Valley Vino

We drank our way across Southeastern Tennessee's wine country. Most of the counties in Tennessee are "dry" so you have to go to a winery to buy wine, and who-knows-where to buy hard liquor. Interestingly, the grocery stores in dry counties DO sell beer.

We have now sampled wine at the Tennessee Valley, Ocoee, Tennessee Mountainview, and Strikers Premium wineries. And there are still a few more nearby we want to try! Very few of the wineries grow their own grapes, but rather buy from upstate New York growers. Tennessee Mountainview does have it's own 50-acre spread of over 20 varieties of Muscadine grapes. For one dollar you can graze and for $1.29/lb. you can pick your own to take home. We did both! We also added to our vocabulary: viticulture and oenology. Look them up. . .

On Our Knees at Church

Well, it was back to Hiwassee College campus today for more volunteer work. Drew and I tended to a badly neglected rose garden at Buckner Memorial Chapel. We've been coming over from Sweetwater to attend services at this Methodist church and it's been driving me crazy every time I walked by this poor ole rose bed. So I finally did something about it! Drew and I spent the afternoon weeding, pruning, edging, and fertilizing these once-beautiful roses. As we were down on our knees deep in dirt, the carillon serenaded us every hour on the hour--and we were there for many hours! Buckner Chapel is so lovely perched atop a high hill, with it's cross soaring up to the sky. Just looking at it's setting brings a peaceful feeling. We probably won't be here long enough to see the full effect of our efforts in the rose garden, but that's okay.

Marketing Mania

Since we're in a lull between Labor Day and mid-October when the leaves change and snowbird traffic starts, the focus now is on marketing. KOA has some great tools for park owners. We downloaded a flyer template and Drew and I went around Sweetwater and surrounding towns posting flyers. The owners hadn't yet taken advantage of the camper database that KOA has for each campground, so with a little assistance from KOA corporate, I was able to help the owners download a spreadsheet. We took that information on Sweetwater KOA's previous guests and sent out an email broadcast announcing Fall specials to those whose email address we had. It's a quick and cost-effective way to advertise! Since there were lots of guests that we had no email address for, going forward, those of us who work the desk are going to focus on capturing email information on everyone, not just those who want an email confirmation of their reservation. It will be interesting over the next six weeks that we're here to see how effective our marketing efforts turn out to be!

Piggin' Out

A downside of being away from home is missing our favorite eating spots. Well, we found a Sonny's substitute, so our BBQ cravings are satisfied for now. Bradley's is a local favorite and we know why. Their pulled pork is to die for. I tried the "Piggyback" which is a huge baked potato topped with pork, butter, sour cream, and a cheese sauce. I had it without the BBQ sauce and the smokey flavor of the pork was wonderful with the potato. Now that we know of Bradley's, we'll be back to this "Sonny's of Sweetwater" many, many times.

Sweetwater in Bloom

The city is abloom with lovely flowers everywhere you look. There's a beautifully landscaped welcome sign perched atop a small hill as you enter town from the West on Hwy 68. The town center is colorfully decorated with flags and flowers, and flower arrangements adorn the small-town sidewalks. It's a beautiful time to be in Sweetwater.

Holy Cow!

In these parts, the cow IS pretty holy. Today we toured the Mayfield dairy production center. Grandpa Mayfield started providing milk in the local area around 1910 with just a few cows and a stream to cool the milk once bottled. Now Mayfield products reach to all surrounding states and during the school year, they distribute 10 million cartons of milk a week to schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. The dairy was sold to Dean Foods in the 90's, but many family members still work in and run the business. Their story reminds me of the Gustafsons in our area of Florida (also purchased by Dean Foods, I believe).

As interesting as it was to watch plastic jugs being molded and filled, cardboard being folded into milk cartons, and ice cream being made and packaged, our favorite part was the ice cream parlor where we could sample and purchase all Mayfield's various flavors. For only $1.50, you could get a cup that overfloweth--and we did! Now our bellies overfloweth.

Labor (day) of Love at Sweetwater KOA

Labor Day weekend was jam-packed in many ways. The RV park was filled to the brim with happy campers (pardon the pun). We had to put rigs on the unimproved sites and tent campers in the primitive camping field--and they were thrilled to have ANY spot on this busy holiday weekend! The scheduled activities were a big hit. It started with karaoke on Friday night, then a pancake breakfast Saturday morning, karaoke again on Saturday night, an ice cream social on Sunday afternoon, and a G-rated movie outdoors on Sunday night. The owners donated all proceeds from the pancake breakfast and ice cream social to KOA's children's cancer fund, so it's not only nice for the guests, it's also for a good cause. The weather was warm and sunny so the pool was very popular. Beach volleyball and the jumping pillow saw activity from 9 am (when opened) to dark.

It was pretty much all hands on deck to prepare the park. Drew, the other workamper couple, and the owners spent all day Thursday plus Friday morning mowing, trimming, and weeding each site and the grounds. I helped weed, plant flowers, and stock up the store. Buddy watered and fertilized Kamp K-9. There was a steady stream of arrivals beginning at about 1:00 Friday afternoon, continuing through Saturday. At times there was a line of rigs two-across and four deep. When that occurred, the guys led the guests to their sites first and had them come back to check in once they were set up.

The owners' mission and passion is about families and creating family memories. I think it's fair to say, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"!