Author: Easin' Along

This year’s abundant rainfall has produced a beautiful early spring in East Tennessee. Our grass is lush green, and the early blooming trees, flowers, and shrubs are stunningly brilliant. The daffodils and crocus have, for the most part, come and gone, but the tulips, dogwoods, and azaleas are putting on quite the show. I had to share and maybe brag on our region a bit as we raise the curtain on another splendid spring showing.

The Dogwood Arts Festival, which began in 1955, draws attention to the spring blooming season’s arrival by featuring public and private gardens that are open to visitors. Also featured are driving routes through several neighborhoods, designated as Dogwood Trails, where flowering trees are plentiful and yards landscaped to perfection. The trails are a sight to behold, but our blooming period is always too short in East Tennessee.  We seem to go from cool weather to hot almost overnight.

In addition to highlighting things floral, the Festival also focuses on the arts, both performing and visual. Festival organizers schedule concerts, theatrical performances, art galleries, and craft shows to entertain visitors from all over the region and the entire country with local artists’ skills and talents in hundreds of venues. It’s busy, but it’s fun.

One of the more popular events on the schedule is named “Chalk the Walk,” where the first 500 artists to register compete for prizes in several age groups. Each artist receives a box with 48 chalks and pastels to draw their masterpiece. In the past, the competition took place in our downtown square and was always well-attended by on-lookers wishing to view genius at work.

I had not planned to blog this week.  Helen and I are in a frenzy preparing to leave on an RV trip, and I still had taxes to finish, a doctor, dental, and eye appointment, a wedding to attend, and a myriad of last-minute details to complete.  Nevertheless, when I heard that the Chalk Walk competition was on for this week, I thought I would share some of the drawings with Easin’ Along readers.  I grabbed both cameras and drove downtown.  When I reached the square, there were maybe ten people there and no artists.  I called the Festival office thinking that the competition had moved to another location.

A very polite gentleman answered the phone and informed me that Festival organizers decided not to risk the event becoming a “super spreader” during the pandemic.  Artists would still compete, but individually, at a site of their choosing, and submit a photograph of the finished product to the judges online. I understood but was very disappointed.

I wanted to share these gifted artists’ works, but finding a work in progress would be impossible with the limited time available to me.  Instead, I looked up some images from previous competitions on the Festival website and “borrowed” a few to share.  Google Images also had several good examples.  I hope you enjoy them. When artists are chalking the walk, we know that “spring has sprung” in the hills of East Tennessee.

Have a great week everyone. We’re Easin’ Along.

When Helen and I planned our winter trip through Florida and up the east coast, we intended to spend the last two days in Charleston before heading home. We stayed longer. Readers know that our son and his family live there and we love going there. Our fifth-wheel fits nicely in their driveway. With an electric outlet nearby and a water connection a few feet away, we have all the comforts of an exclusive RV resort. Add in the bonus of two lovely granddaughters to hug, and Charleston becomes the perfect place to cap off a winter RV trip.

We have endured less than perfect weather during this entire trip, and Charleston gave us more of the same. A cold mist settled in as we arrived and hooked up in our driveway campsite.  Our son purchased tickets to an Oyster Roast at the Yacht Club near his home on our first night.  Several of his friends would join us for an evening of food and fun. Thankfully, the rain stayed away.

A tailgate tent served as our dining room.  Drink locations, scattered across the Clubhouse lawn, made it easy to maintain social distancing. Within a few minutes of our arrival, two young men came to our tent and unloaded a bushel of steamed oysters on our table. We all dove in.  What could be better after a day of driving? The oysters, cooked to perfection, gave us no difficulty shucking several dozen.

As stated earlier, we intended to stay for two days, but Helen and I decided that wasn’t enough grandchildren time. We had always wanted to camp at James Island County Park, a very popular and highly regarded campground, but things never worked out for us.  On a whim, Helen decided to call the reservation office to see if we could secure a campsite for three nights. Luck was with us, although we would have to move to a different campsite for the third night. Big deal, moving is part of camping, we always say. Helen jumped at the opportunity.  

James Island County Park is a huge facility.  There are hiking and biking trails, playgrounds, water parks, dog parks, and a lovely lake in addition to the campground. We finally enjoyed some sunshine and spent an afternoon on the bike trail with our family getting some much-needed exercise and fresh air.

