Author: Easin' Along

Helen and I arrived at Edisto Beach on Wednesday after two stops on the way. We spent one night in Cherokee, NC, to rub a little ointment on her casino itch.  My lotion worked better than hers, but that’s all I’ll say about that. We spent the next night in our son’s driveway in Charleston, SC. I invested in a partial share of a fifty-amp electrical outlet at Collin’s house, and we now have water and power for the Mother-In-Law Suite, also known as Dora, our fifth-Wheel trailer.

After our granddaughters left for school the following day, Helen and I did some Costco shopping then drove 50 miles for our fifth straight year of camping in Edisto Beach State Park. We love the beach campground, and our campsite sits behind a dune along the shoreline and overlooks a lovely salt marsh teeming with egrets, spoonbills, cranes, and one pesky raccoon.  We’re here for eleven relaxing days.

November weather at Edisto can be somewhat mercurial. Still, so far, we’ve had sunny days in the ’60s and low ‘70s with nighttime temperatures in the high ‘40s—perfect for campfires, and we’ve enjoyed one every evening. I’m not sure how much of this I can take, but I’m in for all I can stand.

For exercise, we walk the beach every day. The shorebirds wander along with us as though we need escorts.  The water is surprisingly warm and feels warmer than wet sand to my bare feet. There are so few people here that we have the beach almost to ourselves. Did I mention that we love this place?

This narrative will be shorter than my usual posts.  We’ve had only three days to record the experience, but I captured a few images that I hope give readers a feel for the occasion. The plan is to share our visit with you after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Would you please join us then?

Oh, one more thing…

On Thursday, around four in the morning, I woke up and remembered that a lunar eclipse was near the peak.  My camera was unpacked and sitting beside the door. I grabbed it, stepped into my flip-flops, and walked into a dark campground in my pajamas. Nobody screamed, so I assumed I was alone.

Looking to the south, a meteor crossed the sky just below the eclipsed sphere dubbed the Beaver Moon. I decided to forgo any attempt to put my camera into perfect settings and went to automatic mode. I snapped away. Looking through the long lens, the lower left portion was as shiny as ever, but the rest of the moon was shrouded in an eerie shade of red. The image below was captured at 4:06 am.

Helen and I send our best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday to our friends and followers everywhere.  We’re blessed, and we’re Easin’ Along.

The day after Helen and I returned from a wonderful (and wet) weekend camping trip with our church, we packed up again to spend a few days with some dear friends.  Readers have met these folks before, and they are friends we made when we moved into a new neighborhood upon our return to Knoxville. Our youngest son was born ten days after moving in, and we lived there for twenty-one years.  I cried when we moved out but left the neighborhood with great memories of great times with many great people.

Some of those neighbors moved on as well, but we stayed connected, primarily because six ladies in our group have spent a week together at the beach for forty years.  The husbands stayed home to babysit in the early years. Now, we gather for dinner to catch up. It’s been a sad two years, however. We lost two of the husbands to illness, and we miss them immeasurably.

One of the ladies in our group shares a lovely home with her sister in the Blair Branch community near the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She graciously invited us all up for a time of fun, companionship, and a birthday celebration for one of our friends.  I promised (sort of) that I wouldn’t say who.

The Blair Branch community is adjacent to the famous Blackberry Farm, a four-star resort that draws well-heeled guests worldwide.  Anne, our hostess, enjoys the opportunity to visit Blackberry and bring her guests with her. She booked us in for a day to check it out, and we jumped at the chance.  The weather was great, and we needed the exercise.

Blackberry Farm is a unique resort, and the owners have worked hard to make it as complete a farm-to-table operation as possible. Extensive vegetable gardens supply many of the items found on the menu, and chickens, turkeys, and other game fowl provide fresh poultry for guests.

We visited the gardens and looked over the varieties of vegetables found there. Beets, cabbage, kale, and carrots filled the rows in one garden, as did zinnias and other flowers for the tables.  Paw-Paws grew in one corner of the field but were not yet ready for picking. It’s an impressive operation.

In addition to our garden walk, we visited the kennel to meet the new puppies born on the Farm.  These are not ordinary puppies but a specialized breed, the Logotto Romagnolo. As the name implies, Logotto Romagnolos originated in Italy and trained to hunt.  Because of their keen sense of smell, these animals eventually were used to search for truffles in the Italian hillsides. Blackberry is in the process of preparing some land to grow truffles for the resort and keep these pups busy.

