Well, Halloween 2009 ended up being one of the best yet for the OHR gang. We stayed home and enjoyed the company of Chris and Jim, Dave, Dawn and Luke, and Dave and Kay. We had a fire, ate chili, enjoyed Leroy's Ghetto Guac, and put down a few beers and chocolates.
Everyone came over the OHR Base Camp on Saturday to celebrate Gwen’s 12th birthday. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Middle TN, so we celebrated camping style, with a campfire, beer and lots of food. After enjoying a dinner of pizza, grilled wings, stuffed peppers, and sausage sandwich, we moved the party indoors for Shirley’s gorgeous homemade and hand decorated cake. Just look at those flowers!
We all serenaded Gwen, and she then blew out (or attempted to blow out) her “trick” candles. Those never get old!
We all had a great time!
Well, fall is here and the OHR gang is back into the camping swing of things. In late September, we headed to Rock Island State Park in TN for a weekend of rain filled fun. It was SO wet that we didn’t even get any pics. We enjoyed a peaceful weekend of playing Uno, the Blizzard of ‘77 board game, and sleeping to the sound of rain hitting the roof, but not much outdoor activity.
Well, a couple weeks later, the weekend of October 9-12th, we headed east to the Great Smokey Jellystone Park, just east of Gatlinburg. And guess what? It rained again! But we did get enough breaks in the weather to get outside, have some nice campfires, go on a Hey Hey Hay Ride with Yogi Bear, and walk around Gatlinburg.
The girls enjoyed craft time at the Jellystone pavilion. They made scarecrow picture frames magnets:
At night we enjoyed a concert by this guy:
Our site was right next to a beautiful creek, with a nice fire ring creekside:
Well, the Holiday Road has been on summer hiatus other than one weekend at Defeated Creek in July, but Shirley and I did get away for a weekend without the motorhome recently. And it was AWESOME! We went to the Whitestone Inn in Kingston, TN. This was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever stayed at. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
What a great place! The food is incredible…breakfast and dinner in the “farmhouse” and they packed us a nice picnic lunch. We walked, we fed the horses, we canoed, and we napped during a great afternoon rain storm. The perfect weekend!
Stay tuned for more posts now that the fall camping season is upon us. We have upcoming trips planned to Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Rock Island State Park, Jellystone in the Smoky Mountains, Land Between the Lakes, Cades Cove and Thanksgiving at Disney. It’s gonna be an active autumn!!!
Well, we've reached the end of our journey. We leave first thing in the morning for home. Today was a day to bum around Williamsburg a bit and do some things we wanted to do before heading home. We started the day at Mama Steve's pancake house. Shirley and I both enjoyed the pecan pancakes. I can share some pics later.
We then returned to the Yankee Candle store to see Santa. We purchased a handmade German Christmas pyramid. This will become a treasured tradition on our mantle each Christmas going forward.
While Stella napped this afternoon, I took the other girls to play mini golf at Pirate Cove. We had a nice time. Then we went back to the motorhome for dinner, then headed out again for ice cream. Found a great place called Handel's. I couldn't decide between Cherry Vanilla, Coconut Creme Pie, Coffee Chocolate Chip, or Spouse as Big as a House. Fortunately, they offer a 4 scoop sampler...so I got to try all 4! And they were all very tasty, but my favorite was the Coconut Creme Pie. It had chunks of pie crust in it!
We finished the day with a fire back at the campsite before turning in to get some rest. We'll need it for the long journey home...700 miles.
It was a full day here in Colonial Williamsburg. We headed into the historic district this morning to walk around and check out some of the sights we really enjoyed when we visited here in 2007. Our first stop was Ye Olde Peanut Shop in Market Square, where they have samples of many of their products out for the taking. So we took. And took. And took some more. I got a stomach ache, but the chocolate covered peanut brittle was worth it.
Next, we walked the length of Duke of Gloucester Street, the main thoroughfare in Colonial Williamsburg. Here is a sampling of what we saw.
We stopped into the King's Arms Tavern for lunch. I had the fried chicken, which came with mashed potatoes, country ham and a biscuit. Yum! Shirley had a roast beef sandwich that was quite good, and the girls all had authentic, colonial era chicken fingers. Just like Jefferson would have eaten! George Jefferson, that is.
I'd like to tell you our meal was served by a colonial tavern wench, but actually our waiter was a nice gentleman working his very first day at Colonial Williamsburg. Maybe next time we'll get a wench. Actually, I just like saying "wench".
I had forgotten my wallet and couldn't pay for lunch. Big mistake.
I have to make a note not to pose for any more pictures with my head down. The glare isn't good for picture quality.
The gardens in Williamsburg are breathtaking.
After leaving the historic part of town, we stopped in the shopping part of town. One of our favorite stores in Williamsburg is Yankee Candle. This isn't like the Yankee Candle in the mall. This place is a destination in itself.
Before heading back to the Holiday Road, we stopped off at Sno To Go, a Williamsburg institution. They are famous for their snowcones, which they call a Snowball. The ice is shaved to an almost powdery consistency, and they "stuff" them with soft ice cream. And they have dozens of flavors for the ice. I had cherry ice stuffed with vanilla ice cream. Shirley had Strawberry Cheesecake. Emma got Strawberry, and the others had Cotton Candy. Awesome stuff, and very refreshing. Except for the brain freeze.
We headed back to the campground to take a swim, and we also played some mini golf. After relaxing with a beer by the fire, we were hungry for pizza, so we headed back to Sal's by Victor for pizza and salad. Then, back to the Holiday Road to restoke the fire and make smores. What a day! Tomorrow is the LAST DAY of our trip! We head for home starting Saturday, so tomorrow will be the last post of this trip before the wrap up come Sunday. We're not sure what tomorrow will bring, but whatever we do I will post on tomorrow night.
