Smoky Mountains Trip--Part 3

After leaving South Carolina it was off to North Carolina for the night before heading on to the mountains. Once we arrived and found a motel it was time for dinner. The front desk suggested an italian restaurant that was around the corner. We headed there. We ended up at Villa Antonio. It's a little concerning when you arrive and there are only about 2 cars in the parking lot but we went ahead and stayed. The food was good but not as good as the prices would want you to believe. By the time we left there were more people there.

First on our list of things to do the next morning was family business that needed attending to. Chris's father, Sgt Robert Howie, is buried in Sharon Memorial Park in Charlotte, NC. As you can see the North Carolina clay had started to take over so we had to clean up his marker a bit. Next time we'll have a small brush or broom so we can properly clean the marker. We also took photos of the markers for several other family memebers. 



Robert Howie as a boy.





Robert Howie grave marker









Carl Sandburg 1955



From Charlotte we headed out toward the mountains. On the way we saw a sign for the Carl Sandburg home, called Connemara, and with his connection to Abraham Lincoln it was a must see. Well there was some road construction and I think the GPS was also having issues but it seemed to take forever to get there. In fact we drove by the entrance to the parking lot. When we got there the weather was cold, windy, and damp so we decided against taking the walk back to the house and instead were satisfied to take photos around the front lake area. It is really a beautiful and secluded area and one can see why the Sandburgs moved there. I did not realize that Lilian Sandburg was a champion goat breeder. The home has decendants from her original goat heard.



In front of the lake at the Sandburg house



Carl Sandburg home





From along the trail leading to the Sandburg home.