Author: Wanda and John

Yesterday we toured the Forbidden Caverns in Sevierville TN about 30 minutes away.  Hundreds of years ago the caves were used by Woodland Indians for shelter because there is an underground lake and stream that supplies water.  Later in the 1920’s the caves were used by the local moonshiners to make their homemade whiskey.  It was interesting to see how years of water flowing through and dripping from the ceiling carved out the amazing shapes in the earth.  Our path was lit by modern electric lights but at one point when we were deep inside the caves, the guide turned off all of the lights and I’ve never been in such complete and total darkness.  It was a little scary, and so were the very narrow spaces that we walked through in some spots.  I can’t image how people stayed down there with only torches or even flash lights in the past.  Everything looked like we were on another planet.  John’s photos below and a few quick videos.

Today we visited the Bush’s Baked Beans factory, museum and visitors center which is in Dandridge TN about 30 miles from where we’re staying.

We learned about the family that founded the company – pictured below.

I mentioned that none of them look very happy and John said “Well they probably all have gas.” Ha. Ha.

It was fun learning about how the beans are made and canned at the factory on the property and of course we had to buy some baked beans to take home yum!

We’re already really enjoying this area.  Sunday we checked out the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge.  (no photos allowed inside) It was very interesting and I’m glad we had the chance to visit.

“letting “passengers” experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers.  As visitors touch a real iceberg, walk the Grand Staircase and third class hallways, reach their hands into 28-degree water, and try to stand on the sloping decks, they learn what it was like on the RMS Titanic by experiencing it first-hand.” – From the Titanic website.

Yesterday we drove through the Smoky Mountains on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  It’s about an hour ride up and then down this side of the mountain and it’s just breathtaking the entire way.  We stopped many times to walk or hike and John captured the photos below.

We left North Carolina this morning intending to arrive at Cades Cove Campground up in the Smoky Mountains in TN this afternoon.  Well….then this happened

We were rolling along on a road near Pigeon Forge TN and a car pulled up next to us with the window rolled down. The woman in the passenger seat was telling us that our wheel had fallen off! We hadn’t felt or heard a thing so we had no idea what had happened.  Long story short – the lug bolts broke and the wheel went flying off.  We are beyond lucky that no one was injured and there was no other damage to the RV.  We sat for a while waiting for a repair service and they were able to put a new tire on so that we could get to a nearby campground.  The good news is we’re in the Pigeon Forge area now which is just south of Knoxville and there’s a ton of stuff to see around here.  Can’t wait to check it all out.

Motto of the day:

Tomorrow we leave North Carolina for the other side of the mountains.  We’ll be driving to the north part of the Smokeys and staying on the Tennessee side.  We’ve enjoyed this area very much and have been hiking to several beautiful waterfalls.  I love a good hike that ends with this reward.

From behind the waterfall

We left South Carolina yesterday and drove into North Carolina.  We’re camped in Davidson River Campground which is about 30 miles outside of Asheville and just on the edge of the Smoky Mountains.  We’ll be here until Saturday.  It’s incredibly beautiful up here and the new truck took the hills with ease.  We’ll have some great shots of this area in the next few days.  In the meantime, before we left Charleston, we spent the day on Sunday wandering around the downtown area.  Charleston really is charming :-). We captured some of the sights and sounds below.

Yesterday we spent the day at another beautiful historical property on the Ashley River called Middleton Place.

We toured the house and gardens and other interesting buildings on the property.

Photos by Wanda Blancato 

We ate lunch on the property and everything was delicious!   Today we’re headed for downtown Charleston.  Can’t wait to explore the city.

Today we had the pleasure of visiting a historic home near Charleston South Carolina.  This one has not been restored but it was very interesting to see much of the original architecture in the home. Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation located on the Ashley River.  It is the only  plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact through both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, and it is a national historic landmark.

We left Florida this morning and traveled north through Georgia and into South Carolina.  We’re about 45 minutes from Charleston in Givhans Ferry State Park.  We’ll be checking out some historical sites and downtown Charleston in the next few days.

We left Brandon FL this morning and traveled about 3 hours north.  We’re just south of the Georgia border in the beautiful Osceola National Forest.  We found a nice little RV park on a lake and we’re set up here until Thursday.

It was a great first day of travel.  Lots of sun and no traffic, which is highly unusual for Florida! We’ll have more pics to post soon.