Favorite Southern Places

Today, I am sharing pictures from some of my favorite Southern places.  They are presented in no particular order but I feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

Sarah P Duke Gardens, Durham NC

 

Duke Chapel, Durham, NC

 

The Beach Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

 

Charleston, West Virginia

 

Lake Watauga, Tennessee

 

Charleston, South Carolina

 

Wing Haven Gardens, Charlotte NC

 

Hart Square, Catawba County, NC

 

Christmas Tree Farms, Ashe County, NC

 

Ryman Auditorium, Nashville Tennessee

 

The Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina Tennessee Line

 

The Parthenon, Nashville Tennessee

 

The Memphis skyline view from the Mississippi River

 

Harbor at Beaufort, NC

 

Churchill Downs Louisville Kentucky

 

Shiloh Baptist Church Hamptonville NC

 

Old Salem, Winston Salem NC

 

Bell Tower On NC State Campus, Raleigh NC

 

Downtown Village of Pinehurst NC

 

Park In Downtown Old Fort, NC

 

Black Mountain, NC

 

The Pisgah Covered Bridge, Asheboro NC

 

Looking Glass Falls – Transylvania County, NC

 

The Pirate House Restaurant, Savannah Georgia

 

Seagrove, North Carolina

 

Mabry Mill, Virginia

 

Biltmore House, Asheville NC

 

Chattanooga Tennessee

 

Close up Stone Mountain, GA

 

Daniel Stowe Gardens, Belmont NC

 

I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed sharing these pictures with you.  We have enjoyed our day trips and other adventures and I can honestly say that when I return to North Carolina I know my heart is at home.

Thanks for stopping by.

Watauga Lake

Mr. D and I like to go on road trips.  As we both had a holiday for July 4th, we wanted to go somewhere nearby and to a place that wouldn’t be very crowded.  As he travels around all over the western part of North Carolina delivering tires, he knows of places I have never heard of.  He kept telling me about Watauga Lake.  Boone, NC is about 45 minutes to an hour away from our home here in Conover.  I have been there many times and it is located in Watauga County so it amazed me that I had never heard of  Watauga Lake.  We decided we would make a visit to Watauga Lake our July road trip.

The lake is located west of Boone and I was really amazed at how beautiful and peaceful it is.  There were boaters around but at the same time there was a lot of peace and quiet.  There are very few restaurants and I only saw one hotel.

 

The Information below is from the Tennessee Trip Advisor and gives more detailed information about the lake.

Watauga Lake, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest in northeastern Tennessee, enjoys the most stunningly beautiful lake and mountain views in the ‘Volunteer State’. Started in 1942 and finally dammed on the last day of 1948, Watauga Lake is the TVA’s highest-elevated reservoir in Tennessee. Surrounded by densely forested mountains in the “high country”, Watauga Lake sits 1,959 feet above sea level at “full pool” (full summertime elevation). At Watauga Lake, it’s usually a few degrees cooler than similar locations closer to sea level.

Watauga’s surface covers 10.05 square miles of two mostly-rural Tennessee counties: Johnson County and Carter County. Watauga Lake is accessible only by winding mountain roads. The Appalachian Trail crosses the southwestern tip of Watauga Lake. The lake is located south of Mountain City (Tennessee), west of Boone (North Carolina), east of Elizabethton (Tennessee), southeast of Bristol (Tennessee), southwest of Damascus (Virginia), and northeast of Johnson City (Tennessee).

We started our trip in Boone and had to stop at Stick Boys Bakery.  Then we proceeded on to Tennessee and saw the lake from many different angels. We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant overlooking the lake and the food was very good.  We returned how through Banner Elk and past GrandfatherMountain.

We stopped and took pictures of the mountain laurel that are so pretty so I am sharing one of those pictures with you here.

As you can see, we had a very enjoyable road trip.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

Nashville Tennessee – The Country Music Capital

Today I am sharing more pictures of our visit to Nashville, Tennessee.  The picture below is of the skyline of downtown Nashville as we were arriving downtown.
The picture below is of  a honky tonk downtown.

