Next stop: Atlanta, Georgia. Well, not quite, but close enough.
We stayed about 10 miles to the east of the city, at the Stone Mountain Park Campground, in ..  Stone Mountain (yeah, who'd thought?).
We used our Passport America and got in for half the price, which was nice, because on top of the campground fee, they charge you a one-time park-entrance of $20! Oh, well ..

It's a beautiful park with a lot of 'attractions', most of which we're closed for the season though, and they even have a golf course on the premises,  managed by Marriott Hotels.
Needless to say, after settling in, James went golfing and I spend the afternoon reading while looking out at the lake.

     

In reality you could see more of the lake than these pictures are showing ..

Isn't it gorgeous?

The next morning I caught the sun rising over the mountain ..

Apparently the water was warmer than the air, the lake was steaming ..

The main reason for 'hitting' Atlanta, was that we wanted to visit the Center for Civil and Human Rights. There are several large museums in this part of the US that cover the civil right 'topic' and I wanted to visit at least one of them.

 

We went after the morning commute had calmed down, and breezed straight into down-town, right up to the museum, we even found cheap close-by parking!

The center is fairly new and dedicated to the achievements of both the civil rights movement in the United States and the broader worldwide human rights movement including human rights struggles from women’s rights to immigration to child labor to LGBT issues.

There's a large section dedicated to Martin Luther King ..

The museum has a number of imaginative, interactive, and compelling displays that greatly enhance a visitor's appreciation of the subject matter.

Especially the "Sit -in counter" experience. It is hard to believe that anyone could have sat through that kind of harassment and humiliation without flinching.

 

This museum is not for the faint-of-hearted and the boxes of tissue paper placed throughout the building are well used (included by me).

OK. This trip we covered the holocaust museum, the civil right museum and the civil war museum .. I think we're sufficiently awed and impressed and humbled and depressed, but most of all reminded that we are so very, very lucky ...

The next day we were back on the road again and early in the afternoon we reached Tifton, Georgia, where we'd booked a campground at Paradise Lake campground.

Using our PA once again this nice little, rural park cost us only $15 per night!

The sites were huge!

The plan was for this stay to be just an 'over-nighter', but you know that thing about making plans ... yeah ..
When we tried to lower the front landing-legs of the RV, one of the legs was stuck and didn't want to budge, no matter what we tried!
Since this meant we couldn't disconnect, we decided to extend our stay in this much cheaper campground, rather than drive to the next one, order a leg on-line and have it sent asap.

We couldn't do much else than go for some short walks in the meantime and James used the time to set up a 'driving-range' to practice his golf game:



We found some legs that would fit, and they arrived fairly fast (but after the weekend of course).
James had to make some modifications ..

In the end we had beautiful working legs again!

I forgot to mention that we found ourselves in cotton-country once again! Look at these beautiful fields:

  

Of course I raided some of the already harvested fields, the machines leave plenty for hand-spinners ..

This cotton was much whiter than the cotton I once got in Arizona, where the red soil had colored it pink!

Merlin took the off-time to recuperate further from his dental ordeal. He finished his antibiotics and his diarrhea cleared up (thank goodness).
The fur on his leg started to grow back, but you could still see very clearly where they shaved it off ..

The sunset were very pretty that week. Must be the (slightly) cooler weather ..

 

So, one week later than planned, we finally drove into Florida where we headed for the (East) coast. 

Before long we arrived at St John's RV Park in St Augustine.

It's only a couple of miles outside of town and, most import, only 15 miles from the World Golf Hall of Fame, which, being in the neighborhood, we couldn't pass visiting of course!

It was a little cloudy and they'd predicted some rain but we dodged most of it by visiting the museum first.

We were there!

The exhibits are well done and offer a great immersion in the evolution of the game from its earliest days and the evolution of golf clubs.
A special exhibit (a big one!) is completely devoted on Bob Hope who was a big ambassador of the game. It's fun and very interesting. 

We got to putt on an old style putting green using old style wooden putters, and you could also use a modern green with modern putters.
I liked the extensive 'locker-room' they set up where you can take a peak in almost any Hall-of-Famer's locker, to see what personal 'stuff' they would store, together with some other interesting memorabilia of each player.

