Ripley's Aquarium & Apple Barn

There are so many things to do in this area that it was hard to decide where to take the girls on a special outing.  Since they will be visiting Holiday World in a couple weeks with their Mimi and Big Daddy, we decided to take them to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies instead of Dollyworld.  

It is located right in the mountain village of Gatlinburg. I love visiting Gatlinburg and walking through all the quaint shops and souvenier stores.  It was pretty hot outside, so we decided to head straight for the air conditioned Aquarium.  It was awesome.  Quite frankly, I was not looking forward to going.  It was something that I thought the girls would enjoy.  Dave and I went to the Aquarium in Chatanooga about 20 years ago and I was bored, bored, bored.  But, I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting this aquarium was with their  assortment of sea creatures & fish, too.  :-)  It was a little pricey at almost $40 Adult and $20 for children but well worth going!  

  

I LOVE the Apple Barn!  This is a must stop for us, whenever we visit the Gatlinburg area.  It is located in Sevierville and is a wonderful place to eat and do a little shopping.  

I guarantee that you will leave here stuffed and rolling out the door!   It's awesome.  Dave ordered their famous fried chicken and I opted for their turkey and cornbread dressing.  The girls ordered chicken fingers off of the kids menu.  

Immediately, our server brought us each a glass of their home made apple julep and their signature apple fritters with apple butter.  They are so yummy!  Also, included in our meal was a cup of chicken noodle or vegetable soup, salad or cole slaw a side of our choice, our main course and complimentary dessert - cake or home-made cobbler.

The atmosphere is delightful in this beautiful farmhouse with rocking chair porch and gazebo.  You feel like you are having a meal at grandma's house.  The servers are dressed in calico dresses with aprons and make you feel like you are truly eating "down home"!  :-)

River Plantation RV Park

What fun!  We are spending five nights in Sevierville/Pigeon Forge, TN.  Our granddaughters Harper & Saylor will be with us for the first three nights.  They have been so excited to go camping  in maw maw and papa's RV.  We have lots planned for this special time with them.

We thought it would be nice  to camp in Cades Cove right in the mountains but their largest sites only acoomodate up to 32' RV with no electrical hookups or generators allowed.  I don't know about you but this girl requires some electricity, especially for air conditioning! 

Since we enjoyed the RVC resort in Carrabelle so much, we decided to try their newly purchased resort in Sevierville called The River Plantation RV Resort.  You can tell that RVC has updated and made some changes for the better in this resort.  The location is great and close to everything in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area.  I agree with their website that this is probably one of the nicest RV Resorts in the area.  

We checked in at the new registration office and lodge which was very nice.  The staff is not as friendly as the wonderful staff in Carrabelle, especially the young lady who took our reservations over the phone.  They mention on their website to ask their friendly concierge to help you  and they will assist with finding  shows and restaurants.  I asked the young lady at the counter (who was chomping on an apple), if she could give me information on the Aquarium and she said, "I don't know, if there is information - it will be on the wall."  This was after she knew that I had been standing at the wall forever looking through the brochures. Or...maybe, she didn't notice even though I was the only one in the building with her. Hello?  It makes a big difference when you have a friendly and helpful staff.  People are more apt to return, if you make them feel welcome and special.  

After setting up camp, we spent the afternoon in the pool.  There are two pools to enjoy, as well as a hot tub.  We especially liked the zero entry pool with mushroom fountain.  The downside was the furniture needs replacing and they only had one table without an umbrella.  There is no shade at all in the pool area and umbrellas would certainly help.  Plus, the arcade is very outdated and could use a facelift.  You can tell that there are obvious improvements already in this park since RVC came onboard.  The entrance is newly paved & around the perimeter of the park, as well as nice signage.  They have remodeled the bath house by the pool.  

The girls were also excited when the icecream truck went by!  It comes by daily around 3 & 7PM.  All & all, this is a very nice park and easy to get into this time of the year.   We will definately return, as I wouuld like to go to Dollywood next time!





  

Sweet Tea Trail

It all started with a wonderful bottle of peach sweet tea from the campground store.  I was pleased that it was all natural and without high fructose corn syrup.  It is called American Classic Tea  and made with tea grown in the U.S.A and specifically in Charleston, SC.  This is the only place tea is grown and produced in the U.S.A!    

