2018 Feb 19-22, President's Special The Inn at Christmas Place Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Presidents Day, Monday, February 19
For breakfast, I cooked bacon, eggs, and toast.
Hubby and I rode to Athens to leave the Chrysler Van for repairs.
Filled up with gas at Murphy’s in Athens.

We rode to Madison to look at an old Fireo.
We stopped at Dollar General for snacks, meat skins, and drinks.
We rode through Jasper, South Pittsburg, White Side, Chattanooga, and Trenton, stopping at Richville Rest Area, where I took pictures of Pushing Forward Knoxville Union Army on the Move.

We traveled US 72 through Huntsville, crossing into Tennessee near South Pittsburg, taking I-24 through Chattanooga to I-75 N to Knoxville, I-40 Knoxville to Kodak, taking 66 to Sevierville, and 441 into Pigeon Forge.

We went to Huck Finn’s for dinner, for we had skipped lunch.
Hubby ordered the small catfish plate with creamed potato and fixings.
I ordered the Cajun Grilled Trout with creamed potato and fixings. (white beans, Coleslaw, onions, pickles, and hush puppies.

Huck Finn's 

We took several pictures at Huck Finn's.
We checked into The Inn at Christmas Place at 4:38 PM for two nights.
We took our luggage to the room and returned up front in time to listen to the Christmas Bells Chime.
We rode through Pigeon Forge to  Gatlinburg, where we saw many Christmas Lights for Winter Fest.
We saw Johnny Rockets, Bubba Gumps, Dicks Last Resort, Dude’s Daiquiris, Texas Roadhouse, Calhoun's, Hollywood Star Cars, and Cooters’.
We came back to Pigeon Forge, where we saw a building covered in green light.
We saw a sign that read Dollywood loves every moment turn here.
We saw a storefront with alligators, sharks, and bear statues.
We rode through the archway at the Old Mill, it was covered in Christmas Lights of red and white.
Hubby took my picture in front of a picture of people skating at the Old Mill.
We bought a bag of yellow stone-ground cornmeal and apple fritter mix.
We rode to Patriot Park, stopping to take several pictures and videos. Stayed on the sidewalk because the ground in the park was still full of water from all the rain.
As we were riding through Pigeon Forge, we saw Arcade lit up in neon lights and a new place called Alcatraz East Prison.

We rode through The Island, where we saw the carousel, fairs wheel, Margaritaville, and Paula Deans's Family kitchen.
We stopped to take several pictures of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Adventures covered in Christmas Lights it was closed for the season.
We also saw the Magic Quest on our way back to The Inn at Christmas Place.
At 7:30 PM, we sat on the balcony at the Inn eating oatmeal raisin, Chocolate, and Sugar cookies served with hot apple cider.
It was a clear and warm night as we watched the flow of traffic and all the Christmas lights that surrounded the Inn.
We retired for the night, for it had been a very tiring day.

February 20, Tuesday
Took showers, dressed, and walked downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.
I got three sausage links and watched the cook prepare my made-to-order omelet.
I chose mushrooms, spinach, peppers, ham, and cheese.
The cook said he loved to cook, and I told him that my middle son loved to cook.
I said you have to have a knack for flipping omelets, but he said it takes a good pan.

It was still a little foggy outside and too early for stores to open up, so we went back to our room. Hubby watched TV, and I wrote in my journal.
Last night, before we went out, we talked to the bellman of the Inn. He said his daughter was the manager at the front desk, and he was a retired Sheriff of 25 years. He still worked part-time to get his 30 years of service. He said that he loved working at the INN.
At 10 AM, we rode to Gloria Vanderbilt and Lees, where we bought hubby a shirt.
We went to the Tanger outlet, where I bought a shirt from Under Armer and a black and white shirt from Nike. (I had only brought long sleeves tops, and it was 77 degrees outside) It is too hot for long sleeves.
We rode to Bass Pro in Kodak, where we bought hubby a couple shirts.
We ate dinner at Uncle Bucks, which is inside the Bass Pro Shops. We had all-you-can-eat shrimp for $9.99.

Uncle Buck's All you can eat Shrimp.

