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| The Sheffield Girls |
I haven’t done a travel post in quite a while, so I’m going
to go back and tell about one of my favorite trips. But I’m going to have to break it into parts,
because we zig-zagged all over the state of North Carolina.
Us Sheffield girls have a quirky sense of travel plans. We often plan (Okay, typically I do the planning) our
trips around quirky things we’d like to see.
We’ve visited random things like The F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald
museum in Montgomery, AL; Monroeville, AL (Where Harper Lee and Truman Capote
once lived…this author may or may not have stolen a rock from the rock wall
that separated their yards); we’ve visited the cemetery where Memorial Day was
started (Columbus, Mississippi), and the cemetery where Hank Williams and his
wife were buried. Some of our trips,
while significant to us, might not be found on the 100 places you should visit
before you die.
But the Sheffield girls? Well, we LOVE to travel. And while there are some pitfalls to the single life, I count myself very fortunate to be able to spend this time and travel with my mom and sister. Many of my friends do not have this opportunity, and I just consider this precious time.
So, like I said, the trip I’m going to begin telling you about
today is our December 2015 North Carolina trip. I can’t remember what Cynthia Kay had seen
to trigger her desire to see the Lighthouses in the Outer Banks, but I remember
her coming home one day and saying “Aleta, I think I know where I want to go
next…” Mama, like my Granny Doris, has
always liked a lighthouse. So the
planning began.
But, in all Aleta fashion, I figured if we were already
doing that much driving, why not take in a few of the other sights in North
Carolina, right?
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| Me, Cynthia Kay, and Rheba at the Polar Express |
Something else, Cynthia Kay had once mentioned was that she’d
never ridden on a train and had always wanted to. Thanks to my trusty friend Google, I found
the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.
While, they have several different themed “excursions,” because we were
going in December, Polar Express it was.
(Which was okay, because the Sheffield girls love all things
Christmas). Well, y’all, I schemed and I
planned. And I got the tickets and
ordered us each some pajamas (which are a must for the Polar Express train
ride); I had Chris make Rheba and Mom up a “golden ticket.” And the morning we were leaving for Bryson
City, I surprised them with it.
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| Santa and the Train Depot at Bryson City |
Now, I will tell you that the Polar Express very obviously
is geared towards kids, but we still had a great time.
After Bryson City, we set our sights on Mt. Airy.
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| Andy Griffith's birthplace |
Let me clue you in on a little fact about the Sheffield
household. We LOVE some Andy
Griffith. Whether it be the Andy
Griffith Show or Matlock, we love some Andy Griffith. My dad watched it on TV Land every
night. One night he said “I sure do wish
they’d put on some new episodes.” Y’all,
I rolled. They hadn’t aired a “new”
episode of Andy Griffith in about 40+ years at that point. But there are many nights I fall asleep to an
episode of Matlock. There’s just
something soothing about it to me. So, I
say all that to say…we are FANS.
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| Wally's Service Station |
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| The Mayberry Courthouse replica |
Getting to see the town where Andy Griffith grew up was a
treat. We stayed at the Mayberry Motor
Inn, which isn’t the ritziest hotel around, but is super cute. We then went to the Mayberry Courthouse
replica, took pictures at Wally’s, and went on a squad car tour (which was SO
much fun! If ever you’re in the area, do
it. You may feel silly, but it’s a blast). Later, we went to the Andy Griffith Museum. You could’ve walked around that place for
hours, there was so much stuff to look at.
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| Squad Car Tour |
--My one complaint would be that you aren’t able to take you
camera in the museum. Which I understand…but
it’s just kind of lame.--
The following day, as we started our trek across the state,
we stopped in Chapel Hill. One of my
picks. Why? To see the Gimghoul Castle at Chapel
Hill. Honestly, had we had a day longer
in our trip, I would’ve loved to have stayed and explored Chapel Hill a little
more. The campus there is
exquisite. Trees line the road, and it
is beautiful.
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| Gimghoul Castle |
Next week, sometime, I will tell you all about our jaunt
through the Outer Banks.
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