Taking a Break

Hello wide world of wonder!  My husband is returning to school in January, and thus our travels will be a bit limited for a while…. mostly inexpensive day-trips I’d imagine.  In the meantime, I want to keep up my blogging and will be returning to my “http://rockytoprebecca.wordpress.com/” site.  Feel free to follow along, otherwise, stay tuned for my next road trip!

A Quick Trip to Pittsburgh, PA

I recently had to travel to Pittsburgh on business, and although it was a short 1-day trip, I spent several hours in the car being whisked all over town and got a great feel for the area. 

What a nice city!  It was definitley not the dirty, steel-town I was expecting.  Actually quite the opposite.  The downtown area felt very clean and new, and lucky me, I got to be there on the day they were lighting up downtown for Christmas and opening up the annual ice skating rink in PPG Center.  I was also surprised at how mountainous the area was.  I knew it was in the Appalachians, but unlike Knoxville, which sits in a valley, Pittsburgh was truly in the mountains.  The outskirts of the city reminded me a lot of the older Cincinnati suburbs – Victorian and Row houses all packed in together.  And contrary to what I’d been told, it was sunny most of the time.

Whoa! Welcome to Pittsburgh! A view of the city right after emerging from the Fort Pitt tunnel under Mount Washington.

Mt. Washington Inclines, the oldest and steepest inclines in the US.

A view from the Interstate

Downtown Pittsburgh; the ice skating rink at PPG Center.

An aerial shot of PPG Center (courtesy of Google Images!). Pretty, huh?

Roan Mountain

Bill and I try to take one day or weekend a month to explore a new area within driving distance of our home in Knoxville.  This particular trip started with a Runner’s World magazine article that I picked up at the gym.  The magazine  spotlights a different place in the world each month for a “Rave Run”.  The picture was breathtaking and I immediately wanted to go there as quickly as possible!  It took us 6 months, but we finally made the 2.5 hour drive.  Although I couldn’t find the exact picture from the magazine, despite several thorough Google searches, this one is pretty close:

On our way to Roan Mountain, we took a few unexpected detours as we saw signs for various historic sites.  Who knew there was so much history along this short 24-mile stretch of Highway 11E?  First stop,  Greeneville, TN, long time home of the 17th President – Andrew Johnson.  Did you know he was a tailor by trade?  Yep, men were not too proud to sew in those days. 

Second stop, Limestone, TN, birthplace of Davy Crockett (who also happens to be the original University of Tennessee mascot – GO VOLS!)  It was a narrow, winding road with no less than 7 turns (thank goodness for GPS), and for a few minutes we thought we were lost amongst the endless farmland, but then we came upon the park and it was well worth the detour.   I wish it had been lunchtime because it was beckoning for a picnic!  We spent a few minutes walking around the homestead, trying to imagine what life was like 224 years ago.  The house where his family lived (with 9 children!) was no bigger than our living room, but seemed like such a nice place to live.  It was situated on 105 acres along the Nolichucky River, with peak fall foliage all around.

Next stop, Jonesborough, “Tennessee’s Oldest Town”, just outside of Johnson City.  I’ve never seen so many beautiful medians in the road.  Is it weird that I noticed that??  I mentioned it to a co-worker that grew up there, and apparently it’s a common observation.

And at last, the main event.  Pictures cannot even describe how beautiful it was on Roan Mountain, atop the “grassy balds”.  It is the highpoint of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.  The mountains are clad partially in dense spruce-fir forest and also the longest stretch of grassy balds in the Appalachian range.  (Grassy balds are mountains that are barren of trees and instead covered in native grasses.)  They also feature the world’s largest natural rhododendron garden.  The Cherokee and Pisgah National Forests converge atop the mountain, with the state park located near its northern base. The famous Appalachian Trail crosses most of Roan Mountain’s crest and the Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest backcountry shelter on the entire 2,174-mile trail.  (History lesson courtesy of Wikipedia.)

I wonder if the classic song “Night on Bald Mountain” originated from here?  Highly unlikely since the song and poem came from Russia, but I kept hearing the song in my head nonetheless.

It may not look like much, but we were completely worn out trying to climb the side of the mountain to reach the summit.  We had decided to take the “short” route to the top rather than the easy path that was a lot further.  We did not take into account how difficult it is to breathe at 6,400 feet in the air!

Last, but not least, I snapped a picture of this lovely Christmas tree farm that I had fallen in love with on our way up the mountain.  It reminded me of something you’d see in a movie! 

Sunny San Diego

I was in San Diego representing Ruby Tuesday at the annual CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) conference, and Bill was able to take some time off to go with me, so we stayed a few days longer and made a vacation of it.  We were able to see most of the places I wanted to see:  the Gaslamp District, Coronado, Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, and for Bill – the Padre’s at Petco Park (3 times!).  We decided not to rent a car and thus couldn’t get to LaJolla and some of the other recommended beachfront areas.

The hotel and conference center were actually quite nice.  We managed to get a high ocean-view room, which also overlooked the conference center below.  Bill’s favorite part, however, was that Petco Park was literally attached to the hotel, and he took full advantage while we were there.

Only supply chain people would be fascinated by a container ship docked behind the conference center – ha ha.  This one was particularly interesting though because it was a big yellow Dole ship!

As mentioned previously, Bill’s favorite part of the location and trip, was baseball.  He attended the first by himself while I was at the conference, but I was able to attend the next two with him.  Would you believe that he caught a foul ball?  What are the odds!?  The funny part is that the foul ball was the very first batter and the ball landed in the seat in front of Bill before he scooped it up.  A few minutes later, an elderly season ticket holder arrived, glove in hand, and had apparently been waiting for a foul ball for years.  If he’d been there a few minutes earlier, he would have caught one.

