Stop 1: Fort Frederica in Georgia- Joshua practiced gun drills as part of the British Army and the rest of us learned more about gun drills than we ever wanted to know.
Stop 2: Congaree Swamp National Park in South Carolina- Notice the tree smiling behind the kids. It was quite hot and the kids were not impressed with the boardwalk. There were, however, some very well trained turtles that knew stupid tourists were the best way to get fed. (Of course, we were not the stupid tourists.) 
Stop 3: 96 National Battlefield in South Carolina- Joshua had just got hit in the eye with Dottie's ring and is therefore not too happy. The battlefield is named 96 because it was a trading post that was 96 miles from Cherokee territory.
Stop 4: Carl Sandburg National Historic Site in North Carolina- The kids enjoyed hearing the Rootabaga Stories on the way to his home. A big part of his home was the farm. His wife raised award winning goats. They were cute but they kept trying to eat Dottie's purse.
Stop 5: Cowpens National Battlefield in South Carolina- Another Revolutionary War site where to the chagrin of the kids we saw yet another cannon.
Stop 6: King's Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina- This was actually a very nice park that had a nice trail going up the mountain. In this picture, Joshua appears to be in a thoughtful mood but really he was just watching a bug.
Stop 7: Guilford County Courthouse in North Carolina- This bird was the most exciting part of this stop. There were also a couple people in period dress that Joshua asked way too many questions. I'm pretty sure the man was thrilled when we finally dragged him away.
Stop 8: Mount Airy, North Carolina AKA Mayberry- A personal highlight was seeing the town that inspired the best TV show ever. I was thrilled to be thrown in the Mayberry Jail, to eat the famous pork chop sandwich at the Snappy Lunch Cafe, and to get my haircut at Floyd's Barbershop. Joshua was simply amazed that there is a Taco Bell in Mayberry (Of course we didn't eat there because I hate Taco Bell). Hannah simply enjoyed being able to watch the Disney Channel in the hotel room (I hate cable TV too).
Stop 9: Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia- Above is the Mabry Mill. Below, is one of the many overlooks on the parkway. We weren't planning on going on the parkway but it was a wonderful 80 mile side trip that took us within an hour of Jeremy and Deandra's (sorry, we didn't stop by, Jerbo, but we were thinking about you).
Stop 10: Interstate 81- It is tradition that we break down at least once every vacation and this vacation was no different. This time the problem was the belt. We were blessed that our hotel was around the corner from a Meineke and the total bill was only $85 and only put us off schedule by about 30 minutes.
Stop 11: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Tennessee - The kids just love learning about dead presidents.
Stop 12: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia - A beautiful park. Above is a picture of Gap Creek. This was one of JoTo's favorite places as we all played in the creek or as Joshua referred to it "the place with the rocks and water." Below is the actual gap. This is the very spot where travelers, including Daniel Boone, crossed into the promise land of Kentuck. I was impressed by this but the kids were more concerned with the hill we had to climb to get here (sadly, us Floridians don't see many hills and they tire us out rather quickly).
Still in the gap, Dottie's and Joto's first hiking injuries.
The Henseley Settlement- This is also in Cumberland Gap. This is on top of the mountain where the Henseleys and the Gibbons lived from the early 1900's until around 1960. They never had electricity, running water, or a road to the settlement. This was just how they liked it because it kept unwanted visitors (specifically the law looking for moonshiners) out.
Skylight Cave - Just a little hike (ok, maybe it wasn't that little but then again that whole
Florida thing came into play) and we find ourselves at this small cave also at Cumberland Gap. Once again lots of moaning about the hike but once we reached the cave the kids thought it was pretty cool.
Stop 13: The original KFC in Kentucky (of course!) It was the most expensive meal up to this point on our trip.
Stop 14: Yahoo Falls in Big South Fork National Recreation Area, Kentucky- To quote Hannah, "This is better than Mt. Rushmore!" It was really cool. We stayed here for quite a while and would recommend it as a place to go to.
Stop 15: Blue Heron Mining Company also in Big South Fork- This is an old mining town that the park service has built these skeleton structures representing different buildings that were in the town. The picture above is of the church that would have been there. Each building has displays along with recordings from people who actually lived in the mining town talking about life growing up in these harsh conditions of Appalachian coal mining.
Last Stop: Chattanooga, TN- We did not take one picture while we were there. The kids played with their cousins and Dottie and I went out for her birthday. The entire time we were out on our date, I kept running to the bathroom to blow my nose. Apparently, I'm more allergic to cats than my wife or son. JoTo took a tumble on the treadmill (or training wheel as he called it) after his cousin continued to make it go faster and faster. JoTo says it was a hundred miles per hour. Of course, he took no blame for being on something he shouldn't have been on but there will forever be some of his skin embedded in that treadmill.
Well, it was just a little over a week, a little over 2000 miles, and the gas, well let's not talk about the price of gas these days, but it was a great little vacation. The kids can't wait to go see some more cannons and some trees. They just haven't learned to fully appreciate nature and history but I'll learn 'em.
