#teachertravelsnc
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The Wright Brothers' Museum
Our first day and it had to be spent at this special place - The Wright Brothers' Museum. We cycled to the place, which was a simple five mile cycle. It was a scorching day as we made our way up to the monument. This stands at the top of the hill that the brothers used to launch their early flights - not the successful ones though. They were actually launched from the flat ground.
We walked along the ground where the first flight occurred. The stone boulders show the distance that each flight made. The third flight was much longer than the first two. We didn't walk out to the last one, but it was great to just stand in the place that history was made.
It's remarkable to think of how this piece of history impacted the world. My love of travel does not include a love of flying, nevertheless without it, I would never have been able to see the wonderful sights in all the countries I've visited. The determination, hard work, creativity and vision of the two brothers has been an inspiration to so many and the museum brings it to life.
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Greenville
April 23
About two hours away from Concord, in South Carolina is the city of Greenville and home of the Swamp Rabbit Trail- an old railroad which now entertains cyclists and walkers along its 22 mile route.
The city is walker friendly and has some great restaurants, cafes and small boutique shops along a Main Street.
In the downtown area, there is lots to see and green spaces to enjoy, including the waterfalls and walking suspension bridge.
We cycled the Swamp Rabbit trail and enjoyed the various sites along the way. We didn't get to enjoy any of the breweries which are located along the start of the trail as they were a bit busy and drinking at the start of a cycle ride is enough to kill me off. Our usual drink is coffee and that was available at the other end of the trail and was very much welcome.
As often is the case, after our cycle ride during the day, we enjoyed a meal at one of the Mediterranean restaurants on the Main Street. I loved Greenville and definitely recommend the Swamp Trail.
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December
December brought lots of new experiences and fun times. We enjoyed a meet up with friends, Lizzie and Graham and their delightful young son , Everett ( who is just so cute) at Gibson Mill. On our trip to England, we had picked up an English bear for him. I think he enjoyed the wrapping paper more than the bear...fairly typical of babies. I'm sure he'll get some hugs later on.
As a Christmas gift my class, I bought a different type of bear - Paddington. It was by chance that I had seen these bears in Kohl's and had done the same gift last year. So we headed to the store to see if they were stocking him again and fortunately they were. We almost emptied the shelves, much to the amusement of many around us including the cashier.
The children were delighted with their gift. I was delighted with their joy at receiving Paddington. Their reaction was priceless!
As Christmas approached, we ventured out to Concord Mills for a bit of retail therapy. As we weren't going to be able to send wrapped presents to everyone, it felt even more important to go and share in the spirit of Christmas shoppers doing their bit for each other. a Christmas coffee and cake at Starbucks was our treat.
We decorated our flat with minimal cost and invited Claire and Jimie over to share an early Christmas dinner. We attempted a traditional Christmas dinner, even managed the pigs in blankets and had been able to bring over some mince pies and a xmas pudding from England, so it felt fairly similar to 'traditional'. Claire brought the crackers...hence the hats! With much laughter, great conversation and full stomachs, the evening flew by - an enjoyable evening was had by all.
Claire and Jimie not only turned up with beers for Richard, but a very thoughtful gift in addition. A supply of British goods, something that was much appreciated and warmed our hearts.
I was so glad that I had actually made the effort to decorate for Christmas. It just made it feel a little better. Knowing we were not going home was hard and despite the fact that we had a great trip to look forward to, it didn't sit comfortably being away from family.
Pre Christmas celebrations also led us to Kannapolis to watch Fox N Vead perform. Holly had sorted tickets through her daughter and had offered us the chance to join them all for the evening. I hadn't heard of them before, but the evening turned out to be a lot of fun. Starting with a bite to eat at the local Mexican cafe, we then joined a group of youngsters to be entertained by this country/rock band from Concord. It had been a long time since I stood in front of a stage amongst a crowd (fortunately not a huge one) and enjoyed the beat of drums and guitars. It was like a trip down memory lane to college days!
