Small Towns, Dragons, Parks, Estates, Parkways...and Hospitals--4-9 Aug

We find some of the most interesting and out of the way places by taking the back roads and going slow...we don't feel pushed along by 18-wheelers, we have time to stop and listen to the babbling brooks, we drive through some very cute, old towns, listen to stories from locals and smell the proverbial roses.

Gravy on the trip

a horse farm/camp sight in northern Georgia

camping all to ourselves

We left the reunion and headed north through the Blue Ridge mountains towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entering from the Tennessee side...

Blue Ridge Mountains twisty road

Blue Ridge Mountains

County Courthouse in Blairsville, GA

After leaving Georgia, we crossed into NC and slayed the dragon...'The Tail of the Dragon' that is--the 11 mile road with 318 curves.  The road borders the south western edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is an old Cherokee trail, one of the most unique roads in the world (they say).  The road is a magnet for motorcyclists and speed demons, daring them to slay her.  The road has claimed 24 lives since 2000, has no intersecting roads, is out in the middle of nowhere, crosses between TN and NC, was paved in the 1930s and thank goodness, was patrolled by probably 1/2 dozen cops during our twisted drive.  Check out this link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16YnmJN0fc  It's a bit harrowing to watch, but very interesting as well.

Tail of the Dragon

one of the many curves

and another curve

On the other side of the 318 curves of the dragon tail is not the dragons body, but the very touristy town of Pigeon Forge, TN, the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Pigeon Forge, was, in our opinion, very much like Branson, MO with it's go-karts, funnel cake, putt-putt golf, fast food, nightly show, hotel and motel strip (oh yeah, Dollywood and Dollywood Splash parks are here too!), that we were actually happy to move on out of this area.  Great place for families with kids, but for us, time to move on...Gatlinburg actually borders the park, a more condensed version of Pigeon Forge.

on the way to Pigeon Forge from the dragon

beautiful views

downtown Gatlinburg

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the southern border to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The Cherokee first named the area, calling it 'shanconage' meaning 'blue, like smoke.  For its size (522,000 acres) and with such a temperate climate, no other place marvels its variety of plant and animal species.  The park has more tree species than in all of northern Europe.  There are also dozens of native fish, 1,500 flowering plants, over 200 species of birds and 60 of mammals.  The border of TN and NC run through the center of the park as does the Appalachian Trail.  Enjoy the next photos all inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...

right in the middle of the park

Leaving the North Carolina side of the park, we immediately turned onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north.  The parkway is managed by the National Park Service, is 469 miles of beauty along the crests of the southern Appalachians and links two eastern national parks, the Great Smoky Mountains and the Shenandoah, taking us almost to our destination of Washington DC.

Another great road for us to travel on with speed limits of a maximum of 45, no telephone or electric wires or poles, no bill boards, no cross traffic, no high rises, 18 wheelers or distractions other than mother nature herself...we had a lovely ride to our next destination of Asheville, NC....enjoy...

the highest point on the entire road

heavy fog just a few miles from the previous shot

Looking Glass Rock

camping along a small lake outside of Asheville, NC

On our 2nd day up the parkway, we took a short detour and visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  This grand home was built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s for he, his wife and their only daughter.  The 8,000 acre estate includes the house with 250 rooms, 35 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.  There is also a vineyard, beautiful gardens, horse stables and more.  The mansion is one of the largest single family dwellings in the US.  You cannot take photos inside the home, but take our word, it was extravagant...much like the Hearst Castle we visited on the west coast last year.  We tried to capture a bit of the outside and the lovely grounds...

very European in design

We left Asheville just before the weather changed to a dense fog...back on the parkway.

We found a small town in central North Carolina, about 2 hours north of Asheville, not far from the parkway with a campground and chose to stay there for the evening...and what an evening it was.

