Plan B

The scenic drive we'd planned on doing today turned out to be not so scenic. Fortunately, the covered bridge I really wanted to see was close to the beginning of the drive.


Campbell's Bridge, built in 1909, is now the centerpiece of a pretty little park. I wanted to walk through and get pictures of the historical sign, but after a bumblebee the size of a hummingbird chased hubby away from the entrance,


I decided a long-distance shot was plenty good enough.

What we really wanted to see was the Blue Ridge Mountains, so Plan B had us heading up into N. Carolina. We thought we'd drive partway back to Atlanta - our plane leaves from there Thursday morning - then spend the night somewhere in the mountains. We didn't get far on the driving part, but we found one heck of a place to stay.



We'd been to Biltmore Estate once before when the kids were little and have always wanted to return.


I called while we were on the road and got a reservation for the night at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, less than 4 miles from the Vanderbilt home. We spent the afternoon touring the house, had a great dinner at Cedrick's Pub, then came back to our room to watch twilight fall over the mountains.


So peaceful and beautiful.

Tomorrow we really do have to head toward Atlanta and home. But tonight, we relax in the grand tradition.

Charleston Mansions

For our last morning in Charleston, we took a walk around the historic district, admiring all the stately homes.


Many were built in the 1700 and 1800's and still have families living there - often descendants of the original owners.


And they are HUGE; three or four stories tall and going back a full city block.

We picked our three favorites to tour. The Nathaniel Russell House,


finished in 1808, is completely restored and features a gorgeous 3-story cantilevered (free-standing) staircase, along with beautiful gardens.



The Calhoun Mansion was nicknamed by our tour guide as the "OMG House" and he was not mistaken.



The newish owners have fully restored the 28,000 (!!) sq. ft house and filled it, in the Victorian style, with over 9 tractor trailer loads of furnishings, all of them beautiful, unique and very expensive.


Like a marble table that at one time belonged to the Russian Imperial family. And an antique polar bear rug, hung over the 3rd floor banister so it was visible from all three floors.

And beautiful, fountain-filled gardens, of course. A truly stunning home.



The last one we toured was the Aiken-Rhett House, built in 1820.


The outside was recently restored but the interior is being preserved as it was when the family turned it over to the Historic Charleston Foundation in the 1970's, basically unaltered since 1858.



It was interesting to see how the home was constructed and how it has survived, but it was also sad. Such an impressive home in it's heyday; 4 stories, running a full city block from front to back, with stables, slave quarters and two of the prettiest privies I've seen (the brick work, anyway).



We're spending tonight in Spartanburg, in the northern part of the state. Tomorrow we plan to do a scenic drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, including the only covered bridge still standing in S. Carolina.

Forts and Plantations

Happy Mom's Day! We didn't get underway until almost 10:30 this morning, but we still managed to cover a bit of ground. First stop was Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, about 10 miles from our hotel in Charleston*.



Ten generations of the same family have lived here since the 1670's, rebuilding when the house burned down twice. The grounds are huge and gorgeous, including lakes, swamps, pastures, gardens and wildlife areas.



Then it was on to Drayton Hall, just a mile away.



Built in 1738 and owned by one family until 1974, it's the largest unrestored plantation in the area. There are no furnishings but we enjoyed the extensive carved plaster and wood work, including the banisters of imported mahogany.



It also had the only brick privy I'ver ever seen with it's own fireplace. Practical, but a bit strange.



Boone Hall plantation was a 30 minute drive to the other side of N. Charleston, giving our feet a much needed rest.



The house is a 10,000 sq. foot replica, with a first floor open to the public. At one time, Boone Hall had the largest pecan grove in the world, until a hurricane in 1911 took out 14,000 of the 15,000 trees overnight.



The house and grounds are beautiful but the most impressive thing is the Avenue of Oaks, planted over 70 years beginning in 1743. Stunning.

Since we were right there, we took a scenic drive down the Isle of Palms (gorgeous, expensive houses) and Sullivan's Island, ending up at Fort Moultrie, just across the river from Ft. Sumter. Moultrie played a role in the American Revolution and in conflicts until 1947, when it was retired.



