Almost 11 Months Of The Beard Blog

It is sometimes hard to believe that July is almost over, and with it 11 months since I started growing a beard and this part of the blog. It was about this time last year that I decided to start growing a beard at the start of September. Now here the calendar is about to turn to August and I will be one month for a full year. As I blogged about in my last post my birthday also happened this week (Monday to be precise). Oh, just like last week, this is also another Beard Blog were I took my photos yesterday (Thursday) and post the blog today (Friday). Anyway, I hope to have some big news about the blog over the next week (I hope).

At Watauga Dam this time last year.

Day 310 & blowing not on my birthday.

Day 312 on Lovers Leap...

...& Hot Springs.

Day 313, my birthday!

My new friend at Ted's Montana Grill on Day 314.

Day 315

Left

Right

Below

Because It's My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday and with it I have had some fun. We actually started on Saturday with a trip to the Farmers Daughter near Chuckey. Terry's brother Sean and wife Susan came down to Tennessee and we thought taking them to this restaurant who specializes in country cooking was a good plan. If you have never been you get to choose from two meats and then they bring you an array of different vegetables like Mashed Potatoes, Soup Beans, Carrot Souffle, Corn Beard Salad and many others. Our two meats were Fried Chicken and Catfish, always good choices. Oh, you also get a desert to cap off this huge meal. It is a great place to eat. In edition next door in front of Mountain Bulk Foods (which I will write more about sometime) was the Auntie Ruth's Donuts. They hand make donuts in their food truck and they are great. Because Terry's brother likes birthday cake I got two this year. The first we cut on Saturday and it was from Peggy Ann's Bakery in Greeneville and was very goood! They even made little sugar rocks.

For today we (Deb, Terry and Dad) headed to Knoxville. We first went to Whole Foods and REI (which are in the same shopping center) which was fun. Then we went back to McKay Books, CDs, Movies and More. I still had some trade and took a few more books to trade and I picked up a couple of cool books...cheap! After a stop at Trader Joe's we headed to our dinner destination, the Ye Olde Steak House down US 441 headed toward Gatlinburg. Terry said it was a good place and I read a lot of cool reviews. I will say it wasn't what I expected it had a rustic charm which was nice. With any restaurant it is the food and this place is a winner. I had the Baked Sweet Potato and the Buttered Mushrooms. I got these charcoaled and let me say they were great. As good as these were the star of the evening was the Prime Rib. The cut I had was cooked medium rare and sat in a bath of Au Jus sauce and it was excellent! I didn't get desert because waiting at the house was my main birthday cake, a coconut birthday cake (also from Peggy Ann). We had it with vanilla ice cream...nice! Oh, there was no tornado like last year which was also a plus.

Hot Day Of Hiking In Hot Springs

Since it is my birthday weekend  (technically tomorrow) I decided I needed to get out on the trail. I will admit, because of this and that, I just haven't been getting out to hike how I would like. So, with a nice day Sunday I was getting out for a birthday hike, come hell or high water. Also, since Deb was going I didn't want to go craz on difficulty. With that I decided that we would hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) to Lovers Leap above Hot Springs,  it is a spot I have wanted to do for a while. If you have never been to Hot Springs it is a little trail community in the mountains of North Carolina about 30 miles south of Greeneville. The AT heads right down Main Street (they have AT logos in the sidewalk ). I have been to Hot Springs twice before but this was Deb's first time. Anyway, we parked in the public lot in town and hiked the AT across the bridge over the French Board River. The AT then headed about four-tenths of a mile long the river, which had some lovely views including a small, wide rapids, before heading up toward Lovers Leap. While steep, this half-mile of the AT switchbacked a lot. It was narrow and rocky, but there are a couple of views before making it to Lovers Leap. Here there are two different outcrops that provide views of the French Board River, the North Carolina Mountains and Hot Springs, it is wonderful! While it was clear which made the views nice it was hot. Even at almost 3,000 feet it was stifling. Well, since we were doing the short loop we headed down the Silvermine Trail. It is steeper than the AT as it doesn’t switchback a lot. We avoid disaster coming down as Deb slipped on some gravel on the trail. She was OK, but it could have been a lot worse. Being a non-AT trail it is not very well maintained, but we found our way back to the Silvermine parking area and the AT. Once back in Hot Springs we walked through town and visited some shops, including Bluff Mountain Outfitters were I got my last raised relief map. I think Deb liked Hot Springs, but I think we will go back when it is a little cooler. Oh, once I got back to St. Clair I built myself a birthday fire...nice!

Beard Blog: Week 46

This week I am a day late or two, it just matters how you look at it. I started this Beard Blog on Thursday after watching Mountain Men and Alone, so it was after 11pm when I started my trim. So, technically the pictures of my light trim for this week was on Thursday, but I am writing it just after midnight on Friday morning. It is also my birthday week (it is Monday), but I have friends and family with July birthdays, so to all of them have a happy one!

Day 300 in SW Virginia.

Day 307/308

Left

Right

Below