Wedding Day

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to post these at the end of the blog. You might want to scroll down and read the information first!

Daniel, John & Pleasant Chitwood served as privates in the 23rd Georgia. Pleasant (right) died of disease in Oct. 1862. Daniel & John were captured at Chancellorsville, exchanged and fought for the remainer of the war.

Melanie & Mom, Dee

Melanie & WT Settles

Saturday was also a beautiful day, barely a cloud in the sky. Don and I took a fairly quick tour thru the Chancellorsville Battlfield NP on our way to the wedding. I say fairly quick, because I was not dressed for trudging up paths, etc. Since there would be no place for me to change clothes in Culpeper, I wore my dress from Fredericksburg.
At Chancellorsville, we took a pic of the Catherine Furnace. This was used to refine iron beginning in 1937, but closed in 1947. Confederates reopened in during the war because of the need for iron. General Custer (see, he did something besides Little Big Horn), destroyed the furnace in 1864. It was rebuilt and continued to produce iron for the Confederacy til the end of the war. I plan to enclose a photo of the Chitwood brothers and you can read their story. It was an interesting diversion.
We met up with Apryl & Jeremy in Culpeper and did a quick shop thru the Goodwill Store. Then we drove out into the country to the church building. The wedding party was in the auxilary building getting ready, but there were so many people already there, we just went on to the church building. The building was built in the 1700's and has been beautifully restored and is once again in regular use. There are no pews. There are several "boxes" along the walls with benches on 3 sides and a door to enter from the aisle. Each one will seat about 12 people confortably (more if you don't mind rubbing elbows). It is nice for families when there is a long service as they can let the younger children play (quietly) or color or whatever. The wedding party came down from the auxilary building and waited outside as each one was escorted down the aisle. The grooms great grandmother was there, what a treat for them. Melanie was so nervous, but was smiling ear to ear. Her stepfather, Gene walked her down the aisle and "gave her away", then her father, Leslie, stepped up and also "gave her away." Everything went off with barely a hitch. The groom shed a tear or two, but sp0ke up strong and firm. Melanie cried and had a hard time talking, but she finally came out also strong and firm.
After the ceremony was over, we headed to the reception at Amissville, VA fire hall. It is a nice little place. The bingo board was on the wall, but luckily we didn't have to play bingo! The caterers had nice table settings and a lovely cake table. The meal was catered by a high school class in restaurant service taught by a chef. The food was excellent. We enjoyed the conversation at the table and everyone had a good time. After the bride danced with her groom and her fathers, we left quietly. Not that we needed to be quiet with the dj blasting the music out! Wow, the bass set your teeth rattling. Guess we are just old after all. Nah, that can't be right, we just have sensitive ears, right?

Love to everyone and thanks for reading.