No, it's not the nosebleeds seats - it's a rooftop bar that overlooks Petco Park!

Several things fascinated me about Petco Park.  First, the food!!  Veggie burgers, avocado shrimp salads, and clam chowder in bread bowls at a ball park?  Seriously?  Neyland Stadium, listen up!!  Second, the menus at your seat, complete with a wait staff.  Third, they are extremely military-friendly, with several military-honor moments during the games, and the players wore camauflage uniforms at one of the games.  Somehow I did not expect this in California, but then again, there is a big navy presence in San Diego.

 

Our hotel was in the famous Gaslamp District, so we did a lot of touring around in this area.  It’s amazing to me that the locals are so thin because there’s delicious food on every single corner.  I think we spent half our time in San Diego eating!  Bill found an awesome burger at Nicky Rottens, I found my ice cream fix at Pinkberry (several times), plus a 5-star steakhouse called The Palm (courtesy of CH Robinson), lovely breakfast diner The Broken Yolk, and delicious gelato and nutella crepes at Chocolat.  There was also a large Ghiradelli store, which Bill used to buy me some surprise gifts after a long day of conference classes. 

Also in the Gaslamp District, we came across a very neat outdoor mall.  We thought of my little brother, Philip, when we found the giant chess board.  There was a giant checker board also.  We managed to get out of the “mall” without breaking the bank,  but I couldn’t help but snap Bill’s picture  in the BCBG store on a giant orange ottoman and the biggest chandeleir I’ve ever seen.

 

Next up, Coronado Island, via ferry.  It was a rather yucky day – a rarity in San Diego.  It was a 3-mile round-trip walk from the ferry to the historic Hotel del Coronado, the top attraction on the island, and we had to duck into stores several times to avoid the rain and thunderstorms.  We could have taken a trolley, but the walk was actually very pleasant.  The Hotel del Coronado, a National Historic Landmark, is a beachfront luxury hotel built in 1888 and one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort.  It is one of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California and when it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world and the first to use electrical lighting. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities throughout the years and has also been featured in numerous movies and books.

Cute little house in Coronado... that probably cost $3 million!

The last Coronado picture I’m posting might come as a surprise since it’s not exactly the typical scenic vacation picture, but I took it after Bill and I passed this empty lot that was for sale.  So our of curiosity, we looked at the sales flyer and were blown away that this ugly 1/5 acre is $2 million!!!  Yep, just the little plot of land, no buildings, no trees.  Just when I was starting to like California, I am reminded of why I would never live here.

On our last day, we went to the famous San Diego Zoo, which is one of the many attractions within the enormous Balboa Park.  Little did we know that we actually needed several days to see everything!  So we spent the bulk of our day at the zoo, before perusing Balboa Park’s scenic grounds.  Unfotunately no time for the many museums on this visit, but we still feel like we saw all of the highlights.  We also had lunch at a lovely little restaurant called El Prado, with a nice view of the park and preparations for an upcoming wedding.  The food was pretty good, but it was the first time we’ve ever spent $60 on lunch! 

Yes, that's a dog with the cheetah. The two breeds apparently make good companions.

The San Diego Zoo amazing and definitely lived up to the hype.  They recommend that you ride a tour bus around the park first just to get the highlights before tackling it on foot.  Our favorite parts (although note all pictured) were the panda bears, elephant getting a pedicure, the dog and cheetah companions, and the giant Galapagos turtles.  I almost posted a picture of the giant turtles mating (this had been going on slowly for several hours apparently), but decided to keep the blog G-rated.

Auburn, KY and Mammoth Cave

Wow, I’m very behind on my blogs!  So let’s catch up…

First up, our Labor Day trip to my family’s 235-acre farm in Auburn, KY, which is about 30 minutes from Bowling Green, but seemlingly 1,000 miles from nowhere.  Supposedly they are adding farm animals soon – horses, cows, pigs, and chickens.  It’s lovely, but a lot of work!

Crawford Farm in Auburn, KY

Next up, a short drive from the farm to Mammoth Cave National Park.  It is the world’s longest known cave system, with more than 390 miles explored. One of the early cave guides, Stephen Bishop, called the cave a “grand, gloomy and peculiar place,” but its vast chambers and complex labyrinths have earned its name—Mammoth.  It’s hard to beleive that people have been exploring this cave since 1816.

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Bill at Mammoth Cave, 2010

As the sign suggests, you get a bit cholotrophobic in some sections, while others are so enormous, it’s hard to beleive that you’re underground.

Bad Luck Turtle

Given the recent news, I think the Travelling Turtle will be on a hiatus from anything more than local travel for a while.

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2010/09/13/daily23.html

Travel Planning

We made it home safely from our weekend trip to Mammoth Cave and the family farm in Auburn, KY yesterday.  I’ll blog about this later in the week when I have a chance to sort through my photos.

I guess I should get busy planning some of my Fall travels.  Unfortunately, my husband has just stated a new job and will need to save his vacation time for our trip to Hawaii next June, so I’m on my own through next Spring.  My friends might join me for some of them, but I’ll proceed in planning as if they were solo trips, because as I said in my original blog post, I can’t keep waiting for everyone to have the time or money. 

We’re heading to San Diego later this month for a supply chain conference; we’ll have a few free days at the tail end of the trip to do some sight-seeing.   Then next month we’re going camping in Roan Highlands, NC.  We have yet to use all of the camping stuff we got for our wedding, so I’m excited!  Although we might need to go get new sleeping bags because it could be pretty cold.  So for November, I’m debating either Memphis or Savannah.  Both are in driving distance.  Savannah seems a little safer for a solo trip.  Or maybe somewhere historical in Virginia.  Afterall, it will be November, a time for remembering our country’s history and giving thanks. 

Ideas, anyone?