Day 75, Drive to Great Smoky Mountains

Day 75. Woke up late – 8:30 am. Packed up my stuff, including dishes from yesterday’s lunch. Took down the camper. It was 1 pm before I got on the road. Realized that I forgot my retirement memory book at Grant’s house, so made a stop there. The kids were amazed to see the camper down – it looks so small when it’s down. I brought back Nasir’s sock, Naima’s scarf, and their rocks. Can’t forget the rocks!!!

Gassed up the car and hit I-40 west which will take me all the way to Tennessee where I get off on Hwy 321 to Pigeon Forge. Had to stop twice on the way to nap, but only ate junk food all day – brownie, doritos, etc. Stopped for gas in Marion, North Carolina where I also picked up ice for the cooler and propane gas for the furnace. This is my first peak at the Smoky Mountains.
Reached Gatlinburg before sunset, but not Pigeon Forge. I thought I had missed the town, but I didn’t. Pigeon Forge was not what I expected. I thought it would be a beautiful, bucolic small mountain town; instead it is a long skinny suburban strip mall with flashing and neon lights and great big digital billboards. Actually found the campground relatively easily, but had to fire up the GPS to get there. When I got to the campground around 9 pm, it was dark. I backed into my campsite at Creekside RV Resort and did a better job than usual. But I kept hitting the picnic table slab with the passenger side trailer wheel. Decided to unhook the camper and push it around the slab and back toward the electric box. I thought I had the 3rd wheel attached, but it wasn’t. Made it around the slab, but then when I tried to straighten it out – the 3rd wheel fell off. Spent the night sleeping in the car.

Total trip mileage to date – just a hair under 8,700 miles. The car also turned over to 34,000 miles on this leg of the trip.

Camping with the Grandkids at Raleigh Oaks

The kids woke up at 7:30 am and said they were cold. I turned the furnace on right away when we got there the night before and it ran intermittently all night, including a couple of times in the morning. I was not cold.

The rain stopped before 4 am. It was still cloudy, but the sun was poking out a little. We got dressed (a real challenge) and drove to Four Oaks Restaurant for breakfast. Naima and I had the 2 egg breakfast. Nasir had a bologna, egg, and cheese sandwich. The bologna was thick and home-made. He ate all of it, except the toast. And he also ate too much of Naima’s grits – according to Naima. The waiter later told me it was Smithfield bologna, so I bought some when we went to the grocery store after breakfast. Naima said Mommy & Daddy should take them here (Four Oaks) for a vacation, so I don't know how to explain the forlorn look on her face in this photo.

Back at the campground, I put some clothes in the laundry and the kids went to the tot lot. When I got to the tot lot 10 minutes later, they were already prepared to go swimming. We changed into yesterday’s underwear and T-shirts and went swimming. Raleigh Oaks has a hot tub (which Naima likes but Nasir did not), and a large pool with a decent sized shallow bubbling end and then steps from there into a 3.5 and 4 foot kidney shaped pool. Even the 4 foot end of the pool had a sitting bench all around it. They played in the shallow pool and the hot tub. I did for a little while, then sat down to work on my computer. Facebook still not working. But the blog does.

The kids wanted to learn how to play table tennis (ping pong), so we did that for a while. Naima was getting pretty good and we had a little volley going for a while. Nasir does not get the point. He wants to hit the ball as hard as he can so it goes out of bounds. Luckily, he thinks it is great fun to chase the ball down and bring it back.

Naima was hungry for lunch, so we went back to the campsite and cooked up the Ramen noodles she wanted to buy at the grocery store – shrimp flavor. Nasir picked lime shrimp and he wanted green onions in his. He ate over half of that (I had the other half) and about a third of Naima’s. He was hungry.

Naima did dishes while Nasir and I put the laundry in the dryer. It was close to time to get them back home (Daddy had said to return at 3 pm). We called Daddy on the phone and he gave us until 5 pm. Naima came up with a plan. We could get dressed, pack all their stuff in the car, and then play mini-golf until it was time to go. I agreed, but then the kids fooled around getting dressed so we only had 20 minutes to play mini-golf. So we did. I picked my laundry out of the dryer and headed back to Raleigh – and did not get lost.

