Time Out In North Carolina

Leg 10 – Mebane, North Carolina

10/30/2022 – 11/26/2022

We arrived just in time to celebrate Halloween with our two favorite nephews. I enjoyed looking on as they carved their jack-o-lanterns and was secretly thankful those days were behind me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved doing all these things with my boys when they were young but now I get to set back and watch. Matthew and Andrew wanted me to send a pic of their pumpkins to their cousin, Weston. Weston sent back a picture of his pumpkin too. I love that we can still stay in touch with our loved ones all the way across the country.

A Milestone Birthday

Shortly after arriving in North Carolina, someone in our family (not me) celebrated a milestone birthday… yep, the double nicklel. We feasted on homemade lasagna, garlic bread and Big Mama’s Bread Pudding for dessert. A special meal for my special guy.

Now, me being me, I was curious which stores offered senior discounts for 55-year-olds. Here are a few I found: JoAnn’s 20%, Ross 10%, Michael’s 10%, Walgreens 20%. I wonder if he will suspect anything when I ask him to go shopping with me? I realize 55 is the new 40 these days. People aren’t retiring and going to the old folks home for at least another 20 years.

Funny story, we were getting groceries in Nebraska. As we were leaving the store and walking out to the jeep, I was looking over the receipt and at the bottom a noticed a discount… a 10% discount senior discount. Bill asked, “What’s so funny?” My reply while trying to control my laughter, “We saved $10 bucks with the senior discount!” Mind you, this is 2 months before the “big day”. I guess the cashier just took a look at the gray hair and gave us the discount. Hahahaha! I’ll take it! We are on a budget and all 😉

Time With the Family

Most of the month was spent visiting Bill’s mom and dad and his brother and his family, with the exception of one long weekend. Our friends from Florida invited us to join them for a long weekend in Pigeon Forge. Absolutely!

Pigeon Forge

We met our friends in Pigeon Forge before heading up to the cabin we rented. Bill and I were shocked as we drove into town and saw how touristy it is. I don’t remember what it was like 30 years ago when we were here, but I don’t think it was like this. Taking a drive down the parkway, I lost count of the pancake houses, go-cart tracks and old-time photo booths. 😊 We did sample a few of the pancake houses during the week, though.

The girls spent some time shopping in Pigeon Forge while the boys did some whiskey tasting. One night we took a stroll along the Riverwalk from The Island down to Patriot Park and enjoyed the twinkling Christmas lights and displays.

Gatlinburg

The next day we ventured into Gatlinburg. I thought Pigeon Forge was crazy busy with people? Gatlinburg was 10x worse! Traffic crawled  through town, slower than a snail’s pace. We finally found somewhere to park and made our way over to Sugarland’s for some libations. I hear they have incredible Bloody Mary’s. Even if you don’t like Bloody Mary’s, you’ll like these. We by-passed the long line of people waiting to do a tasting and headed straight to the Cocktail Kitchen. For $6 each, we sampled several of their seasonal cocktails and yes, a Bloody Mary. I’m not a fan of Bloody Mary’s, but these were quite tasty. We had a great time sipping cocktails on the back porch at Sugarland’s.

Bill and I took home some Apple Pie Moonshine and Butter Pecan and Dark Chocolate Sippin’ Creams. Y’all the butter pecan taste just like ice cream with a little kick. Yum Yum!

Cades Cove Loop Road

Needing to escape the hustle bustle of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, we all headed out to Cades Cove. I forgot how stunning the Smokey Mountains are. With a little bluegrass playing on the radio, we settled in and enjoyed the 1 ½ hour ride along the Little River to “the cove”.

Cades Cove is a valley in the park that was once home to numerous settlers. There are several preserved homesteads and wildlife is supposed to be plentiful. I was told there were bears all over the place and to keep my eyes open, my luck has not changed and no bears were spotted. They were out the next day though, according to posts on Facebook. The bear must all get together and send a message out that Erin is going to be visiting (insert name park here) today so make sure to hide. Uggg… All the places we have visted; Montana, Glacier, Yellowstone, Alaska… I have seen one mama grizzly and her cubs. That’s it.

