Lower 48 Road Trip: Tennessee, North Carolina & South Carolina

“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.’ ” -2 Kings 13:18

Overcomers, can you even believe the U.S. election is almost here? The race for the White House is on the homestretch! Voting is underway in most states and this critical moment in history is becoming very real. In some ways, I want it to be over already, but I remind myself to stay in peace, trust God and let each day come as it will. May God’s will be done! Speaking of historical moments, just over a month ago, multiple Southern states were hit severely hard by Hurricane Helene. It caused catastrophic flooding in North Carolina around the area of Asheville… a place we visited on our road trip just over a year ago. In fact, the three beautiful states of Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina were all impacted by this devastating storm. My heart goes out to the incredible people of these states, as well as those in Georgia, Florida and even Virginia who were affected. I was in shock when I saw and heard stories from around the Asheville area. It is truly heartbreaking… but God is with them. I was encouraged to hear of how the church has rallied to help the people who are suffering. God doesn’t promise to protect us from all suffering, but he does promise to comfort us in it. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” God will see them through this tragic time and he will bring something beautiful out of it. I know because he gave me a very specific encouraging word for Asheville, which I share below. God has so many good things planned for these states. Be encouraged as you read what God spoke and what we enjoyed about Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Blessings to you all!

Tennessee: is in the shape of an arrow in both directions, long and thin. It is the center of the U.S. and the South. The Lord is striking the ground with an arrow over and over and over again to break the power of the religious spirit. God will use specific people as some of these arrows in worship. He has an army of arrows in His hand. These verses from 2 Kings 13:18-19 came to mind: “And he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground with them.’ And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.’ ” I know Nashville is known for country music, and I believe God is using this city and state to gather worshipers (arrows) who will break the chains of religion. Praise God!

We visited two different parts of Tennessee on this trip. In September, we drove down from Virginia into the eastern part of the state. I was very curious to see the areas of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina because they used to be Cherokee land and I have roots there. The story passed down in my family is that my great-great-grandma Evalena (Turlington) Quinn New grew up on a Cherokee reservation east of Gatlinburg. My grandpa’s cousin, who is still living, heard this from Evalena directly. However, when you start digging into old Native American history, the paths often just lead to nowhere because the paper trail hits a dead end. We have a couple records showing she was born in Sparta, TN and was married in White County. She met my great-great-grandpa Quinn while she was working as a lamplighter in a hotel… so cute! However, beyond these few records and the oral family history, which do not exactly line up, we are having an impossible time finding more information to fit all the pieces together. I have other Cherokee ancestors who came from Georgia and other states who eventually ended up in western Arkansas. It’s important to add that I do not have citizenship with any Cherokee tribe, but I am only interested in discovering more about my family’s heritage. In light of all this, I was excited to visit the cities and towns of eastern Tennessee. We first drove through downtown Sevierville and noticed there was so much traffic. Large, tricked-out trucks were everywhere! We didn’t know there would be a huge car and truck show in town the weekend we were there… what are the odds? Of course it was interesting to see all of the different kinds of vehicles, but since traffic was barely moving, we decided to get on some back roads to get to Pigeon Forge for the night. Traffic from the car show was still pretty heavy when we drove through town the next day. Pigeon Forge is a fun tourist destination for families, with arcades, theme parks, shows, shops and restaurants. We were really craving a classic breakfast before exploring the Great Smoky Mountains, but every place in town was packed, so we decided to head on to Gatlinburg.

We made our way into Gatlinburg on a very curvy and narrow mountain road, where we passed large houses perched precariously on the mountainside overlooking the town. The downtown area is fun and vibrant. It is more upscale and classy than Pigeon Forge and seems to appeal more to adults than to kids, but there are still attractions for kids such as arcades and miniature golf. It was so busy in Gatlinburg that we still had a hard time finding a breakfast place, but we lucked out and got into the Log Cabin Pancake House just in time. This restaurant has real Southern mountain charm and the food is about what you would expect. Gatlinburg was so charming overall that I would love to go back, but not during a car show weekend! It would be fun to explore if it was less busy. After breakfast, we eagerly made our way out of the crowded towns into the quiet and refreshingly mysterious Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The clouds from the recent rain hung on the tops of the mountains like gray smoke. The color of the mountains themselves is even a smoky, dark blue-gray in places, so their name is very fitting. As we made our way through the mountains up to the Tennessee and North Carolina state line, I tried to imagine what life was like for the Cherokee living there long ago. We stopped at Newfound Gap to take in the view and snap some pictures at the border of the states.

