Oct 12......Sign on road while driving, "Amish Stuff, not just stuff, Amish Stuff." I guess we are in Amish country. Today we are driving to Charlestown, West Virginina. Charlestown was named after George Washingtons brother who had a home there along with his brothers.Also, a few miles down the road is Harpers Ferry and if you know the story of John Brown, his historic trial was held here. The town has old brick buildings dating back to the 1800's, really cool. I love seeing these preserved buildings, so beautiful and stately.It is drizzly so we head for our home for the night.
Oct 13...We head for Lexington, Virginia this morning, there is a severe weather warning for tomorrow so we book the room for 2 nights. On the way we drive through the Shenandoah Mountains as the views of the Shenandoah Valley and the fall colors are suppose to be spectacular, NOT. As would be our luck it was dense with fog at most overlooks so it was a disappointing drive for over 50 miles.. Luckily, you could get off about half way so that is what we did. We were fortunate though as we did not have to pay the fee to see fog as we have a National Parks Pass. Cheap gas again in Boyce, VA at Shell Station only 2.98.
Oct14...Today is a rainy day a severe thunder and lightening with high winds is expected which keeps us here in Lexington an extra day. We decide to get out of the room and take a drive to the town of Stauton. what brings us here besides the historically value is to have lunch at a restaurant called Mrs Rowe's country kitchen. We find the place and have southern fried chicken, fried okra, collard greens and spoonbread. Very good but Arlen says the chicken was not as good as his mama's. After lunch we head for the town which is made up of many brick buildings dating back to the 1700's. We park and walk a little and find the visitors center and after talking to the person there we decide to take a trolley ride around the town. We see many historical buildings including Woodrow Wilson's home and the Mary Baldwin College the oldest all women's college in America. My favorite was the Catholic Church made out of green limestone. It was so beautiful and the bus driver said most of the town was Irish so the color was appropriate. Back to hotel to wait for storm.
Oct 15... Yeah, the storm was not as bad in our area as predicted which made me very happy. We leave Lexington to proceed to North Carolina today. It is still rainy but nothing compared to some areas. We are traveling to the town of Sanford. On the way, near graham we see several spots with rows of single wide mobile homes. This is quite interesting to see as you really don't see that many in California. There is a distinct differance between the grade of housing from the previous states we have visited. Saw first Tabacco field, really cool to see the different plant growing that is associated with the south.
Oct 16...Today is the day Arlen gets to trace his roots, We are driving to the town of Carthage, North Carolina, where is great grandfather was born. We spend most of the day at the library and courthouse going through records of births ,deaths and land deeds and articles in books. We find some pertinent information and make copies to bring home. All the people in Cathage were very friendly and helpful. Afterwards, we drive to the town of King Mountain to spend the night.
Oct 17... What a day, we drove from King Mountain to Cleveland, Tennessee today and it was the longest, most curvy road I have been on in a long time. I was starting to feel a little car sick anyway it took 5 and 1/2 hours to get to Cleveland on that road and that was too much driving for one day. We did stay at a nice Holiday Inn Express though.
Oct 18...Our drive to Savannah, Tennessee was pleasant but uneventful. We saw some pretty countryside with fall colors a lot of cotton fields and about the most exciting thing was the biggest billboard sign ever offering Fireworks for sale. Remember we are taking as many back roads as possible so some days it is just driving enjoying the scenery.
Oct 19...We leave Savannah to arrive in Memphis today but not before we stop in the town of Shiloh and the Shiloh Battlefield. Reminds me of the Gettysburg Battlefield I visited 50 years ago, not touristy but respectful. This is where the Civil War Battle of Shiloh was fought.Captain Henry Richardson stationed on the north, had an battery H first Illinois light artillery there, relationship unknown. Also, General Robert V Richardson was on the south he was born in Granville county North Carolina as we have to check out to see if there is a family connection On to Memphis
where our directions take us in so that we drive along the mighty Mississippi River. There is a park that runs along the river so we stop to take pictures of the beautiful bridge that spans the entire width. We notice an amazing site coming down the river, a barge with 4 rows wide of cargo by 13 long loaded on this barge, We watch it for a while and wonder how the captain can steer this wide and long b.oat can steer it correctly. After we drive to downtown to explore the famous Beale St. We find this famous street and start waking and exploring the different shops and restaurants. We have lunch at a place that had live"Blues" music playing. I had my first Gumbo and shrimp and grits. Flavorful and a bit spicy but very good. Afterward, Arlen wants to find the Gibson Guitar factory which has tours. We find it and we go on the tour which was interesting but nothing was in production because it was Sunday. Arlen said maybe I should buy a guitar but when we came out the Gibson Store was closed.
Oct 20...Today we spend the day exploring Graceland. I ordered tickets online which was a smart thing to do as I did not have to stand in line at the ticket counter just go to will call to pick up tickets.
You have a group and time on your ticket to get in line to board the shuttle bus that takes you to Graceland across the street. It is an interactive tour and we are given earphones and an Ipad. The tour is very well done and organized and gives you a new respect for Elvis and well worth your time and money to visit here. There are many shops for food and souvenirs and we take the time to look at them before we call it a day.
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