It's funny how things change - I was going to stay in a few lovely BnBs across the country - I figured this would be a delightful way to make new friends as I traveled - and the first was an absolute delight (* thanks, Ele!) I had booked into a second, but my 'introvert' nature kicked in and I really just wanted to stay in a hotel - and, as God would have it - He heard my order to the Universal Kitchen and the people who own the BnB had to cancel my booking at the very last minute as they had an emergency. So, I stayed right up in the Smoky Mountains and had such a delightful time. As I write this, am now in Nashville - managed to get a FABULOUS deal on a hotel through Hotels.com - indoor pool, hot tub, lightning-fast wifi, comfy bed, close to everything (including several fabulous 'offices'), onsite laundry, hot breakfast... Even the guy who checked me in said, "who do you know to get this waaaay-low room rate?" :-) So, I'm most likely going to extend my stay here for several extra days, even if I can't do a repeat performance on the rate - although I certainly will put that in as my order! :-) Just being able to wake up and go down into the hot tub then swim a few laps then back in the hot tub then back to swim a few laps - and then doing a repeat performance in the evening - is already doing wonders for helping my body to keep up with Me! :-) Loving it!!! I love the way ever so many things are gloriously continuing to change and evolve in my world... While there is still waaaay 'more' of my body than I would ideally love there to be (and I still miss my slim wardrobe! LOL!), every day I feel my body is getting stronger and stronger - and able to do more and more things... yes, it still has days where pretty much nothing but working from bed is on the agenda, but those days are fewer and further apart... and even when I explored the Hermitage (that’s in the next update), it was a not-so-good body day but I was determined to get out and about, and the staff arranged a guided, chauffeured golf-cart tour of the grounds for me! On the professional front... Business that I had allowed to basically remain at a 'comfortable' level for so long is now taking off in leaps and bounds almost of its own accord - and it took a few weeks to make sure the foundations were in place and strong to be able to support the growth - and also to make sure that it was the type of growth that I wanted that would also support my lifestyle - and it is and I'm loving every minute of it and every single one of my clients. I feel so blessed to have each of these amazing people in my world...
I have also built a couple of lead funnels that I am not turning on until I get ensconced into my new second-home... and if I haven't already told you, while my home-base is still Vegas and I am still back and forth to visit my furniture! LOL!, my new second-home is a ski resort in New England (near the intersection of NY, NJ and PA). I'm moving there for winter. There is something very powerful in the feeling of curling up and working and writing in a ski lodge in front of an open fire... You'll read later in this update that Baby Car had some challenges of her own leaving Charleston but now is purrrrrring again with a lovely rolling British accent... (well, actually, she has been idling a little rough ever since she left Charleston, but after all the challenges (it took forever to fix her in Charleston and then there was a problem with the repair so she was back in at a doctor in Atlanta (but my mechanic in Charleston picked up the tab – I thought that was wonderful of them) – anyway, at this point, we are working on ‘ignore it and it will go away’ – at least until we get to Vegas.) :-) OK - update - I just managed to snag exactly the same suuuuuuuuuuper amazinglylow rate for the room right through for a week... Sooooooooo happy! My Nan (greatgrandmother born just after the end of the 1800s who basically raised me) taught me to spend whatever it takes to buy 'quality' but to get a great deal wherever possible - and this is a GREAT deal! :-)) ...and there is a great 'quote-unquote' "office" within walking distance that has a fabulous wine happy hour deal... and another that is a massive 3min drive away... Happy Pixie!!! Thank you God and Universal Kitchen! LOL!!! ...and the man who had been sitting beside me while I was typing away - and we shared a few funny one-liners - just paid his bill and said as he was leaving, "goodbye, cute woman"... LOL!!! Even happier pixie!!! LOL! ~~~~~~~~~ ...and as I finish this update at a glorious marina in Tennessee, it's interesting how different experiences help to shape exactly what we want... As you know, I ADORE being near the water... Water = home for me. So, here I am in Tennessee, obviously not on the coast, so I went in search of water... and found this lovely marina (that you will see in the next update) although it occurred to me while I'm sitting here writing this to you - that 'home' is a marina with sail boats... As you will see, this is a powerboat and houseboat marina - and I must admit, I'm more a powerboat than sailboat kinda girl (I never could understand the whole back-forthback-forth in order to go straight thing...) - but there's something very different and very magnificent about looking out of your balcony and seeing sailboats... listening
