Saturday, November 17, 2007

BET YA DIDN'T EVEN MISS ME

HI Everyone,

I just returned from a short 1200 mile drive taking me to North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. We drove my daughter down to attend a Marine Corp Ball. Her boyfriend drove her back home as he live near us. In the meantime, Bill and I went to a few local attractions.


The first place that we went to was The Billy Graham Library. It was absloutely beautiful. They moved his boyhood home to the site and constructed a barn that houses a bookstore, cafeteria and a walk through of how Reverend Graham grew to be a Christian religious leader. Please look through my album and see all some of the interesting things that were in the library. I took photos of some of the letters that have been mailed to him through the years. I don't know how they ever got to him the way they were addressed .
Ruth Bell Graham is buried in a tree lined garden that views the library. There are ground speakers that pipe in softly playing hymns


The big cross in the barn is actually a huge window with a door at the bottom.
In the album you will see what looks like a appliance store window loaded with old TV sets playing different news throughout the past 50 years, Vietnam, Terrorist attack on 9/11, Iraq,
All in all, it was very moving, and I would highly encourage if you are ever in the area, you should go to visit
On the way down we stopped at TAMARAK ARTS which features creations from West Virginia artisans. It is a lovely place. We stopped on the way back so that I could buy a hand blown glass paperweight that I passed up on the way down. I always get stuck in the bookstore. On the way down I bought a book on quilting history in Appalachia, and on the way back, I bought a book the history of Scots/Irish in Appalachia. Along with the PBS special and companion book. I have always been interested in all of this history because my family is Scots/Irish. There was a weird statue in the front that look like the top half of a man checking out his arm pit.. I figure that probably wasn't what the artist was going for but, what do you think?
They have in house artisans. A blacksmith, glassblower,potter, a textile artist, a woodworker
While in North/South Carolina we visited King's Mountain Battlefield Site
This is where a defining turn in the American Revolutionary War took place. An English Officer named Ferguson made the mistake of insulting and threatening the Scots/Irish who had settled in the Appalachians, telling them that the should show their loyalty to the King or else. The or else turned out that the Scots/Irish left their homes and came out of the mountains and wiped the English out on this battlefield. This turned the tide of the Revolution when people decided that they had better fight if they wanted to be free from English rule. Pretty interesting stuff. It took place in October.. I think 1780. There is a monument for the fallen British Officer and several other monuments that were too high up to reach for me. And it was almost closing time at the park and we had to leave.
On the way out, we spotted a cabin. I wanted to stop and have Bill take a picture, because I thought they have a wonderful view from their back porch. There were a couple of hounds on the front porch that were so excited that we stopped in the road out front, they clamored all over themselves to get to our car, jump up with their heads in the windows. It was so funny. Great way to be stealthy in taking a picture of someone else's house.
It was a beautiful trip. We were surrounded by tree filled mountains, which I love. I get starved for them because it is so flat in this part of Ohio. I took a lot of pictures of the mountains, but I couldn't truly capture their beauty. Here is one of a series of photos of a beautiful valley we came across near Fancy Gap Virginia.. at least that is what the roadside sign said.


2 comments:

Rhonda said...

Looks and sounds like you guys had a great time. Loved the pics.

Rian said...

Happy Thanksgiving Teri.