Pat

Photos from DC

Korean War Platoon

Vietnam Wall

More from me

I have had complaint (anyone want to make that plural?) that I have neglected my blog! That person is right.
So, we interrupt the "Loop Trip" for the "Wedding Trip".
We left on Thursday, May 19, for Culpeper, VA to see our niece, Melanie Chandler, marry W.T. Settles. We abandoned the dogs at the kennels for their "vacation", and went to get Don's mom. We were so glad that she felt like going with us. Since she got treatment for her sinus infection, she is doing so much better and her balance is also better. We planned to drive to the 1st Cracker Barrel for breakfast. However, some big trucker needed that lane and we could not get over, so we waited til the next C.B. We were not starving, but were plenty hungry by that time. From there, we went to Blacksburg (with rest area stops in between) to pick up our step-nephew, Josh Stuckner. Josh is Don's brother's wife's son. (got that?) He met us as the C.B. there. And no, he was not on campus during the time of the shootings and everyone was glad to hear it. Once we got that out of the way, we let him sleep.
After dropping Mrs. Chandler and Josh with Les (her son) and Julie, we continued to dinner. We met Gene and Dee (mother of the bride) at Ruby Tuesday for dinner. Thoroughly enjoyed our time with them - we had a couple of hours. Gene had to work on Friday and he said that 4am comes early - personally, I do noy need to get direct confirmation of that - I will take his word. Also, we still had to drive the 35 mi. to Fredericksburg and our hotel.
Friday, Don and I drove to Springfield, VA, and caught the Metrorail into DC - Smithsonian stop. Thanks, Dee and Gene for directing us to Springfield. We arrived on the National Mall and started taking pics. The 1st thing Don had to get was the Capitol. We strolled on over to the Washington Monument, where it was a good thing we didn't want to enter since all the tickets for the day were gone. You guessed it - school groups! Just behind the Wash. mon. and across the street is the WWII Memorial. So Impressive! Took a ton of photos there, just trying to get as much in as we could. You almost need a wide lens to get the whole thing in one shot. We did get the standards for Guam and Tennessee in separate pics.
We strolled next to the reflecting pool toward the Lincoln Memorial. Off to our left was the Korean War Memorial. It is really impressive also. There are statues of a platoon, fully equiped, and going across a field. It is hard to describe, but I call them "ghost soldiers" because they are all grey. Hope to add some photos of that one. The wall along one side is laser-etched with battle scenes, you have to get close to see them and pics do not really turn out.
As we headed for the Vietnam Memorial, one of us admitted to being hungry, so we stopped for a sandwich. Sure tasted good.
The Vietnam wall is just like the pictures. There is a book there that gives all the names and positions on the wall so that people can find the name they are looking for. We saw more than one person making a rubbing/tracing of names.
As we went back by the WWII Memorial, we stopped at the kiosk where they have the Book of Remembrance. It was a thrill to see Daddy's name come up. I can see it on the computer at home, but there was something different about seeing it there.
About 3pm we caught the Metrorail back to Springfield. We left early so that we would miss the rush hour - and we did! We picked up the car and headed for I-95. Well, we missed the turn for the HOV lanes. Big mistake. Lots of people must have left early on Friday afternoon - imagine that. We had a really good look at most of the scenery along I-95 as we inched along. It was exciting to make it to 40 mph. Actually it only took us 1-1/2 hr. for a trip that took us 50 min. that morning.
This is long enough. More later.
Love to all, Pat

Satan roams looking for those he can devour

The shootings at VA Tech are unbelievably tragic. How can you not believe that satan is real after such as this? This was definitely satan's work. The shooter was overtaken completely by satan's lies.
Deepest sympathy and caring go out to the family and friends of the students killed and wounded. May they find strength in Christ who will comfort and encourage them. While we shed tears for the loss, we rejoice for those who were among the saved, they have gone home now. It is a relief that students who are a part of VT CSC are all unharmed physically. They are meeting in prayer tonight. Prayer of thanksgiving and glory and prayer of petition for those so closely affected by this tragedy. I am thankful that Josh Stuckner, Leslie's wife's son is all right. When we see him on Thursday, we will probably find out more of how close he was to the "action" - provided he is ready to talk about it. I do not plan to ask him questions, but will listen if he wants to talk.
In other news, the trial of Mary Carol Winkler had concluded it's fourth day and the prosecution has rested. Diane Winkler, Matthew's mother, was on the stand and answered the questions with little emotion. She had tight control on herself. She related that she and her husband have not tried to influence the girls at all, but have listened if they wanted to talk. The girls are seeing a Christian counselor in Nashville. Diane also stated that the after the last visit the girls had with Mary they were excited and happy and looking forward to seeing her again. However, that has not happened. Diane stated that the girls changed their minds and did not want to see Mary. No reason for the change was given.
When 9-yr-old Patricia Winkler went to the stand, she was almost immediately in tears. This is the first time she and her mother have seen each other since Sep. 2006. There were no cameras allowed in the courtroom during the 19 minutes she was on the stand. Reports are that she gained control and was able to answer questions. Patricia then broke down again when she was cross-examined. At this point the Judge called a halt to the testimony to spare the child more trama. One reporter said there was not a dry eye in the house - including jurors.
In listening to the Q&A call in show during the lunch breack, most of the callers were sympathetic to Mary Winkler. It is amazing to me how this incident and trial have brought such caring from the public.
Missy, who does my hair, knew Mary from Kindergarten up thru HS. She cannot imagine Mary doing this. Their 3 & 5 grade teachers are also amazed. She is described as very caring and responsible and would never harm anyone.
Ok, enough of the sad stuff.
It was wonderful to talk to Lilly last night and hear how well Mary is doing after her liver transplant. She is progressing faster than anticipated. There are a number of arrangements to be made for her care when she leaves the hospital. But she should be there about 3 more weeks, giving everyone time to adjust to the changes that will be needed for her care.
We are excited about going to Culpeper this weekend for Melanie's wedding. So looking forward to seeing everyone up there. And happy that Mrs. Chandler feels like making the trip.
It has been a day of emotional chaos, but God will see us all thru if we will only trust in Him and follow His will.
God Bless, Pat

Turtle Rock

Blue Marble Courthouse

Upper Whitewater Falls

Lower Whitewater Falls

Dry Falls, look closely on your left and you will see Don.