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to the distant clank, clank, clank... I've been there and done that when I lived in the villa - and that is what 'home' "feels" like to me... Hmmmm - ok, so now I just need to find a sizeable mid- to late- 1800s castle, preferably not heritage-listed (in case we want to do any updates), on at least 15 acres (although my wishlist would be over 200 acres), overlooking a marina with sailboats, anywhere along the coast between South Carolina and Maine... PLUS, to fit into my wardrobe... and a tall, protective, romantic, successful man I adore who thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread... Should be a snap! :-)) OK, Bella and Bridgit signing off from here... (and who are Bella and Bridgit? You'll just have to read on to find out...) Here is our update, starting from much-loved Charleston, South Carolina... Bella xxx
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Leaving Paradise… Goodbye Charleston… Well, it’s Saturday evening, July 25th as I write this – my final night in my beloved Princess Tower here in Mt Pleasant, Charleston, South Carolina. I have the last couple of cases to finish packing in the morning, then putting together the rest of the jigsaw/origami puzzle that is a fully-pack Baby Car – and off we go! (even after all these trips, it still baffles me how she and I are able to fit soooooo much into one convertible!) It feels incredibly strange to be leaving! I have loved it here and been ever so happy. Sure, there have still been challenges, but while I’ve been here I have adored the feelings of love and safety and respect and bliss being here in ‘Leave It To Beaverville’ (my nickname for the people and street on which I have lived this past year and a half); I cannot say enough positive comments about Charleston – and Mt Pleasant in particular; I have made some wonderful friends and had more fabulous experiences than I can count… I’m about to curl up and rest for the remainder of the evening – my body has had a few challenges of late but it’s doing a great job of hanging in there, so I figure after another good night’s sleep all three of us – body, Baby and me – will be ready to start our next adventure! I’m ever so excited! From here, our next stop is Atlanta (about 5hrs away) where I’m having drinks and possibly dinner with a friend – well, actually a friend I haven’t met, but he’s a good friend and colleague of wonderful friends and clients of mine – so since I’m basically driving past the front door of where he and his family have just relocated, it seemed like a terrific idea to meet in person! OK, that’s it for tonight – and my last post from Paradise…
Oooops… What’s that they say about “best laid plans”? As I write this I’m sitting about 12miles outside of Charleston waiting for a towtruck… I guess Baby Car wasn’t quite ready to leave… LOL!
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Baby’s Back! Well, we are now 3 weeks later (thanks to a machine shop who took two weeks to machine Baby’s heads and who is now off the Christmas card list for taking so long)… My dear friend, Miss Terry, dropped me off to collect my Baby Car and (after I cried in the arms of my mechanic because I was soooooo excited and relieved to get my Baby back) Terry and I happened upon some live music – and of course we needed to have some food and wine and sit a while…
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Enjoying a mouth-watering Reuben sandwich & an ice cold beer (yes, I’m drinking beer! LOL!) at the Mount Pleasant Pier… My last meal here in Paradise before we leave for good…
…and if it feels like this part of the story is taking a while to get going – it IS! LOL!
Finally Leaving Charleston… It’s soooooo funny… Even the next day when I finally loaded the last of everything into the car, I closed the passenger-side door and the window went THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD…… All the way down of its own accord……… I put it back up and again………….. & then all the way down it went... “That’s enough of that!” says I very determinedly to my Baby Car. “We are leaving and you’ll have to deal with it!!!” I put the window back up - and it has been open and closed several times and has stayed put where it was supposed to be ever since. 7
THEN we get onto the bridge and her steering starts to shudder… “OK, I will check your tires, but we are leaving whether you like it or not, Missy!” So, I pull off the highway into a gas station and one of her tires was down so I put air into it (it’s been fine ever since)… I said to a good friend that I think Baby Car is like a lovely-sparkly-positive version of ‘Christine’… You did see that movie, yes? LOL!
Atlanta… Baby and I are in Atlanta, Georgia for a week or so… Why Atlanta? No particular reason other than there were a couple of things here I wanted to explore but more that I just wanted to get on the road for a few hours then basically stop somewhere to curl up and work. I’m staying in a lovely BnB, owned by a guy named Ele. We became instant friends and he went out of his way to make sure I had everything I needed AND we shared a couple of meals - he introduced me to several of his native dishes… Jerk Chicken (pictured), Cow Foot Soup, and Spinach Patty… All of them were YUM!!! I think I will end up putting on a gazillion pounds on this trip! LOL! …oh, and he even picked up some fresh Georgia Peaches for me to enjoy! I met Ele’s mother and sister – both lovely people – and when I come back to Atlanta at the beginning of October, he is coming to hear me speak at Chris Cooper’s conference.