On the way up to Charleston, we stopped to see Ft. Pulaski,



a moated fort outside Suvannah, arriving just in time for reinactors to explain about the fort's armaments


and then to actually fire two of the cannons.



Very cool, and very loud. I think this may be my favorite part of the trip so far.


*I'm a bad blogger and haven't yet chronicled the rest of Savannah and out trip to Charlestown. Need to backtrack soon and do that.

Savannah, the Paula Deen Edition

I don't watch the food channels, so I was only minimally aware of Paula Deen - mainly from her appearances on The Tonight Show - until we hit Savannah, where she is PAULA DEEN.



Her restaurant is a few blocks from our hotel, but we hadn't planned to eat there until our tour ended almost on her doorstep about 1:30 today, and the guide said now would be a good time to get a 'walk in' table, since reservations are almost always required. So, after a quick stop to buy umbrellas to fend off the pouring rain, we walked over and were seated on the 3rd floor after just a short wait.



Turns out all my kids are Paula fans. So for them, here's what we had - and yes, it was every bit as good as you would expect from a world-famous chef's restaurant. Now I'm a fan too. (Sorry about the quality of the cell phone pix.)

Hoecake and cheddar garlic biscuits to start.



The best crab stew I've ever had (heck, one of the best things I've ever eaten)



Crab cake sandwich and fries for me



And tilapia sandwich and fries for the hubby.



And just to make sure we always remembered this meal, chocolate mousse pie with chocolate chips on top for dessert. Amazingly delicious!

Oh, Savannah

Our timing was off this morning (plus we got lost), so the sights of Milledgeville were a bit of a disappointment. We missed the once-daily tour bus, saw the Governor's Mansion from the outside only,



and the museum at the old State Capital, now a military college, was underwhelming.



So we beat feet for Savannah, arriving a little after 2 this afternoon. I thought we were in trouble when our hotel appeared to be under construction, but the staff said all the work is done and the clean up is all that remains. We shall see. . .

We're in the historic district, less than a block from the riverfront,



and two blocks from beautiful City Hall.



We strolled along the waterfront this afternoon, carefully climbing down the ancient, uneven stone steps



that lead between the three levels of shops (we took an elevator back up to street level.)

Every block or so there's a small park, with huge trees heavily hung with Spanish moss.



The buildings are beautiful, full of architectural detailing



and wrought iron trim.



Tomorrow, we plan to take a trolley tour of the city before visiting Fort Pulaski.


And I'm hoping to get my hands on some grits. I had biscuits and gravy our first morning in Georgia, but grits have eluded me.

Athens, But Not Greece

We'd intended to spend tonight in Savannah, but we're only half-way there. And that's a good thing. We had such a good time, and had so much to see, that we only made it as far as Milledgeville, Georgia's first state capital. 

We started in Athens, where we saw the Tree That Owns Itself,


and the world's only double-barreled cannon.


Then Watkinsville and the Elder Covered Bridge, which is still in use (my great-grandmother lived just down river from a covered bridge in Tennessee. I've loved them since I was just a little girl.)


And Madison, where we spent most of our day,


touring three historical houses

and wandering around the old town square. 

The plan for tomorrow is to be up early and catch the tour of downtown Milledgeville, then head down the Antebellum Trail to Savannah, where we'll spend two nights. 

Traveling

Georgia has been a little less than friendly in the few hours we've been here. We landed in Atlanta just ahead of a good-sized thunder storm, one that sent the baggage handlers that were supposed to unload our flight running for cover. So we got to sit in the terminal for almost an hour, waiting for it to blow over.

Then we got on the freeway. And paddled our way slowly east to Athens.


*Ha! Finally figured out how to upload photos from my iPad and get them into the blog. Yay! Now traveling with Ipadimus Maximus is just perfect.

Towels On The Loom

Look Ma, no cavities errors! Once I got the threading mistakes fixed, I've been able to get two of the three - maybe four - towels woven. The warp length was supposed to give me four towels, but with Naia's blanket "sample" and re-tying on the warp, I don't think I'll get that many. Either way, once these are off the loom, my plan is to tie on another warp and weave companion towels, in the same colors but with a slightly different pattern. And all of this is being done with yarn that's been in my stash for awhile. Hooray for stash-busting (and for having stash in the first place.)