    

Included in the ticket price is a chance to hit balls to a replica of the TPC Sawgrass island green which James had to try out of course. 
He actually had 2 chances because due to my bad shoulder I couldn't hit. Not that it helped ... it's a tough shot!

  

You can also play an 18 hole putting course outside, but unfortunately it started to rain so we passed on that. 
Not a big loss I read later, since it's not in a very good condition (odd, for such a 'famous' location).
 

 Looks like Nicklaus beat you, honey!

Later that day we met with Tom Forlenza, Rita's husband, whom we'd met a long time ago in Lahitas, TX, and had stayed in touch with through Facebook.
Originally from Vermont, they bought a condo in St Augustine a couple of years ago, and are staying there through the winter. 
Unfortunately Rita was visiting her family in Vermont but Tom was able to get together for dinner.

We met at The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios.
Tom does some maintenance work here and Rita helps cleaning and maintaining the shrine.

      

This was the first shrine ever to be dedicated to the Blessed Mother in the United States and was established on the very spot where the first parish Mass was offered 55 years earlier when the first Spanish landed here in the early 1500's. 

It's a beautiful setting, right on the water and a very peaceful and spiritual place. 

The small chapel is for Mothers and those soon to be Mom's, and houses a replica of the original statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary
breastfeeding the infant Jesus, that was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War of March 13, 1936.

There is also a 300 foot cross erected here that you can see from all over St. Augustine.

Afterward we had dinner at the Reef, a seafood restaurant  with ocean views from waterfront tables.

This was kind of a historic moment for us; our first view of the Atlantic Ocean!
After 8 years of traveling, we finally reached the East coast!

 

We spend a nice meal chatting up with Tom, exchanging stories  about his and Rita's (as well as our) life and travels since we parted at Lahitas ..

Maybe next year, on our way up in the spring, we'll meet again, or otherwise perhaps in Vermont! 

There's a lot to see in St Augustine and it's a very pretty little town but one of the first things we looked for was this street, beautiful but miss-named Magnolia Avenue, less than a mile long, and St. Augustine's most photographed and impressive street. 
The 60 live oaks that are between 80 and 100 years old are dripping with Spanish Moss, making it one of the prettiest streets I've ever seen!

We spend most of the next day exploring town, and I was happily snapping pictures of all the beautiful scenery, until I discovered that my camera was on the wrong setting, namely 'soft-focus'.
So, everything is 'fuzzy' and no, it's not your eyes .. sigh ..

 

The Old City Gates with Castillo de San Marcos, a 17th-century Spanish stone fortress, in the distance.

 
Old town Colonial St Augustine in the Historic District is the oldest part of the city with many buildings dating back to the 1700s.
It's streets are laid out as they would have been centuries ago, and are paved with cobblestones.

This is where you'll find the majority of the city's restaurants, cute little shops, hotels, and attractions.

But our first order of the day was to find some coffee and some good pastries which we found at  Choco Lattes ..

Look at those slices of cake!

St. Augustine lays claim to being the oldest city in the U.S., and is known for its Spanish colonial and Spanish Renaissance Revival architecture.
The center of the city overflows with stirring examples, like the Lightner Museum, housed in the former Alcazar Hotel that dates back to 1888.

And the  College of St Augustine .. built by millionaire industrialist and developer Henry Flagler in 1887 as Hotel Ponce de Leon, now Flagler College.

He envisioned creating an American Riviera in St. Augustine and it  beautifully recaptures the architectural spirit of old Europe.

And the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of St. Augustine:

In the afternoon we visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum.
The lighthouse stands 165 feet above sea level, overlooking the Matanzas Bay and the Atlantic Ocean from Anastasia Island.

You can actually climb the 219 steps to the top, but we didn't think it was really worth the $12.95 a person ... yeah, I know, we're such cheapskates ..
The beautiful keepers mansion next door is barely visible through the beautiful, gnarly Live Oak trees in the front yard.




 
From there we went by St Augustine Beach to at least get our feet in the Atlantic Ocean ..

The shells were nothing special here:

Apparently you have to go to the west coast of Florida to find the big and beautiful ones everybody talks about ..