Oooh, forgot to mention that I painted half of Nasir’s race car blue while the kids were getting dressed in the most fun way possible –getting dressed, not painting.

When we got to Rolesville, the front door was open but the screen door was locked, and the garage door was open, but the door into the house was locked. Grant wasn’t answering his phone or texts. So, we went into the back yard. I painted the other half of Nasir’s car, while the kids played on the swing set. Daddy finally woke up and let us in.

We baked Naima’s tea set in the oven and then goofed around in the sun room until Mommy work up. We all drove to a shopping center they like

– an outdoor mall – and ate at a specialty beer place called the Yard House. My beer, a milk stout, was excellent. This was the only meal Grant let me pay for on the whole trip. When I said good-bye to the kids, Naima clung on for a while and said she wished I could stay longer. I told her that I did too. But I have reservations and tickets.

It was late again before I got back to the camper that night, so I did not pack up like I usually do. I also ran out of propane gas in the middle of the night, so it was chilly sleeping – temps in the high 40s overnight. I’m glad the kids were not there that night.

Easter and More Camping Fun

Mommy put out stuffed animal and rug bowling gifts in the kids’ rooms for Easter and an Easter bucket on the kitchen table. I worked more on my blog until the kids came downstairs. Nasir is not a kid who can wait for candy.

We all (Gma, Daddy, Mommy, Naima, and Nasir) went to Fleming’s Steakhouse for Easter brunch. It was elegant and delicious! The kitchen is in the open so diners can see them working hard back there. I had a filet mignon with broccolini and potato leek soup. Naima helped me eat the soup and declared it nummy. I finished the meal off with a mimosa – tasted like it had a little apricot juice in it. I really liked it and will have to remember that for my next Sunday brunch.

After brunch, we tried to walk around in the mall, but it was closed and locked. Except the Cheesecake Factory, for which the Wyoming Street block club had given me a $25 gift card. Thank you Wyoming Streeters! We bought half a Dulce de Leche cheesecake with a “to go” container of glazed strawberries. And took it home. That is my new favorite cheesecake flavor. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

At home Mommy & Daddy took naps while Gma and the kids first assembled Nasir’s race car, and next painted Naima’s tea set. Nasir was pretty good with a hammer. And Naima was pretty good with a paint brush. She painted the tea set in every color offered in the package with squiggly lines and dots. It is beautiful!!! Tomorrow we have to bake it. We showed Daddy & Mommy when they woke up. Because the kids were going camping with me again, we packed up the car. Then we ate our fantastic Dulce de Leche cheesecake with strawberries. Well, 4 of us did; Nasir ate ONLY strawberries. And Naima proved that she is the only princess in the world who hates strawberries.

The kids and I drove in a heavy rain back to Raleigh Oaks campground in Four Oaks to spend the night. We did NOT get lost this time because we went a longer route, took I-95 up to an exit just a few blocks north of the campground. When we got back, we noticed that I had failed to close the camper door window. It was damp on the rug, but not wet.

We told scary ghost stories and sang songs. Then we put on PJs and went to sleep. Nasir had to hop around for a while, but when he went down, he crashed.

NC Museums - Natural Sciences and Political

The kids slept like logs all night long. They woke up at 8 am. I had slipped out at 7 am to shower and wash my hair. We drank orange juice and ate the ridiculous number of snacks they brought with them. They loved the camper, really enjoyed “camping,” and wanted to come back.

We got lost again driving back to Raleigh, so missed our promised 10 am return. (On a side note, the car turned over 8,000 miles on our drive to Raleigh). We planned to go to the North Carolina Museum of Natural

Sciences. But first we were all hungry. We decided to look for a non-chain restaurant downtown. On our drive to the Museum parking lot, we spotted the Oakwood Restaurant, and decided to give it a try. It was another inspired random find! They had Cuban and Argentin-ian food, so not the same old thing. The waitress was fabulous! I had pulled pork with this special house-made hot sauce that I wanted to buy. It came with fried plantains and some spicy green beans. Grant had picadillo (the 2 “ll”s are pronounced as a “j”) – ground beef, green olives, onions and peppers in a tomato sauce. He pronounced it excellent. Mine was too. We had the waitress, who was superb, take a couple of photos of the four of us.

