September 1, 2014 - HOME

– Well it was obviously time for us to go home.  After breakfast, we forgot which floor we were on!  Talk about getting old – or it could be 45 days of different hotel rooms.  We left early because I wanted to stop at a large flea market near Sevierville, TN.  We have seen it often when we went to Gatlinburg.  The problem has been they are only open Saturday and Sundays.  I felt sure they would be open Labor Day.  Boy was I wrong.  After we figured out how to get there, the fence around it was LOCKED!  WRONG AGAIN!  These folks must have lots of money not to be open on this major holiday – or they have figured that people traveling home don’t stop for flea markets!  Oh well – we were glad to see the ATHENS sign about 3:00 and it was good to see Stacey, Kevin, Brooks and Ally at our house in the pool. 

 
 

The car was a MESS and it took at least an hour to unload the car – and two days to put everything where it belongs. 

 

Good to be home – Stacey needs us to pick up Ally Tuesday and Thursday and Ally’s birthday party is Saturday.  Brooks’ first baseball game is Thursday.  How did we all get by without each other? 

August 31, 2014

This is one of the main points of the trip that we had planned from the beginning.  Greenbrier Resort is a fabulous facility.  It makes the major hotel in Nashville look like one of the small, cheap competitors.  The size is unbelievable and the offerings are unreal.  They have tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, and bike rentals.  They offer dance lessons, cooking demonstrations, paint ball, and much more.  They have rooms, suites, and cottages.

 

 

The gardens are absolutely beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interior is as breathtaking as the gardens;

 

however, this is not the reason we came here.  We came for the Bunker tour.  In 1950 President Eisenhower approached the owner of the Greenbrier about building a secret radiation fallout shelter for the entire congress.  An agreement was reached between the owner, President Eisenhower, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives.  It was decided that this facility would be “hidden in plain view.”  Since there was always construction at the Greenbrier, no one really thought about the deep hole that was being built and the major construction.  Three different major construction companies were used and they had no coordination so that none knew what the other was doing.  We were first led into a huge room which was (and is) used for trade shows, etc.  This room was also the main meeting room for the entire congress.  The ceilings were thick concrete with reinforced steel.  There are 50 ton steel doors which were concealed behind fake walls covered in the same wallpaper as the rest of the walls.  Once we went through that first steel door, we entered hallways that went to various rooms.  There was a room set up for the House of Representatives to meet which was used by companies to have meetings.  There was another room set up for the Senate also used by companies.  There were rooms with bunk beds and a large kitchen/dining area.  The doors to these rooms had previously been marked “Danger – High Voltage.”  There are water tanks that held enough water for 60 days, air tanks with 30 day supply for 500 people and MREs for 30 days for the entire congress and their families.  Prior to the expiration date of the MREs they were pulled and sent to troop areas and replaced with new MREs.  An area was built for the families as well as the officials although they would not be together.  This secret was kept for 35 years until an unhappy government employee leaked the information to a newspaper.  Once it became public, the facility no longer had a use and the government moved all of their equipment out.  Part of the area is now leased by a data storage firm and the large room is still used for trade shows.  Although the government paid for the facility, they never owned it since a deed transfer would be public information.  The Greenbrier paid the property taxes the entire 35 years that it was used by the government.  Pictures are not allowed on the tour because the data company is concerned about data theft.  If you ever have a chance to go, this is a great tour.  Leaving there we drove to Kingsport, TN for the night.

 

 

 

Should be coming home tomorrow!! 

August 30, 2014

– We knew when we got up that today would be a lot of time on the road (for us.)  We were headed to Sulphur Springs, WV, which is about 350 miles away.   We made some pictures of the flowers by the hotel to remind us what beautiful flowers can grow when the temperatures are between 75 – 82 degrees.  No such luck in Alabama. 

 

From Pennsylvania we entered Maryland and saw a sign depicting the Mason-Dixon Line. 

 
 
 
 


 
We discussed the fact that Maryland was a southern sympathizer state.  It didn’t take long to drive through the little notch of Maryland into Virginia.  At the welcome center we saw how some other people travel - glad it is not our way!
 
 

When we stopped for Starbucks we were across the highway from James Madison University.
 

That Starbucks was busier than any we have seen on the trip – mostly college kids.  We were on Interstate 81 from Pennsylvania until we turned to go onto Interstate 64 into West Virginia.