*Ingredients listed are South Carolina Grown Black Tea Brewed with Purified Water, Cane Sugar, Natural Peach Flavor & Citric Acid. Product of Charleston Tea Plantation, SC.


We had a great time visiting the Charleston Tea Plantation and were fortunate to arrive during their First Flush Tea Festival.  It is a very popular venue with live bands, featuring the Old Crow Medicine Show, food, vendor booths and of course, complimentary tea! 

CELEBRATING AMERICA'S OWN TEA GARDEN

Dedicated to the commencement of the 2013 crop harvest, the First Flush FesTEAval is a celebration of America's own tea garden and its popular product line, American Classic Tea. The festival name, First Flush, is defined as the growth of new leaves on the tea plants in the spring time after a winter of rest. Their "first flush" of new growth is harvested to produce what avid tea drinkers deem to be the most unique, fresh, and amazing cup of tea. However, the festival is not just about tea! Residents from Charleston and all neighboring towns trek to picturesque Wadmalaw Island to enjoy music, entertainment, art, and local cuisine. Fun for the whole family!

We had a wonderful time touring their factory and learned all about harvesting teas.  The gift shop is a delight and full of wonderful teas and other items.  We purchased a bag of first flush tea, peach tea for making ice tea and a couple of tea mugs & plate.  I highly recommend that you visit here whenever you are in the Charleston area!  

 

Charleston

Charleston!  We are finally in this great historic city!  We have always wanted to visit here.  Today, we took a trip downtown to see all the historic antebellum homes.  We started out the day by parking by the Visitors Center to gather information.  They have free shuttles around town on their trolley.  So, we thought it would be best to start here, gather information and start walking.  We could always take a shuttle if grew tired of walking.

There are so many tours available to sign up for but we decided to walk and get a good overview of the city on this trip.  We enjoyed our walking up and close to the homes, especially on rainbow street and down by the bay.  Our lunch at Blind Tiger was a perfect place to stop and have a sandwich and cold beer and put our feet up.  Kayla our server was outstanding and very personable.  She did an outstanding job telling us about highlights of Charleston.  

The open market was a fun place to shop, as well as Fresh Produce.  I was glad to find it since they didn't have the color skirt I wanted in Beaufort.  They had a larger selection and was able to find it in brown like I wanted.  It was a fabulous day and we would really like to come back again and stay longer next time! 

Kiawah Beachwalker Park, SC

I am realizing that I need to start researching areas before we visit.  I know...what a novel idea!  What is wrong with me that I didn't visit valid websites like Trip Advisor & Charleston, SC homepage before arriving here?  This is all a learning process for us.  We are used to camping once or twice per year in the same campgrounds.  This is different, of course and something we need to get used to and prepare for.  

Today, we visited our 3rd beach in the Charleston area - Kiawah Beachwalker Park.  The ride to the beach was amazing, especially touring down Bohicket Road.  Huge antebellum oak trees were hovering over this extremely narrow road which was busy with traffic in both directions.  I understand though why they keep it this way.  It would be a shame to cut down these beautiful Oaks which have witnessed so much history in this beautiful area.  For now, I am just gripping the door and praying that someone isn't texting in the oppositie lane.

Beachwalker Park is our favorite beach area in the Charleston area.  The facilities are very well kept and boardwalk to the beach looks brand new.  Even though we drove through a beautiful resort area to get to it, it seemed isolated and away from civilization.  It was perfect!    

James Island County Park

This is our first time visiting Charleston.  Our ride here from Hunting Island was a little stressful coming down all the narrow city roads to the park.  Thankfully, we made it and there were no wrong turns this time.  

Every city should have a park like this one.  They are not missing a thing here.  It's plush green with a beautiful large pond, walking trails, bike trails, huge dog park on one end of the pond, playground, water park, campground and more.  If you are heading to the Charleston area, you must visit this park for the day or spend a few nights - James Island County Park.

We have a beautiful camp site next to the park store.  After settling in, we spent the day learning all the different bike trails and visited the marsh area in the low country.  

Coleman 10x12 Screen Canopy

Everyone that knows us, knows that we love Costco!  Before this trip, we made a very wise purchase.  Remembering all the "no see 'em" bugs in Florida, we didn't want any encounters with the bugs on our next trip.  We wanted to be able to sit outside in the evening.  So, when we saw this wonderful Easy Pop-up Coleman 10x12 screened canopy, we jumped on it.  We knew that we NEEDED this.  