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Magnificent Stone Mountain, Georgia… OK, so we didn’t get to Mount Rushmore on this trip, but the monument at Stone Mountain is actually LARGER than Mount Rushmore!!!
Not only that, but it is the largest relief carving in the world, carved into the largest granite outcrop in the world! It’s even larger than the Sphinx!
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This image (below) is taken from the sky-lift that takes you up and on top of the mountain.
When I started out this morning, it was raining and cloudy, but I just knew that it would clear up despite what the weather man was saying‌
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This image (below) of the sky-lift from part-way up gives you an idea‌ ‌and then the skies cleared up magnificently!
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Here are some images from the top of Stone Mountain… (that I wandered over for more than an hour – it’s glorious! – and lots of rock outcrops to sit and rest – then back to exploring again… It’s HUGE!! And I loved every minute of it…)
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It was ever so peaceful up there‌
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Before we leave Stone Mountain, here are some other images I think you’ll enjoy‌
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Uncle Remus & Brer Rabbit… I must admit, Atlanta is not one of my favorite places – and I’ve dubbed it the land of Erratic Lane Changers! It’s not a place I feel intrinsically safe, but I intended to make the best of it while I was there… My next excursion took me to the Wren’s Nest House… That doesn’t mean anything to you? Have you ever read – or heard of – Uncle Remus and/or Brer Rabbit? The Wren’s Nest House, one of America’s oldest house museums, was home to Joel Chandler Harris, author of the glorious tales… If ever you are in Atlanta, I heartily recommend taking a visit to see Miss Nanny (the tour guide who is a sprightly 84 years young and only about 4’10” tall)… The stories she told of her upbringing… The stories of her mother growing up just after the Civil War… It was like a living history lesson… …and I adored every minute of it…
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The painting in the middle is the person who Mr Harris, a man raised by a single mother, ended up referring to as his father-figure… (Harris never met his natural father). …and interesting as well… The painting was done by a man who, before he had a stroke, was a surgeon. After his stroke he had zero recollection of medicine, but even though he had never painted anything in his life, felt compelled to paint this picture – a replica of the photograph hanging above…
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This (above) was actually Harris’ humidor for his tobacco! (the heads tilt back to reveal the interior)
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This carving was given to Harris by President Roosevelt (who had become a very close friend and confidante) to look over and protect Harris’ family… The bird still resides in the same location above the main drawing room where it was placed upon its arrival at the Wren’s Nest. …and by the way, the home is called the Wren’s Nest because no matter how many times they built a new mailbox, the wrens would nest in it. To this day, the local postmaster has an order in force that no mail is to be put IN the mailbox, but rather only on the top – just in case there are any nesting birds… I love that!
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Harris was friends with all the major figures of the time – Carnegie, Rockefeller etc… and the interesting thing is that he never sought them out – they all came to him…
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A photo (above) of Harris’ mother – a woman who despite their diminished circumstances, continued all his life to tell Harris that he could be, do or have anything his heart desired‌
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The sign was mangled when a tree fell on it during a recent storm‌
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Rhee County Fair Finally leaving Atlanta, I decided to check out a local county fair along the way… Unfortunately, the main activities of the fair didn’t start until 5pm and the rodeo didn’t start until 8pm – and since it was around noon-ish, I was a little in the middle of nowhere and had yet to even decide where my next location would be, I decided to just roam around and explore the relative quiet of what in a few hours would be a bustling local country event…
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As I finish this update, I’m tucked up in a hotel just outside of Knoxville, I have just showered after spending an hour or two alternating between a hot tub and pool (my body sooooooo loving this treat!) and now in my satin PJs with a vintage port poured into a vintage crystal glass and about to watch a Russ Ruffino webinar, I bid you adieu for this evening – bliss…..
