christ of the Ozarks statue about a mile from the RV park. It's 67 feet high and 65 feet from finger tip to finger tip. Pretty impressive.










Today is Sunday so we were blessed by attending Church at the Thorn crown Chapel. It's 48 feet high with 425 windows and 6000 square feet of glass.












The experience was truly uplifting. The music was wonderful and the message was excellent. It was like worshiping outdoors while being indoors.

Tomorrow it's off to Bald Knob to visit friends for two days. Then on to Natchez. More from there.