Tigers, Squirrels, and Bars -- OH MY!

I apologize for being so lax recently on the update, but we've been in 5 new states in quick succession, so I have an excuse, though rather lame. After our great experience in Georgia we drove to Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson is a great university and just about the whole town. We stayed at the palacial James Martin Inn, had a two room suite, and bathed in luxury after a month in a 21 foot motorhome. The golf course was fun and we were paired up with two others for the first time -- two brothers named Todd and William from nearby Easley who were a great example of southern gentlemen. They didn't even laugh at my play. The signature hole is #17, a par 3 with a green shaped like a tiger paw with 4 sand traps behind. It was beautiful, especially with the lake in the background.

North Carolina was next and a wonderful little town called Brevard. It is only one of two towns in the U.S. with white squirrels -- they really are white. We just missed White Squirrel Days but bought a "Fightin' White Squirrel" tee shirt anyway. The mayor stopped and chatted for awhile and I was interviewed on the radio at WSQL. The golf course, Glen Cannon, was very pleasant with a great 2nd hole, a par 3 with the tee shot over a mountain stream onto a small green with a pretty waterfall in the background. I missed the green twice but blamed my ineptitude on the scenic beauty which caused me to lose concentration. Brevard has 200 waterfalls nearby in the Pisgah National Forest and is a tremendous little town. Gloria said if our kids and grandkids lived nearby she'd move there in a minute.

Tennessee was our next stop, at the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park where Davy himself spent his early years killing bars and learning how to sing "mighty fine horse on a winding course, gotta git me a purty woman's love." We visited Jonesborough which was the first capitol of our 14th state, Franklin, formed in 1785. Or at least it was our 14th state for a few years until word reached our nation's capitol and congress nixed the idea, so the area later became Tennessee. We played golf at a pretty rural course called Graysburg Hills and chatted with a fellow who told us some funny stories about guys getting killed.

Next we drove north on the Country Music Highway, U.S. 23 in eastern Kentucky which was coal mining country. We stopped at Yatesville Lake State Park and played golf at Eagle Ridge, a golf course which is so steep and hilly that we lost about two dozen balls and had a great time. The durn things kept falling off the tiny landing areas and dropping into the rough about a hundred feet below. Their signature hole is number 13 which drops off about 250 feet onto the fairway and green below. Fortunately we brought our binoculars and could see the green in the distance. I managed to make a par, and it was beautiful watching my tee shot sail off into the distance. This course is definitely not for the weak at heart or for those with vertigo.

We are now in West Virginia at Pipestem State Park in the southern part of the state. The course here is very green, but we had slow play yesterday -- we walked in the heat and waited many minutes for the foursome ahead of us which made the experience less enjoyable. I hit into a sand trap on the third hole and saw lots of litle ant hills all around. After hitting out, the fellow with us suggested I get out quickly because the ant hills were actually yellow jacket nests and they were starting to get restless. I didn't get stung but wondered why the folks would allow such a sand "trap." The park is very pretty and last night we took a tram down about 1,000 feet to a nice restaurant below which borders the Bluestone River. A nice way to finish after a warm and tiring day on the links.