Then we went to the Natural Sciences Museum – to the Extreme Mammal special exhibit. On the way up, we checked out the skeleton of a whale they had suspended from the 2nd floor ceiling. The mammal exhibit was very well done and all of us learned some new stuff. It was some reading, which Daddy did for the kids, and a lot of hands-on activities. Here is a short 35 second video. One display encouraged you to put your finger on a wheel and the screen would exhibit how animals move – whale, bat, dolphin, tiger, kangaroo, etc. The kids really liked that one. They showed a replica of a grass-eating dinosaur tooth that the kids could rub (the tooth, not the dinosaur). One display consisted of 4 boards with 4 animals’ scat (resin), their real fur, and a plaster foot print caste. You could rub the fur and compare you hand size to a bear, raccoon, and 2 others. That was popular with Naima and Nasir. They especially liked that Daddy’s hand was bigger than the black bear’s hand. We were there for over an hour – maybe closer to two hours. I bought each of the kids an endangered beanie baby stuffed animal at the Museum store.

We saw some of their regular exhibits on the way out and they were fun too. We took photos in the courtyard. Then Grant suggested that we explore the State Capitol across the street. They had a lot of old, both Civil War and American Revolutionary War statues on the lawn. Inside, this 1840 Capitol is only used as a museum – they built a new, larger Capitol building in 1961. It was fun to see how much has changed and how much as stayed the same with legislatures since the early 1800s. Their Committee rooms (4 of them) were the size of cloak closets – and in roughly the same location – just outside the Chambers. They had one desk set up with all the accoutrements that the typical Senator would have at at his desk – top hat, top coat, spittoon, quill pen, law books, etc. It was very well presented. We went out to the rotunda and took some photos. A nice stranger took photos of all 4 of us.

While Naima and I were waiting for Daddy to get out of the restroom in the Museum, we decided that ice cream would be restorative. When Daddy came back he said he had the very same thought! We picked up Mommy at home and went to a little roadside Ice Cream Lodge. Tisha & I had butter brickle, Grant had praline pecan, and the kids had chocolate. Hand-made and good!

When we got home, Grant had to go to work as a grocery store security guard at 6 pm. He suggested that I might want a nap since I had told him I was tired. I slept for over 3 hours. I really was tired!

I spent the night at their house. The kids and I watched TV; they called it a slumber party. Tisha went to sleep early because she had to go into work at 4 am. Nasir is a little ADHD and spent most of the time hopping and dancing around in front of the TV. Naima did a “packet” (i.e. homework) on Daddy’s TV tray. Daddy called about 10:30 and ordered the kids to bed. I worked on my blog and downloading photos for a little while before going to bed. Tisha has the guest bedroom set up like a Hawaiian tropical retreat. It was very welcoming.

Leaving Charleston and Dropping in on Family in Raleigh

We set a goal of getting the car packed up and the camper down by 9 am. We made it by 8 am, with plenty to time to spare for breakfast. So, we headed out to Folly Road searching for Sweetwater Café. To avoid the opening lift bridge, we took a right curve up a street we had not explored before and accidentally ended up discovering how to get on I-26, which info we needed to get out of town.

We searched King Street from Line down for a breakfast place and settled on Glazed Gourmet Donut Shop. It was a magical surprise for how random its selection was. The clerk also makes all the donuts onsite from scratch. I had an apple bacon fritter that was so light, it was pillowy – and delicious.