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Museum of the Appalachia… (pronounced apple-atcha) This place is a GEM!!!!!!!! I could literally spend hours and hours and hours here… Located near Norris in Tennessee, this is a living history museum (that is also part of the Smithsonian). The museum has over 30 original buildings housed on over 60 acres…
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‌and Dr Randall – they even have your original wagon! :-))
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This is actually Mark Twain’s original family home… Twain is one of my favorite writers – not especially ‘authors’ but I love aspects of his writing… One of my favorite passages was written by Twain and I don’t believe I have ever read anything more evocative of all senses and as magnificently crafted…
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the sole that has crushed it” Here is additional info on the Clemens home from http://www.appalachianhistory.net/:
“I had heard that Mark Twain’s father and mother, John Clemens and his wife, had lived near the internationally famous Sgt. Alvin C. York, in the Pall Mall community of the
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Tennessee mountain county of Fentress,” says John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia. “It is a matter of factual history that John Clemens owned much land in that county, and that he was an official in Jamestown, the county seat. He was the postmaster there, and then he moved to Pall Mall on the Wolfe River, and he also opened the post office there. “Once while visiting Sgt. York’s son Andrew, I asked about the old log cabin which I’d heard was once occupied by the Clemens family. Andrew was very familiar with it, he said, and he volunteered to take me to it. “Just two miles north of the old York home, we came upon a tiny one-room log cabin, sitting in an open field, but near a wooded area. This was about 1990, and the structure was quite sound. It was located on property belonging to Ernest Buck, who was not home at the time; but Andrew and I walked over to the forlorn little house, and I took several pictures. “Some two or three years later, I was speaking to a civic group in Maryville, and I was talking about so much of the largely unknown history of the region, and I mentioned this historic little cabin. After the program, a man named David Buck introduced himself to me. He stated that the cabin to which I alluded was on his father’s property and that it did indeed once serve as the home of John Clemens. He agreed to go with me to talk with his father, Ernest Buck, along with Dean Stone, editor of the Maryville Times. Dean had invited me to speak to the group. “It took us nearly a year to find a time when the three of us could make the trip—in August, 1995. We found the elder Buck (Ernest) to be a most friendly and knowledgeable person, and one who was keenly interested in all aspects of local history. He had traced the Buck family back six generations to the 1750s. “Ernest was a graduate of Lincoln Memorial University, and had lived in D.A.R. Hall, the same place, the same floor, and maybe event the same room, as where I roomed several years later. He’s a great farmer, gardener, and along with his wife Grace, a pillar of the community—and most respected, I’m informed. “According to Ernest, the foremost local historians agree that Mark Twain’s father and mother once lived there, and he produced local history books to verify this. He also told me of the local tradition to that effect. “’My daddy died when I was very young, and I went to live with my daddy’s sister, Minnie Buck Greer and her husband, Marion Greer. That was about 1921, and they lived near here. I was walking along with my uncle one day, and we walked past that old house, and Uncle Marion pointed to it and said the house was over 100 years old and that a famous family had once lived there—and I think he told me the name of the family, but I was just a child and didn’t learn until
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years later that it was the Mark Twain family. The original cabin had a stick and mud chimney, but in 1905 a man named R.G. Crouch built the rock chimney that’s there now. “’I moved there in 1931 to live with my mother (Dollie Sharp Buck) who had recently moved there. She lived there from ’31 until `948, and a Betram Reynolds moved in and lived there from ’48 until 1951.’ “The following comments from Ernest regarding the Clemens family and the log cabin are based, I believe, on both oral and written history—from the people of that region. “’John Clemens came from Celina (the home of Cordell Hull) in 1826 or 1827. He stayed there for four years, and then he came down here. They called this Possum Trot in 1832. He had a wife and four children at the time, but they said she wouldn’t come with him. She didn’t want to come out here in the wilderness, and she’s supposed to have said that she was tired of having a child every year. “’They also said that John Clemens was working on a perpetual motion machine, and that he wanted to be in a place where he could concentrate. He founded the Pall Mall Post Office and served as the first postmaster there. “’His wife and children joined him here at Possum Trot and moved into the little log house with him. Three of his children went to school here—at a school called Mt. Vernon.
“’John Clemens sold out to the Berry Gatewood family and went to Missouri. Some say that Mark Twain was born here and was taken to Missouri as a child, but most people say he was born a few months after his parents moved there. “’Some people thought the cabin had been moved a little ways from its first location, but that’s not right. I’m sure that it was never moved ‘til you [John Rice Irwin] moved it.’ “The cabin had become severely damaged in the last four or five years. The cabin leaned to such an extent as to allow all the water draining from the northeast side of the roof to fall directly onto the logs on that side. Hence many logs were totally rotted. It would soon have fallen and been impossible to restore. I think that is why Ernest and Grace agreed to let me have the cabin. Also, they had recently visited the Museum of Appalachia (unbeknownst to me) and were much impressed, they said. “I took my crew of workers, two trucks, and a trailer to take down the cabin on a very hot day— August 29, 1995. They went back a couple of days later and got the chimney.”
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Old Mill… Yet another of my new favorite places… The entire Mill Place is GLORIOUS..! Picture-postcard beautiful… Peaceful… Just LOVELY!
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…and the food was write-home-able!!! YUM!!! Good old-fashioned SOUL-FOOD!