Glassy-eyed yet?

I am having such fun writing about the trip, I hope you are enjoying the blog. So, here we go. We looked over Murphy the next morning. It is the county seat for Cherokee Co. and has the only courthouse made of native stone in the state. It is unpolished blue marble and is beautiful. They must do a lot of upkeep to keep it so beautiful over the years. Included (hopefully) on the picture page is a photo of a large stone. If you realize what you are looking at you can tell it is a turtle carved from the rock. Left Murphy headed for Hayesville, Franklin, Highlands, and Cashiers, NC. Again the roads are windy and scenic. Several places Don has me hanging out the window getting photos of the river next to the road. Nice thing about a digital camera? I didn't hang out the window, just stuck the camera out and pushed the button. Actually got some good photos; but, boy, did we delete a bunch! NC claims the highest waterfall in the East - Whitewater Falls. Now they didn't say the East of what; because Fall Creek Falls TN is supposed to be the highest. When we got there we found out the difference. Fall Creek Falls has the highest single drop while Whitewater falls is more of a cascading fall. it really is beautiful. Of course I was punished again - there are 154 steps leading down to the platform overlook! Luckily there are not too many in one set. Since the stairs must wind to follow the landscape, there are several landings for resting. Therefore I don't think they added very many stairs by the time we started up them. :) On to Dry Falls. Why would we go to a dry fall? Good question. Guess we are just curious. Actually, there is water coming over the fall. It is called Dry Falls because you can walk behind the falls and not get (very) wet. Good news, a minimum of steps, mostly a sloping path. They actually had the gate to the path behind the falls closed, but we are resourceful. We could squeeze between the gatepost and the rock. (Does that prove we aren't really weight-challenged?) It was really slick so I guess that is why the gate was closed. I did not slip once to everyone's amazement, I am sure. This sounds like kind of a short day, but we did spend a lot of time just driving thru the mountains and enjoying the scenery and the quiet. Love and God Bless, Pat

