Road Trip

Happy Leap Day! I thought I’d write today since I don’t get to use this date but once every four years. Besides, we’ve had a great weekend trip since I wrote last and I want to share while the details are still fresh on my mind.

SCHOLARSHIP NEWS
About 15 minutes after I sent out the last newsletter Jenna got an email from Trevecca’s financial aid office. Unfortunately, she was not one of the two recipients of the McClurkan Scholarship. We did happen eat lunch with one of the winners the day we were there for the interviews.

Jenna still qualifies for other smaller scholarships and the university is going to send out information soon. We are waiting to see what the new options are before moving forward.

GETTING AWAY
Some time back in the fall I mentioned to Vicki that it had been years since we had been to the mountains. We kicked the idea around a bit but with Jenna’s trip to Haiti it never got put on the calendar. Then we found out that our nephew, Cameron, who is a freshman at Belmont Abbey College, had gotten a role in a play. Of course we wanted to go see him perform. Here’s the story of our weekend. Our adventures started Friday evening when we took off with the goal of getting to Knoxville where we spent the night.

BREAKFAST WITH FRIENDS
We stopped in Knoxville because we wanted to get in a quick visit with Brent and Sabrina Freeland and their family while passing through. We all met at Cracker Barrel and enjoyed great conversation around the breakfast table before getting on the road for the next leg of the journey.

CAMERON IN COLLEGE
We made pretty good time driving to Belmont, North Carolina. (We actually stayed in Gastonia.) Ben got a lot of mountain driving experience. Will, Darice, Zachary, and Emily had already arrived and checked in to the hotel. After getting unloaded we drove over to the college to visit Cameron.

I must say Aunt Vicki probably did nothing for Cameron’s self-esteem. Cameron grew out his beard for his character and her first reaction upon seeing him was to laugh. To be fair, we did not know Cameron had done this so it was a bit startling to all of us. I’m not much of a beard guy. I let mine grow for about two weeks when we were out for all the snow a few weeks ago but just didn’t enjoy it so I shaved. At least I know what I look like in a gray beard now. All personal preference aside, Cameron actually carries his off pretty well. I digress.

After meeting up with Cameron we got the tour which started with the dorm room. Vicki was exactly right when she said she experienced it with four of the five senses. Cameron and his roommate (who we did not meet) probably keep their room a little neater than I kept mine. It did take me back to my dorm days which I am glad are long behind me.

Belmont Abbey has a beautiful campus, even in the middle of winter. We walked around a bit before stopping at the university center to talk. After that we went out to Simonetti’s for pizza. When supper was over Cameron needed to get back to get ready for the evening’s performance and we headed back to the hotel to change.

THE LARK
The play the Abbey Players performed was The Lark by Jean Anouilh. It’s about Joan of Arc, recounting her life story through her trial. It was very well done. Cameron played the role of The Promoter and when he delivered his first lines he was in character so well that I really forgot he was my nephew. It was a pleasure to see him on stage.

Saturday’s performance was the final show for the Abbey Players before they move on Little Shop of Horrors. Cameron is not interested in doing musical so he won’t be trying out. With this being the last show Cameron posted the following on Facebook: “It's all said and done. The magic is over. The lines will be forgotten. The stage will be broken down. The costumes will be repurposed. But it will live on in our hearts. As long as we remember the joy that we had together, the play shall go on forever. Thank you all, this has been an amazing experience.”

Well said, Cameron. It was good to see you enjoying your college days. They’ll be gone all too quickly.

THE AMERICAN DOWNTON ABBEY
We got up Sunday morning and headed over to IHOP for breakfast with the Jones family (minus Cameron) before hitting the road. When we parted they went to pick up Cameron for Mass before heading to Georgia. We played hooky and headed to Asheville to get in a tour of Biltmore. Vicki and I last visited there in 1994. The kids had never been.

This was the third time I’ve seen Biltmore and I’ve found it impressive each time. I think the kids all enjoyed seeing it as well. Ben kept calling it “Downton Abbey.” We certainly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to tour the house and grounds. After about six hours we were done exploring so we loaded up and drove to Gatlinburg.

GATLINBURG
We arrived in Gatlinburg with no plans or reservations. Fortunately, this is the off season so we had no trouble getting a room right in the heart of town. We stayed at the Bearskin Lodge which was very nice and allowed us to walk everywhere we wanted. Last night we ate a late supper at the Smokey Mountain Brewery, and this morning we walked most of the main strip looking at shops before heading out. We made a couple of shopping stops in Pigeon Forge and Knoxville before heading home. All in all a great weekend away.

Joe