Our Trip to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

Two weeks ago we spent a few days in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  If you missed the first part of our trip  can see it here.  On the second day of our trip we knew we wanted to go back to do one more thing in downtown Gatlinburg before heading to Pigeon Forge, and that was to visit the Sky Park Bridge.  On the way to the bridge we saw a lot of fun signs like this one in front of on of their restaurants. 

Right next to the Sky Park is this spooky building, the Mysterious Mansion.  It is supposedly one of the oldest "haunted houses" in the area that you are able to walk around on your own self tour.  I personally do not like haunted houses, so I was not to upset that it was closed on this day.  I did think the outside looked pretty cool though. 

To get to the Sky Park Bridge you have to ride a ski lift. While on the lift, it was not that far off the ground.  

I found another giant chair! 

Pretty much every where you look around Gatlinburg you will see black bear statues in various shapes and sizes.  I think this one with a mama bear and her two cubs was my favorite.  This was an area on one side of bridge that had pretty views of the main street below.  A lot of this attraction was destroyed in the 2016 Gatlinburg fires. They had to replace the ski lift, and the upper terminal.  They had plans to rebuild/upgrade the bridge, and it was supposed to be completed in October 2016, one month before the fires.  They were not able to start it when planned though, so the timing worked out in their favor. They rebuilt everything after the fires.

The bridge is 680 feet long, and the longest pedestrian cable bridge in North America.  While you could feel it moving a little bit, it was secured with giant cables and felt very safe.   

This was the view near where the bear statues were located.  Since we were there in early March, it was still early in the season for all the green grass and leaves to come back. 

After a quick lunch, and a stop at a nearby Buc-ees, we drove around Pigeon Forge to check out the sites.  Dollywood was a few days from opening, so most places were not very busy.  While we were not ready to eat yet, we stopped by the Hard Rock Cafe to see the memorabilia.  They had some fun items at this location, including a dress worn by a certain blond superstar who had the biggest tour in the world this year. :) 

We drove by the Titanic Museum.  I know there is also one in Branson, Mo which is not that far from where some of my family lives.  It was already pretty late in the day, so we did not stop there on this trip.  

Another cool place to visit is the Hollywood Wax Museum.  We did not stop at this location this time, because we recently saw the one in Branson which you can read about here.

 

We did see a familiar face on the side of a building and decided to check it out.   At Downtown Flavortown, you can play games in the arcade, bowl in a small bowling alley, and eat at Guy Fieri's Tiki Bar. 

This giant Guy Fieri rubber duck is over 5 ft tall.  

You can also see his red convertible from Diners, Drive Ins and Dives up close. 

Downtown Flavortown is located in a cute little shopping area. We found a great gift shop there with affordable souvenirs.  I bought a few T-shirts and sweatshirts for only $9.99 each. There was an area with a fire pit where you can sit and rest.  While we were sitting there, a man was giving kids' rides on a colorful train around the shopping area.  It looked like fun, but it was not big enough to grownups to ride.  LOL  

At this point it had started to rain, so we headed back to Gatlinburg a few miles away.   We were starting to get hungry so we decided to eat a late dinner.  It was already almost 8 pm, so we stopped by Jason Aldeen's Kitchen and Roof Top Bar. 

We decided to eat salads, and have one of their signature drinks.  Since it was raining we did not eat on the rooftop, but on the middle floor.  It had open windows and a nice view of the street below.   The food was yummy, and the service was great.  It was then time to walk back to our hotel while we finished up another great day in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. 

 

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Our visit to Red Oak, a step back in time

Earlier this month we visited family in southern Missouri. One day we were wondering what to do, when we saw a small article about Red Oak II. It sounded really interesting as a place we might like to visit. Seeing that it was not that far away, and open until 9 p.m., we decided to go check it out. 

We pull up to this tiny community in the middle of the country near Carthage, Missouri. It was very warm the week we were visiting, so there were not many people there.  We parked our car, and it immediately felt like we went back in time.  