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Even the basins in the ladies room were local pieces of art‌
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Smoky Mountains & Cades Cove… OK – I’m officially in love with Cade’s Cove… Way up in the Smoky Mountains, driving along beside a meandering river at the rate of a moderately fast duck…. HEAVENLY!!!
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OK, so you can’t really see it in this photo, but that’s a bear up there! Apparently he went up about 6 days ago and… Well… There’s a bear in there…
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These spider’s webs were all over the place up there! I’ve yet to do any research to find out what they were – they type of spider etc… But some of them were HUGE (aka at least 5-6’ across!)
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This gives you an idea of how far ‘up’ we were – actually there were some places where we would come around a bend and the dip was so immediate I couldn’t even see the ground – and bear in mind Baby Car is LOW and her nose slopes waaay down – and still I couldn’t see ground in front of us…
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While we were way up in the mountains, I spent a long time at various places just sitting and thinking and reflecting and pondering… …and at one point my Baby Car advised me she wanted a ‘real’ name – I only ended up calling here ‘Baby’ because no name really seemed to fit and I just kept referring to her as my baby car… So I asked her what name she wanted? “Florence” was the reply… “Ahhhhh, no – try again – I’m not calling you Florence.” LOL! “Bridgit – with an “I”” “I thought Bridget was spelled with an ‘e’” I replied. “Bridgit – with an ‘I’”
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So, henceforth, my beloved Baby Car is now Bridgit! ...and that then started me thinking (I know - that's dangerous... LOL!)... What's in a name? Essentially, a name is a collection of letters that together form a pronoun that is used to call us, recognize us, sometimes define us... If you think of a woman named Mabel chances are you will have a different vision than if you think of a woman named Tiffany... If you think of a man named Ebeneezer chances are you will have a different vision than if you think of a man named Brad... Growing up, my mother changed my last name to that of her second husband although thankfully she only changed it on the school records and didn't change it legally - so I was able to change it back... Years later when I married I changed my last name to that of my husband... When we divorced eleven years later, I felt no connection to his name and nor did I feel any connection to my maiden name so I went on the search for a new name... At the time I was living on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia (about an hour or two before you drive off the bottom right-hand corner and get wet)... I had given myself until this particular day to come up with a new name... I thought of people who had inspired me, people whose lives had touched mine... Nothing felt right... It was now 4:40pm on Friday and I had given myself until 5:00pm that day to find a new name... As I drive down the Peninsula, I go past a veeeeery long street sign, "Saint Johns Wood Road" (spelled out in full)... A few minutes later I pass a sandwich sign that was St John's (I forget what)... Then, at 4:58pm I drive past a glorious old sandstone church built in the 1800s... St John's Anglican Church.. So, St John it was! My new name. Monday morning I went into the relevant government office and changed it legally.
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...as for my first name... My mother and father apparently couldn't agree on my name... and even when they did, they couldn't agree on the spelling - even to the point that my birth was registered under one spelling and I was christened under another... While I don't intend to change my name legally at this point, Leigh St John has really become more my 'brand' than my 'name'... I turn 50 next year and still, even after all these years, when someone calls me by my first name, I don't immediately respond... I have never ever felt a connection to that name... I love 'St John' - I chose that for myself... My first name, not so much... Soooooo, just as my baby car selected Bridgit, henceforth when people ask me my name, my response is, "Leigh St John, but my friends call me Bella"... Bella has for a very long time been my alter-ego in fictional works I have created based on my travels so it felt kinda right... I even own thebellastjohn.com domain name. Hmmmmm...... "The Travels of Bridgit and Bella"...... :-))
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View from Bridgit as we meander along‌
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Gatlinburg‌ Put Las Vegas and Clifton Hill (Niagara Falls, Canada) into a blender and you would pour out Gatlinburg & the main street in Pigeon Forge‌
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Pigeon Forge… …it’s also a strange place……..
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…and I’m not quite sure what grizzlies, Jesus and Santa have to do with each other, but I guess… ours is not to question why… LOL!
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Btw, I’m taking it as a lovely sign that in the space of 48hrs, I saw two ‘just married’ cars and watched an episode of ‘The Waltons’ where they also had ‘just married’ written on the side of an automobile! :-)
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Ahhhh, yes, that’s the Titanic about to cross the street… And the sign for Hatfield and McCoy – no, they were never even close to here – but there’s a theater restaurant for them here… It’s a strange place… LOL!
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OK, well, that’s it for this update… I already have enough for another so I need to sign off for now… Sending love and smiles to all…
Bella xxx
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