We arrived on 02/23/2011 at Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park in Live Oak. On 02/26/2011 We visited Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, FL. In 1931 Josiah K. Lilly, the son of Indiana pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli K. Lilly, suggested a memorial to composer Stephen Foster, whose song, “Old Folks at Home,” made the Suwanee River known all over the world. The Florida Federation of Music Clubs adopted his idea and obtained contributions of land in White Springs, Florida. The Stephen Foster Memorial Commission administered the development of the park, which opened in 1950. Stephen Collins Foster, born in 1826, composed more than 200 songs during his lifetime. The first Florida Folk Festival was held in 1953. Situated on the banks of the legendary Suwanee River, this center honors the memory of American composer Stephen Foster, who wrote “Old Folks at Home,” the song that made the river famous. The museum features exhibit about Foster’s most famous songs and his music can be heard emanating from the park’s 97-bell carillon throughout the day. In Craft Square, visitors can watch demonstrations of quilting, blacksmithing, stained glass making, and other crafts, or visit the gift shop. Hiking, bicycling, canoeing, and wildlife viewing are popular activities. Miles of trails wind through some of the most scenic areas of North Florida. The picture is of front of the Stephen Foster Folk Museum.
The picture is of the park’s 97-bell carillon.
On 03/03/2011 drove to Southern Trails Resort in Unadilla, GA. on 03/05/2011 we visited GA Cotton Museum in Vienna, GA. “Cotton and burlap are the fabrics that bind the past with the future in this area. The past holds memories that will last – both good and bad. Those memories help to mold the future and remind us to strive to do better – for each other as well as our farms and industries.” A few dedicated citizens in Dooly County realized the importance that cotton has played in the lives of not only Dooly County people, but people from around the world. Their enthusiasm has been rewarded by the construction of the Cotton Museum. Local farmers and interested citizens have contributed many of the artifacts that are contained in the museum. However, the museum is more than a collection of artifacts. It outlines the history of cotton and includes the slave issues and how their participation in the production of cotton contributed to the economy. It shows how farmers dealt with planting, controlled the insects, prayed for rain and sunshine, and waited for the white fluff to appear at harvest time. How the farmers sold their cotton and how slaves were bought and sold. The tools that plowed, planted and harvested the cotton are on display as well as the weighing machinery and a planter’s desk where accurate records of the harvest were kept. We invite you to ride through Dooly County in the fall of the year and take in the beauty of “snow in the south”. The cotton is so thick and so white that it appears to be snow on the ground with bright green trees framing the view. This unusual sight can only be seen in the south and best in Dooly County. The weather here is perfect for growing the finest cotton in the world. The picture is of an old schoolhouse that houses the Cotton Museum.
On 03/09/3011 we moved to Jones RV Park in Norcross, GA. Then on 03/16/2011 we drove to NACO Carolina Landing in Fair Play, SC. on 03/19/2011 We visited Travelers Rest State Historical Site near Toccoa, GA and General Pickens Monument for Ring Fight in Tamassee, SC. This stagecoach inn and plantation home was built around 1815 by James R. Wyly. He strategically located it along the newly constructed Unicoi Turnpike, a busy highway over the Appalachian Mountains. Wyly operated the inn until 1833 when he sold it to his neighbor Devereaux Jarrett, the “richest man in the Tugaloo Valley.” Jarrett continued to operate the inn but doubled its size to make it the homeplace of his 14,400-acre plantation along the Tugaloo River. Three generations of Jarretts inhabited the site until the state of Georgia purchased the remaining few acres of the once-vast plantation for $8,000 in 1955. Thanks to both its architectural significance and its role in the early history of the area, Traveler’s Rest was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Today, visitors can tour the house and see many original artifacts and furnishings, some of which were crafted by Caleb Shaw, a renowned cabinetmaker from Massachusetts. “Here I got an excellent breakfast of coffee, ham, chicken, good bread, butter, honey, and plenty of good new milk for a quarter of a dollar . . . What a charming country this would be to travel in, if one was sure of meeting with such nice clean quarters once a-day!” the picture is of Traveler’s Rest Inn.
The picture is of Abigail studying a stagecoach map.
The Tamassee area of Oconee County is also closely associated with General Andrew Pickens and the Cherokee campaign of 1776. Follow SC 11 north of Walhalla to Oconee Station Road and turn left on S.37.95. On your right, approximately three miles is Oconee Station State Historic Site, a militia outpost and Indian trading post from the late 18th century. About one mile further was the site of Pickens’ last home, the Red House. A small granite marker designates the spot, which affords the visitor a beautiful view of Tamassee Knob and the adjacent valley. Andrew Pickens built his home not far from the site of the Ring Fight, one of the most unusual battles of the Revolution. While leading a scouting party of 25 men in advance of Andrew Williamson’s army, Pickens was surrounded by 185 Cherokee Indians. Although outnumbered more than seven to one, the small party defeated the Indians by firing in relays under the direction of Pickens. Tradition also recounts how the Patriots successfully set fire to the canebrake so that the popping of the burning cane would fool the enemy into thinking reinforcements were arriving. The marker plaque was stolen the inscription was “This boulder marks where General Andrew Pickens died; August 11, 1817. Finished with wars he rested in peace in his dooryard. This marker erected by the daughters of the American Revolution in Oconee and Pickens Counties March 17, 1932.” The picture is of Boulder with the missing plaque.
The picture is of Abigail next to the boulder.
We moved on 03/22/2011 to Freightliner in Gaffney SC to have our Rig serviced. Then on 03/24/2011 we arrived at TT Lake Forest in Advance, NC. We then drove to Paradise Lake Family Campground in Spout Spring, VA on 03/30/2011. We visited Appomattox Court House National historic Park in Appomattox Court House, VA on 04/02/2011. A week of fighting culminated in the Battles of Appomattox Station and Appomattox Court House, on April 8th and 9th, 1865, and forced the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s once invincible Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. On Palm Sunday, 1865, Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the Southern States attempt to create a separate nation. It set the stage for the emergence of an expanded and more powerful Federal government. In a sense the struggle over how much power the central government would hold had finally been settled. The McLean House in Appomattox Court House, Virginia was used on April 9th 1865 for the surrender meeting between General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A. and Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant, U.S.A. The house was also used on April 10th for the Surrender Commissioners meeting, and as the headquarters of Major General John Gibbon, U.S.A. After four years of war and over 630,000 casualties Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met in the parlor of the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia and agreed to terms which would make reunification of the Nation possible. The picture is of Appomattox Court House from the area of the Confederate Cemetery.