We rode to the Douglas Dam and park, stopping to take several pictures.
We filled up with gas at Murphy’s.
We rode by the Apple Bar, where we saw two geese waddling near Little Pigeon River.
We stopped at the upside-down Museum, Hatfield & McCoys, Hard Rock Cafe, and Titanic to take pictures.
We stopped at Dixie Stampede to take pictures of the horses.
We parked at The Island, walked around, stopped for Ice Cream, and finally sat down to watch the fountain dance to music.

Hatfield & McCoys 

The Island 

Watching Fountains Dance with the Sunset

Margaretville

We walked to Margaretville Hotel, a gift shop, and a restaurant to take pictures.
We rode back to the Inn around 7 PM.
From 8-9PM, we listened to Santa sing Christmas Carols and religious and Country Songs.
After the performance, we enjoyed milk, cider, and cookies.

Wednesday, February 21
Hubby and I enjoyed a nice hot breakfast, packed and checked out of the Inn, and started for home.
We stopped at the Rest Area in Jasper, TN, and Richville.
Hubby dropped me off in Athens to pick up the van.
Hubby rode to Madison to buy that Fireo we had looked at before we went on our trip. It had to be towed home. Hubby bought the Fireo parts for his Fireo.
Today is my grandson’s twenty-seventh birthday, so we are meeting him, his wife, dad, and sister at Logan’s Roadhouse for dinner.
Hubby and I ate hot rolls and fried mushrooms.
I gave my grandson a birthday card with money inside for his birthday. He said they were taking their camper to Fort Wilderness Campground and going to Universal Studios Theme Park for the weekend.

⛴Trip to Cape Cod

September 22, 2012

My daughter and I rode from Newington, Connecticut to Cape Cod, Mass.

We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and ordered 8 munchkins.

We rode across the Sagamore Bridge, and facing us was the Rotary sign that said, “Welcome to Cape Cod.”

We visited the white and red Bass River Lighthouse sitting among the Townhouse in West Dennis. 

Bass River Lighthouse

We visited the Light House Inn Lighthouse that now sits on top of the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis.

Behind the Inn was a rock wall that made a circle in the Bass River. We walked along the wall stopping to take several pictures. It was a beautiful place for a wedding. 

Light House Inn Lighthouse

Rock Wall 

We ate lunch at Kreme and Kone's a family-owned clam shack in West Dennis, where we were served the best seafood on Cape Cod

We split a plate of grilled Halibut on a bed of rice with coleslaw and a vanilla ice cream cone for dessert. 

We stopped at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham where we used the restrooms and toured the museum.

The museum had artifacts, photos, and art from the Mashpee-Wampanoag and Aquinnah tribes.

The Visitor Center also had pictures and articles showing the natural and cultural forces that created Cape Cod's beaches. 

I bought a couple of postcards, Nauset Lighthouse and Three Sisters. 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

We also stopped in Eastham to take pictures of the Georgian, Late Victorian-style Eastham Windmill.  

It is the oldest windmill on Cape Cod. It was constructed in 1680 by Thomas Paine in Plymouth. 

We visited the 18 century Judith Baker Windmill, in South Yarmouth. The windmill faces west to Bass River, and nearby is a small boardwalk and beach. 

Judith Baker Windmill

In the town of Orleans, we walked along Nauset Beach, where we saw the Three Sister Lighthouses, & Nauset Lighthouse.

Three Sisters Lighthouses 

Nauset Beach 

Nauset Lighthouse

We saw the historic markers: Three Sisters lit the Way; The Nauset Lights, Pushed back by the sea; & The Long, Black Cable. 

The sun was going down behind the large sand dunes, when we reached Provincetown, Ma. My cell phone was about dead, so I did not take many pictures in Provincetown.

We stopped at Far Land Provisions located at 150 Bradford Street Provincetown, Ma 02657.

We saw the Pilgrim monument, founded in 1892, that overlooks the town. It was said that the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod. 

 Pilgrim Monument

We walked several blocks taking in the sights. We saw people sitting on the benches in front of Town Hall watching the world go by. 

We saw drag queens along the streets inviting us into the drag shows, one had a southern accent. I ask the drag queen where he was from, and he said Georgia. Imagine a southern in Provincetown.

We walked along MacMillan Wharf and back through Commercial Street, where we saw shops, galleries, and a Portuguese bakery. 

We spent the night at South Wellfleet Motel. 

September 23, 2012:

We ate a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs in the Motel’s restaurant.

We walked barefoot along the sandy beaches of Chatham Harbor.

