Across the South

 

The Sands Boardwalk
Point Royal, SC

 Greetings to all,

Ok, I know the last blog wasn't up to par with what we normally blog. Don't worry, I will not cut anyone short on this section of our journey. This will be a longer blog than normal. Now off to South Carolina from Branson, MO. We headed to South Carolina to visit more family and friends.  We headed south through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia before getting to South Carolina. Why? Diamonds, baths and the Natchez Trace.

Bathhouse Row
Hot Springs, AR

The Grand Promenade 
Hot Springs, AR

       First stop, Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas. We have been to Hot Springs before, but it has been over 17 years ago. So, we decided why not make another trip. Hot Springs NP seems different than other National Parks I have been to. It seems to be out of place, almost like it should be on the National Mall in D.C. instead of in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. This was only a stop on our way to another place though. Our main goal for coming this way was to, Dig for Diamonds!

Crater of Diamonds State Park
Murfreesboro, AR

      Can you really dig for diamonds? Yes you can, at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. We have wanted to come here for many years, but have never made the trip. Kind of hard to believe since I lived in Arkansas for over 20 years. Well, we made it......, but we did not get to dig for diamonds. That's right, we came but we did not dig. See it started raining on us when we left Branson, MO and it didn't stop for 5 days. So, this part of the trip got really soggy and literally put a damper on our plans.

Vicksburg National
Military Park
Vicksburg, MS

Natchez Trace
Parkway

       Another bucket list item we have tried to complete for some time is to drive the Natchez Trace Parkway. This is a NPS property that extends 440 miles from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN. It is great for biking and even hiking. There are no commercial vehicles allowed so it is a peaceful drive with many, many stops along the way. UNLESS.....it is nonstop raining. We didn't really get to enjoy this as much as we wanted, but we did get to drive 200 miles of the Parkway.         

     Ok so I mentioned we were headed to South Carolina to visit family and friends. I am sure you noticed the picture at the top of this blog. This is one place we visited while there. It was a really nice place to spend a sunset. While there we spent time with Jennifer's brother and family, and Katlyn and Zac, and Zac's family. We were so happy to finally see some sunshine after all of the rain that followed us. We got to spend some quality time with family and we hunted shark teeth, walked on the beach and enjoyed some really nice bike riding. Well I will finish here with a group of pictures, and a promise of more chapters of our travels to come. Happy Travels

Hunting Island, SC