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Thanksgiving 23
It had been a difficult decision as to where to spend Thanksgiving and I think we chose the perfect place - Hilton Head in South Carolina. Despite still not feeling well, we headed of on the four hour drive for our four night stay.
Our Airbnb was situated perfectly in an apartment right next to the beach. A beautiful beach within 3 minutes walk and restaurants and coffee shops a few minutes cycle away - just what I needed. We spent our time cycling, walking and enjoying the fresh air. Hilton head was a beautiful mix of quaint marinas, great cycling paths through woodland areas and wide expanses of beach.
We had planned to do something special on Thanksgiving day, but in fact we ended up having breakfast at a cool cafe, just walking on the beach and then eating dinner at home. It was a great way to spend the day.
I loved the chance to see herons and other birds, to see a Christmas tree in the sunshine and to explore this stunning area.
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Halloween
As Summer comes to an end, it doesn't take long for the Fall decorations to make an appearance in the shops. An abundance of pumpkin themed items adorn the shelves of Dollartree and gradually more and more houses transform into theatrical masterpieces. A trip through downtown Concord provides the perfect opportunity to view some of the best.
The build up to Halloween sees not only an abundance of decorations, but also confectionary and cakes in the shops. It is definitely a more celebrated time than in England. Trick or Treat seems to build excitement in my classroom and conversations of costumes fills the air.
As Halloween draws near, we are invited to a Halloween party. Having very no dressing up costumes in our wardrobes, we have to keep it simple. A friend at work comes to the rescue and provides Richard with a cowboy hat and some scrubs for me. It appears costumes don't have to be scary!
The neighborhood was decorated with pumpkins, spider webs and a variety of skeletons. It was definitely 'scarier' than our neighborhood at home. On arrival at Maureen and Jamie's, we were welcomed by the hosts dressed up as and then had the pleasure of being introduced to their pet snake and several of their dogs.
We had great food, lots of laughs and enjoyed our evening with some of their friends. As it was a school night, we opted to leave fairly early and head home. Our first US Halloween evening!
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New River Gorge State Park -West Virginia
This was one of our adventurous weekends. We had booked a morning adventure to walk the narrow path under the New River Gorge Bridge. We drove up on Friday evening and arrived at our hotel - The Quality Inn. There was definitely nothing quality about this one. We dropped our bags and headed to the local restaurant. This would not have been our first choice, but we were tired and needed something close.
On entering the bar, I knew we had hit local! Too local for my liking. The red check, plastic table cloths and bright lights were not what I was expecting. At the bar, a row of bearded men, with baseball caps sat downing their beers. A look at the couples sat at the tables reminded me of times gone by, on old US shows. Red necks!
We sat down at a free table and a young waitress arrived to take our order. I was apprehensive about speaking too loud in a British accent. I did not want any attention in this bar!! When I asked for a glass of Chardonnay, she looked at me with a blank look and so I reverted to a glass of white wine. She looked a bit blank and then said, 'I'll see if we have any.' This summed up the place. The menu consisted of burgers or super burgers and of course fries - and they definitely were fried!
We really didn't stay long and I didn't really eat much...it was too fried!
The following morning we were up early to enjoy our challenge! We booked a guided walk under the New River Gorge suspension bridge. The bridge held the record for the longest steel arch bridge in the world until 2003. It is still the longest single span steel arch bridge in the United States and the third highest bridge in the country. Underneath the four lanes of busy traffic and in the midst of rusty red girders and beams is a two foot wide, steel walkway - only open for guided walks. That was our plan!
We were slightly worried about the weather, but it remained dry and not too windy for the entire time. After arriving at the booking centre, we were harnassed up and debriefed. Our guide then directed us to the minibus for the short drive to the start point.
After unloading form the mini bus, the group headed down a short path to the gated entrance. At this point, the guide explained that as we moved onto the bridge, we would have to deal with sensory overload - the noise from above, the fact that the path moved slightly and of course the height and dramatic scenery. He was right!