Well, it did not disappoint.  The price was right at $169 compared to $214 & up everywhere else.  It's easy to set up and sides are not angled which allows more room.  We set up a utility table in ours for our coffee pot and serving dishes.  There is plenty of room for at least four more camping chairs and side tables.  We brought along some cute patriotic lights and hung them around the upper perimeter and top, secured with Velcro already on the canopy and some clothespins.  

Surf Fishing in Johnson Creek

There is a lot to do at Hunting Island State Park!  We enjoyed touring the lighthouse area and spending the evening on the beach.  They do a great job in educating tourists on protecting the endangered Sea Turtle.  Even though, there were small shells on the beach, we enjoyed finding larger shells and a sand dollar.  They were all inhabited or alive.  We did what they recommended and threw them back in the water.  

Dave did a little surf fishing in Johnson Creek.  It's an inlet to the ocean, so he enjoyed catching some flounder and even a shark.  It wasn't a keeper though since it was less than 3 feet.  Seriously?  Who would want to keep a shark larger than 3 feet and take the hook out of it's mouth?  It was hard enough for Dave to remove the hook from the one he caught.  My biggest concern is the amount of sharks that Dave caught.  They are all us as we swim.  I am beginning to think that I like staying at the RV Resorts with a pool.  I can still take a walk on the beach and watch the sunset and do my swimming in a pool. 

Campfire

It is Saturday and Lori & Daryl are leaving tomorrow morning.  We spent a beautiful day on the beach lounging and playing bocce ball.  I have heard of bocce ball but have never played before.  It was a great game for the beach.  We enjoyed it so much that we plan to buy a set for home.  

As tradition when we go camping with my sista, we celebrate big our last night with a steak dinner.  This year was no exception.  Since we are on the coast, we also added fresh shrimp to this year's fare.  It was a wonderful meal to finish off our special time together at beautiful Hunting Island State Park.

Shopping in Beaufort

Today, we went shopping in Beaufort.  It is the town of Candace Glover from American Idol and her pictures are plastered on almost every building.  They are proud of their home town talent!  

Beaufort is a nice little coastal town to do a little shopping in.  I have always wanted to visit this city since they were featured in the Southern Living Magazine years ago.  There were not a lot of shops to go through, so our visit there was pretty brief.  I did, however, fall in love with a store called Fresh Produce.  They have an on-line store but all of their other shops are in coastal city.  Fresh Produce is known for quality knit clothing made in the USA.  I fell in love with their Tier Skirt but didn't have the color I wanted in my size.  We are heading to Charleston next so will visit the store there.  

Johnson Creek Tavern

Johnson Creek Tavern is located across the Johnson Creek Bridge from Hunting Island.  Good thing that this restaurant is so good, as there are not a lot of choices in this area unless you go to Beaufort.  It's located right on the creek and is a lively place with music in the evening.  You can eat inside or enjoy a spot under the sun umbrellas on the deck.  I loved the fun atmosphere, especially all the autographed dollar bills on the every wall!

Dave and Daryl ordered oyster clusters for their appetizer at the server's suggestion.  They ordered the Frogmore Stew, she crab soup and Dave and I split the Admiral Platter.  All of our meals were great, except for the guys' oyster clusters.  As I am writing this, I realize that this option isn't even on their menu.  What's up with that?  Later we discovered oyster clusters across the creek from the restaurant pictured above.  Hmmmm....could these be the same oysters?  Next time, the guys will stick to oysters on a half shell.  It is a much better choice than having to shuck  and try to salvage a piece of oyster out of each shell.  It was definitely not worth the shuck!  :-)

Sista Arrives!

We were so looking forward to my sister Lori and her husband Daryl's arrival.  They live in the Charlotte, NC area and recommended this park for us to meet.  Lori and I are only a couple of years apart and the only siblings in our family.  We have a great time when we get together and just call each other "Sista".  Daryl and Dave get along great, too!  It is very important to spend time camping only with people that you can get along with.  Even more important is to only travel with your spouse if you can get along with each other at home.  :-)

After helping them settle into their beautiful site next to us, we spent the afternoon at the beach.  Dave did a little shore fishing.  He didn't do as well as the man next to us.  That guy landed a couple of huge stingrays.  They weren't all that easy to get off the hook either.  You would think that he may try smaller bait after catching his first one.  But, he was after a shark.  Really?  I didn't know that people fished for shark?  YIKES!