Warsaw, VA: Scott's Aunt Turns 94

In mid-October, Scott visited Warsaw, VA, in the northern Neck of Virginia, for a birthday party and family reunion for his great aunt, Alma. He visited with cousins who traveled to Warsaw from all over Virginia as well as New York and Colorado.

Click Here to See Photos from the Party

The Northern Neck of Virginia is full of history. During Scott's long weekend in northern Virginia, he also visited several historic sites, particularly Christ Church and Morattico Baptist Church.

Click here for a slideshow of these two sites.

Hiking @ Pilot Knob

Hiking at Pilot Knob... enjoying the warm weather... photographing the view with the fall colors... spending time together and with a friend...

Stokes Stomp 2009

Each year, the Stokes County Arts Council sponsors a festival on the Dan River in Moratock Park. People from all around come for the 2-day, weekend event to experience the food, music, arts and crafts. It is a time for local talents to exhibit their talent in music and art as well as for area schools to participate in the Saturday morning parade and band performances. This year, the Stokes Stomp celebrated its 35th year of celebrating the arts. Check the site here at the Stokes County Arts Council for more information on the Stokes Stomp.

This year, I attended the stomp for a few hours on Sunday afternoon with my friend, Natalie @ http://natalie-elizabeth.blogspot.com/.

It was such a warm afternoon for early fall. We enjoyed some time wading in the Dan River...

Hillsville, VA 2009

Hillsville, VA holds an annual flea market during the weekend of Labor Day. It began as a fundraiser for the local VFW but grew into a whole town event. Hillsville does not look like the same town with and without the flea market. Hundreds of vendors and thousands of people participate in the event. Attendees find everything from a gun and knife show to antiques and wholesale items.

I took a couple photos of the street, but you really cannot get an idea of the crowd. On each side of the street, yards, fields and parking lots are packed.

My great uncle and aunt, Gaylon and Novella, first took my siblings and I to the Hillsville Gun Show and Flea Market when we were children.

For more information, visit the following sites:

History of the Show

VFW Flea Market Site

West Virginia

On our way to West Virginia, Scott and I discovered a Native American Village, in Virginia, that was just discovered and opened for tours in the 1970s. The village was named Wolf Creek, but the name of the tribe that lived there is not currently known. Click here for more information.

This trip was our last 'hoorah' before the end of the summer, and Scott and I spent a few days in West Virginia. We stayed in a lodge at the Pipestem Resort State Park. Accommodations included a restaurant, indoor and outdoor pool, game room, sauna, gift shops, a reading area, paddle boating, miniature golf, etc.

We even took a hayride around the campground area.

It was a relaxing trip as we viewed and photographed a family of deer from our 2nd story balcony and watched the sunset behind the mountain.

We also drove a short distance, around 30 minutes north, to Beckley, to visit Exhibition Coal Mine. We entered a real mine, no longer functioning, on a trolley and viewed originals and replications of the houses, a school, and other buildings on site for the coal mining families.

It was a relaxing and historical trip!

Chimney Rock & Lake Lure

Scott's cousins took their vacation in the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area. The cousins are twin sisters. They are both married and have children. Their mother also came along for the vacation. Chimney Rock is a mountain, park, and village in western North Carolina. Lake Lure is a lake and town just east of Chimney Rock.

We stayed with Chris, Cindy, Clare & Ella in a cabin in the woods.

Our biggest event, as we visited for just 2 days, was gem mining with the whole family.

Click the Photo for a Slideshow of more photos!

Grandfather Mountain Highland Games 2009

The Highland Games is one of several gatherings for Scottish families/clans, Scottish American families/clans, or general interested tourists to experience traditional Scottish music, food, and competitive games. The Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain, in Western North Carolina, is the largest Scottish Games Gathering in the United States and is held annually every July.

July 4, 2009

During the weekend of July 4, Scott and I visited relatives in northern Virginia. For the evening of July 4, we drove into Washington, DC, our Nation's Capital.

The National Archives had a special exhibit of archives, letters, and other documents that are not usually on the tour. We also visited the rotunda, which is the room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are stored and displayed.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History had extended hours, so we spent the last hour of daylight venturing through the museum exhibits.

Our evening ended with a fireworks display behind the Washington Monument, over the reflective pool.

The crowd was enormous. We took the metro into town and spent an hour just inching closer and closer to the metro escalator as we were squished into the crowd trying to leave once the fireworks show ended. We spent another hour, in standing-room-only crowds, riding the metro out of town. (It is usually about a 30-40 minute event.)

Click Here for More Photos of the July 4th Celebration in DC

Savannah, Georgia

For our 4th anniversary, Scott and I celebrated with a trip to Savannah, GA in June. Savannah is an interesting town with artistic, corporate, southern, and historical influences. Streets are lined with live oak trees, the GA State Tree, which are adorned with Spanish moss. Intersections throughout the city circle around squares and parks, often commemorating people of influence in Georgia. Savannah has a river running near downtown and is a major port for commerce. The area is extremely hot and humid in the summer. The city is home to several artists, many who attend the Savannah College of Art and Design. Nearby, Georgians can travel to the beach at Tybee Island, visit forts and lighthouses, or drive into South Carolina, home of Hilton Head Island and many plantations. Native Savannahians have managed to hold onto some of their traditional southern charm with their southern gentleman and southern belle accents as well as delicious cuisine.

For more photos, visit our web galleries:

Details of Savannah

Sites in the City

which include the Davenport House, the Gordon Low House, (home of the founder of the Girl Scouts,) the Jepson Art Museum, the Owen-Thomas House, (with balcony on which Lafayette stood to address the people of Savannah,) and the Pink House, which was white and turned pink from the brick color fading through white paint.

Forts

Old Fort Jackson and Fort Pulaski

Churches

including First Baptist Church, First Congregational Church, (5th photo,) Christ Church, (Anglican, still separate from the Savannah Episcopals,) Ferguson Avenue Baptist Church, and Independent Presbyterian Church

Colonial Cemetery

shows photos of the cemetery grounds and some famous gravesites, including Habersham, an influential family in Savannah as well as Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence

Savannah River

View photos of a river boat tour, including a dolphin fin, as well as sites from River Street, with shopping, dining and history.

Tybee Island

Savannah's closest beach, about 20-30 minutes from downtown, is on Tybee Island. We enjoyed the calm water and small town. Miley Cyrus was filming a movie while we were in town, so we were able to see some details of how a movie is made, including the carnival and seafood festival that was staged just for 2 days of filming. We also visited the Tybee Island Lighthouse and battery and climbed 178 steps to see the view of the island atop the lighthouse.

South Carolina

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina is a short drive from Savannah. We visited the island just for a day; it is basically one big resort. On our way home, we stopped at a visitor's center in South Carolina, which is housed in Frampton Plantation.

Wesley landed near Savannah when he arrived in the US.

Whitfield Square

James Oglethorpe, the founder and leader of the colony of Georgia, who would not allow hard liquor, slavery, lawyers or Catholics in the colony.

Scott and I enjoyed our adventures 'way down south.'