After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy things...Read more here.... 
Round and round and round she goes and where the Blogging Boomer Carnival stops this week is Life Two! As usual, our intriguing group of boomers have much to say about a variety of things – from fashion to politics – so why not hop on board the merry-go-round and join in the fun. Surf on over to LifeTwo.com to check out this week’s summary.
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Baby Boomers, blogging boomers carnival, lifetwo.com, midlife | 
Leave a commentI’ve just been notified that Hole In The Donut has once again been nominated for a “Love This Site” Award in the travel blog category at Divine Caroline. I was nominated last year as well and placed 10th; this year I’d love to be in the top three. To vote for Hole In The Donut as the best travel blog, go to DivineCaroline.com or click on the Divine Carline badge in the right-hand sidebar. You must be registered to vote, but joining is free. Thanks in advance for your support!
Phony teepees, gold panning operations, and stores overflowing with “Indian” souvenirs stamped “Made in Taiwan” dominate the main street in Cherokee, North Carolina. On the sidewalks, performers with not a whit of Indian blood don garish costumes and perform steps bearing little resemblance to actual Cherokee ceremonial dance. In a shopping center parking lot, kids line up to ride a mechanical bull, while down the street, giant arrows direct tourists to a live bear display. Although located within the Reservation lands of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, it would be easy to dismiss the town of Cherokee as just another tourist trap and drive right on through. But don’t. Instead, turn at the Cherokee Museum and drive to the top of hill to Oconaluftee Indian Village, where an authentic Cherokee experience awaits.
Main highway running through Cherokee, North Carolina is strewn with touristy attractions and gift stores
The Cherokees in Western North Carolina today descend from those who those who hid in the hills, defying removal during the infamous Trail of Tears mandated by President Andrew Jackson, and others who returned, many on foot. Gradually they created a sovereign nation of 100 square miles and, in 1948, established the Cherokee Historical Association to carry out their mission of preserving the history and culture of the Cherokee People. Oconaluftee Indian Village and its sister operation, the Unto These Hills Outdoor Drama are central to those efforts. Continue reading
Tucked into the northwest corner of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Cades Cove is one of very few places in the entire national park system where nature and human history mingle. Cherokees were the first to discover this relatively flat valley between mountains; they camped in the Cove for weeks or months at a time, hunting deer, elk, bison and bears. By 1821 white settlers had discovered the idyllic site. They cleared the land, building log homes, barns, corncribs, smokehouses, and grist mills. The bottom land was rich and fertile and produced abundant crops, while the surrounding forest provided plentiful game; life was hard but good. Although the occasional Cherokee was spotted, aside from one reported incident of a hunter being killed by an Indian, the settlers and Cherokees co-existed peacefully, perhaps because the Cherokee had never built permanent villages in Cades Cove.
Cades Cove is an idyllic valley between mountain ridges in the northwest corner of Great Smoky Mountain National Park
My intended route between Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina took me up and over the Smokies and past the road leading to Cades Cove. I was on no specific schedule and had never investigated the Tennessee side of the park, so I detoured twenty-some miles on a serpentine road, following a sparkling creek tripping its way over stone ledges and giant boulders as it rushed down the mountainside. At the end of the road, cars, hikers, and cyclists shared a narrow one-way eleven-mile road that loops around the valley. Continue reading
It’s time again. This week’s host for our Blogging Boomers Carnival, The Boomer Chronicles, has provided a great review of subjects currenty being discussed by our fascinating group of boomers – everything from fashion to politics. There’s a little something for everyone. Check it out and enjoy!
Posted in Carnivals | Baby Boomers, blogging boomers carnival, boomer chronicles, midlife | Leave a comment
Lil stood with eyes lowered and hands demurely clasped as spectators filed into the Meeting House. When everyone was seated on the simple wooden benches running down either side of the hall, she looked up and began to sing: “Welcome, welcome, one and all.”
Lil regales visitors with Shaker songs and dances
One of several interpretive guides at Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Lil has made a study of the music of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Clad in a dull blue, ankle-length dress, her hair covered in a net cap, Lil sang hymns that had reverberated through the Meeting House when this was still an active Shaker community. Words became undecipherable tongues as she raised her hands in the air, shaking her widespread palms in jubilation, demonstrating the charismatic trembling that earned members the nickname of “Shakers.” Continue reading
Posted in Southeast US travel | blogsherpa, crafts, furniture, handicrafts, horses, Kentucky, Lexington, Morgan, Percheron, photos, Pleasant Hill, religion, Shaker Village, Travel, USA | 12 Comments
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