We took one more photo by the James Island campground sign after hooking up the camper, said good-bye to Charleston, and headed for the airport to get Mary on a plane. Dropped Mary off and said good-bye. It was great having her company on the last two stops. I stopped at the North Charleston airport visitor center to get a South Carolina highway map, then took I-26 up to I-95 heading to Raleigh, North Carolina to see my son Grant and his family. I switched to I-40 near Benson, but should have gotten off I-95 right before that since my campground, Raleigh Oaks, was right before the split. But I did have a chance to drive thru some beautiful countryside and see the lovely little town of Four Oaks by taking the “scenic route.”

Raleigh Oaks is a huge and really nice campground, but is just shy of 50 miles from Rolesville where Grant lives. The campground has two pools, a large kid tot lot, mini-golf, laundry, and a fabulous shower house. The weekend I came, they also had a jumping house for Easter. One of my new “neighbors” helped me get the top popped up. I didn’t need help, but he was so nice. I finished setting up the camper by 5 pm, got directions to Grant’s house, and drove over there. Grant and Tisha have a lovely new home in a mixed-race suburban development. Grant was out doing lawn work, and Nasir was playing with a football outside. I gave Nasir a fedora hat, and taught him how to pinch it in the front to put it on. He loved it, and wore it everywhere we went the whole time I was there. The two of us played catch until Mommy and Naima came home. I gave Naima her Oriental sun umbrella, which she also loved and took with her everywhere she went for the next two of three days.

We sat on the front porch and watched the kids put on their own show for us on the sidewalk. Grant mentioned that he has fond memories of camping when he was a kid and should probably take them camping. This set the kids off on wanting to go camping with me that night. I thought that was a wonderful idea, so they packed up their tiny suitcases with PJs, one change of clothes, a bunch of snacks, and their stuffed animals. We drove out to Raleigh Oaks campground (by this time after 10 pm). Of course, I got lost on the way out because I tried to take that back country road and made a wrong curve somewhere. Grant had to get me back using GPS from his house and doing a street by street description of where I should be driving. It was after midnight by the time we got there.

Mileage on car so far on this trip = 8,000 miles

Fort Sumter and Charleston's Take on the Civil War

Mary woke up feeling better today (Thursday). I had purchased online tickets for a tour to Fort Sumter in Charleston bay. So, we went straight there with no coffee, and no breakfast.

The National Park Service and Charleston Aquarium share a plaza called Liberty Square right in the midst of a working wharf and ship port. The building is a common southern design with about a million stes up to the main floor (I may have exaggerated). I picked up the tour tickets that I had purchased online and perused the “museum.” Boy, those South Carolinians sure did love slavery and are still nostalgic for it. And they still hate abolitionists.

The “museum” had a quote from Alabama Congressman David Hubbard displayed below a metal Charleston slave’s neck tag: “…the assumed power to put an end to slavery, being a higher power than the Constitution has given Congress, is a violation of its provisions and a destruction of liberty itself. It was Constitutional liberty which our fathers fought to establish and not union! They had union with the mother country when they rebelled.” Kind of scary that this “info” is going unchecked in 2016.

We boarded the triple decker boat (there were a LOT of people going to Fort Sumter including one large school group), and set out across the bay. I saw some small sharks in the water as we waited to board. Mary & I stood in the bow for the trip.

We docked at Fort Sumter and were given one hour to explore the fort. First up, Sgt. Antoine gave us a black powder shooting demonstration. Note: it was great to see that Sgt. Antoine was Black and wearing a blue Union uniform. He showed us all the individual steps it took to load and fire a musket during the Civil War. He then promised that he could fire 3 times in one minute if the crowd counted to 60 real slowly. We were slow and he made it. He showed us his “forager” hat and explained that it was used by the Union army to forage for food along their marches since it could double as a bucket. Remember that part of the reason Sherman’s March to the Sea was so successful was that he required his troops to forage for local food rather than wait for his supply wagons to catch up. This helped him move much faster than the Confederate Army. This fact BTW, was not mentioned.

Mary & I walked around, looked at the display of Union and Confederate flags (the popular notion of the Confederate flag is inaccurate and we could see why the flag was called the "stars and bars"), the cannons lined up to fire out of the holes in the fort walls, the rubble lying below the fort which forms a rip rap for the tiny island (created when Fort Sumter was barraged with cannon fire from Union ships), and the view from the top of the fort. They have a huge bunker-like building – concrete and covered in black tar – right in the middle of the fort called Huger that was built in the 1890s.

