Day 1 - Conway, AR - Albany, NY

Off on another adventure with my longtime travel companion, Carolyn.  Our journey to New England began with an early morning flight to Charlotte from Little Rock.  About midway over Tennessee, the sun started to rise and there was a wonderful mix of light from the cities below with the eastern glow.  As we approached Charlotte, castoff clouds from the remnants of Hurricane Ian began to dot the landscape below.

After landing in Charlotte, we treated ourselves with a day pass to the Admiral's Club since we had a bit of a layover.  It was a great space to grab some food and wake up after the early morning.

The flight to Hartford (Bradley Int'l Airport) was fine, even with a bit of turbulence during our descent due to Ian off to our west.  Rental car in hand, we headed northwest toward Catskill, NY.  After passing into Massachusetts, we came upon a marker noting the location of the last battle of Shays' Rebellion:  "a series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787. The rebels were mostly ex-Revolutionary War soldiers-turned farmers who opposed state economic policies causing poverty and property foreclosures.  The newly formed United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation, a document that many in the country felt was too weak to effectively manage the fledgling nation.  The specter of Shays’ Rebellion informed the debate over the framing of a new U.S. Constitution, providing fuel to Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists who advocated for a strong federal government and diminished states’ rights."  The marker also happens to be right along the Appalachian Trail.

We reached Catskill and stopped at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.  "Cole (1801-1848) was an American artist and early environmentalist. He was an economic migrant and the founder of this nation’s first major art movement, now known as the Hudson River School of landscape painting."  If you've ever seen an American landscape painting, you've probably seen a Cole.  Cole's original house is here along with a rebuilt studio and a purple gazebo that is a temporary art exhibition.  The museum was nice, but we were surprised there weren't more paintings to look at and that Cole's importance wasn't played up well.  We are, however, starting to see more and more leaf color!

Another landscape painter made Catskill his home:  Frederic Church.  His house, Olana, is just across the Hudson and up on a bluff overlooking the valley.  We didn't have time to tour the building, but walked around the grounds.  Not only was Church a painter, but he was also a self-taught architect, farmer and landscape designer.  He built Olana as a "Persian-inspired stone “fortress” situated high above the Hudson River with majestic views west to America’s promised land."

We headed west into the Catskill Mountains and arrived at Kaaterskill Falls about an hour before sunset.  With the higher elevations, more leaves have begun to change and show their fall colors!  "Considered by Native Americans to be the resting place of the creator, a sacred place for the Mohican people who called the Catskills home, Kaaterskill Falls has captivated the hearts, pens, and paintbrushes of poets, painters, filmmakers, and photographers."  After parking, we took a short hike to the overlooking platform.  Even though this part of the country has been experiencing a drought, the water thundered as it fell 260 feet over its two tiers.  Easy to see why it has been included in so many art pieces over the years.

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner in downtown Catskill at New York Restaurant.  This is a small town, but the downtown area was lively and full of energy on a chilly Saturday evening.  We arrived outside Albany at our hotel a bit later and having completed a long first day, fell sound asleep very quickly.  We head back into Massachusetts and then up to Vermont on day 2!

Day 5 - Brevard, NC - Columbia, SC

In typical fashion for us, we took our itinerary for today and put it in the shredder this morning!  HA!  We still ended in Columbia, SC, but the journey here was somewhat different than planned.  We accidentally missed a car museum that Jason and Lena wanted to see yesterday, so instead we drove 30 miles up into Asheville, NC to visit the Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum.  Vansen soon rolled up into the Historic Greenwood Village (which we accessed via residential roads in a very posh area).  Established in 1966, the museum was founded by local legend Harry D. Blomberg, Asheville’s Cadillac-Pontiac dealer for over half a century.  It features Harry’s prized collection of antique and vintage automobiles, including a rare 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and Asheville’s own 1922 American LaFrance fire truck.  It also has a 1959 Edsel Corsair which is similar to an Edsel Lena and Jason will rebuild back home.

