Final Days Of The Shakedown Trip

Hey guys! This blog is long overdue, so thanks for your patience. First, I would like to point out that we have almost 150 subscribers, and that over 2,000 different people have seen our site! Second, I would like to thank you all for your immense support in making the newly named Merchant Monthly Memories (aka the video) a reality. The 1st episode is in the post-production stages. Stay tuned!

Now, the last post I wrote was in Gatlinburg. A lot has happened since then. To name a few activities, going to Dollywood, completing a 12 mile bike ride, and visiting multiple new restaurants.

Nate was enthralled when told about Dollywood. He was able to ride his first roller coaster, though he got scared on one of them. Poor fellow. ​I was able to ride some great coasters at Dollywood as well, and, with my mom, I enjoyed some of the ones Nate could not do. I rode my first coaster with loops, which, by the way, had not one loop, nor two, but three loops! I went in with a bang! We also enjoyed the cinnamon bread at the grist mill in Dollywood. Aunt Angela and Aunt Tava: Thanks for the recommendation! It was heavenly. Dollywood was a great experience for all of us, and we would definitely recommend it. 

Our bike ride was around Hilton Head Island. Because of a wrong turn, it became 12-13 miles long, instead of the 10 it was supposed to be. Although the ride was long, it was mostly shaded, and there was a nice breeze. We were able to bike to Harbor Town, a quaint place on the water, and back, plus grab a scrumptious dinner at Mellow Mushroom. This revived us enough to slowly but surely pedal the remaining 1/2 mile to the bike shop. 

My dad, in his last post, mentioned Grill 73, an American-Russian restaurant with amazing food all around. Another place in Gatlinburg that we liked was called the Magnolia Tree, and they had an amazing Philly Cheese Steak! After moving on to Charlotte, NC, we met my Dad's friends, Mr. and Mrs. Katz, at a farm to table place called Local Dish, which had fried green beans! Whoever heard of that? But they tasted great! We enjoyed seeing the Katzes. They pointed us to a pepper/hot sauce store which is known worldwide. Ninety different countries order sauce from this place!
While on the subject of Charlotte, we enjoyed seeing Sanikakaki (Ash's sister-in-law). She was working in Charlotte at the time and visited us for lunch. We enjoyed the visit!

In Hardeeville, we came across Alljoy Donut Company, which was great. The service there was exceptional, as was the taste of the donuts. Lemon meringue, salted caramel and yum yum (a twisted donut with cinnamon in the middle and chocolate drizzled) were the ones we sampled. The owner, Bill, previously lived in and had restaurants in Bardstown, KY. We had just made plans to be in Kentucky and Bardstown was one area we looked at visiting. So, Bill gave us some good recommendations.
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Even though we enjoyed all these unique restaurants, we longed for food from home. We just had to, after 2 weeks, eat Chick-fil-A. Comfort food!!!

Well, you're mostly caught up with us! We're trying to figure out how to get Merchant Monthly Memories videos to all of you. Got any ideas?

-Woodsman Will-