Tom and I had our honeymoon in Williamsburg, so for our 50th Anniversary we asked our children to meet us there for a weekend. The whole family came except Jim’s wife, Amy, and his children, Jay and Will, because the boys didn’t feel they could miss school. On the way back from Williamsburg we visited with several friends.
Sunday, August 24, 2014--We left the house before noon after taking our time packing and then stopped in Starkville at Kroger for supplies and at Pepper's for lunch. We left the house with guests in the guest house and people scheduled to come in to do things while we were gone. The drive was mostly uneventful until about 4:30 when we were caught in a horrific traffic jam apparently caused by an 18-wheeler going off the road. There may have been other vehicles involved, but, if so, they were gone by the time we passed a couple of hours later. The accident was just a mile or so before the turnoff to the campground we had chosen in Heflin, South Carolina. We stopped at Cane9Creek RV Campgound (27.50). Unfortunately it was not in the best of conditions. The best thing about it was that it was not crowded. Tom was so turned off about finding the restrooms that he showered in the RV. Zoe travels well, but she gets too excited when she sees dogs or people.
Monday, August 25--Our first excitement for the day was that Zoe jumped on the side door and opened it to get out. She ran around for a little while before coming to us, but she seemed a little nervous about being out without us. This was in the campground, which luckily was not very crowded. We woke up rather early because Zoe woke up and got restless while Tom was fixing his breakfast. I was able to do my exercises while they went walking, and we put Zoe in her kennel when they returned. We started driving about 9:00 and drove on to Winnsboro, South Carolina and then to the Wateree State Park where we were able to get a campsite right on the lake. ($23.50) Zoe escaped again as we were settling. This time she jumped out the driver's side window that we had forgotten to roll back up after we finished parking. We were having trouble catching her, but she ran up to speak to our neighbors, and they caught her long enough for us to grab her. The South Carolina park system still has us in its database from our stays years ago. Impressive!
Tuesday, August 26--Today we were to visit Tom's cousin, Creighton Coleman in Winnsboro. Our campground was only 17 miles from Winnsboro so we made it to Creighton's law office by about 10:30 and visited with him until lunch. We met his mother and sister--both Lucys--and his wife, Marion, at the restaurant. The restaurant was a nice tea house with very good sandwiches and specially brewed teas. After leaving them we drove on to Charlotte, Virginia. We spent the night at Tom Johnson Camping Center Racing Resort Charlotte Motor Speedway ($22.50). It was huge with at least 20 shower stalls and toilets in each side.
Wednesday, August 27--Tom took his shower in one of the many stalls and said it was a little small, but fine. Zoe is not eating well and still gets very excited when she sees dogs. We stopped at a rest area for lunch, and I cooked one of my tofu omelets. It was relatively easy for me to clean up afterwards so I'll probably cook more. We drove on to Petersburg and stopped at the Lake Pleasant RV Campground right before we got to Petersburg. On the way to the campground we passed an Italian restaurant, and when we asked at the campground about the restaurant, they said it was good. Since we hadn't gone grocery shopping, we decided to try the restaurant. It was extremely crowded and was good. Tom and I shared a Stromboli and Greek salad and had plenty of Stromboli left over for lunch the next day. Unfortunately, while we were there Zoe had diarrhea in her kennel. We rinsed her bed off outside and then washed it in the campground washing machine. We were parked right next to an RV from Rankin County, but never saw anyone there. Zoe woke me up three times during the night to go out--never travel without Imodium!
Thursday, August 28--We leisurely got ready to leave and left the campground about 9:30 for Williamsburg. We had thought we might get there early enough to take Zoe to the kennel before their 10:30 deadline, but didn't so we went to the Welcome Center, found a place to park in the parking lot, and ate lunch. After lunch we drove to the kennel to drop Zoe off. We found that we could pick her up on Labor Day--in the afternoon-- so we'll check out of the hotel on Monday and do something after checking out. We drove back to the Welcome Center, packed for the hotel, and caught the shuttle to the Lodge. We found that we all have rooms in a smaller "outbuilding," which is still quite large, called the Nicholas House. We were in our room by about 5:00, and were the first here. Jim drove up in one day and arrived about 9:30. We were able to get him a room for the night (He had cancelled his Thursday night reservation earlier.) and then he was to be moved into the building with us. Dorothy and family arrived about earlier in the evening by the time we retuned from supper.