We saw the black and white Chatham Lighthouse.  

Chatham Lighthouse

Chatham Beach 

We saw a white two-story siding house with three chimneys with a red roof sitting next to the lighthouse. It was enclosed inside a wire fence. In front of the fence was the historical marker about the History of Chatham Light.  We also saw the historic marker of The Mayflower Story and The Rescue of the Pendleton. 

Nearby was the Chatham Beach-Tennis Clubhouse. 

We rode past the White building of the First Congregational Church United Church of Christ established in 1720.

The two-decker steeple had a clock face on three sides, of the church.

In Chatham on Seaview, we saw an antique building and in the downtown area, we saw a Corner Toy Store. 

At 3 Rivers Road Orleans, we visited the Jonathan Young Windmill, where we saw the interior workings of a windmill. The wind shaft in the interior is attached to the brake wheel/bull wheel (wooden gears).

Jonathan Young Windmill

We walked along the beaches of Marconi, located six miles north of Salt Pond Visitor Center. 

The waves were high and we saw men wearing rubber suits and surfing. It was too cold for swimming but not for the dogs, we saw happily, jumping into the splashing waves. 

The next morning we bought tickets to take the ferry to Vineyard Haven.

We parked the car and rode the bus to the ferry at Oaks Bluff.  

On the bus we meet a couple, they ask where we were from, and they said that they had family living in Florence on Robins Lane.

ferryboat 

Everyone got off the bus and loaded onto the ferry.

The ferry took us to Martha’s Vineyard. 

In Martha’s Vineyard, we walked to Ocean Park, where we saw a flock of geese.

In the park, we saw a bandstand, some markers, and a statue. September is the offseason and it was getting late so most of the stores were closing or closed. 

We stopped in The Good Ship Lollipop Store, where I bought some animal cookies and a diet Pepsi. 

The store owner's wife named the store The Good Ship Lollipop.  

We saw many store signs as we walked through the town, we saw Ben & Bills Chocolate, Ice Cream, and Candies, Skinn & Fat sandwiches, Bite on the Go, Pirate Jacks burgers, Sharkey’s Cantina, Oldies Memorial Fountain, Laughing bear, It’s me, Murdock fudge, Boat skipper. 

Vineyard and Vines 

We did not want to miss our ride back to the main island so we hurriedly walked back to the ferry station, but the last ferry left at 6:30pm.

We were told to take bus 13 to Vineyard Haven, it had the only ferry going back to the mainland.  

We hurriedly walked toward the first bus 13 but that bus was going in the wrong direction. We had to wait for the next bus 13, which would take us to Oak Bluffs where we could catch the next ferry.

The couple we met earlier was on bus 13.

On the ferry ride, we meet two women that lived in Johnston, RI.

Riding the ferry 

Riding the ferry 

Riding the Ferry 

One of the women said that she worked in the Art and Drama Department at the local college in Johnston and her husband owned a business.

The other woman said her husband was an angler. 

The two women were on vacation together and my daughter talked their heads off. 

We rode the bus to the parking area where everyone got off and went to their cars. 

We rode to Val’s house, he was watching the Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots lost by one point 30 to 31. We spent the night in Johnston. 

What is time?

Every minute of every day

is given to us

how we use it

is up to us,

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/01/09/hand-god-spotted-by-nasa-space-telescope/

https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=god's+hand+reaching+to+man

God reaching out his hand for a man!

If we spend our time

wisely,

we will reap

a reward,
https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=heaven

Stairway to heaven

If we waste our time,

it will never

come

back

From birth to the grave

Time is not

the minutes

on a

clock

Time ticking away

Time comes from

above

sent here

with

love

Love

Spend your time

wisely,

waste not a

minute

Downtown Disney time well spent

Time spent

is but

the blink

of an

eye!

Just a blink of the eye!

Little Spooners

Norman Rockwell the Little Spooner or Sunset was my inspiration to write a story.

Two best friends sitting on a bench looking at the moon recalling their friendship.

Drugged by medication my mind drifts back in time to my youth.

I see myself and my best friend sitting on that old wooden bench which I am sure has long decayed like my youth has faded with old age.

A tiny tear trickles down my cheeks as I remember the crystal blue waters of

the lake and me sitting next to my best friend with his arms caressed with mine as he snuggles close to me.