After our visit, I did some more research about Red Oaks and what we saw. Now that I know the full story, I definitely want to go back, and see some more.   There was just so much to see. 

The artist Lowell Davis was born nearby in the original Red Oak, Missouri, near Rte 66 in 1937.  He was famous for his paintings, sculptures and metal work.   After high school he joined the military and left Missouri for awhile, but never forgot his fond memories of his childhood and tiny home town.  After being medically discharged after a plane accident, he decided to go home to Missouri.  Since there was not much left of the original Red Oak, he had an idea to start a new community called Red Oak II with rescued abandoned buildings that he relocated to Carthage, Missouri. One of the first buildings in the new location was the General Store.  He grew up living in the back of the store.  

This was the sign to the Red Oak Cafe. It was no longer open. I found doing my research that it was once a very popular eatery. I can understand why, it was such a cute, quaint building. 

This sculpture was one of the first things we saw when we got out of the car.  It is just one of the many pieces of artwork Lowell has in the community. 

There are about a dozen families living in Red Oak II in historically homes, and surrounded by artwork. We were allowed to wander freely around the grounds, and most of the buildings.  The homes where people lived there are signs posted that it is a private residence. 

Yes, that really is a old time plane just sitting in the driveway.  My boyfriend worked on planes in the Air Force, so he was quite interested in this. We were allowed to go up to it to get a closer look.  

Do you see the chicken in the road? It is actually a funny story.  This hen and her sister escaped their enclosure from across the street, and decided to go visit the Marshall's Office.  The woman who owned them drove up just as they came up to greet us. She is one of the permanent residents in the community. She shared a lot of fun facts about the history of the area, and told us she found her home on sale on the internet a few years ago. We were very glad we ran into her.  She told us that her hens were probably excited to see us, because they love people and were probably hoping for a treat. 

There is fascinating thing I found out after we visited.  One of the homes in the community is called the Belle Star House, because she once lived in the home.  You might not have heard of Belle Star, but her story is very interesting. She was born Myra Belle Shirley.  She had a well to do upbringing, and spent some of her years as a teacher.  When the Kansas - Missouri border war broke out everything changed.  Her brother was killed in that war. She became involved with an outlaw, was friendly with Jessie and Frank James (yes, that Jesse James) and started a life of crime. She went on to become known as one of the most famous woman outlaws of that time, with a string of husbands, lovers and crimes.  Her story would make for a great movie, if there isn't one already.  

This building was called the Iron Pony.  I'm not sure what this building was for, but we liked the sculptures around it. 

I believe this house was called the Mother In Law's house. We were allowed to go in it, but it was so hot that evening, that it was just too warm inside to look around. It reminded me of the Old Lady in a Shoe house from poem. 

There is a small church in the community.  Lowell brought it there, so he would have a place close by to attend church.  Lowell Davis died in November of 2020. There was a little graveyard close the house of the women we met. She told me that the grave stones in the cematary did not actually have graves. There was only person buried there, and it was Lowell Davis himself. This cat had been following us for a bit, and decided to rest on his gravesite. 

This barn and my favorite type of farm truck was across the street.  It looked so beautiful and peaceful, I just had to take a pic.  

If you ae ever in southern Missouri near Joplin, you will definitely want to stop by and check out Red Oaks II. 

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Our visit to Lake Michigan - Grand Haven, Ludington, Manistee

After a couple week delay (because of a broken computer) I am finally back to post about our vacation all around the state of Michigan.  If you missed the first post, click the link to see Our visit to Holland

Grand Haven

Our first stop in Grand Haven, which is just north of Holland, was the state park. There you could see the harbor and lighthouse.   On top of big hill over looking the harbor there is a large anchor in honor of the Coast Guard.  Grand Haven is called Coast Guard City USA 

One thing interesting about the lighthouse in Grand Haven, you get two for one.  The Inner and Outer Pierhead.  The inner tower was built in 1905.  The outer building was built in 1875 and originally in a different location. In 1922 the pier was rebuild with a concrete pierhead, and the outer building moved to that location. At the time it contained a state of the art foghorn.

