Museum of Appalachia

We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN. We heard the museum was largely out of doors, so we have been waiting for good weather and we certainly have it now. The museum is basically a walking tour through period buildings, including a church, schoolhouse, general store and several cabins. It makes you nostalgic for a simpler time, but I know this notion romanticizes away the truth of how much harder everyone worked for basic subsistence long ago. I think we enjoyed the animals roaming around the grounds as much as any of the dwellings. Luke got up and close and personal with chickens, gorgeous peacocks, and sweet baby lambs just born on the farm. It was a great spring outing and I’m glad we finally got out to see this local site.

Easter Back Home

After our time in SC, we just moved the trip north to the other Carolina. Luke and I had nice visits with some of my Mamaw’s siblings on the way. When we finally arrived in Murphy, Luke settled in for lots of fun and spoiling with the grand and great grandparents, and especially his aunts. In addition to my sister Michele, Ben’s sister Lauren joined us for the holiday weekend. Galen and Ben joined us all on Friday after work and everyone shared had a nice long weekend with plenty to celebrate: dinner with friends, coloring Easter eggs, taking Easter photos out by the big oak tree, great family dinners at home and at Grandma’s where we hid eggs for the kids. We had beautiful weather and such a nice time Luke didn’t want to leave. We finally made it back to Knoxville and found spring bloomed out while we were gone. Now it’s time to mow, plant, and watch everything green up for the season.

Charleston and the Cooper River Bridge Run 2010

We recently spent a great long weekend in one of our favorite cities: Charleston, SC! We had a nice drive down and wonderful weather for all our time in town. We all gathered for the Cooper River Bridge Run. Ben had done it as a teenager, Tom ran it last year, and so we all went for this year’s run. Luke did the kids’ run on Friday, earning a medal for participation---he was so proud and wore it out everywhere we went most of the weekend. The 10K race and walk began at 8Am Saturday morning, but we had to be bused to the start in Mt. Pleasant before they closed the bridge down to traffic---line up at 6:30. It was chilly morning, but everyone warmed up once they were moving. Ben was sick with a cold all week leading up the race, but still managed to finish with a great time. I was the slowpoke of the group, but was happy to finish my first 10K in fairly good time for a walker.

It was Luke’s first time in Charleston and we had to take the drive out to some of Ben’s favorite old haunts on Sullivan’s Island---Poe’s Tavern is always a great stop. We also ate at some great restaurants back in town including Blossom and my all-time favorite Rue de Jean. We hit the rock shop, watched the NCAA tournament, and just relaxed. It was a real treat with lots of help with Luke and time to rest. Can’t wait to go back again!