While they visited the car museum, Caroline, the kiddos, and I walked around the other buildings which used to make up the weaving and woodworking operations of Biltmore Industries, a force in American craft that was originally backed by Edith Vanderbilt.  We were soon in the Grovewood Gallery, a great place for local art.  Not only were there great handmade crafts, glasswork, and art, but the furniture was amazing!

For the remainder of the afternoon, we were on a timetable because we had scheduled a pointe shoe fitting appointment for Lena at 5:00 pm.  After Grovewood, we headed to the Folk Art Center just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is kind of like a pilgrimage for us.  I have several pieces at home that were purchased here.  Today I picked up a really cool spoon holder.

We soon headed south to Hendersonville and its Mineral & Lapidary Museum.  Sylvia is fascinated with rocks so we made a little detour for this nice, small, local museum.  The kiddos picked out geodes and had them cracked open on sight.  We got an amethyst one, a white crystal one, and one filled with red.  The museum was located downtown and the local townsfolk (and maybe tourists) were certainly out and about in this happening place.  We picked up another local meal, this time from Mike's on Main, and we were soon headed east.

About an hour and half later we arrived in Charlotte!  We pulled into the parking lot at The Sock Basket at exactly 5:00 pm.  I've only ever visited Charlotte's airport, so this was a rare treat to visit a new city.  Lena picked up some really cool new pointe shoes that she can't get in Arkansas and had the best salesperson (a fellow dancer) help her.  The smiles were huge, for sure.

The nice folks at the dance store suggested we try Viva Chicken for dinner.  Before heading there, we popped into REI.  I'm on the hunt for a blue Tilley hat, but looks like I'm just going to have to order it online.  After shopping a bit, we loaded up and headed towards the south part of town.  Viva Chicken is a fast casual charcoal-fire Rotisserie Joint specializing in the authentic Pollo a la Brasa found on the streets of Peru.  We picked up our order and headed to a small residential park nearby and enjoyed a summer evening picnic.  The chicken was some of the best I'd ever had.  To wrap up our meal, we picked up shakes from Shake Shack (I'd only seen these on TV).

On the way out of town, we spotted a Carvana vending machine.  If you don't know what that is, Carvana is an online car marketplace.  They'll deliver a used car to you at home or you can visit a vending machine to "pick" your car.  Franklin was entranced and he took several selfies plus video to capture the moment.  Next up, we jumped back on I-77 and soon crossed into South Carolina, arriving at our hotel in Columbia much later than planned, but wow...what a fun day!  Tomorrow we spy the Atlantic for the first time and our beach time begins.

Day 4 - Helen, GA - Brevard, NC

We kicked off our day by visiting the Georgia Mountain Coaster in Helen, GA.  We've been to the one in the Smokies, so the kids were excited to find another.  Afterward, we walked around Helen, formerly a logging town, that embraced tourism in the 1960s and resurrected itself by becoming a replica of a Bavarian alpine town, in the Appalachians instead of the Alps. This design is mandated through zoning, so that the classic south-German style is present on every building.  We didn't stay long as the crowds were more than our comfort level allowed.

After a quick BBQ lunch south of town, we headed to Tallulah Gorge State Park which includes the 1,000 foot gorge in the name.  It was formed by the Tallulah River and includes six waterfalls.  100 passes are handed out daily allowing visits to the river; the passes are always gone by noon, according to the ranger I overheard.  We stuck to the rim trail to get in some afternoon hiking (perhaps a mistake in retrospect as it was very warm and very muggy).  Our group did spot a lizard along the way, clinging to a tree branch with a waterfall in the background.  Look carefully and you may spot him in a photograph as well.

We headed northeast late in the afternoon for our final stop for the day:  Brevard, NC.  The roads were very windy as we climbed and descended the Appalachians.  Fortunately, the Blue Valley Overlook in North Carolina offered an amazing view of the valley below, and as luck would have it, a summer storm skirting by.