A closer view of the inner light, and the bridge connecting the two buildings.

Near downtown Grand Haven we stopped to see the Pere Marquette 1223.  It is one of only two surviving 1223 2-8-4 Berkshires.  I don't know a lot about trains, but my travel companion did. It was constructed in 1941 and used to move heavy war equipment. 

Another great place to visit in Grand Haven that we did not get to see this year, because it was shut down for Covid, is the Grand Haven Musical Fountain.  We used to bring my kids there when they were young and watch synchronized music and light shows. (maybe next year!)

Ludington

If you like lighthouses, you need to stop in Ludington.  There we saw two of my favorites of the entire trip, and we saw A LOT of them.  The first stop was the Breakwater.  To get to the lighthouse, you have to walk out on a concrete pier over the water.  This sign is at the start of the walkway. 

You can see the lighthouse, the walkway and lighthouse through the fog in this picture.  I was definitely nervous walking out on the pier.  It was a windy day, and water goes over of the walkway.  On extremely windy days there is a risk that you can be washed off the pier if the waves are big enough. I saw several families with kids walking out there too, so I put on a brave face and did it. 

                                                   

When we were almost there, the waves got a bit bigger.  I moved very fast at that point. The water was about ankle deep and very cold. 

Up close the lighthouse was cool to see. It reminded me of a big ship. The current version was built in 1924.  A car ferry called the S.S. Badger that takes cars from Ludington to Manitowac, Wi, passes by the lighthouse a few times a day. 

Once we were done looking at the lighthouse, I remembered we had to walk back. It seemed a little less scary, but the waves had died down a bit. 

We made a few friends on our way back to the beach.  Even though the walk to and from the lighthouse was nerve wracking, I am so glad that I did it. 

After leaving the Breakwater on the way to the Ludington State Park, we stopped on the side of the road at a lookout spot.  There we saw some interesting small piers with places to tie your boat. Every single one had a seagull on the end. I am not really sure what they are for, but I am guess you can come in and tie you boat in case of bad weather. 

Going to see Big Sable Pointe Lighthouse was also an adventure.  At the start of the walk you see this sign. To get to there you have to hike 1.5 miles along a path that is sometimes paved and sometimes sandy. It does not sound like it would be that far, until you are actually walking it.   A lot of people rode their bikes on the path. 

The long walk was well worth it. It was beautiful. The building and tower were built in 1867.  The constriction materials were delivered to the site by ship, because there was not a road until 1933.  It was the last Great Lake lighthouse to get electricity and plumbing which was not until the late 1940s! 

The tower is 112 feet tall. It was not open to the public this year, but the platform that you normally can walk up to see is 106 feet.  

We spent some time on the beach at Big Sable Point, because we had to rest before our long walk back to our car.  We definitely got our exercise that afternoon. 

After leaving Ludington, we headed just a little bit more north to Manistee. The weather was starting to look a bit dark, because there was a storm heading our way.  

I just learned some interesting facts about the Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse. It was originally built in 1869. In October 1871, on the same day as the great Chicago fire, storms caused fires in many other cities.  Most of Manistee also burned down including the lighthouse.  A new one was built in 1872. The wooden walkway added in 1879, was a safer way for the lighthouse keepers to access the light so they could maintain it. 

As we were driving out of town, I noticed an unusual sight.  Two ships were docked right next to a condominium complex that was being built. We did take a closer look and were surprised to see there were only about 20 feet between them.  

We made it out of the path of the storm in time,  and arrived safely to Traverse City for the night.  There we saw probably the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  It was so vivid and colorful. It changed from purple, pink, red and orange. I hope I am lucky enough to see one like that again.  

There are several more locations I will be posting about so stayed tuned!..  

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