  Interstate 81 was crazy – I don’t think we have seen that much traffic or that much construction since we have been gone.  As a matter of fact we were stopped due to construction when we heard a loud BANG!  The truck behind us had been hit from behind by two other cars (a three car accident!)  Thank goodness the truck driver had on his brakes.  We were not touched.  Before we got to White Sulphur Springs, we stopped by Greenbrier Resort to find out the entrance rules for the bunker tour which we had tickets for the following day.  Arriving in White Sulphur Springs we stopped at two antique malls and James found some knives to add to his collection.  We were hungry and decided to eat at Applebee’s.  James remembered the BAMA game and asked for seats near the TV.  This worked out really well until we realized we were in West Virginia and BAMA was playing West Virginia.  We ate quickly and got to the hotel room so we could watch the game in peace.  Thank goodness BAMA won!  Good day.   I checked on the Auburn game several times but it was delayed due to lightening.  Hoped we were getting rain at home. 

August 29, 2014

This is to be a day of rest.  Doing laundry is not really resting but the rest of the day was ok.  I made reservations for the upcoming days and scheduled a nail appointment for when I got back.  We also went to an outlet mall in the afternoon to walk around.  We didn’t buy anything but I saw a quote that I really liked:  “Bless the food before us, the family beside us, and the love between us.”  I hope to paint something with that blessing.  When we came back from the mall our window drapes were open and we noticed that the hotel backed up to a cemetery.  There was NO room between the hotel and cemetery. 

I sent pictures to the girls and DeLyn immediately said she would not sleep there.  Her daddy assured her that the folks there were not going to hurt us.  We both slept like lambs! 

August 28, 2014

As we entered the Gettysburg National Park we found the museum which had a short movie and a wonderful cyclorama. 

 
 
We also had some pictures made outside the museum.

 
 

The cyclorama of the battlefield was painted in 1874 by an artist and 10 assistants.  It was wrapped on a scroll and shipped by train car.  It weighs 50 tons, 45 of which are paint.  It is wrapped around the room and is unbelievable.  It is a breathtaking canvas that measures 377 feet in circumference and is 42 feet high.  Longer than a football field and as tall as a four-story structure, it is a wonderful depiction of the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Even being from the south, it is amazing.

 

 

 

We then toured the battlefield.  It was amazing to see an original barn still standing in the middle of the battlefield.  We stopped at a few monuments that meant a lot to us.  They were in the part of the battlefield where the south won Day 1 of the battle.  We found the Virginia monument 

and the Alabama monument.

 

 

We also stopped at the Monument of Peace. 

The battlefield is huge and it hard to think about how many men died in those three days.  After we completed the battlefield, we went to the National cemetery.  The rows of monuments to the Union casualties was impressive.  We also remembered that there are no Confederate soldiers buried there since they were considered traitors.  Later, some or most, of the Confederate bodies were returned to the south.  There were between 45,000 and 55,000 causalities in this three day battle.  This is the place where it is believed that Lincoln gave the “Gettysburg Address” which both James and I remember having to memorize in school. 

Well – after that tour we headed back to the room and agreed that tomorrow would be a day of rest.  We are both tired.  I talked to Stacey and the additional test were negative and the doctor dismissed her.  PRAISE THE LORD!  I’ll sleep better tonight.

 

 

August 27, 2014

We drove into Hershey and I saw the street lights with Hershey Kiss covers.

 

 

 

That hasn’t changed since I was there several years ago – it is one of the very few things that hasn’t changed.  There is a huge Hershey Amusement park which has 12 different roller coasters!  There are others rides too and it does not appear to be wide spread – just very concise.  We went to the Hershey museum and it was fascinating.

 

 

 

 

We found out they used tubs to transport the hot chocolate mix AND they still do! 

Another thing we learned was that the founder and his wife left their entire estate ($60 million) to a trust for a school for orphaned boys.  It has since been expanded to cover any needy child regardless of race or gender.  They always have more applications than they can accept.  Preference is given to children in the three surrounding counties. After we finished the museum, we went to the Chocolate Lab where we made a candy bar – FUN!

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving there we went to the Hershey Chocolate Factory where we rode in small buckets around an animated candy factory – not like I remembered.
  

 

It was so hard to resist buying LOTS of chocolate – I was proud of myself.  Throughout the trip I have bought bracelet charms of various places we have visited.  Unable to find a charm that I liked at the gift shop, we went to a local jewelry store and found a great “Hershey Kiss” which they attached to my bracelet.  In talking with the lady, she confirmed that my memories of the Hershey plant were correct.  About 5 years ago they tore down the old plant after building a new plant outside the city.  She confirmed that years ago they did in fact have tours through the real factory, not an automated factory.  As we were leaving town we saw a “closed” gas station (in good shape) with gas pumps at $.32 a gallon.  What is bad about that is that James and I remember when it was even cheaper!

 
Drove to Gettysburg – can you believe that we have never been!   In talking to Stacey she told me she was taking the dogs to the “SPA” because of the odor!  Just so long you can have three dogs in the house!!  She also said that there was an issue with her mammogram and she had to go back tomorrow for additional test. This is a night of prayer!