We were hooked onto the safety wire one by one and with the guide in front, Richard took the first steps. Slow and steady to begin with, to ensure we adjusted to the unusual experience. It took us about an hour to walk across, due in part to the constant photo stops and the informative chats with the guide. The structure itself was awesome and a great feat of engineering. The scenery was beautiful and I was so glad I had my camera with me.
At one point, the guide suggested we sit and dangle our legs and all the group bravely took the challenge. It was a very strange feeling and a cool thing to do.
We had a great morning and then went for lunch at a local cafe - Cathedral Cafe in Fayetteville. This was such a cool place, inside an old church building. The food was great, the atmosphere lively and just a fun place to be. The town also had some great outdoor shops and a great vibe.
In the afternoon, we took a drive down to the river and the valley. After a short stroll, the wind picked up and we were treated to a spectacular scene of leaves swirling and falling like rain drops.
Our second day, provided us with the opportunity to do great hike to Old Point - a different view of the bridge. It was a lovely morning and we were treated to deer running across our path as we made our way to the view point.
We loved West Virginia and enjoyed the beautiful fall colours.
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Ashboro zoo - this was a fun day trip on a beautiful blue sky day. This NC zoo is the largest natural habitat zoo in the world and it was pretty cool to see the space that the animals have. They are committed to wildlife preservation and this is evident in the informative displays around the park.
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Virginia Creeper
Last year, we completed the Virginia Creeper cycle trail and loved it. This year, we decided it was one of the few things that we would return to and enjoy again. We booked the same hotel, a cheap and cheerful place located nearby the trail and arrived on Friday evening. With a great Mexican restaurant next to the hotel, we were able to just walk and enjoy dinner.
The next morning we headed to Abingdon to pick up the minibus that would take us to the starting point of the ride. The weather was kind to us and kept dry. The trail itself was just as we remembered - the first 15 miles downhill through great scenery ending in Damascus - a cool small town with great cafes and cute shops and the second 15 miles fairly flat ending in Abingdon.
It was a great day and a cycle ride that we would recommend to anyone.
On the way home, we stopped off at Mount Airy, somewhere I had heard about but didn't know anything about it. It turns out it's a very quintessential American town believed to be the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith show - not that we know anything about the show.
It was a quirky town with a main street, a mix of old fashioned shops and a few restaurants - not to mention the odd lama!
We were disappointed to find no open coffee shops. We wandered down the main street, taking note of the typically American scenes and then headed off.
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Cookery Class
For a change, this year I decided to give Richard a cookery class for our anniversary. There was a perfect chinese course offered by Sur La Table at South Park shopping mall. To make the most of our time there, I decided to book a local hotel and stay overnight. Neither of us had done anything like this before so it was fun to try it together.
We arrived at the shop and were met by the teacher and the other 'students'. There was a group of about 12 of us. We followed the instructions to scrub up, apron up and find our position round the table top.
Before long, we were chopping garlic, trimming veg and learning new skills. We first prepared the spring rolls, then moved onto the pork and egg fried rice. We had a lot of fun prepping and then eating our food. Everyone was impressed with our meal and had definitely enjoyed the experience.
It was also great to walk out of the cooking class and know that we were just walking over the road to our hotel.
The next morning we went for breakfast at a great french bistro before heading home. All in all a great weekend experience.
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Title One Night
Several times a year, AT Allen opens its doors to parents to come and see what their children are learning at school. This was the first one of the year. However, it wasn't great timing due to the weather being so hot and it being held outside. Fortunately, we managed to be in the shade for part of the evening. It wasn't a great turnout for my class. I only had the parents of two children out of twenty two. Even my 'Englishness" didn't attract them this year!
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Birthday weekend in Lake Lure
It's very fortunate to have a holiday on my birthday - Labor day- whch meant we could fit in a long weekend away. We chose Lake Lure to visit - the home of many of the dance scenes from Dirty Dancing. We even got to stay in the hotel where Patrick Swayzee stayed many years ago.