We entered the kennel area and immediately had one of the dogs rush out to meet us. They are lively fuzzballs and cute as they come.  The trainer interrupted his session with one young pup to give us a bit of information on the breed and the operation of the kennel. He explained that the dogs are in high demand and sell for many thousands of dollars.  Once sold, the trainer accompanies the dog to its new owner, wherever that is.  He told us that he had delivered them all over America and to many foreign countries.  At this point, there is a waiting list for Blackberry Logotto Romagnolos extending out over six years.

After our information briefing, we visited the newest pups in the kennel.  Helen got to hold one, but he was a furry handful, and I couldn’t get either Helen or the puppy to remain still long enough to focus my camera.

After our afternoon on the Farm, we returned to Blair Branch to continue our time together. A roaring fire added much to the cozy atmosphere, and the conversation lingered long. We did much the same around the breakfast table the following day after Bloody Marys helped spice up the chatter. (Photos courtesy of the other Joe in the group.)

Oh, we finally got around to celebrating the birthday, but not before a mystery person stole a slice from the Red Velvet Cake that Anne prepared from scratch. We never discovered the culprit, but I did take a picture of the birthday person…the name remains withheld, but clues are everywhere.

In summary, everyone enjoyed a delightful time together, and the time for Easin’ Along came all too quickly.

Please join us next week.  Helen and I are taking you to Edisto Beach, SC. 

Helen and I often get asked if we have considered living full-time on the road in our RV. The truthful answer is, yes, we think about it, then quickly dismiss the idea. As lifelong Knoxvillians, we know how important it is to stay connected to our friends and family.  We love that we have the freedom to leave our home for three or four months at a time, but returning home can be just as sweet as our adventures on the road.

Another reason we feel the tug of home is because we love our church and the people who are a part of it. Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian has been our church home for well over thirty years, and we have no intention of moving away from it. Although we can view Sunday services online, it isn’t the same as joining our friends in the sanctuary.

One of the highlights of every year for us is the annual camping trip for church members in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near Oneida, Tennessee, on the Cumberland Plateau. I have to admit to readers that Helen and I are usually the oldest campers in the group, and one aspect of the weekend that makes it so much for us is that we can be around many young adult members of the church and spend time with their children.  The campout for this year took place last weekend, and Helen and I arrived on Thursday afternoon to join a few others who couldn’t wait until Friday to begin the fun.

It is peak leaf season in the Tennessee hills, and we have received an abundance of rain this year, so the leaves have held fast to the trees a bit longer than usual, putting on a colorful show for all to enjoy. We drove to Big South Fork in anticipation of a bright display.  The display was there…but so was the rain–lots of it.

I parked Dora in campsite number one and set everything up in a misty rainfall. There are no hookups in the group campground, so I brought a generator for electricity, ensuring Helen had plenty of hot coffee available first thing on her damp Friday morning.  The generator fired up on the first pull (whew).

That evening, Jennifer and David, the campout organizers, prepared a gourmet Surf and Turf dinner for about 12 early attendees. In addition to delicious beef tenderloin filets, Jennifer sauteed fresh diver scallops and smothered them with a mixture of crumbled bacon and maple syrup. The word delicious doesn’t come close to describing the taste. After our meal, we retired to Dora and let the gentle rain lull us to sleep.

There was no letup in the rain on Friday, but the families drifted into the campground throughout the day. That evening, Jennifer and David served a meal of homemade potato soup, supplemented by a pot of homemade chili prepared in front of the fire by Richard.  Fortunately, there is a sizeable screened-in pavilion in the group campground, complete with a massive fireplace for everyone to gather around. After dinner, the children scrambled outside to play games in the dark, rain notwithstanding.

Saturday is usually a day for hiking during this event, and, in previous years, we have enjoyed fantastic hikes in Big South Fork in glorious fall weather.  The pictures above are a good illustration, but we missed out on this year.  Instead, smart-thinking parents brought several crafts and games for everyone to enjoy. Face-painting stations, beadwork tables, card games, and jigsaw puzzles, including three furnished by Helen, were included in the activities.  Except for a few rainy-day bike riders, the children remained busy all afternoon. It was fun to watch them entertain themselves without cell phones and Ipads.

The rain held up long enough to hold a worship service around a large bonfire on Sunday morning. We sang hymns accompanied by a skilled guitarist, and Mark, one of our pastors, led both a children’s service and one for the entire group. He did well. When the service ended, everyone huddled together for a group photograph behind a veil of smoke. With that, a wonderfully wet, woodsy weekend concluded.

The sun broke through less than an hour later.