Fort Mt. Tower

Ducktown Collapsed Mine

Interior of Chief Vann House

Chief Vann House

Maury Co. Courthouse

Another day on the road

Thursday we left Atlanta in beautiful weather headed Northward to Chatsworth, GA. As many of you know, traveling the back roads means great scenery and quaint small towns. Ok, the one big junkyard wasn't so beautiful (unless you are wierd).
Chatsworth has a nice courthouse square. The courthouse is red brick with white columns. The lawn was like carpet and so green. Of course we toured a little of the town trying to find it and then wondered how we missed it. The front of the courthouse looks out on a beautiful mountain scene. Luckily, I got a pretty nice picture and even captured the large "Drunk Driving School" banner across the road!
We decided we needed to found out what Fort Mountain State Park was all about. Guess what. Nobody knows! Along the ridge of the mountain there are long row of stones stacked sorta like it would be a fortification. The Cherokee have more than 1 legend to explain it, dating back to the year 1120. Anyway, in the 1930's the CCC built a hiking trail (actually more than 1) to a tower that they also built. We went about half way up so that we were at the wall. A couple we met there let us know that you can no longer go all the way up into the tower and that there was a snake "guarding" the entrance. You have already guessed that I went no further, Don went alone. I know it was only a little black snake, harmless; but, well, snakes are snakes Anyway Fort Mountain is a nice park and the road up there has some lovely overviews.
Later we saw a sign for the Vann House Historical Site. By following the signs we found it. We went thru the museum and then saw a video telling the history (good thing, cause even after the museum I still only knew that an Indian built it). Chief Joseph Vann of the Cherokee was a powerful man. Not only was he a leader of the Cherokee, but was influental in Washington DC. He became very wealthy and built a mansion to show his wealth. By hiring a renown architect of the time and masons from the nearby Moravian community, he built a large home in the style of the times. Chief Vann eventually sucumbed to the lure of whisky and gambling and was
later murdered. His son Chief James Vann followed in his father's footsteps as being very influentual. However, he was not powerful enough to keep from being removed from his home and sent to Oklahoma. He actually was run out shortly before the Trail of Tears, settled in OK and built a home there. That home was burned during the War Between the States.
Back to GA now. We were taken on a tour of the house. Being the only ones there it was basically a private tour. The nice young man was knowlegable and gracious. He told us to take as much time as we liked looking over the house. The furniture there is period furniture, definitely antique; but there is no original furniture since it was taken to OK and destroyed when the house there was burned. This house was repainted into the original colors when it was restored. They are bright colors of yellow and blue and rust and green. The house actually has 4 columns, but is painted so that from a distance it looks like there are 6. Evidently the number of columns announced how wealthy you were. As a final note, President Monroe was a visitor there.. Can only begin to tell you the things we learned, it was fascinating.
Then we traveled on to (drum roll, please) Ducktown, TN. Bet most of you didn't know such a place existed. We headed up to the Ducktown Museum, which wasn't easy since it basically a dirt road. We got there about 20 til 4 and they closed at 4. We went in anyway. The people were so very nice. Good old small town folks. The man says 4 may be when they close, but they stay as long as some one is there. He was really nice and a wealth of information. Ducktown was a mining area. It was what is know as "Hard Rock Mining" meaning it is not as dangerous as coal mining where the coal is soft. They mined a number of different things including talc. Until mid-20th century it was a waste land. The chemicals used and released in the mining had de-nuded the landscape. I mean it is hard to describe the pictures they had of the land at that time. Absolutely nothing growing - nil - nada- zip - zero. Do you get the idea? When the gov'ment came in and started reforestation, people were almost sad to lose their unique landscape as many of them had never known anything different. Next to the museum is a collapsed mine than now holds rainwater. We noticed a yellow substance swirling on top of the water and wondered what it could be. Duh! it hit us both at once, of course it was pollen. You'd think with the amount of pollen we had already seen - on and in our car - it would not even had been a question.
We left there about 5 and went to our hotel in Murphy, NC having had a full day.
God bless, Pat

Pictures

Mary @ Zoo

Michelle & Michael

Mary, Michelle & Sheila @ Stone Mt.

Day 2

Ok, my memory is not what it used to be. The trip to Stone Mt. actually occurred on Wed. afternoon. So, a little out of sequence, here is more.
After the zoo, we went to underground Atlanta. It is a big whoopee, don't bother. We had lunch at the food court and the food was actually good. Therefore I guess I can't say it was a total bust, can I?
Mary had chosen our next destination as the World of Coca Cola. Pretty fascinating place explaining the history of Coca Cola and their bottles. They even have a little soda fountain set up and a person behind the counter with the explanation of how Coke began at the soda fountain and the phrase "Soda Jerk". At the end they have a room with all the coke flavors and you can drink all you want. They have some unusual flavors. I guess they are not unusual in the countries where they are actually sold, but there were some that I would not even Think of drinking. Guess I am just not adventurous. But I wasn't the only one! Then comes the biggest part of the whole place - The Gift Shop! They had some neat looking stuff, but I think they really wanted to keep it there. With those prices, they must not have to restock very often. Guess I am just tightfisted.
The evening went as I wrote last night. (It is posted on this blog).
Wednesday morning, we went to their hotel and got more hugs to start our morning. What great kids - all 4 of them.
Today's adventure was the High Art Museum which is hosting an exhibit from the Louve. Absolutely fascinating. Such beautiful things. All those King Louis' really could collect. Then there was the regular collections. Lots of USA history. Furniture and other things from the colonial days forward. Also a small space showing some of the PA Dutch influence. And lots and lots of paintings.
We were lucky enough to have more school field trips. These were older children of course, and most were from private schools. Mostly they were well behaved. And trust me, they were not noisy - all the chaperones had to do was look at them and quiet reigned! The High Art Museum building is art also. A large spacious area and really pretty.
As I said we went from there to Stone Mt.
That evening we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which seems to be one of Sheila's favorite places. It was hard saying good-bye that evening. They were leaving very early the next morning to head home and we would not see them again this vacation. It was really, really hard. The hugs were long and tight. As much as I wanted to I did not cry. We plan, God willing, to be in FL in May to see them.
Thursday, we started our loop trip of the Southern Highroads Trail. It winds thru the Chattahoochee and Nantahala National Forests. I'll start on that next time.
Love to all, Pat