Then the call came to reboard. Some fellow travelers took a photo of me at the sign, and I bought the photo the tour people were selling. Also got my National Park passport book stamped. We headed back to dry land.

We saw some more either sharks or dolphins playing in the wake created by the front of the boat. You be the judge.

Since neither of us had breakfast, we were really hungry by this time – 2:30 pm – so headed to City Market for Queology. Mary was still looking for some South Carolina mustard and vinegar BBQ. I had pulled pork and she had chicken – fabulous sandwiches. The sauce is not cooked on the meat in the South, but rather added by the diner later. We both really liked the mustard and vinegar sauce – and the BBQ. The sandwich was well portioned. On the way back to the car, we walked thru City Market and I bought a gift for Trudie.

Back at the camper, we packed up for our departure the next day, and tried to catch up on blog posts.

Charleston Historic District Walking Tour

We got a late start in Charleston today (Wednesday) since we had gotten to sleep so late. I did some laundry, wrote in my journal, and posted to my blog. Mary read her book while sitting on an outdoor swing bench by the pond. Yes, we have our own private pond at the rear of our campsite.

We ate at the Triple D-recommended Cantina Fuel for lunch. I had a cucumber & vodka drink and jerk chicken sandwich. Mary had a jerk chicken salad and boiled peanuts. We both proclaimed it excellent. The restaurant was in a converted gas station – hence the name and the décor. Our waitress was so sweet, I had to take a photo with her.

We drove over to the historic district visitor Center. Charleston does visitor center right! Mary proclaimed it the best one she has ever seen. We got an historic district map and headed to Broad Street for our self-guided tour.

We walked down King Street to the Battery, along the Battery, and then back up Church Street, looking at all the historic houses, and snapping lots of photos. What surprised me the most was that the houses were revolutionary war - 1730 to 1790 - rather than Civil-War-era or even Victorian. They were mostly Federalist style with a little Greek Revival thrown in. And something they call "Charleston style," which I think might mean Gregorian. There was also a smattering of Roccoco detailing here and there. The right top photo below is one of the oldest houses in Charleston and when we walked by a young couple was having their engagement photo taken in front of the house. On the bottom left you can see the fake front door from the side.

I learned that: (a) the town used to be called Charles Town, (b) they had fake front doors that only open onto their open porches which is where the real front door is, (c) the first floor has solid shutters and the upper two floors have louvered shutters, and (d) Charleston gives out really cool plaques to their historic houses, and (e) that even though they are large enough to be multi-family homes or even live/work spaces, they were overwhelmingly built as single-family homes - often as second "city" homes for plantation owners. I really liked the round "key hole" filigree iron features many people had in their (usually) brick structures. The "key hole" also appeared as stained glass round windows in some homes. Mary was taken by the overly aggressive ironwork "barbs" installed above some iron fences. It did kind of look like some medieval torture instrument.

We were both impressed by how much use they got out of tiny, little lawns. I was particularly impressed by the flowering tree with two completely different colored blossoms.

Mary was not feeling well and didn't want to see City Market, but we ended up there any way and found an ice cream shop. Charleston's City Market looks a lot like New Orleans French Market, but narrower. At its western end, it is anchored by a large mausoleum-type building with many, many front steps and was built by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Mary had pecan praline ice cream and I had peach. Both wonderful - and reviving.

We had wanted to drive over Charleston's Cooper River Bridge - a cable suspension bridge. But we ran out of energy that day. However, due to being unfamiliar with their streets, I ended up driving over it twice any way. It is even more impressive close up. We took lots of photos.

We had planned to go to Duke's for South Carolina mustard and vinegar BBQ, but Mary didn't feel well and went to sleep about 7:30 pm. I drove over and got some fried chicken (they were all out of pulled pork) take-out and ate it in the camper because there were thousands of biting gnats at our campsite.