Westward Ho - A cross country travel log

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

At 8 pm last night, we began our 15-night cross country trip back to the west coast. We are staying in Bluegreen, Fairfield and WorldMark timeshares along with 2 suites hotels. This didn't quite fit into any category, so I decided to post it here.

I bought a new digital camera and I love it. I am a point and click type of photographer. So, I put a premium on small, light and easy. The good news is that I decided to load the software and it does a great job at shrinking the pictures, so I will be able to upload them as we go along.

It took us 4 hours and about 280 miles to make it to St Augustine for our first stop on this trip. We are staying 2 nights in a one bedroom unit at the Grand Villas at World Golf Village. I thought we had a 2 bedroom unit, but we only have one. $49/night plus occ. tax.

Here are some pictures of the Living room, master bedroom and balcony:










The unit is very small. I don't recommend a one bedroom unit for more than a day or two if you have more than 2 people in your party.

It has a mini-kitchen with 2 burners, a small refrigerator and tiny dishwasher.

The King bed in the master bedroom is really nice as is the sleeper sofa.

The TV is built into the wall, which is a nice touch.

I have a great view of the golf course. The balcony is long and very narrow.

There is no washer and dryer in the unit.

We are headed to St. Augustine. I hope to get some good pictures of that old historic area.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I so love living vicariously thru your seemingly never ending travels!

Hopefully the 5 bums will not kill each other in the tight quarters.


Starting 7/14 I will be reporting in from Celebrity Brigantine Beach. I hope to be able to post pictures as you do but I have not had success with that feature yet.

[Steve Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve]

Bon Voyage!

Have a fun trip! Thanks for keeping us informed along the way. I love road trips...and have driven all across the country many times. It's very adventuresome and fun.

Steve

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

St Augustine

We spent all day yesterday in St. Augustine. It is the oldest European style city in the US. A Spanish city. Very interesting architecture. Reminscent of the old west with a bit more European flavor.

We started the day wine tasting at San Sebastian Winery. It's free, so take 5-6 tours and you will be set for the day.

We saw a Weapons museum on the map we had. My boys perked up when I told them about it. But, it turns out that that museum was closed about 5 years ago. Just goes to show you that the brochures in these resorts are pretty old.

Walked around the Lightner museum area and St George Street. There is a really nice outdoor arcade with shops and historical sites such as the oldest wood school in the country. Our favorite was a knife and sword shop. Every type of knife was in that shop. It made up for the lack of a Weapons museum. We had ice cream at Kilwins.

Then, we spent the balance of the day at Castille de San Marcos and watched them shoot the cannons. That was really cool.

We picked up our annual parks pass here and my oldest son got his Junior Ranger patch for completing the homework assignment and turning it in. This is great education.

Today, we are heading to Pigeon Forge. I've got to see Dollywood. LOL. This will be one of our longest legs. We'll see how the boys make out.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Scorned Woman Salsa in Winery San Sebastian

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles

Menendez' claim to fame is that he was sent by the Spanish King to dirve out the French in 1565 and to establish a Spanish settlement so no one else would trepass. This settlement became known as St. Augustine.

One of the more bloody battles was when Menendez captured some French nearby and ordered their slaughter. From that time on, the inlet and river were known as "Matanzas" which is the Spanish word for Slaughter.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Lightner Museum

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Cannon firing at Castille de San Marcos

This is a really cool fort. At it's peak, it had 77 cannons firing every 10 minutes. There are over 30 steps to prepare and fire a cannon. There were times when the sky was literally raining cannon balls. This smaller cannon could fire a cannon ball about 1.5 miles. The larger ones 3 miles. Wow.

The strategy for keeping safe was to shoot cannons at ships to prevent blockades. It wasn't possible to storm the fortress, so the only effective way to take it over was to starve them out. The nearest supply location was Cuba which was a 2 month excursion. So, they needed supplies for 2 months and enough cannon balls to keep the enemy at Bay.

It was made of shellstone rock, dry moat, held up to 1500 people. 2 draw bridges.

The Castille de San Marcos was NEVER defeated in battle.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

The Smoky Mountains... we need more time here...

It was a very long drive from St. Augustine to Pigeon Forge. 580 miles and several pit stops along the way. It's a good thing we have the 2 plug power inverter, two laptops, a game cube, PSP and 2 gameboy advance handsets. It's tough to keep several kids calm during a long drive.

There were only a couple of notable things on the way to Pigeon Forge. The first was that gasoline is very cheap in South Carolina. We saw several places where it was only $2.65 per gallon. The second is that we went near Lake Lure which is where Fox Run is located.

