Paddlin’ on the New
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Posted on by October 12, 2011
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Quiet trip down the river.

Todd wouldn’t be Todd without the South fork of the New River.  It kisses the edge of town at its junction with Elk Creek before heading East to Fleetwood and beyond.

On Friday, Mary & I picked up our newly acquired kayaks from the River Girl Fishing Company and headed upriver about 3 miles for our inaugural voyage.  No fishing tackle this trip just a laid back trip on a very low river.  The normally 2 hour trip took almost 3 due to slow current and multiple “Walking” places without enough water to move a kayak along.  Funny how it floated fine when either of us got out – must be a cosmic thing.

 

Mary enjoying the trip.

Floating slowly downstream reminded us how important it is to just slow down and enjoy the journey.  All too often we get caught in the rush to get to a destination rather than taking time to enjoy the sites along the way.  We saw a heron, numerous other birds and lots of fish.  We were bombed by falling buckeyes and pushed along by gentle breezes.  It was easy to believe, if only for a few hours, that we were travelling far from civilization in a long ago time.

Todd Vacation Reunion 2010
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Posted on by October 23, 2011
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Tree at Walter & Annie Cook Memorial Park

 Late September is our time of year to travel to Todd, North Carolina for Mary’s family homecoming the first Saturday in October and for some relief from the oppressive heat of the valley.

Heron on the river

Her family has been holding the reunion on the same weekend since 1974 and every year 50 to over 100 family members show up around noon for food and fellowship.  We learn of all the births, deaths, marriages and other everyday things that make up our lives.  There is rarely and “Big” news, just the regular stuff that seems to get lost in the shuffle of the daily grind.  A new car, a move to a new place, painting the house and taking a vacation are the most common topics around the homeplace that same Saturday in October.  The older folks show up to remember and the children to learn about what and who were here before they were born. 

It is about a family sharing common ancestors and common experiences in a beautiful place that moves a bit slower than the rest of the world.

Davidson River and a surprise September 2010
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Posted on by October 2, 2018
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Jim fishing the Davidson

 In mid September, Jim Hatchell called me to say he had a weekend seminar to attend in Brevard, NC and if I wanted, he could come a couple of days early and we could harass some fish on the Davidson River.  Well, always ready to harass finny creatures, I agreed to meet mid-week before his classes and see what we could find.

We met around noon on Wednesday and flogged the water until nearly dark.  About the only action was in a honey hole above the hatchery where we each bagged a smallie and tied into one of the hundreds of monster trout living there.  We discovered that these trout don’t eat, they just grow and ignore flies.  I’m not sure which is more painful, fishing where you don’t KNOW there are fish or watching fish ignore your fly.  Both are painful. A few brews and a Chinese Buffet that evening sent us off to dream of the big ones we would catch on Thursday.

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Day 2 was Hot and long and virtually fishless.  We got an early (for us old geezers) start and fished the lower Davidson, the upper Davidson, the Davidson you have to climb the mountain to get to, Looking Glass Creek, Avery Creek and again the honey hole.  A few bumps, a light hit and a snagged trout in the honey hole.  Got back to town about dark and ended up in Mike’s Deli eating too much pizza accompanied by too much beer.  We contemplated taking up a sensible hobby like bungee jumping or stunt car driving but decided on a good night’s sleep instead.

Jim fishing the surprise

Friday morning, stiff, sore and a bit hung over from the excesses of Thursday night, we decided that another day of fishing the Davidson was just not going to yield different results so we would explore the area to the West of Brevard for a possible future trip.  Jim had to start his seminar Friday evening so we wouldn’t be able to fish all day anyway.

After consulting our maps, we decided to go West on Hwy. 64 to 215 and follow the North Fork of the French Broad looking for Nirvana.  As we approached the junction of 64 and 215, we spotted a Headwaters Outfitters sign and decided to stop in for a chat and some advice.  The folks there were most gracious and helpful.  We asked if there was someplace in the area that didn’t see 100 fly fishermen a day and which might have a few dumb fish the likes of us might catch.  They pointed us to a wild trout stream that flows into the North Fork several miles up 215 (stop and ask, they’ll give directions if it hasn’t been fished too heavily that day).

Well, the directions were great and we found ourselves in a fantastic stream with a few cooperative native trout.  I caught a beautiful 10″ Rainbow – possibly the most beautiful fish I’ve ever seen.  What a great surprise and a fantastic end to another great trip with Jim.

Jim fishing the Davidson

Todd 8/25/2010
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Posted on by October 23, 2011
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Jim & Richard

 In late August, Mary & I spent a couple of weeks at our family place in Todd, North Carolina.  We needed to do some maintenance on the deck and general sprucing up before it was play time.

The South fork of the New River flows just a few hundred yards from our house so every time we go up there, the fly rod has to accompany us.

 

 
 

Richard dodging a hole.

 

The hot dry summer has slowed the fishing in Todd, but my fishing buddy Jim Hatchell came up and we did catch a few smallies and a trout or two.  We agreed to try it again in late September or early October when things cool down a bit.  

Nothing to brag about but it is truly a beautiful place.

Good call Mr. President: Did I say that?

