Having said that it's been a long and interesting rode home since our departure from Beverly Hills, Florida April 1, 2012. And we're not there yet. Of course, when we start heading home the weather up North turns to crap. As does the weather here in Sevierville, TN. It only made it in to the 50's here today. Along with the gloom of rain clouds hanging around all day, it's been a VACA day, as Jack calls it. I like these days once in awhile. Catch up on emails, blogs, old movies, etc. Jack can watch golf to his heart's content and I get to watch the Sunday marathon of Snapped.
Thank goodness Jack has kept you all posted on our whereabouts and travels. I do admit I've been lazy in the blogging department. I'll only make a few comments on our adventures.
Loved Pine Mountain. Enjoyed seeing FDR's little White House. I never understood why Eleanor seldom visited this home (saw the FDR movie years ago) until our tour and Jack's subsequent research on FDR. FDR's secretary/assistant was also his mistress and shared the house with him and had an adjacent bedroom to his. When Eleanor did visit she had her own bedroom on the other side of FDR's. What a pig! Now, granted Mr. President was a good looking man and did great things for America, of that I do not disagree but geez! The mistress secret, along with him being in a wheelchair, was well hidden until after his death.
The campground in Chattanooga, Tennessee was one of the most scenic and peaceful places we've ever stayed. The view from every window of the RV was beautiful. I enjoyed every aspect of our visit to Chattanooga. Knowing that so many men lost their lives in that area during the Civil War though, was quite sad.
On our last day in Chattanooga we decided to do the Duck tour. I loved it. Our Duck tour guide, who was also the owner was a native of Chattanooga, shared stories with his passengers that I'm sure you'll never find in any history book. For example; in 1998 he and his wife were in the market to buy their first home. Their Realtor called them with a very tempting offer. A house on the north side of Chattanooga had just come on the market for only $19,000.00. They declined. The north side of the river in Chattanooga during those years was a neighborhood flavored with drugs and prostitution. Today, that same house is worth well over $250,000.00. You can certainly see the purposefully reinvention of Chattanooga has been a huge success. The walking bridge that Jack and I walked across the 1st day (and got caught in the rain) was destined for demolition. However, three widowed women from Look Out Mountain (old money) decided to pool their resources and save the old bridge and turn it in to a walking bridge for the locals. It is a stunning piece of old construction and architect and beautifully landscaped along the way with colorful flowers, ornate lights and numerous benches and now is a huge tourist attraction. I believe Jack shared with you the details of the bridge.
After our tour we chose to try one of the local restaurants recommended to us by the Duck guide. It was in the artsy fartsy college section of Chattanooga. Here are some of the pics I snapped that evening:
We chose a place called Tony's, a pasta restaurant that made their own pasta every morning. While the food was okay, Olive Garden's pasta dishes are much tastier. But the entertainment made the whole dinner worth every penny.
When we walking through the courtyard of the local eateries we noticed some belly dancers at another restaurant entertaining their customers. They were very good and young. I guess they didn't like the food there because it wasn't long before they were seated a few tables from us.
Normally this wouldn't be worth mentioning. But what I found interesting is the reaction of some of the patrons in the restaurant. There were 5 old men sitting to the right of us. If they had a good heart between them it would be a miracle. And I'm sure there was a hip or knee replacement in several of these old coots.
When these belly dancers walked in I swear to you I had my cell phone in hand expecting the need to call 911 for one of these old fools. It was if I was watching some high school guys drool over the homecoming queen. I wanted to puke. What I really wanted to do was get up and schmuck them over the head with their bread sticks and tell them to get a grip. Even if they had a chance in hell of "hooking up" with one of the belly dancers they wouldn't have the brain power or any other kind of power to do anything with them. And having my picture on this blog drives me totally crazy but Jack just happened to snap my picture as I was giving these "old gents" a look. It should say it all. "Really, guys? Seriously?"
Just a few more pics of our dinner and downtown Chattanooga.
And lastly today......
I felt very blessed to have been witness to the wild bears we've seen in the Smokey's this visit. I have never, ever seen a bear in the wild and at a distance it was exhilarating. Today though my heart finally returned to a normal beat pattern after an hour or so of our close encounter with one bear. We were traveling the Cade's Cove loop and after talking to one Ranger who informed us that no bears had been sighted in that area today I was a little bummed. But soon forgot about it as we drove the remaining Cade's Cove loop, enjoying the beauty of the mountains. We meandered slowly down the road seeing what we could see taking in the peace of the environment. Suddenly, I saw something black out of the corner of my eye. My head turned to Jack's side of the truck. What I saw stopped my heart for a second. I could barely breathe. "Jack," I said urgently, "there is a bear!" He turns to his window and asked, "Where?" "Right in front of you!" I wanted to scream but was afraid I'd scare the bear and he'd come through the window at us. The bear was eye level to our truck window. If he'd gotten angry one swipe of his front paw would have come harmfully close to Jack's face. Jack says quietly but frantically, "Get me the camera!" I was shaking so badly by this time I didn't have the sense of mind to take the cap off of the lense or even turn the camera on for him. Jack rolled up the window. I breathed a sigh of relief. But then he got the camera turned on and rolled the window down again. I began to hyperventilate. Later, like the idiot tourist we are, we laughed about how close the bear was to our window. Jack remarked that the bear could have come in the window after us had he wanted to. I'm like, "No, he would have come after you but I guarantee you I'd been out my door in a heartbeat."
And as Jack shared we saw another bear before we left the loop. I thought he captured some really cool pictures. The ranger, while trying to shoo the bear from the road, chased him our direction at one point. We were standing in the road, Jack and others snapping pictures and others, like me, just taking in the moment. However, when the bear turned in our direction I remember vaguely mowing down a couple of children and a few old ladies in my attempt to get back to the truck. Didn't care.
But all ended well.
We are leaving here Thursday staying one night along the way and should return to Warsaw Friday. My gosh how the time has flown.