You Asked For It

Ok, so only one person asked about our trip to Atlanta, but you all get to suffer.
We left Knoxville on Monday, March 26 (Apryl's birthday) headed for Atlanta. We left only 1 hour late, therefore the 1st thing we did was stop and eat breakfast. We travel better on full bellies.
We drove 1st to Kennesaw National Battlefield Park. From the top of Kennesaw Mt. you can see the Atlanta skyline 20 miles away. I am sure during the War Between the States they had a good view of Atlanta. We were able to barely make out the skyline behind the smog. It was a beautiful day and we could indeed see a lot of the valley. We walked back to the Illinois monument which was erected on the 50th anniversary of the battle - June 22, 1914. I thought it ironic this monument comemorating the bloodiest was in American History was dedicated even at the 1st ever World War was beginning. As always with history, it was fascinating.
We then drove thru Marietta to our hotel and just took life easy for the evening. Sheila called about dark to say they had arrived at their hotel.
Tuesday morning we went right over to their hotel. It was wonderful to see Michelle and Mary leaving their room for breakfast. The hugs were great. It had been way too long. Caught up with Sheila and Michael in the breakfast lobby. Their hugs were great too.
We all piled in the Suburban and headed for ZooAtlanta. It was a good thing we had the computer with Maps and Streets because it wasn't that easy to find. But find it we did and even parked close to the entrance. We got our tickets to see the Pandas for 11:00 so we had time to walk around the zoo first. ZooAtlanta is very compact, you don't walk far to anything. It was such a beautiful day that the animals were active. One of the elephants was stretching its neck and trunk as far as they would go trying to reach a leafy tree. The crowds were not distracting it at all. Oh yes, the crowds. At least half the 1st and 2nd graders of Atlanta were on a field trip to the zoo that day. They had plenty of chaperones and were pretty good most of the time. Speaking of children, the monkeys were having a good time playing in their cages. A couple of them were reaching thru the netting trying to get the green leaves from the trees. Sounds like a trend doesn't it? One of the monkeys only had 3 legs, but it did not slow him down at all! The gorillas were great. The males were sitting around looking important and the females were busy with the children. One momma had twins and they kept her pretty busy. One of them really wanted to roam so she was forever reaching out and grabbing a leg to pull him back. He would almost make it out of reach and there would be her hand. Another one's baby was a "clinger". He would be playing around, but if she moved he had hold of her leg in the blink of an eye, and then he would crawl up on her back. Once he stood up and beat his chest. Of course, nobody had the camera up for a photo. Bummer.
Then it was in to see the pandas. We did not wait in line very long and got into the compound pretty close to our ticketed time. They give a very nice tour with lots of information. The pandas were all asleep. The daddy did wake up and look out at us from his cozy nook. The mommy yawned real big (they do have big mouths) and turned her head away so all we could see was her back. The baby though, never moved a muscle. Yep, she was asleep on a limb with her back to us. So we can say we saw her, but just her curled up back. We were all happy we got to go though. As we were leaving the park, the elephants were being fed. They were inside the building and at one time they were all lined up with their faces stuck as far thru the bars as they would go. It was so cute.
From there we went to Stone Mountain. No school field trips there! Don, Sheila, Michelle, and Mary rode the gondola up to the top. Sheila and Mary then walked down; but Don and Michelle stuck with the gondola ride. We walked around the park while waiting for Sheila and Mary. The grounds are lovely. Then we headed back to the hotels. Don and I rested for a while, but I understand that Sheila and the girls went shopping.
About 5:45 we all met Chip and Abby (my brother and his daughter) for dinner. It was great catching up and seeing how Abby has grown. She showed us the dance she does to "I enjoy being a girl". Chip sang for her. He carries a tune a bit better than me. Then Abby wanted Michelle to dance. We explained that she could not dance in a small space; so distracted Abby by telling her about Mary's riding. Abby wanted to know if Mary had ever fallen off her horse. Mary just laughed and said she had plenty of times.
We missed Lisa being there too, maybe next time.
Well, this e-mail is long enough. If you made it this far, thanks. I'll be back with more soon.