I think the building below is the AT&T building and I had to take a picture of it.  It reminds me of the pointy haired boss in the Dilbert Cartoon.

This is the Ryman Theatre home of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

The picture below is a street scene picture of the downtown music district.

We ate at Ted’s Montana Grill and I had a traditional beef hamburger but Mr. D had a buffalo burger.  We enjoyed our meal and the service was excellent.

After leaving Nashville and heading for home, I started looking for the Tennessee mountains.  Every time we take this route, I am anxious to see the mountains because I know I am close to home.  The Blue Ridge Mountains are closer to my home here in Catawba County but I visited the Great Smoky Mountains many time as I was growing up.  The pictures below are of the Great Smokies as we were returning home. I know they aren’t the best quality but remember I took them out of the front windshield of our car as we were speeding toward home.

 

I truly enjoyed our visit to Tennessee this Summer and I am glad I was able to share some of my favorite pictures with you.  Thanks for stopping by.

Beale Street, Blues and Barbecue

As we were planning our trip to Memphis, I knew I would have to experience Memphis barbecue.  I did not realize how prevalent it would be.  We stayed near downtown Memphis and there was a TOPS barbecue almost within walking distance of our hotel.  We arrived on Saturday and had a late lunch on Beale Street at the Rum Boogie Cafe.  Here is a picture of my barbecue sandwich. The barbecue is delicious and the sauce is tomato based but has a different taste from the tomato based North Carolina barbecue sauce. Could it be bourbon based, I actually think so.  It also seemed as if my barbecue had a smokier flavor than I am accustomed to in North Carolina.

Memphis Barbecue

On Sunday we took a tour with Blues City Tours and I would recommend them if you visit Memphis. We started the day visiting downtown Memphis including St. Jude’s, Sun Records, the Welcome Center, the Peabody Ducks and the Victorian homes of downtown.  We had lunch at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street.  We were entertained by a blues band as we ate some awesome barbecue.  We finished the day with a three hour tour of Graceland.

View of Rum Boogie Cafe on corner at Beale Street

B.B. Kings Blue Club – Beale Street – Memphis

The view below of Beale Street includes A. Schwab, a dry goods store established in 1876.  We enjoyed shopping in the store.

Street View – Beale Street

Jerry Lee Lewis Cafe on Beale Street

Statue of B.B. King at the Welcome Center in downtown Memphis

I have to admit my heart would do a little flip when the tour guide would say that Memphis barbecue is the best in the world.  I have eaten barbecue in North Carolina, Texas and Memphis.  Honestly, I can say that I loved all of it.  Even though it is prepared differently, I think there are enough barbecue lovers in this country to enjoy every method used to prepare it.

It was a dream come true to go to Memphis and to be lucky enough to eat barbecue not once but twice on Beale Street.  I can honestly say that I also have a new appreciation for the Blues.  It was wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by.

Our Visit To Memphis Tennessee

Mr. D and I just returned from Memphis, Tennessee.  It has been a dream of mine for a very long time to visit Memphis and especially Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.  Today I am sharing pictures of downtown Memphis and the Mississippi River.

Me and Elvis at the Welcome Center

Plaque at Sun Record Studio

Sun Studio is very small but you can still make a recording in their studio

Alligator gumbo at the Rum Boogie Cafe

View from our table at the Rum Boogie Cafe – Beale Street

Mr. D at Rum Boogie Cafe

Crossing the Mississippi River from Memphis

View of the Mississippi River

View of Memphis Skyline as you cross the Mississippi from Arkansas to Memphis

Memphis Skyline viewed from Mississippi River

Sun Studio – Sam Phillips Blvd, Memphis

Statue of Danny Thomas at St. Jude’s

St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital

We had a wonderful time and I will share more about Graceland and Memphis next week.  I will say that Memphis has become one of my favorite Southern Cities.  Wonderful people, wonderful places, wonderful times.

Thanks for stopping by.