We arrived in Pigeon Forge around 8:30 pm, so we didn't have time to do much except get comfortable in our room at Laurel Crest. We have bunch of pictures that we will post later. We didn't do it from Laurel Crest since the internet access was excruciatingly slow.

Our room was very small. It was yet another one bedroom which was the lock off portion of a two bedroom unit. Very tight accommodations even though it had a full kitchen. The people were nice, but I think the silver crown rating is about right relative to other gold crown Bluegreen resorts.

Yesterday, we spent all day in the Smokey Mountains. That was terrific. We stopped at the visitors center to get a junior rangers package for my kids. Part of the regimen is to pick up a bag of trash. I did notice that there was a lot of litter in the area.

We stopped at a lot of the turnouts to catch a glimpse of the mountains. The blue haze really does look "smoky". Our first long stop was at the New Found Gap were the park was dedicated to the people as a state park. John D. Rockefeller and the people of North Carolina and Tennesee dedicated it. It was nice especially since the Appalachian Trail went right through the area.

We headed up the mountain and did our major hiking at the Clingman's Dome. It was a pretty strenuous hike for .5 miles up hill. But, it was worth it. We got back onto the Appalachian Trail and my oldest son went on a mission to find a red cheek salamander. He did end up finding one under a rock and we got a bunch of pictures. Really cool. I loved the area, but I did notice a lot of dead trees. Evidently, there is a bug called something like the Balsam Wooly Aphid that is killing them. It's actually quite alarming at how many dead trees there are. We saw a lot of Fraser Firs. Great Christmas trees.

On the way back down, we stopped at a stream and spent some time there. And, we had to stop by Dollywood in Gatlinburg to check it out. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are only 6 miles apart. But there is a world of diffference between the two locations. Pigeon Forge is definitely for the kids. Lots of go carts, miniature golf and pancake houses. I think this area must hold the guiness book of world's records for the most number of pancake houses.

We ended up eating lunch at a drive up A&W. I just had to do it since I remember them growing up as a kid.

Gatlinburg had more shops and even a few ski lifts. We stopped by Mountainloft resorts and got a bunch of pictures there as well. Of the two resorts we saw, I think we prefer Mountainloft. We want to stay in one of those townhouses. Pretty nice looking in cabin country. This place is definitely worth coming back to for a week. Lots to do for everyone of all ages.

Mountainloft was once an II 5* and RCI Gold Crown resort. Not sure why it lost its ratings. But, since Bluegreen is building it out, perhaps they will try to regain it. I definitely liked the overall feel.

At night, my wife and oldest son went to Knife Works and bought a couple of pocket knifes for their Boy Scouting efforts. It claims to be the largest knife showroom in the world. They were excited about that shopping expedition.

Today, we've been driving for most of the day. We are almost to Memphis. We couldn't get a timeshare here, so it will be one of the nights we will be staying in a hotel room. It will be an Amerisuites.

We did stop in Nashville on the way to Memphis. We did the backstage tour at The Grand Ole Opry. A very nice southern belle gave the presentation to us dressed up as Minnie Pearl with the price tag on her hat and all. I wish we had more time to see an actual performance. It was cool going back to see the green room and the dressing rooms for all the stars. It would be something else to be back there before a performance. And, I don't even like country music.

Well, onward to Memphis. We will be here only one night. Checking out Graceland tomorrow and then onto Fairfield Bay for a couple of nights. What's in Arkansas other than a bunch of chickens. Well, I guess we'll soon find out.

[Steve Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve]

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the continuing updates. It's fun hearing about your travels. Sounds like you are having a great time!

Steve

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Thanks Steve. We just checked into the Amerisuites. A bit bigger than Laurel Crest. A little over 400 miles. We passed by Fairfiled Glade which is about 100 miles from Pigeon Forge. Amerisuites has 2 double beds and a sleeper sofa. No kitchen. But, HIGH SPEED INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo. I feel human again..... I'll be posting pictures once I get some Memphis BBQ in this empty stomach.

added: We ate at Corky's

It was FANTASTIC BBQ. We had the ribs.... both dry and wet.... wet is better....

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Thank you so much for posting your pictures and what a great trip report! I wouldn't mind having this small accommodation if I could have a view like that. Of course, you have more people in your party.

Very interesting to read that St. Augustine is the oldest European style city in the USA. Who would expect that?

Bon appetit!

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

Keep up the good work ......

I want to thank you for your postings also, taking the time and sharing, that's so nice of you. Our first exchange was to St. Augustine, thanks for the memories. You're a good photographer, my kind ~ use the KISS principle! Sounds like you're really enjoying yourself. WOW ~ driving cross country ~ I'm green! Enjoy yourselves.

Sue

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

A&W Rootbeer.... childhood memories....

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

The Great Smoky Mountains