Alright .. it's done! Another post down!

Only one more to go and I'm current. Yahoo! 

Phew, sometimes I wonder why I keep up writing this blog, it's really a labor of love I would say, and sometimes quite a struggle.

Nobody reads it as far as I know, except for my mam, but she can't read English so she just scans the pictures.

But it really is fun to read back at times, and see what we did when and where and why, and the pictures help a lot to remember, so

I guess I keep doing it ..

To be continued,
for now ..

Phew! I needed a little break after that Washington blog!

But, there's no rest for the wicked, and I still have three unfinished posts to write so .. deep breath .. here we go again.
It was time for a little detour ..
Our original plan was to follow the Blue Ridge Mountains from here to the south-west but due to a recent visit to the vet with Merlin, we'd made a change of plans!
He turned out to have quite severe dental problems, broken and rotten teeth and roots, and infected gums. 
Estimated costs for surgery .. are you sitting down .. $800-$1200 depending on how many extractions! Yikes!

To make a long story short, after some long hours of Googling, I found a clinic in Richmond, Virginia (which is pretty much on our way south) that does dental surgery, regardless of how many extractions, for a flat fee of $240.
Yeah .. that was a no-brainer of course!
So, we'd booked an appointment, and one for a campground, and after a short 90 miles or so drive south from DC, we arrived at  Americamps RV Resort in Richmond, VA.

This campground was about 30 minutes from the clinic, with an easy on and off the freeway that runs right next to it. Fortunately you could barely hear any traffic noise.
Our appointment was for 7.30 the next morning, early enough to miss the morning traffic commute.
Everything at the amazingly well organized clinic went very smoothly.

They have everything down to a science, the whole procedure is like a well oiled machine, and although I'd been afraid that would make things a little impersonal, the staff couldn't be more friendly and helpful.
They have a nice waiting room with coffee, WiFi and a TV, and somebody who'll help you with any questions, he even gives tourist information about what there is to see and do around Richmond. 

We decided to go back to the campground to wait until we could pick him up, and made it just in time to join the (daily) free waffle-breakfast in the campground's little restaurant.

What a great service! They were delicious!

Before we knew it they called that we could pick him up again. Everything had gone well. They had removed 3 molars, 4 roots and an incisor, cleaned the rest and even clipped his nails!
We were also given some pain pills and antibiotics.


 

The next morning he was already eating, can you believe it?
We'd planned a day of rest so he could recuperate a little before hitting the road again, or in case there would be any complications.
James used the time to go golfing in the afternoon, and Merl and I had a nice, relaxing afternoon at the ranch.
And when we fired up the BBQ in the evening guess who was right there? He is some cat!

Bring it on, Dad ..

OK, onward! After one more day of rest, we headed west-ward towards Charlotte and, once again, to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We'd booked a campground for 2 nights in Greenville, VA at the Stoney Creek Resort, a 'PA', for $21.

We didn't like our initial site, but fortunately we could move to the next one over, which was much better.

James went off to play some golf and Merl' did some more 'recuperating' and I downloaded some pics, caught up on Facebook and got some reading in. Perfect.

But we were there to visit Shenandoah National Park and to, hopefully, see some of those elusive fall-colors!

So, the next morning we drove out early to the entrance of the park and started to follow the 'Skyline Drive'.

(For some reason we didn't realize there was an entrance fee to drive this road. We ended up buying a year-pass for the National Parks. With the Everglades coming up, and several other parks, it will be a lot cheaper in the end).

Skyline Drive is a 105-mile road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains.

It's a beautiful drive with many, many overviews and places to stop, picnic and go for hikes.

We came across some Fall colors, but it still wasn't what we had hoped for. Bummer!
Just our luck that this year fall is dragging it's feet!

 

Nevertheless, it's still a beautiful drive of course ... not while towing the RV though! (we're 13.4)

    

We had lunch at the Byrd visitor center about halfway and walked through their nice display of the history of the park and information about the region's flora and fauna.

In the next few miles that it took us to reach the end of our tour we suddenly came across a whole bunch of  amazing wildlife!
Two Black Bears, an awesome Barn Owl and two nice White-tailed Deer!

