Our Fall 2011 "Southern Tour" (in pics)

Could you ask for a prettier day for a road trip?












One of those landmarks that tells us "We're almost there!" (Time to get excited!)










For this Big City gal, our arrival in our destination town was like a step back in time!




Who needs pumpkins when you get greeted by this Halloween Sweetie?!?











The Big Guy auditioned a new partner for his attempt to get on Dancing With The Stars. He might want to get her some higher heels!






The colors in the Great Smoky Mountains (Maggie Valley, NC) were at absolute peak that day. We were on our way up the mountain to Cherokee, NC.









Strange looking "cloud" hanging over the mountain!








Hmmm, our suspicions were right. That IS snow on the ground - in North Carolina in October!! (Okay, so we were pretty high up in the mountains BUT it is the South and it WAS October!!!)





Lots of great food, loud music and loads of fun at the Oktoberfest in Valhalla, SC. (It was super crowded ! I didn't quite expect all those people at an event in such a small town ... and it was competing with a home game at Clemson, just down the road!!)

**Incidentally, Clemson won.




Everybody did a little toe-tapping at the Oktoberfest, even the scarecrow!!














Just one of the reasons to hate running out of time on this visit! (Although an even better reason to return soon!!)



While still colorful, some areas along the Blue Ridge Mountains had already passed their peak on our return trip.





The Tennessee Visitor's Center atop the mountain gave a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains (any direction you looked!) Trees of every color formed a true Autumn palette of color.



Had an interesting lunch at a diner about mid-way up I-81 in Virginia - an "open-face chili burger"! I really liked this one!! Basically they laid the roll out flat and placed an average-sized burger on each half and piled lots of spicy chili on top, topping it off with shredded cheddar and chopped onions. (A blob of sour cream was optional.)




The trees in Harper's Ferry, W still had a lot of changing to do!!







And that brings us back to home!!