Hi There!

So...I was totally supposed to be DONE posting about my trip to NC last year and on to other adventures by this time but its actually been a bit hectic around here and that just hasn't happened.  Sorry about that! 

Maybe I'll be able to catch up next week!

Or...maybe I'll go on vacation instead...

smooches,
- HistoryDiva

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day Six

Hi there!  I'm catching up on some 'back dated' entries that I have saved as drafts in the background/editing area of the blog.  Might as well tidy up a bit while I'm poking around!

love and kisses,
HistoryDiva
April 27, 2017

The last day of our mountain vacation - February 27, 2014.

One of the best things about this resort was the 'take a book, leave a book' library in the office.  Apparently folks are constantly leaving their vacation paperbacks behind them in the units and the collection got so large that the staff decided to actually do something about it.  The books are all 'free to a good home' and the guests are welcome to leave behind anything they have finished reading...which means is you like thrillers and weepy chick lit you're covered.

Our big 'adventure' for the day was visiting local wineries and sampling ALL the wines!  My aunt and uncle have developed a passion for visiting wineries while traveling and are always bringing home new vintages for us to try.  It was an entertaining and tasty way to end our vacation.  

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day Five

Hi there!  I'm catching up on some 'back dated' entries that I have saved as drafts in the background/editing area of the blog.  Might as well tidy up a bit while I'm poking around!

love and kisses,
HistoryDiva
April 26, 2017 

Day Five of our trip, February 26, 2014...and it appears that we either didn't do much this day OR I didn't take any pictures OR I just forgot!!! 

Anyway!

Have you seen the movie Dirty Dancing?  It was shot in and around Lake Lure.  Remember that scene where Baby runs across the golf course to ask her dad for money?  Well...that would be the green (okay, brown cause it's winter) right there in the center of these pictures.  The resort we stayed at offers special tours during the summer to all the movie fans who turn up wanting see the movie locations.   

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day Four

Hi there!  I'm catching up on some 'back dated' entries that I have saved as drafts in the background/editing area of the blog.  Might as well tidy up a bit while I'm poking around!

love and kisses,
HistoryDiva
April 26, 2017 

Day Four of the trip, February 25, 2014.

Today we did some more local sightseeing, mostly down by Lake Lure and then we wandered and shopped a bit in the little tourist town.

So...here are some pictures of the lake.

The DivaUncle...working his new favorite hat.

Ducks!

Yup, more ducks.

I don't remember if this was a heron or a crane...it's been THREE YEARS since I looked at these photos you guys. 

Loved these two fearless fowl!

They came so close to the shore (checking to see if we had any treats...but alas, we didn't) that we could have reached out and petted them. 

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day Three

Hi there!  I'm catching up on some 'back dated' entries that I have saved as drafts in the background/editing area of the blog.  Might as well tidy up a bit while I'm poking around!

love and kisses,
HistoryDiva
April 26, 2017 

Day Three of our trip to the mountains, February 24, 2014.

Today we took in some more of the local color and did the 'tourist' thing...which totally means we hit up a State Park. 

Our first stop was....Blowing Rock State Park.

This place blows.  (See what I did there??)  I mean that literally.  The park is located at one end of a long valley that just funnels wind like crazy!  There is an old Native American legend about that rocky ledge you'll see in the upper left of the first picture, all about a brave warrior and a maiden.  I'd tell it here, but then you'd have nothing to Google later! 

It was a beautiful spot to be on a sunny, late winter afternoon.  But it was a bit on the 'seriously chilly' side that day...as illustrated below by my aunt who is wearing six or seven layers.

One of the other attractions in the area are what is know as the 'Church of the Frescos' locations.  Years ago an artist traveling in the area was commissioned by several area churches to paint religious frescos in their chapels. These are small, out of the way area churches.  The communities which support these churches leave the doors to the buildings unlocked so that folks can come in to view the frescos and have a quiet moment or two the lord.

The paintings are beautiful and moving...but to me, taking a picture of something like that just seems...wrong somehow.  So instead, I found a fantastically fun stained glass window which depicted the Ark and lookit...

STAINED GLASS TURTLES!!! 

One of my favorite highlights of all my family's yearly vacation road trip to visit the grandparents was getting to stop at the New River Gorge overlook in West Virginia. 

If you ever get the chance to visit, stop and take a look...it's the most beautiful, peaceful place I've ever been. 

So you can imagine my surprise when my uncle let me know that the river we were driving along was...the New River!  It was like running into an old friend unexpectedly and made my day.   