Posted on by October 11, 2011
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I am not a fan of President Obama but in his recent statement about the proposed mosque near ground zero, the president showed courage in speaking the truth instead of politically correct Washington-speak.

In a free society, EVERY person must have ALL the rights guaranteed to ANY person.

There is no room for any political entity, individual or mob to be allowed to infringe the rights of any individual or group of individuals without endangering the rights of all.

As a society, we seem to have lost site of this fact and those who clamor for ;government to prohibit the building of a mosque today will wonder what happened when their own house of worship is forced to close it’s doors.

Illegal Aliens and the Statue of Liberty
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Posted on by October 15, 2011
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Much has been said in recent weeks about illegal aliens, the immigration reforms being considered by congress and immigration laws proposed by several states.  Lost in the rhetoric however, is the very magic that made the United States great.

We ALL came here or are descendants of those who came from somewhere else.  Many were seeking something better than they could find in their homeland; others were brought here in chains or were imported as the cheap labor of the day. Many stayed and became ingredients in the ethnic melting pot from which Americans are formed.

Consider the following poem, “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Do you recognize it?  It is inscribed inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and (at least when I was a child) was memorized by every 5th grader.

Today, we pay lip service to the call for immigrants stated there.  They didn’t come here to weaken or bankrupt our nation but to become participants in its success.  Today’s immigrants will do the same if we allow them the opportunity to do so instead of clamoring for their expulsion.

Enough said.

Best Reuben in Knoxville!

Posted on by October 11, 2011
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 I like a good Reuben sandwich as much as the next guy but Mary (the light of my life) has a passion for them.

She first discovered them while in college in upstate New York and almost always orders one when they are on the menu of any restaurant that doesn’t look like they get their deli meats out of pre-sliced plastic packs.

So, today while we were looking for a late lunch and a brew, we went to the Smokey Mountain Brewery in Knoxville at the Turkey Creek Shopping center. They have a “Big City Reuben” on their menu for $10.00 and it reminds me of those I had in my New Jersey “Univac” school days.

The local beers were excellent too. If you like a good sandwich and micro brews, give this place a shot.  We’ll go back whenever Mary gets a hankering for her favorite sandwich.

Day 19 – Greenville, OH to Loudon, TN

Posted on by September 9, 2015
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Friday, we continued our trek down Highway 127. Lots of sites getting ready for the big yard sale next weekend. In 7 Mile, OH Mary spotted the bear in the photo – makes you wonder if the wife is intimidating to everyone or just the carver. We got a good laugh out of it. South of Owenton, KY we stumbled onto an Amish store selling sandwiches and all sorts of other good stuff. We got lunch and ate out front while watching the steady stream of people. It was their first day and they were doing a great business. Food was good and inexpensive – just the way we like it. The sandwiches were so big that we used the leftovers for most of our supper.


Continuing down 127, we came to Cumberland Lake and the Wolf Creek Dam. The water is low because they are working on the dam. Crossing back into Tennessee, we were in Sargent York country – It was getting late and no place to stay so we decided to return for a day trip – it is only about 80 miles from home. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for essentials and arrived back home at 7:30pm.

Some trip facts: 4320 Miles traveled. We hit 12 states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. We also went into Ontario, Canada for a day. We enjoyed the entire trip and our little Sonata did very well averaging 29mpg for the entire trip. We WILL do this again but not this year – we’re glad to be back in Tennessee and plan to stay put for awhile. (But Jim did email me about a couple of fishing trips…..)

Day 18 – Gaylord, MI to Greenville, OH.

Posted on by September 9, 2015
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This morning we pointed the Sonata due South and began the journey back to reality. Not wanting to hurry too much, we dropped off of I75 and onto US127. Most people have never heard of US Route 127 but those of us who pursue junk as a hobby know that it is the home highway for the worlds longest yard sale. Stretching from Hudson, Michigan to Gadsden, Alabama. Check out their website for all the details – the sale is August 5-8 this year and we are seeing signs along the route.

Much of our trip today was along 2 lane roads through many small towns each sporting a town square and a business section around the square. We had so much fun driving through these towns that we forgot to take pictures! We did stop at “The Winery at Versailles” just North of Greenville, Ohio for a bit of tasting of the grape. Good stuff! The boss bought some.

Day 17 – St. Ignace, MI to Gaylord, MI

Posted on by September 9, 2015
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Guess what Mary did in Canada today?
We got on the roar around 9am and went North to Sault St. Marie, MI and visited the SOO locks on the St. Mary River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. After the tour and visits to a couple of souvineer shops, we headed across the bridge to see if the Canadian version was any better – just more of the same but we did enjoy a walk on the riverfront boardwalk, a walk through the Finland festival and a really good lunch at Vincenzo’s on Queen Street where we had the Labatt Blue along with our Italian lunch (It seems that a lot of Italians settled in Sault St. Marie, Ontario and some of them opened restaurants).
We then traveled back to the USA (1 1/2 hours to get across the bridge and through customs vs. 15 minutes to get into Canada). That’s how the government is going to keep the bad folks out – boring them to death in line! I’m glad my tank was full and my bladder empty before starting back to the US, it is probably a crime to pee off that bridge – LOL.
The Saint Mary river on the Canadian side is really swift and the wind was blowing like crazy. Check out the video below for an idea.