Old Salem and the Blue Ridge Parkway

We took the kids to Old Salem for a few hours on Saturday. It was Harvest Day at Old Salem, with a focus on pigs and apples. But that wasn't as interesting to us as touring the town and the buildings. We had been there before when Sean was little (before Kelly was born), but it was hot and we didn't stay long. The weather was perfect this time with temperatures in the low 70s, mostly clear skies and a nice breeze.

Back of the Tavern. George Washington slept here two nights.

The kids and I wanted to ride the carriage, but it costs $10 per person. Crazy. The building on the left is the Single Brothers' House.

The Winkler Bakery. A very popular place. I wanted to buy a few things there (Moravian cookies, bread, almond pound cake), but the line was too long.


Many of the homes in Old Salem are private residences, including this one. Most are nicer than this outwardly humble-looking abode.

After leaving Old Salem, we went to La Hacienda for supper and then came home.

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We went to the mountains on Sunday. A lot of the colorful leaves had been blown off by high winds on Friday and, most annoying of all, there was a detour on the Parkway that caused us to miss a few of our favorite overlooks (Alligator Back, Mahogany Rock, Stone Mountain), but it was a nice day and we enjoyed our time on the Parkway.

Fox Hunters Paradise overlook.

Tall hill at The Lump overlook.

Looking back from the top of the hill.

View from the top of the hill. That pale spot in the distance is Stone Mountain.

Another view from the top of the hill. (Click on the picture to view it large.) The mountains in the distance remind me of where the Blue Ridge Mountains get their name. The Cherokee called them "The Great Blue Hills of God".

Another view from the top of the hill.

Near the Mt. Jefferson overlook. Grandfather Mountain is the tall peak in the distance on the left.

We took the Parkway from around Fancy Gap,VA, to Boone, NC. (Though, as I said, there was a detour that took us away from the Parkway for several miles. Part of the detour took us through the very small town of Sparta. We can't help but say, "This is SPARTA!!" everytime we go to the mountains and see "Sparta" on the road signs.) Once we got to Boone, we went to the Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant, as we always do, and enjoyed some delicious country cookin' - fried chicken, country style steak, mashed potatoes and gravy (we couldn't get enough of them), green beans, corn, salad, cole slaw, country ham biscuits (yum!). For dessert, we had a choice of banana pudding, strawberry shortcake or chocolate cake.

It was after 5:00 when we left Boone. When we got outside of Wilkesboro, we stopped at a produce stand and bought apples (Jona Gold) and pumpkin bread. They didn't have pumpkin bread at the Northwest Trading Post, where I usually get it when we go to the mountains, so I bought some at the produce stand. It's good, but not nearly as good as the pumpkin bread I've gotten at the Northwest Trading Post in the past.


I'm hoping we can do something else fun and interesting this Saturday. I was thinking maybe Alamance Battleground. We'll see.

Two Fall Festivals

Saturday was the Fall Festival at Bur-Mil Park. The kids and I had been looking forward to it. (Charlie was also, but he ended up having to work and couldn't go.) However, when we got there we were disappointed in how much wasn't there compared to last year. There was no kayaking or archery this year (something Sean and Samantha had been excited about doing; Kelly wasn't interested), no field filled with tent after tent and table after table of activities and crafts. There were a few tables out front and a few tents and small trailers out back to get food, none of which we were interested in. There was also a hayride, which we enjoyed. After that, we left and went to the Fun Fest at Hagan-Stone Park.

My mom met us at the Fun Fest, since it's closer to where we all live, and we had a pretty good time. There was a car show that I knew Charlie probably would've liked, so I took pictures of the cars for him. And the thing the kids were most excited about and had been since we found out about it a couple days before the Fun Fest was the pony rides. And not the kind that are in a small corral. They enjoyed that so much and talked about it all day. (They said it was "awesome".) It was the first time on a horse for my kids. Samantha said she had been on one once before when she was little, but she doesn't really remember it, so it was like the first time for her. She also had funnel cake for the first time and loved that as well.

Samantha on "her" horse Billy.

Kelly on "her" horse Willa.

Sean on "his" horse Thunder.

It was an enjoyable day and the weather was pretty. I ended up with a sunburn on my arms and neck, but it doesn't hurt, so no biggy.

The kids chasing geese at Hagan-Stone Park.

The kids and I brought Samantha back home to Raleigh yesterday after church and after eating at Cracker Barrel, which was as slow as usual with getting our food to us. I don't know why I keep forgetting how slow they are.

Our next thing coming up is a day trip to the mountains. We don't know yet what day we're going (we're aiming for Friday, but it's going to depend on the weather), but it should be sometime this week or early next week. We're really looking forward to it.

Titanic Artifact Exhibition

My niece Samantha (on Charlie's side) goes to a year-round school in Raleigh and has been on break for a couple weeks. She called last week wanting to come spend some time with us, so I picked her up on Friday while the kids were in school. We got back just in time to get Kelly from school.

On Saturday, I took the kids to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro. (Charlie didn't want to go because the story is too depressing, so he stayed home.) When we first got to the doors of the exhibit, we were given replicas of the Titanic boarding pass. On the back is the name and information (including class, age, reason for being on the Titanic, other people in their party) of someone who was on the Titanic. Eventually you reach the lists, divided by class, of those who were "saved" and those who were "lost". You can then look for the name of your person and find out if they lived or died. My person, Margaret Ann Watson (3rd class), died along with everyone in her party. Including four of her children. Her oldest child, an adult, was already in America.


It was amazing to see some of the artifacts recovered from the bottom of the ocean. It was so hard to imagine them lying there for so many decades and now here they were right in front of me, under glass. Wallets, dishes, a glasses case, a leather bag, a man's suit and socks, money, post cards, cuff links, make-up, perfume and many other personal belongings. There was also a porthole, rivets and small steel plates.

As we walked through the exhibit, there were photos of some of Titanic's passengers, along with their story. There was also a replica of a 3rd class cabin and a 1st class cabin. The furniture wasn't from the Titanic, but was from that time period.

As I read the story of the Titanic, written on the portable exhibit walls, and saw the photos and artifacts and read the stories of some of the people who had been on the Titanic, I became a little emotional and there was a lump in my throat. Like most everyone else, I was familiar with the Titanic and some of her passengers. I've seen the movie (while the story of Rose and Jack isn't real, the sinking of the Titanic is quite dramatic and close to what it was really like for the people on board) and I've watched several documentaries about Titanic. But seeing parts of the ship and some of the actual belongings of the people who were on Titanic just made it seem more real somehow.

The sinking of the Titanic is one of those historical events you wish you could go back in time and change.

If there's a Titanic exhibit near you or if it ever comes to your town, I highly recommend you go. It's worth the price of admission, in my opinion. When I asked the kids what they thought, they said it was "cool". We all loved it.