                                                  

Although they're quite common in this park it's still rather special to see one!

He was eating 'something' and couldn't be bothered. 

The next day we drove further south and west, basically following the blue Ridge Mountains, but staying on the major freeways. 

We're not taking any chances when we're hooked up, definitely not wanting to encounter steep hills or low overpasses!

Everything went smoothly ... until we arrived at our next campground in Ashville, NC.

It turned out to be build, or should I say carved out of a steep mountainside! Our site was of course located on the highest terrace, and we had to crawl and zig-zag over the very narrow, steep road all the way to the top!

The view was great but gosh .. it cost me another couple of years of my life! I tried very hard not to think of the way down when we had to leave ...

OK. Next.

We had made reservations to visit the Biltmore Estate early the next morning. In fact we were among the first group of visitors for the day!

We had an easy 30 minute drive to get there, and actually had to wait a little before the front gate opened.

The approach Road as you travel toward the house is already something special.  Each twist and turn was carefully planned to bring visitors a sense of leaving the city behind them and moving farther into the woods.

Parking is easy, there are some enormous lots, and a shuttle than brings you to the house.

This beautiful estate was on James 'bucket-list and we were really looking forward to this visit!
Built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895  on 10.86 square miles, this is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet!
Still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants this 250-room French Renaissance chateau is a true marvel, the largest undertaking in residential architecture, and one of the most prominent examples of the Gilded Age.  

The beautiful Winter Garden

As I said, we were the first group to enter the house which made for a wonderful quiet (self-guided) tour, without a lot of people walking through your photo opportunities!
And of those there were plenty ... my goodness, what a house! 

The Banquet Hall with a 70-foot ceiling

There are displays of vintage clothing, accessories, original art by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and John Singer Sargent, furniture,16th century tapestries and more that tell stories and illustrate the lives of the Vanderbilt family, their guests, and employees.

And look at this beautiful library, with 10,000 volumes!

We were lucky enough to see the house already decked out for Christmas! It added a lot of lights and sparkles and a very festive atmosphere.

                                        

These amazing stairs in the back lead you to the second 'floor' of the library!

Vanderbilt's bedroom and study:

And look what I saw at one of the 65 fireplaces: Saint Nicolas and carrots (for his horse) in a pair of clogs!

Vanderbilt was an avid traveler, he must have picked it up in Holland!

The tour spans three floors and the basement, there's so much to see, how about an indoor pool, and a bowling alley, it's overwhelming!

After making our way through all 3 floors we were in dire need of a cup of coffee and something 'with it'.
Fortunately there happens to be a nice Bake & Coffee shop in one of the courtyards and the weather was beautiful so we enjoyed a nice pastry outside on the terrace.

Thus fortified, we went for a stroll around the house and through the gardens.
Designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the formal and informal gardens contain 2.5 miles of paths.

 

The building is gorgeous from every angle: 

The many terraces give you  great views of the series of formal and informal gardens gardens and of the beautiful lily ponds ..

 

The Library terrace is shaded by this amazing Wisteria

From the South terrace you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. 

All the land you can see belongs to the estate, deliberately acquired so the view would never change ..

The Rose Garden features more than 250 varieties:

The four acre walled Garden features flowerbeds planted in the 'bedding out' style, popular in the late 1800's:

What can you say ... it's truly as magnificent today as it was more than a century ago.

After strolling through the gardens for a while and a short visit to the Greenhouse we headed for Antler Village which is a small village built on the estate grounds to mimic the 'working' estates of Europe, with some rental cottages, a post office, shops, doctor's office, school, a church and even a farm intending that the estate could be self-supporting.

 

 On our way to the Village we drove by the Bass pond

It also houses the historic winery, originally an estate dairy barn, where you can enjoy complimentary wine tastings, included within the admission.
Guess where we were heading?

At the beautifully designed wine bar

Tasting some of the nice wines was a fitting end for our visit and of the day. 

We had a great time, it was probably worth the $65, although it's still pretty steep in our book!

And this is also the end of this blog. Another monster!

Two more unfinished posts to go .. I'm ready for a glass of wine ..