Tom and I ate dinner at Chownings Tavern. It was very good, and we enjoyed the fife, guitars, and mandolin music by the wandering players. Lee and Laura flew into Norfolk and drove so they arrived about 1:00 in the morning.
Friday, August 29--Our anniversary day! We had breakfast in the hotel dinning room with Jim. We worked around Jim's room change, walked around some, and then walked to the Blue Talon for lunch with Jim. Dorothy and crew took advantage of all the activities for the day. Laura was still sleeping, but we met Lee in his car as we walked to lunch. Jim and Lee went out together while we took our nap, and then Jim took a nap. I made reservations at the Fat Canary for dinner for Tom and me, but didn't think to include any children. Dorothy had made later reservations for her family. I wanted to go on the Ghost Tour, so we ate at 6:15 to be ready for the tour at 8:30. It was very good--three stories told as monologues by three good actress--story tellers. After the Ghost Walk, Tom and I returned to our room. Josiah and Rob are supposed to come in tonight.
Saturday, August 30--We went over to eat breakfast a little before 9:00 and saw Kay McLean and her husband, Pete, with daughter, Amanda, child, Hayden (2 years old), and fiancé, Sam, entering right ahead of us. A second daughter, Cecilia, came a little later.
All of our children either ate breakfast with us or came to speak--Dorothy and family were heading to the water park and Rob and family ate in the other part of the dining room. We ate in a separate dining room and had a good visit with Kay and her family. When Rob and Addison came in to speak, Hayden was immediately attracted to Addison and wanted her to pick him up. He kept chasing her around. After Kay left, Tom and I rested for awhile and then went to the Palace for a tour and a walk in the maze. Then we walked down to Merchants Square where we ate lunch at the Trellis. I had a delicious fruit salad. We returned to our room to rest before showering and going to supper ay the Kings Arms Tavern with all of our children a their spouses, and their children except Amy, Jay, and Will who didn't get to come. We returned to our room, but I think all sons and maybe son-in-law went to an ale house. Later we discovered that the five siblings went out alone together.
Sunday, August 31--Our last day in Williamsburg! I discovered that I could order poached eggs for breakfast. 
Tom, Lee, Ashleigh, Josiah, and children went to Bruton Parish Church for services. Merrimac was unhappy sitting still, and I happened to see that there was a nursery. Josiah tried to take her to the nursery, but it didn't work. The two women keeping the nursery made it apparent that they really didn't want her there so Josiah took her and left. Unfortunately he couldn't get back in the church because they had locked the doors so he and Merrimac went to the pool. Josiah and Ashleigh had very thoughtfully given me a message so Ashleigh drove me to the RV to get my bathing suit. I had a nice message and then swam some laps in their indoor pool and sat in the hot tub. We had wanted to go to the Fat Canary for supper, but couldn't get a reservation. Ashleigh, Josiah, Dorothy, her family, Tom, and I went Le Yaca for supper. We had the reservation at 5:00, which was too early for Rob and family so they ate elsewhere. Jim had left early Sunday morning, and Lee and Laura flew out about 4:00 pm. An older woman greeted us at the restaurant to tell us basically that it had been her brainchild although she no longer ran it. She seemed involved in it still.
Monday, September 1--We said goodbye to Dorothy and family as they left about 7:45. As soon as we woke up we went to breakfast at the Lodge. Rob was up before his family and sat with us while we ate. Next, we met Ashleigh and Josiah at the Market Square Tavern, where we had decided we had stayed on our honeymoon, and Ashleigh took our picture at the Tavern. (Click to see pictures by Ashleigh Burke Coleman.) We then finished packing and took the shuttle to the RV. I had wanted to see some of the shops so we took the shuttle back into town. I was just going to look, but we saw some really pretty necklaces and Tom bought me two. We were going to have lunch in the RV, but changed our minsds and had salmon and cream cheese on bagels at the Cheese Store. We went back to the RV and drove to Yorktown. There we saw the movie and saw some of the earthworks. 
I had not realized how much the French had contributed to that victory. It probably wouldn't have been won without them. We then went to pick up Zoe at the Pet Resort at Greensprings. She seemed very happy to see us and I ended up with two bleeding arms. We spent the night at the Colonial KOA RV Campground in Williamsburg for $58+. It wasn't really worth that except for the location.
