DESTIN, FLORIDA

Destin, Florida

We have parked ourselves in a spacious two bedroom condo overlooking the white sandy beach of Destin, Florida. We will be here for four days just relaxing and enjoying he 54degree November weather! (At least we don't waste suntan lotion or sunscreen!)

We ate lunch at the Whalestail Restaurant as soon as we parked. It was sunny and the red flag was flying. That meant to be cautious at the water because there are no lifeguards on duty (as if they expected us to go swimming).

Our Condo is in the Wyndham; it's beautiful. We went to Walmart and bought groceries. Debby is cooking a roast in her new mini crock pot! Yum!

The beach has awesome sand! It's as white as snow, making sunglasses a must! We watched the sun set. I was at the water's edge watching he surf and noticed a woman tossing bread crumbs into the air, feeding the Gulls; then abruptly step back with each toss. As she finished and walked towards me, I said, "I see that you are wise enough to NOT toss the food above your head, as I witnessed a man doing that one time"! She just looked at me and in a French accent said, "I do not understand." I said, "Uh oh, sorry", as she walked away. Ha Ha! The French....you gotta love 'em!

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

ATLANTA, GA

We have enjoyed visiting in the Atlanta area. We spent a week with Debby's cousin Kim. It was a very relaxing time of rest. We also spent our final Atlanta night with her cousin, Shelley. We enjoyed being in her home very much.

I was also blessed to have had brief visits with two people I had not seen in many years. My high school chum, Eddie, lives in Big Canoe, GA. We were able to spend some time with him over lunch at the Black Bear Pub on the Golf Course. He took the pictures of our wedding about 41 years ago!

My cousin, Janet, lives in Atlanta and has her own business. I drove to her work on Friday and let her buy lunch! I had not seen her since we were kids. She still has the same eyes.

We went to church at North Atlanta Church of Christ this morning and sat with Mark Doberenz, our friend and co-worker in the Faith from Oregon. We got to have lunch together and visit a while before we dropped him off at his hotel. He is attending a job related training session.

Afterwards, we headed south and ended up in Macon, GA tonight. Tomorrow we will continue south towards Florida, where we plan to have some more down time in a condo on the beach, Lord willing and the hurricanes don't rise!

STONE MOUNTAIN

Stone Mountain, Georgia
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012

Today we visited Stone Mountain, a large granite monolith standing 825 feet above the park's floor. This one piece solid rock is more than 5 miles in circumference at over 1685' elevation. On its north face is a carving of three Confederate Leaders of the Civil War; Jefferson Davis, Confederate President, General Robert E Lee and General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

We took a cable car ride to the top of the mountain, not only to see what it looked like but also to get a closer look at the Confederate statues! It was still hard to get a visual perspective of the sheer size do the carving but we were told that a person could actually stand inside Lee's ear or nostril! Apparently the carved area surface measures 3 Acres! It is recessed 42 feet and stands 90' high and 190' in length! It was hard to get a handle on that because one would need to get much closer to it.

The view at the top was good but the surrounding area was cloudy and hazy. We could barely see the City of Atlanta skyscrapers! But it was fun up there! That was the largest rock I've ever stood upon!

One very "cool" thing was the park management has brought in a snow making machine to create a huge snow pile; also, to create sled runs for the kids!

COWPENS Photographs

Cowpens Battlefield Monument

The Scruggs home was built about 50 years after the Battle at Cowpens, but would be very similar to the homes of this era.  The only thing missing would probably be the tree stumps around the log house.

This house was add on to as the Scruggs family grew....he had 11 kids!

This battle was between Daniel Morgan's Army of Regulars and Militia Volunteers (among the NC volunteers was my GGGGGrandfather, Aaron Thomas) and the British commander Lieutanant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a bloodthirsty man feared by both sides!

The battlefield today.

If this tree could talk.....

The old wagon road through here still exists much like it did in January, 1781.

Morgan was not only well liked by his men, but he was a brilliant strategist.  His strategy was instrumental in conquering his opponents in less than one hour of battle.  Unfortunately, Tarleton managed to escape, but lost all of his men to the Patriots.

Tarleton and his soldiers came from the far side of the clearing toward Morgan's Sharp Shooters who had been "discovered" by Tarleton's Scouts.

"Make every shot count, men!"  "Target the Officers first!"

Cornwallace beginning in Charleston and ending in Yorktown.

After firing two volleys each, the Sharp Shooters turned and ran behind the second line of defense, reloading their squirrel guns along the way.

Standing where they stood but not seeing what they saw.  

Tarleton's two 3-pound Cannons were captured by the American Patriots, along with all of the weapons carried by the Officers, Soldiers, Dragoons.  Also, the Highlander's Bagpipes, horses and Ammo.  

Daniel Morgan was a smart man and an excellent leader.

The notorious butcher, Banastre Tarleton lost with 110 soldiers killed, 200 wounded and 712 captured and held as Prisoners of War. My Grandfather was among those commissioned to guard the prisoners.

Visiting any battlefield, to me, is an honor.  As a Patriot and a descendant of Patriots, I hold these men up as our heroes.  Every Fourth of July, I cannot help but remember those who gave their lives to fight for the freedom they so much desired.   

COWPENS BATTLEFIELD

COWPENS National Battlefield
Saturday, November 3, 2012

One of the highlights to me was our visit to the Cowpens National Battlefield in Gaffney, South Carolina. To see the video that told the story of the battle that took place between the British Redcoats and the Patriots of America set the stage for our two mile walk and drive around the battlefield countryside.

I could only imagine my G-G-G-G-Grandfather's involvement in this battle as a Minuteman in the Militia. What history I do have of his involvement tells of a part of his assignment, following the Patriot's victory at Cowpens, was to help guard the 600 plus British prisoners who surrendered. It's interesting to note that he, himself, was a prisoner of war taken in the battle at Camden; later escaping, of course, and now to become a GUARD of British POW's! Life has a way of righting things that need to be righted.

I highly recommend going to this Battlefield Monument if you should ever find your way to go. The battle against Morgan's army at Cowpens was a turning point in American Revolutionary history, not because of a great number of British losses, necessarily, but because it was a rallying cry for the Patriots. With a brilliant strategy and some luck this battle lasted .....
less than one hour!

The Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway

We eased onto the Parkway this morning and found ourselves traveling a near deserted stretch of road that would have been awesome viewing two or three weeks ago. It was still a very pleasant drive with beautiful scenery and eye-popping vistas of the Smokey Mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The Parkway is a well kept two lane highway with a top speed of 45 mph. It pretty much follows the ridge line, or the "Hog Back" as I often refer to ridge trails in the mountains. The road has many turn outs, or viewpoints to pull off to the side and do photo shoots. There are camping areas and picnic areas and a few historical places to visit.

There was snow along the road from a snowfall they had last week. Two sections of the road were closed to traffic due to strong winds and downed trees. We attempted to drive to the top of Mount Mitchell but it was closed at the Visitors Center. The temperature at that point was 35 degrees so it was probably closed because of ice in the road.

We drove off the mountain and off of the Parkway and made our way to The Cowpens Monument, just inside the border of South Carolina, about 9 miles from the town of Cowpens. We are staying in Gaffney, SC tonight and will attack the Cowpens in the morning.