A Saturday Drive

On Saturday we decided to get out and explore the mountains. It is one of my favorite things about this area - it's just so pretty! And since John had been out of town the past several days, and didn't get in until late Friday night, we were due some family time.

On the drive up - I am loving this picture at the moment. 

We spotted some wild turkeys, so of course we had to stop. Ansley wanted to pet them, but we told her that might not be a good idea. So she was content to watch from a distance. We guessed these turkeys were glad it wasn't November. 

Part of the fun of Cade's Cove is driving slowly and keeping watch for wildlife. We spotted several deer - here's one just wandering along near the road. And I know what you are thinking - why am I not a wildlife photographer? I know just what you mean. This picture makes you feel like you were right there, witnessing the headless deer with us, right?

Our first stop (well besides the turkey spotting) was this old church. I have to say, I have never been a big history person, but I will say that learning history at 34 is so much more interesting than it was at 15. Strange how that works. Ansley loves the Little House books, and we talk often of what it would have been like to live back then. This was a neat little taste for us. And we became very thankful that we didn't live back then!

Sitting in the pew inside the church.

Playing around in the pulpit. 

There was a cemetery in the back of the church. I thought this tombstone was interesting. But there were SO many graves of babies that only lived a few hours, a few days, or a few months. It was very sad, and made us thankful for modern medicine!

Our next stop was a little hike to a log cabin, built in 1850. We imagined this to be very similar to Laura's cabin in the Little House series. The books always make it seem so cozy, but this was a hard life. 

We crossed a little bridge on the way, which may have been Christian's favorite part.

Ansley found a friend along the way, that stayed with us for a very long time. I know, I'm not sure where she comes from. She named him and loved on him. Yes, my daughter loves on bees. I find it crazy, too.

Here is the log cabin. It had two rooms, and talk about claustrophobic, oh my. No windows in one of the rooms, so it was very dark. There was a "stranger room" in the front, where people stayed who were passing through.

The lighting was terrible, but here is Ansley in the main room by the fireplace. 

A little walk from the log cabin was this, the "refrigerator". It was a small building in the middle of a very cold stream, and there was a small box on one side where they would keep their milk and butter. Can you imagine this walk on a cold morning, all for a glass of milk? And having to walk in that cold stream? No, thank you.

A little pit stop. The advantage of having a boy. Which did make us wonder, where did the log cabin owners use the bathroom back then? We aren't sure. But I shudder to think about it.

Oh that face!

This is the smoke house, where they would store their meats, and there was also another building for storing corn. 

It was a very interesting day, exploring lots of neat things that we had never discovered about Cade's Cove. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and ice cream as well, but by then the photographer was getting a little lazy.               

Comments

[Renee]

Cade's Cove is beautiful! Glad you had a day away together in the mountains with some history. :)

[Molly]

Hi,

Just happened upon your blog, after seeing where you had linked up to another blog that I had happened upon (a favorite way to relax of mine, obviously, is happening upon blogs :) We are homeschoolers too, and also went to Cade's Cove this summer. It just made me want to say hi. Hoping that isn't too incredibly corny!

Have a fabulous day,
Molly