Tuesday, September 2--When I went outside to walk Zoe I saw that the faucet was really leaking and had made the ground very wet so I turned the water off. Tom has started taking his shower when he first wakes up, which seems to work very well. I usually then walk Zoe and put her back in her kennel while I do my exercises. At some point I realized that I didn't have my RV keys, but I don't know how or where I lost them. We managed to leave the campground a little after 9:00 and drove to Jamestowne. We bought our tickets and Tom bought another mug and then we went walking around the excavations. Since we were here 50 years ago they have excavated the Jamestowne Fort, which had previously been considered washed into the James River. We took Zoe with us while waking around. We were lucky in having one of the senior archeologists give us a lecture on their work, Danny Schmidt. He was very good and quite concerned that Zoe was hot and needed water. After the talk we were near the snack house and were able to buy three bottles of water. We discovered that Zoe was pretty good at drinking water from a bottle! We took turns holding Zoe and visiting the Museum. After Jamestowne we drove to the campground north of Richmond and waited for Kate.
She drove us for food and we ended up eating at the Bass Pro Shop. We retuned to the campground and Kate and I talked while Tom did our laundry. Unfortunately, Kate had an 8:00 appointment in the morning and couldn't spend the night with us. We stayed at the Americamp RV in Alston(?).
Wednesday, September 3--This was our day to see Ellen and Phil, but we were later getting there than we wanted to be. We had a somewhat slow st
art and then had to empty our tanks before we left. The sewers at the site were too tall, but there was a good dump on the way out. We stopped for lunch at a rest area and spent some time resting. We managed to miss the turns to the campground in several places. It was about 5:00 when we finally arrived at the campground. Ellen and Phil were nice enough to pick us up at the campground, and then Phil drove us back after serving us a delicious supper that he cooked. Ellen had not been well. Ruby seemed fine. We spent the night at Spring Hill Mobile home and RV Campground ($32). It was a beautifully wooded and full site. There was no restroom, and the owner told us that he would never have one but stayed practically full all year. Apparently he has many people (patients) from the medical facilities nearby. I saw two deer walk right by the camper across from the road from us. When Phil brought us back to the campground (so we didn't have to navigate the route in the dark) he walked with Zoe and with us and gave me some very welcome advice on using the choke collar.
Thursday, September 4--We left the campground and drove on toward Bristol, which was a little over three hours away. We sopped for lunch and arrived at Rob's in mid afternoon. When Rob came in we all went to a Mexican restaurant for supper. We spent the night at Rob's.
Friday, September 5--Rob was up early to take Anna Beth to school and to go to work. Angela took Addison to school and then to a barre class. Tom and I borrowed Rob's car and picked up some orange juice and then found a Ford dealer who could make a new key for me. After we had that key, we went to Lowe's to get the other three keys for the RV. We weren't able to get the key to the door. We think it might be because Tom's key is bent slightly. Angela and I took their dogs and Zoe outside to play, and they did well enough. Snowy continued to bark at Zoe and Snowy and Cocoa seemed to team up on Zoe. Each time we let them play they seem to be easier about it. We had supper with Donna and Tom Fowlkes at their house. Tom cooked steaks and Donna had fixed a delicious meal. Tom had been one of Judge Coleman's law clerks and there was much talk of him.
Saturday, September 6--Tom woke up early at about 5:30, and went out to the RV to have breakfast and play with his computer. Zoe made me get her out around 6:00, but after taking her out and giving her some breakfast, I put her back in the kennel and went back to bed until about 7:00. Rob was up when I got up. I had breakfast and we let the dogs play some. The girls were trying to sleep really late, but we made noise and woke them up. Zoe managed to teach Cocoa to play tug with a frisbee. We drove to Brevard to see Kim and Jim Spencer. When we reached Brevard we drove on to our camp site at the Davidson River National Forest Campground. Kim and Jim live only a few miles from the campground and are very familiar with it. They drove out and brought a picnic lunch. We ate, walked Zoe, and then drove into Brevard to look around. It certainly seems to be a nice town with a large, well-used library. We went back to their house for awhile, met their cats, and then went to Hog Wild for barbecue for supper and across the street to Dolly's for delicious ice cream. We sat in rocking chairs on the porch to eat our ice cream. We had forgotten--if we ever knew-- that Jim and John McCain are second cousins. Afterwards we returned to the RV and Zoe.