We were able to fit in a cycle ride on the way to Lake Lure and still arrived early afternoon with time to walk round the park area and the lake before dinner at the hotel. The lake is pretty and enjoys a great location near to Chimney State Park, which provides added beauty to the lake scenery.
On Sunday, we were up early and headed into the village near Chimney State park to have breakfast. The sun was already beginning to get hot and as our plans were to get some hiking in, we ate quickly and headed up to the car park.
Once there, we headed off for our hike. It was pretty high and hot, but worth it for the views.
In the evening, we took a stroll to Lake Lure's flowering bridge. A very quaint bridge given over to small gardens with a range of different flowers and garden ornaments making it a pretty decorative attraction in the town.
Monday morning saw the sun shining and the lake glistening which was perfect for our kayak trip. We hired a couple of kayaks and set off paddling along the side of the lake . It was beautiful to be on the lake early as it wasn't too busy, but also because the heat was less intense.
Before we headed home, we stopped for lunch in a lakeside cafe. It was pretty cool to find they had a music group playing to entertain the customers. We sat and enjoyed our lunch and the music in the warm sunshine. Sometimes, it's hard to accept that the weekend is over especially when it's been so great, but I am so grateful to have these wonderful times.
Birthday Celebrations!
It's always lovely to get flowers and` these were for my birthday form Liam. Perfect to bring some cheer...always hard to be away from family1
If I was in England, I would have shared my birthday with friends and family, but that is a downside about being away...not being able to celebrate with those people. However, we were very lucky to share a birthday night out with new friends, Claire & Jimie at the Harp and Crown pub in Cornelius. It was great evening filled with laughter, fun and a British menu.
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Ashville
The first weekend of being back to school and we were off again. After visiting Ashville last year, I had wanted to return to kayak the French Broad River and this was the perfect time to go.
We stayed at the Clarion Inn, just located near Biltmore. It was within walking distance of the small village which had a couple of restaurants to entertain us. Always convenient to be able to just park up and then walk to a local restaurant.
On Saturday we headed out to do a hike to Linville Falls and gorge. This wasn't too strenuous and did give lots of pretty photo opportunities on the way. We first stopped at Linville Caverns which was pretty cool. We headed underground to the mystical world of stalagmites and stalagtites - always a beautiful spectacle.
We enjoyed both the caverns and the hike and also the mexican restaurant in the evening!
On Sunday, we headed to the French Broad river. After a brief demo, we were bundled into a minibus to head up to our starting point. This took about 30 minutes and gave us time for a quick get to know you conversation with the other participants. Once at the point of departure, we were given some warnings about rapids which terrified me!
Now, the rapids might not have been anything at all, but there were several moments when I thought I might end up either stuck on a sandbank or tipped over after hitting a rock not just capsized by the 'lage ripples of water'. It took a couple of hours to kayak down to our point of exit and it flew by. The peace and tranquility of most of the morning was a real treat and I was disappointed when it was time to pull up to the edge and clambour out.
On our way home, we enjoyed a drive on the BlueRidge Parkway. This is a beautiful scenic drive and a great pleasure to just take in the vast greenery of this area.
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Back to work.
Just like that, the summer holiday was over and it was back to school or work! The reality of returning in August hit hard. Normally, I might end up back in class the last day of August, but this was just the beginning of the month. Cruel! However, I had had a great holiday and enjoyed new adventures in new places.
Fortunately, the actual teaching didn't begin straight away. The first week was just training and the obligatory attendance at the RISE day. This was a county conference day consisting of lots of cheering, a range of workshops, free lunch and crowds of elementary teachers who all looked slightly 'frantic'.
There was the obligatory tee shirt wearing, pom pom shaking or horn blaring...I managed to escape 2 out 3! However, Ii was good to catch up with my fellow Participate teachers - Adam and Rochelle.