I lay here in this dark cold room on a bed not my own, looking at the face of the clock hanging on the wall.

I am sure that the clock could tell many stories as he looks at me.

I can see my life in the clocks face just ticking away.

I wish it would stop and smile at me but it just keeps on ticking.

When I was young, I never thought much about time or a clock because all my time was spent with my best friend.

Our love and friendship were timeless.

We shared that same love with Spot.

We found Spot when he was just a pup.

His mother had died during birthing her pups.

The owner had taken the mother and her pups into the woods to leave them to die.

We found the mother and six little pups all dead except one.

We buried all of them and nursed the living pup back to health.

We gave the tiny pup the name of Spot because her coat was spotted with black, brown, white, and red fur.

We shared the love of Spot but Spot lived at my house.

Wherever we went he was there trotting along behind us.

Spot was a shorthaired Beagle.

His ears, head, and back were black and brown, his legs and part of his back and between his eyes were white.

He had beautiful big brown eyes and around his eyes were patches of red fur.

My mind now drifts to our fishing hole and how Spot responded when we would catch fish.

Spot would let us know by barking, that he was ready for dinner for he loved to eat fish but it had to be cooked. 

Sometime we would build a campfire and bake the fish just for Spot.

Sometimes I could see and feel Spot on the bed next to me. I would reach over to stroke Spot’s back but I soon realize that it was just a dream.

It is good to dream it gives us hope of a better day so we can forget about the aches and pains of old age.

My best friend and I built the old wooden bench that we sat on when we were just spooners.

We cut two young saplings for the bench legs and dug two very deep holes to place them in.

We had brought a wooden plank from home to make the seat. The plank was unfinished so we would have to be careful not to get splinters.

It was called our Little Spooner Seat.

We had borrowed a shovel, saw, hammer, nails, and a hoe from my dad’s barn to make the bench.

We had to remember to return the tools or my dad would have had a cow.

It took us all day to cut down the two saplings, dig the two holes, and put together the bench.

We did not mind and time didn’t matter.

We would sit in our special Spooner place and watch the sunset even Spot was silent at this time.

The love we had for each other was eternal and we shared this love with Spot.

Spot lived over fifteen years and it was a sad day we had to put him in the ground as if part of our hearts died that day.

It has been many years since I heard Spot barking.

Thinking back to when I was a girl of thirteen that is when we found Spot.

My best friend and I went to college in our hometown.

It took me four years to become a registered nurse.

My best friend wanted to be a Veterinarian so he had to leave town to attend college for a few years.

We married soon after he returned home but never had any children.

My best friend treated many animals and I was always at his side.

I had trained to be a nurse but went to work for my husband for we both love animals.

Spot had a special place in our hearts because he had been our first pet together.

We tried for many years to have children but finally gave up.

I guess it was just not meant for us to have any children.

We would have had beautiful children for both of us were of Irish descent.

I always had long flowing red hair that I kept platted with a ribbon tied at the end.

I was a tall lanky girl with a freckled face.

My Spooner was a handsome man he had short red hair, a freckled face, and long legs.

He had to wear suspenders to hold up his pants because he had a skinny waist.

If he bought his pants, long enough they were too big in the waist.

I dearly loved my Spooner.

I traveled with my husband to help him take care of other people’s animals and we were both too busy to have any animals of our own.

We both volunteered at the animal shelter helping take care of the unwanted animals.

One summer we volunteered to go to South Africa to help set up a veterinarian clinic and to train the people there on how to care for the wounded animals until a Veterinarian could come and take our place.

I will never forget that adventure.

We had an alligator that had swallowed a log, it was hung in his throat, and we had to remove it. That was a trip.

We had a lion that had been attacked by another lion and left to die.

We nursed him back to life.

We had a giraffe get his neck stuck in the top of a tree.

We had a rhino get stuck in the mud and it took a huge truck to pull him out.

All those memories soon began to fade as I fell into a deep sleep.

My mind seems to come, & go some days life seems so real, and other days like a dream.

Sadly, I no longer have my pet Spot or my best friend who was the love of my life for both left this world many years ago.

I never thought I would outlive my best friend but here I lay in this bed all alone with just my memories and some days no memories at all.

Growing old is not so bad but I sure would be nice to have my best friend at my side.

Little Spooners

Being someone’s first love may be great, but to be their last is beyond perfect.