Sunday, September 7--I had expressed a desire to see the Bonsai at the North Carolina Arboretum, but we discovered that parking there in the RV was very expensive so Kim and Jim drove us over. The collection was nice although not particularly large. After seeing it, we left Kim and Jim and headed toward Blowing Rock and the Boone KOA slightly north of Boone. We drove a long way on the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at the Welcome Center for the movie and the craft center, but the weather steadily deteriorated and the driving was slow--Tom also began to worry about the brakes--so we turned off at Lindell and took regular highways. It was raining by the time we reached the campground and it was not very crowded, but it was nice enough. ($32.50)
Monday, September 8—It was still wet when we woke up so we took our time getting ready to go. We needed to get propane and found some at the Boone Rental-all. We called Dorman and he met us there to lead us to their house. We followed him into the Hound Ears Club and parked in their driveway after inspecting it to see if we thought we could do it. They have a lovely house with many trees and right on the golf course although we couldn't see it through the trees. They said they were trying to sell it, but hadn't yet. We met Haiden, their "new" Westie and very cute-- much quieter than Zoe! We ate supper at Pepper's, but not the same as ours.
Tuesday, September 9--As we ate breakfast Dorman received a call from someone in the club to say that it was against the rules to have an RV on the property so we had to move it to a parking place near the gate. The security people were very nice about it and one of the gardeners gave me a flower with a gallant gesture! Dorman, Tom, and I continued on toward Lenoir. Tom had found a Ford place there that could check our brakes, but Dorman told us that the road to Lenoir had steep slopes. After looking at the road we decided that Dorman was correct and that going to Lenoir might be dangerous if we had a problem with the brakes. We stopped back at the house to pick up Kathy and all had lunch at Eat Crow which apparently was started by a chef who had a dispute with the club. Everything we had was delicious and desserts were fantastic! We bought a gift certificate for Dorman and Kathy for later. I just wish we could go with them! We returned to the house for visiting, walking dogs, and naps. Then it was time to eat again! Dorman drove us back into Blowing Rock where we ate at the Storie Street Grill. It was excellent also. There was a good bit of fog on the road and it was misting slightly when we left Blowing Rock, but it was better by the time we reached their home.
Wednesday, September 10--Tom woke up at 5:30, but Zoe and I slept until 7:20. She was still quiet when I got up and dressed to take her out. We had breakfast, packed, and rode with Dorman to the RV. He helped us get on our way. We were still on curvy mountain roads and Tom was concerned about the brakes. We camped at Creekwood Resort and RV Park ($31) outside of Helen, Ga. When I called for a reservation the woman who answered, Melissa, was surprised we only wanted to stay one night and almost seemed to say they didn't do one night. She said that people considered it a destination park. Following their suggestion, we ate a the Bodensee Restaurant, which was very good--especially the bake Camembert with vegetables. We found out the next day that some considered the Old Bavarian Inn to be more German. When we returned from eating there were a few drops of liquid under the RV as we entered the campground. Tom and Robert, the host, placed a pan under the RV to collect anything that dripped, but it was perfectly dry in the morning. When we were taking Zoe for her last evening walk, the hosts two labs came running out to meet her. Luckily they were well trained enough to come when called.
Thursday, September 11--we went into Helen for a couple of hours. I bought some fudge and pecan brittle and an agate pendant with an ambiguous animal carved on it. We sat by the Chatahoochie River while I drank a diet Pepsi. We stopped at a Ford place after leaving Helen, but they seemed to think that we didn't really have a problem. We hope they are correct. We then drove on to Anniston to Dandy RV KOA ($31.74). They had a small dog run so we were able to let Zoe chase frisbees, but she got hot quickly. We had hooked up the electricity only because there is a nearby Cracker Barrel, and we haven't had a single Cracker Barrel meal on this trip. The air conditioning felt good after playing with Zoe. We're expecting to have lunch with Sue Leggett tomorrow and be home tomorrow night.
Friday, September 12--We all woke up a little early, but Tom took Zoe out for her walk about 6:40--early for her. We took our time getting ready to go while we enjoyed the air conditioning hooked up at the campground. We only had a bout an hour and a half to drive to meet Tom’s cousin, Sue Leggett, at the Galleria, where she suggested. We met her around 11:30, toured the Galleria, and then ate lunch at California Pizza. After lunch we collected Zoe, and because it was very hot in the RV and looked like rain, we closed the vents and took Zoe with us to visit Sue's house. Zoe behaved well! We visited until about 2:30, and Sue drove us back to the RV for our trip home. It rained hard for much of the drive.