Returning to work did bring a dread of some familiar things from my first year - PLC, no duty free recess or lunch and a lack of freedom to teach in the way I feel most comfortable. It also brought a very different class of children from my first year. One that would challenge me on a daily basis, frustrate me in the amount of testing that was totally inappropriate for the needs of the children, but also give me a new Grade Three team to get to know.
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Santa Barbara and Santa Monica
After leaving Pismo, we headed to Solvang a beautiful Dutch village, just 45 minutes from Santa Barbara. It was founded by Danish immigrants back in 1911. It has wonderful architecture, an actual windmill - of course - and great coffee shops. We arrived mid morning in time to sample their cakes and coffee - our ritual!
Our next stop was Santa Barbara. This turned out to be one of our favourite places on our journey. It is a beautiful beach front city with mountains as the backdrop and a collection of Mediterranean style white buildings with red roof tiles. There are plenty of great restaurants, boutiques and activities to entertain. A beautiful main street stretches down to the beach front with it's old wooden pier and walking path.
We took time to explore the old Courthouse which gave us a great view over the city and provided some relief from the hot weather. Then it was time for lunch in an alley cafe off the main street. We strolled down to the beach after lunch to enjoy the short pier walk and a very welcome ice cream. With weary legs, it was a real treat to find that we could board the free tram back to our car park. It was a short visit to this beautiful city, but such a lovely experience.
Once back in our car, we made our way to Santa Monica to complete our 450 mile scenic trip. This was our final destination and our drop off point for our hire car. The route there was along the coast, passing Malibu beach and various other small beaches. As we approached Santa Monica, the traffic increased and a sense of chaos definitely crept in. Fortunately our Airbnb was located in a fairly quiet residential area which we were grateful for. We unloaded our bags and then headed straight out to drop the rental car off - just a ten minute drive away.
We were fortunate to have a couple of restaurants just round the corner and so dinner was at a local pizza place. As expected, it was not cheap, but it was good!
Our first full day was spent on a bike tour of Los Angeles. It was fantastic! We joined a small group with an entertaining guide who was great at informing and humouring us at the same time.
We visited Beverley Hills - passing by various celebrities houses including the property where Michael Jackson sadly passed. This was an absolutely beautiful neighbourhood as to be expected. Manicured gardens, immaculate streets and palace style homes behind secure fencing and camouflaged with hedging and trees. We also had a quick stop at Belair neighbourhood.
We cycled to Venice Beach for dinner and sat near the beach watching the multitude of cyclists, skaters, walkers and other entertaining folk pass by on the boardwalk which stretches for miles along the beach.
A short way behind the beach, we were surprised to find the beautiful canals after which the area is named. A collection of quiet, still canals built in 1905 and lined with small properties adds a real beauty to this area. It was a complete contrast to the busy beach front.
Our last day was spent hiking to see the Hollywood sign and visiting the Griffith Observatory. We caught an Uber as the public transport was going to take an hour and a half. On arrival, we first ate lunch in the Observatory cafe. It was. a lot busier in the area than I expected.
The Observatory is situated on the south facing slope of Mount Hollywood and is a popular film location. We didn't spend much time in the observatory as our main objective was to complete a hike and see the sign.
The Hollywood sign was erected in 1923 as an advertisement ploy, but due to its popularity, it was decided to leave it there. It was replaced in 1978 with a steel structure to increase it's durability.
It was great hike and fantastic to see this area of Los Angeles. Despite the scorching hot weather and getting slightly lost, we really enjoyed the day and the opportunity to see this beautiful part of LOs Angeles.
In the evening, we got bus to downtown Santa Monica to stroll around and have dinner. We arrived around 6pm and were totally shocked by how busy the pier and the beach were. Santa Monica pier is a popular tourist attraction and they were definitely out in force. It wasn't the prettiest of sites and we didn't stay long. Crowds are not our scene and this area was not the Santa Monica I envisioned.
The pier is pretty iconic and I'm glad we actually visited. It was definitely a contrast to the hiking area earlier in the day. It was pleasant to just walk a little further along the coast for an evening stroll before heading back for the night.