Folly Beach, a short drive from the park, offered another opportunity to take advantage of the Charleston area’s beauty.  Although we chose a cold, windy day to walk the beach, we enjoyed a brisk walk in the bright sunshine, and the girls seemingly paid no attention to the cooler temperature.  

Fortunately, COVID has not prevented our grandchildren from attending school so, with the children in the classroom and their parents at work, Helen and I decided to sample one of Charleston’s best Fish and Chips restaurants for lunch. Codfather’s Fish and Chips serves authentic British-style food, served wrapped in paper just as the Brits do it. The cod, lightly breaded and crisply fried, was served alongside hand-cut fried potatoes. The only thing we needed after that meal was a nap.

Once we moved to the campground, we spent most of our evenings there, cooking, watching movies, and just hanging out.  Time passed by all too quickly and, before we realized it, the time had come for us to head toward home. Nevertheless, a six-week journey had ended perfectly with plenty of time to relax and enjoy.

We’ll be Easin’ Along again starting in mid-April.  Details to follow—please join us.

I may be all over the place with this post. Helen and I are safely back in Knoxville, very grateful for a relaxing time in Florida and along the east coast. We enjoyed a break from COVID concerns by remaining pretty close to our vacation home on wheels and for the precautions taken by some conscientious campground managers. To be sure, we stayed cautious, but we never felt at risk.

Once we returned home, I had every intention of sharing the final stops on our journey. Still, we had a large bag of mail to sort, family matters to attend to, a couple of medical appointments and a trailer to clean out and prepare for the next trip starting in April. Then, Spring Fever hit, and I’ve never felt so lazy and energy-sapped in my life. I expected this to last for only a couple of days, but it continued for over a week, and I pushed last week’s post forward.  Nevertheless, the spring flowers are blooming now; the spring rains have moved out, and I’m ready to share a few details about our time in Beaufort, SC, while camped at the Marine Recruiting Base at Parris Island.  

Our stay there was limited to three nights, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to explore.  Our last visit to Parris Island in the late summer of 2017 and a previous trip in pre-RV days afforded more time on the ground, and we gained an appreciation for the charm of Beaufort, a small southern town filled with both history and beauty. I have posted a few pictures to illustrate that grace and charm.

Port Royal, a small fishing village adjacent to the Marine Base, was the site of our only excursion away from the campground. We both love good seafood, and our friend, Mary, a long-time Beaufort resident, recommended Fishcamp, a seafood restaurant alongside the fishing docks in Port Royal. We decided to leave camp early and see what Port Royal had to offer.  Our first stop, Maggie Mae’s Now and Then Shop kept us occupied until dinner. Readers know that we love antique and consignment stores and browse through them at every opportunity. Maggie Mae’s, filled to the ceiling, gave us a lot to look through.

Fishcamp on 11^th Street had very few patrons when we arrived, which gave me pause, but, as it turned out, we beat the crowd by only a few minutes.  Diners soon filled the place and gave us plenty of company.  My meal, a seafood platter, was delicious.  Helen ordered a Grouper dish that turned out not to her liking. Dining experiences like this happen occasionally.  I tend to stick to the tried and true, while she is a bit more adventuresome when it comes to menu items. She wins more often than not, but not this time.

Parris Island is where young men and women are rigorously trained and ultimately wear United States Marine uniforms.  Although I spent a career in the Army, I never met a Marine that I didn’t look upon with pride and respect. There is something about a Marine and their makeup that sets them apart as something special. Life as a Marine isn’t for everyone, but, thankfully, it is for the few and the proud. Helen and I passed several groups of young recruits within days of their arrival at Parris Island.  Drill Instructors were offering “fatherly advice and counseling” to one formation standing at rigid attention. We wish them nothing but the best and thank them for their service to our country. I’m grateful they’re on our side.

Well, I managed to hold everything together for this post and didn’t get off the rails too far. Maybe my Spring Fever is behind me. I do have one exciting bit of news that perhaps led to a cure. We found a new tow vehicle for Dora.  I began looking several months ago only to learn that the specifications I wanted for a truck are exceedingly hard to find right now with all of the interest in RVs. Ultimately, I found just what I was looking for in Clearwater, FL.  I completed a purchase agreement over the phone with some exceptionally nice people at Walker Ford in Clearwater and drove down last weekend to pick it up.

Meet Ruby.  She’s just itching to go Easin’ Along with us on the road less traveled. Have a great week, everyone.