Our last stop of the day was Ashe County Cheese, a local dairy.

They store their milk in...GIGANTIC COWS!!! 

Day. Made.

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day Two

Hi there!  I'm catching up on some 'back dated' entries that I have saved as drafts in the background/editing area of the blog.  Might as well tidy up a bit while I'm poking around!

love and kisses,
HistoryDiva
April 26, 2017 


Day Two of our Mountain trip, February 23, 2014.  We decided that scenery was the main requirement of the day and poked about twisty mountain back roads all afternoon before stopping for a very late lunch at a roadside dinner...where we caused quite a stir because tourists don't usually stop there! 

Hideaway in the Hills: A Mountain Vacation - Day One

The retirees loaded me up for another week of vacation in February of 2014 and this time we headed north, to the mountains of North Carolina. 

So guess what all of the posts this week are going to include....?

Yep, mountains.

love and kisses,
- HistoryDiva

A Trip to the Sunshine State - Day Seven

The sun rose nice and early on our last full day in FL, and thanks to the electric toothbrush alarm clock I got to witness another lovely sunrise. 

Yeah...really starting to hate that toothbrush. 

Anyway!  It was a beautiful day...

Our itinerary for the day included an excursion to...a couple of State Parks!  (Surprise!)

First up, Falling Waters State Park, home to the only naturally occurring waterfall in the state of FL.  Also home to the tallest hill in FL, but more about that later. 

First: SINKHOLES!! 

This entire place (waterfall included) exists because this area of FL is prone to sinkholes.  Not really a comforting discovery when you're standing around reading a sign...

The locals harnessed the power of the river to grind corn.  A practice they quickly gave up on when they discovered that they could just make whiskey instead.  

"Ah history, you funny cause you true." 

Limestone + Water = Sinkhole.

Boom!

Now you don't have to read that sign.

To sum up again: Limestone + Water = Sinkhole.

Dear Tourist,

Sinkholes are dangerous.

Smooches,

FL

I have to admit I was delighted to discover that Sparkleberry is actually a real thing! 

As opposed to just being a My Little Pony.

And yes...I was also hoping to run across a Glitter bush, just to make it a matched set.

What?  Inside I'm like 12.

 

 

Oh, and I found a neat bug! 

But he didn't want to be friends.

He just kinda looked at me and then tried really hard to pretend he was a leaf.

Jerk.

 

And then I found the waterfall!

 

And it was lovely.  And peaceful.

And just a little bit scary...cause to get to it you have to climb down a bunch of steps suspended from a hillside in an area prone to sinkholes and then stand on a platform suspended over the sinkhole that the waterfall cascades into and they don't actually know how deep the hole is because NOBODY has managed to repel all the way to the bottom yet.

My uncle...the electric toothbrush owner.

But he's like...the greatest uncle ever.

So I just accept that the electric toothbrush thing is a quirk.

My aunt.

She's fabulous.

And we have an amazing relationship.

Her kids are jealous cause she likes me best.

 The wall of the waterfall, covered in lichens.

Now on to the other highlight of this particular state park.

 

The tallest hill in the entire state of FL.

 

At the top of this hill you are higher above sea level than ANYWHERE else in the state.

Ta-da!

 

What?

That's it...back there...that little swell of trees and dirt just beyond the parking lot.

 

It's 324 feet above sea level.

Don't everybody crowd up during the flood. 

 

*****

 

Our next stop was Florida Caverns State Park, home to the only known cave system in the state of FL...because SINKHOLES!!! 

 

Actually, no.  But a girl's gotta tie things together somehow.

 

Anyway!  Since I have some mild claustrophobia issues now (side effect of other adventures), I decide to do everyone in the tour group a favor and NOT spend the next hour underground. 

 

I wandered through the visitor's center instead.  And there, amongst the displays about FL natural history and Native Tribes, I found a video of a trip through the caverns created expressly for people like me who are all "hey, that's super neat but no thank you."  

It was both entertaining AND informative. 

But that's not what I enjoyed the most about this particular state park.

 

You see...down at the other end of the room was a display all about local wildlife.

And you guys??? 

THERE WERE TURTLES!!!

This is Linda, one of the park volunteers. 

She introduced me to all of her shell-loving buddies.

I giggled like an idiot.

Linda was super okay with it. 

We're like BFFs now. 

So thanks for the adventures, Panama City Beach! 

Maybe I'll come back for another visit when it's warm! 

love and kisses,
- HistoryDiva