The next two days were almost dream like, and a REALLY bad dream at that...it was a thick fog and a slight drizzle and we were in for the eve.  About 10pm Buddy prepared his coffee for the next morning and about an hour later was being rushed to the local hospital by ambulance after fainting in the PW.  For some strange reason, after preparing the morning coffee, he just fell over, and I mean literally, he fell over.  He hit his head and was knocked out, unconscious.  We managed to get help from a local camper and Aly called 911.  The EMS team of 4 responded rather quickly (luckily we were close to a town with a very good hospital) and after Buddy regained his consciousness--he was out for about 30 seconds and loopy for about 20 minutes--was strapped onto a backboard with a neck brace and all and off we drove the 6 miles to the hospital.  Aly rode in the ambulance and we left our rig with Gravy in the campground.  Another camper promised to take Gravy out for a walk the next morning if we hadn't returned.

At the hospital, they took blood, preformed an EKG, a CAT scan, a carotid artery ultrasound and other tests and couldn't find a thing wrong with him.  Luckily he hadn't suffered any brain damage (be nice!) or neck/back injury--only a 1" gash in the back of his head.  After stapling his head wound with 5 staples, the emergency room doc suggested he spend the night in the hospital for monitoring (gosh, it was already 2.30am) and do a couple more tests tomorrow.  That we did and he was admitted about 3am on the 7th Aug (this all happened on the eve of the 6th Aug).

With Aly sleeping in a chair and Buddy hooked up to a heart monitor, the 3+ hours until daybreak passed uneventfully.  More tests were done in the morning and still they found nothing.  The doc on duty that day released Buddy to return to normal activities, diagnosing him with dehydration and Syncope, but recommended he see his doc back at home after the end of our trip...that we will do.  So, by 6pm we left the town of Boone, NC, staples and all, and headed up the road.  Aly drove for an hour just to put Boone and that horrible incident in our rear view mirror.  The accident was horrible, but the doctors, nurses, EMS crew and staff at the Watauga Medical Center in Boone, NC were excellent.  We give our most sincere gratitude to everyone involved with our care...we thank you.

We took the next day fairly easy, again veering off the parkway to visit another small town, Mt. Airy, the inspirational town for the 'Andy Griffith Show'...

the 'Fife' mobile

Snappy Lunch

inside the diner

Floyd's barber shop

inside the barber shop

Emmett's fix it shop

Mayberry's squad cars

the jail where Otis, the town drunk, often stayed

From Mt. Airy, we headed again towards the BR Parkway, now leaving NC and crossing into southern Virginia, again, in a dense fog.

BR Parkway dense fog

We continued north visiting one of thee most photographed gristmill's in the US.  The Mabry Mill has graced many a calendar and postcard.  It, along with their homestead, a sawmill and blacksmith shop, were built by Ed and Lizzy Mabry in the early 1900s, where they ground corn for over 3 decades.

Mabry Mill

Fencing along the Blue Ridge...

views from the Blue Ridge

nearing the end of the BR Parkway, near Waynesboro, VA

After traveling much of the 469 miles of the BR Parkway, we drove down the mountain tops of the Blue Ridge to Charlottesville, VA to stay with an old Peace Corps friend of Aly's from Burundi, Michael and his wife, Meredith and their two boys, Rowan and Toby.  Meredith is an excellent cook and the family only had a few hours notice of our arrival, but welcomed us with a delicious Thai curry meal, stimulating conversation and a great end to the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.

Meredith, Rowan, Michael, Toby and Aly

Michael and Meredith didn't have too difficult of a time convincing us to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, only minutes from their house.  Friday morning we found ourselves doing just that...what a GREAT idea you two, thank you so much.

The home of our 3rd President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, is called Monticello, or 'little mountain' in Italian.  The house took over 40 years to complete and it was here where Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826.  The 5,000 acre farm was only 4 miles from where he was born and raised.  Again photos are not allowed inside the house, but it is a must see to any traveler to this area...not only for the beauty but also because it is an important place in our nation's history.

TJ and Buddy...about the same height and weight

Monticello gardens and views

the front of Monticello

the back of Monticello

burial stone of Thomas Jefferson, he had written his epitaph himself

After a wonderful visit to Monticello, we left Charlottesville and headed to the Shenandoah National Park, once again climbing up to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, continuing our peaceful drive north to our destination, our nation's capitol...we were very impressed that we could travel from southern NC to DC on such a lovely parkway, bordered by two of our national parks...what a glorious country we life in with some spectacular scenery and some fascinating history.

winding down to the end of the Shenandoah NP