Elderhostel at The Mountain Retreat, Highlands, NC (1988)

[Key: Memoir in Times New Roman, Travel Journal in Arial]

5/21/88
Highlands, N. Car.
We drove 480 miles today on I-77 to Statesville, N. Car. where we spent the night at a comfortable EconoLodge for a most affordable price - $29.00.

5/22/88
Left Statesville early in a.m. for Highlands, stopping in Asheville for a little sightseeing.  The Cultural Arts + Crafts Bldg was quite interesting.  Then we toured the U. of N. Car. Botanical Gardens which were lovely.  We were impressed with the acreage + variety + number of plants.
Our drive to the Mountain was lengthier than we thought, but we arrived in time to register + get ready for social hour at the lodge before dinner in the dining hall.  We met many interesting people from all parts of the country.  It’s a Unitarian/Universalist Retreat Center.   Had a delicious dinner on red/white checkered cloths - 8 to a table after a social hour at the lodge.  We had a slide presentation of the Mountain after dinner + then settled in Cabin 8-A for a comfortable night’s rest.

5/23/88
After breakfast the day began with an informative talk by George Brosi on Southern Appalachian Literature.  It was followed by a study on Wellness Lifestyle + led by Dee Evers, a very capable + personable R.N.  We discussed the wholistic approach + if we adhere to all the good health rules; we could easily live to be 100!
Our afternoon’s discussion on bird watching was led by the able Dr. Frank McCamey who showed us slides of the various native birds of the region.  Then we boarded Fred, our bus, + drove down the mountain to the Highlands Botanical Gardens.  This was a great birdwatching location, and with his help, we were able to see many plants, + wildflowers, as well as birds.  Anne Heath, the naturalist, gave an excellent talk + slide presentation after dinner.  Quite a day!

May 24, 1988
It was another interesting session on Southern Appalachian Literature, names like: Harriet Arrow, Mary Lee Settle, James Still and Jesse Stuart to name a few.
Instead of Wellness Lifestyle this a.m. Dottie Pollack + I dodged the raindrops in + out of the shops in Highlands.  There was such a downpour that our afternoon field trip was cancelled + we had a lengthy but interesting session on bird watching – the use of binoculars included.  After social hr in the lodge + dinner we watched a tape + slides of birds given by Frank McCamey of Atlanta.

May 25, ‘88
This was a fun day!  We met on the deck of the lodge at 6:45 a.m. for a bird walk + saw: Carolina chickadees, red-eyed vireo, great crested flycatcher, junkoes, + catbird.  It was quite windy or we would’ve seen more.  George Brosi + Dee Evers both led stimulating discussions on Literature + Wellness.  After lunch we had more bird watching, then an interesting field trip to bridal veil falls + Dry Falls.  You can walk under the latter one without getting wet.  Marilyn McMinn McCredie’s folklore + songs were the best entertainment yet!

May 26, 1988
Gorgeous day.  We had our usual a.m. session with George + Dee.  After lunch we had a field trip to Sam Pickleheim’s farm.  This gentleman, along with other early settlers, left their farms for a more productive livelihood in the cotton mills in 1912-1917.  Now our government has sold part of the trees to private companies for the lumber, mainly the huge white pines.  Indians lived in the caves 10,000 yr. ago.  We took pictures for Mike of the rock formation.
After social hour on the deck, we had a delicious turkey dinner, followed by graduation + a movie “Foxfire.”

May 27, 1988
The Mountain – Asheville
While Bert packed the van, I packed our lunches in the dining hall, and we bid “adieu” to our friends before departing for Asheville.  We arrived at the gorgeous Biltmore Estate about noon, toured the garden, + had lunch on the lawn.  Approximately two hours later, we completed our tour on the mansion, which had taken 1,000 men five years to complete, and were on our way to the winery.  Never have we seen such a collection of European tapestries, China, Oriental rugs, etc displayed so tastefully as in this estate, not to mention the garden filled with a variety of flowers, plants, shrubs + trees!!

May 28, 1988
Asheville - Cincinnati

Rocky River VII (1987)

Erich and Kyle on the van (11/28/1987 in Providence, RI)

Kent, Bert and Hammy at Lincoln Woods, RI

The year 1988 seemed to be noted for marriages: Mike and Donna were married Feb. 20th in Ft. Lauderdale, and Kent & Tamiko tied the knot at the [First] Unitarian Church in April.

Donna and Mike (2/20/1988 in Hollywood, FL)

Tamiko and Kent (4/30/1988 in Rumford, RI)

Hammy and Bert on their 40th
wedding anniversary (6/12/1988)

Erich and Kyle at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
(6/29/1988)

Hammy, Kyle and Erich at the K's
(6/29/1988)

Kyle at Jeanne's pool (6/30/1988 in Rocky River, OH)

One year later in 1989, Brynne was born on April 14th and Donna + I shared our April birthdays with her.

Other happy events during the late Eighties included Erich’s + Kyle's visits with us in Rocky River + Marco Island.  Fun times were ours when Jean + Milt L shared their pool on Tonawanda [Drive] with our guys with their grandsons.  We drove to Danville, Pa. where we met Kent + Tamiko half-way from R.I. for the exchange.  What fun was in store when they arrived in R.R., not just with the Ls, but our annual trips to that great amusement park, Cedar Point.  "What fun until we got home about 11 p.m. + Grandma made us get showers before going to bed!"

More fun was in store for us at Marco Island when we made our annual visits during ski week.  Other grandkids of Marco friends came during ski week + we had our own club house meetings.  Too bad our cousin Ryan couldn’t come from Colo. at the same time.

In addition to our entertaining grandchildren in Rocky River and Marco Island in the late 80’s + early 90’s, Bert + I decided to check out various Elderhostels in different part of the country.  One of our favorites was at the Highlands in No. Car. + another one was Gettysburg, Pa.  We did eleven in all before retirement at Azalea Trace, and you can read about them in our folders in the lower drawer of my filing cabinet + also in my green diary.
[See Elderhostel at The Mountain Retreat, Highlands, NC (1988)]