And so our trip came to an end. A super journey along a beautiful coastline from San Francisco to Los Angeles, via a stunning National Park, with interesting and varied stops along the way. Great sights and fun experiences mixed with lots of singing in the car, interesting food stops, cool Airbnb's and a great travelling companion - all in all a very memorable trip.
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Monterey to Pismo
With beautiful sunshine and quiet roads, our journey on to San Simeon was a treat. After the rocky coast on the start of our journey on Highway 1, the road lowered down to enable us to have some great sea views. Our lunch stop on the way to Pismo beach was San Simeon. We only stopped for a short stop at the village, so didn't get to go and see the palace which is a short drive inland. However, it was a quaint, peaceful place with a small but interesting general store and an old fashioned wooden pier.
From here we continued our drive to Pismo, a traditional laid back, surfing town bathed in sunshine. Our lodgings were a short walk outside the town, but served conveniently by a great mexican restaurant a couple of doors down. This was a perfect dinner stop on our first night.
On our first full day, we walked 20 minutes into the town. This is a typical surfing place- lots of surf shops, small market shops selling a variety of beach tee shirts and plenty of cool eateries to entice the surfers and tourists . We enjoyed a late breakfast of waffles and coffee before finding a spot on the beach to just relax. It was a perfect day enjoying the sunshine, the relaxed atmosphere of the beach and watching the elegant pelicans flying overhead.
We delayed our return to our lodgings and took a seat at the bar overlooking the beach and enjoyed an early evening drink. We were able to walk along the beach for about 15 minutes before ascending some steps up to the roadside path. Walking along barefoot in the gentle waves on the edge of the Pacific Ocean was a joy.
After a second day spent on the beach, it was time to leave Pismo. I think this is one of the places I wish we'd spent longer, but we were lucky to experience this cool place and even a few days was a blessing. Any trip requires decisions as to places to stop and visit. It was difficult to decide on our next stop, but we did squeeze a lot into our next journey.
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Monterey
When I was in Secondary school, I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. The setting for the novel was Cannery Row, located in Monterey. I loved the book and was grateful to be able to put this location on our itinerary. Whilst the fog did hide some of the spectacular views on our first day, Cannery Row was completely visible and we were able to immerse ourselves in the real setting. Cannery Row is actually the name of the street which is now lined with restaurants, hotels and boutique shops. However, it used to be a hub for sardine fishing and canning, hence the name.
We stayed in Pacific Heights in an Airbnb over a restaurant. The location was great- on the main street and within walking distance of great restaurants and the beach. It was an easy walk along the front to get to Cannery Row, where we were able to hire bikes. One of the best things about this area is the great sea life. I found myself just wanting to stop continually to photograph seals, pelicans and other sea life.
Our second day took us to the beautiful town of Carmel on Sea located a short fifteen minute away. It was busier than I expected, but worth the time and effort it took us to park. After a walk around the picturesque shops, we walked down to the beach. Unfortunately the mist was present again and the views were non existent. Good job the buildings were so pretty!
After coffee, we headed off on our scenic drive along Highway 1 - the coast road to Buxby Bridge and Big Sur. I had been looking forward to the drive, but unfortunately part of the road was shut and this restricted our journey and then to add to it, the mist clung tightly to the coast and definitely affected the view. However, the mist did give an atmosphere and it cleared sufficiently for us to see the actual bridge and occasionally I even managed to taker an okay photo on this route. Buxby Bridge was built in 1932 and remains the tallest single span concrete bridge in the world.
We didn't manage to get down to the Big Sur but were able to view from above. The coast is certainly beautiful.
Our last day in this fantastic area saw us hire bikes and cycle the 17 mile drive from Pebble Drive and enjoy the spectacular scenery and fresh sea breeze. This was a great cycle and allowed us to stop and enjoy so much of the beauty of this area, including the Lone Cyprus Tree standing alone on a granite headland. Once again the sea life was great, the open space of the coast road beautiful and the opportunities to use my camera plentiful.
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