Cades Cove Visitor Center

We stopped to stretch our legs at the Cades Cove Visitor Center and walked around the old grist mill. There was a sugar cane syrup demonstration going on as well and we got to sample some fresh syrup. It was chilly out so we made our stop quick. I do know one thing, I plan on making the Smokey Mountain National Park a week long stop on our journey sometime in 2024. I’ll have to remember to plan it in the spring so we can enjoy all the wild azaleas in bloom. Who knows, maybe even some bears waking up from their winter nap.

The Townsend Entrance Road was our exit from the park 😉 We stopped in the little Townsend for a snack and a beer. I enjoyed this area much more than Pigeon Forge, the campgrounds are more rustic and the town was laid back. It has more of an “I’m here for the beauty and nature” feel than the amped up family activities of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

Wears Valley and an Alpine Coaster

We drove the Wears Valley on the way back to the cabin and were treated with more gorgeous views of the Smokies.

Our day ended with an alpine coaster ride at The Goat Coaster at Goats on the Roof. That’s another attraction that there is an abundance of too. Alpine coasters, so take your pick, they are all about the same. We chose this one because of the goats on the roof. It was freezing by this time but that didn’t stop us. Hats and gloves on, we braved the coaster. It was A LOT of fun! I was a little nervous at first but after the second turn I was racing down the hill, hardly using the brakes at all. This is something everyone should do at least once. And… no pics ☹

Bush’s Beans

When I was looking for things to do in the area, I discovered Bush’s Beans began in the foothills of the Smokies. I was so happy when one of our friends suggested we go to the Visitor Center and Museum.

A Short History about the Bush’s

Bush’s began in 1908 when AJ Bush bought out the Stokley’s family interest in his tomato cannery in Chestnut Hills TN. He entered into a partnership with his two oldest sons, Fred and Claude. During the 1920’s they expanded their operation and began canning peaches along with the already established tomato line and then continued to grow the line with other vegetables such as corn and green beans. By 1935 they were producing 10,000 cans of veggies a year. And you thought they were just about beans.

The bean part actually started in 1969. Due to overproduction and low prices the canning industry took a hit. Condon Bush, son of Claude, had an idea inspired by their earlier successes with pork and beans. Offer a baked bean product based on his mother’s secret recipe. By 1971 sales hit close to 1,000,000 cases and the rest is history.

Visitor Center Museum

Housed in AJ Bush’s original general store is the Bush’s Visitor Center and Museum. The Beautiful Bean Museum does an excellent job leading you through the development of their family-owned company. There are no factory tours but there is a small theater that shows a movie of how those beautiful beans are made.

On-site is a gift shop selling beautiful bean swag and the Bush’s Family Café where you can enjoy some of those beautiful beans. We had lunch at the café and I am sad to say, none of us were impressed. The chili was ok, the grilled cheese not so great. One item on the menu caught our attention…Pinto Bean Pie. A bean pie? The waitress assured us it was good and we should give it a try. Alright, bring us a slice. We were truly surprised at how good it was. It was similar to a pecan pie only with beans instead of pecans. Here is the link to the recipe if you would like to try it out.

When visiting Pigeon Forge add this to your “to do” list. It’s worth the scenic drive. We had a great time in Pigeon Forge and an even better time catching up with our friends!

Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt (BHMQ)

What is a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt? Bonnie Hunter is a quilter, designer, writer and blogger. Every year she designs a quilt and during the holiday season, she sends weekly clues out to her followers over a span of 6 weeks. Slowly we begin building the components that, when put together, create a beautiful quilt and no one knows what this quilt will look like until reveal week. Sounds fun, right?

I will document my progress over the next several weeks.

Clue 1 is coming out this Friday, Black Friday, 3 days away and I do not have any fabric yet! We received our color swatches on Halloween and I have not been able to find a quilt shop close by. I began searching while we were in Pigeon Forge and found a small one in Gatlinburg. We stopped, I was able to find a few pieces, but not near what was needed. Asheville has 4 or 5 shops and one is right on our way home. I ask Bill if we can stop and of course he says, “Yep”. He patiently waits in the jeep with Kona while I shopped at the Ashevllie Cotton Co. and completed my acquisition of all the fabrics I will need for this mystery quilt.

It’s so exciting and the colors are gorgeous! I cannot wait to see what these pieces of fabric will become!

What’s Next?

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the family and Bill, once again, knocked it out of the park with his smoked turkey!

It’s time to start heading south to our winter home in Brooksville, FL after a week layover in Savannah. So excited, I’ve wanted to visit Savannah for such a long time!