A few weeks later in October, we were back in Tennessee again to visit our friends, the Hunts, who live in Spring Hill. The Hunt family moved from Washington to Tennessee several years ago, but we have stayed in touch even with the distance. Of course we had to make a stop to see them when we were passing from Alabama up to Kentucky. We had a barbecue and stayed up late catching up. The next morning, we went to church together at HopeUC Nashville and worshiped in a classy venue out in the country. It has an indoor and outdoor feel with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The worship team was in the middle of the room and chairs surrounded them on every side. It was a powerful atmosphere. After church, we met at Bishop’s Meat and Three in Franklin for a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and sides. The food was incredible and the sandwich is next level! I crave it sometimes and jump at anything remotely close to the sandwich in my area. We also shared encouraging words from the Lord with our friends. We had such a special time together before we said our goodbyes and hit the road again. We drove through Nashville as we headed north to Kentucky. I’m so thankful for our time in this wonderful state.

North Carolina: is in a “battle for its identity.” From west to east, it seemed like the people as a whole are in a struggle to decide who they are and who they want to be. This surprised me. I thought North Carolina would exemplify Southern Christian values, but it didn’t… at least not in the parts we visited. We first crossed over into North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains and enjoyed the rest of our picturesque drive through the national park. The sun started to peak through the clouds a little, which made everything more delightful. We happened to see two cow elk and we got within several feet of one that was bedded down. It was so surreal and exciting! Even though my Dad is a hunter and I kind of grew up around that culture, I had never been so close to an elk in the wild before. What a fun surprise! We made our way down into the Eastern Cherokee Reservation. Our first stop was the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. This is such a fascinating museum. The exhibits are high quality, containing many artifacts from everyday life, as well as modern Cherokee art and an interactive Cherokee Syllabary activity. I really enjoyed learning about Cherokee history and their traditional way of life. I wondered how my Cherokee ancestors lived and I hoped to, in some small way, relearn information my family lost through the years. If you are ever near the Great Smoky Mountains and have an interest in Cherokee culture, I highly recommend visiting the museum. There are many souvenir shops in the town of Cherokee, so we had fun walking from shop to shop seeing what kinds of knickknacks we could find. We also drove over to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort to look around. The casino is large with modern décor inside and a lot of people were there playing games. My husband enjoys playing casino games on a rare occasion, so we lost a little money (or basically donated to the tribe) before we left. For how nice the casino is, I was so shocked to see how much poverty exists on the reservation. I could not believe how rundown many homes were and I wondered what the casino was doing with the all the money. Clearly, it doesn’t seem to be helping the average Cherokees much. My overall impression is that the town of “Cherokee is depressed.” I’m not sure what you know about the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, but they hid out in the mountains and were not marched to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. They are still living in their ancestral homeland and I thought they would be the posterchildren for what a successful and prosperous native reservation should be like. Instead, the poverty existing there reminds me of many other reservations across America. It was so sad to see. Of course, it is nicer than some other reservations, but you could just feel the depression there. May the Lord bring a fresh wind of hope and blessing to the Eastern Cherokee.

We left the reservation and drove to Maggie Valley, where we stopped to eat dinner at a family-owned barbecue restaurant called Pop’s Butts on the Creek. We sat in a rustic, screened-in room facing the creek. The food was amazing! It has all the Southern favorites like sweet tea, fried okra and pulled pork. This place is a real treasure and a slice of true Carolina Barbecue. Stop in for a bite if you are in the area. After dinner, we drove to our classy and adorable little Airbnb in downtown Asheville. It was so nice to spend a couple nights in a real house… so refreshing and relaxing! I have been thinking of Asheville a lot over the past month. It’s so hard to believe the devastating level of flooding that hit the city and surrounding areas. Just over a year ago, we were walking around exploring the city. I can’t even imagine how much destruction has occurred and how many lives have been changed forever. It’s mind-blowing to think about. The Airbnb we stayed at was up a hill and had a long, steep set of stairs leading up to it. My guess is that the house was spared, but all the places we saw downtown probably didn’t make it. We saw the Buncombe County Courthouse and Pack Square Park. We had coffee at High Five Coffee and dinner at Strada Italiano. I wonder what these places look like now? Honestly, Asheville was different than I imagined it would be. It reminded me a lot of Eugene, Oregon, with just a little Southern flare. The culture wasn’t my favorite, but God gave me the most remarkable and encouraging word for Asheville… especially in light of all that’s happened. I heard Him say, “Asheville is called to deliverance, freedom, healing, peace and rest.” How amazing! God will literally bring these beautiful qualities to the people of Asheville as they heal and rebuild. Praise God!

When Gabe and I were in college, we watched a TV show promoting a gem mining place in North Carolina called Gem Mountain. Ever since then, he’s told me he wants to go to Gem Mountain and it became somewhat of a running joke. Since some gem mines were close by Asheville, we looked up the most convenient one we could get to on our route, which was Elijah Mountain Gem Mine And Crystal Store. The variety of gems, stones and minerals in their store is enormous. You can buy buckets or tubs of all different sizes and prices which contain gems buried in sand. Then you pan for the gems little by little and get to keep what you find. We were basically the only adults doing this… haha! Because they plant gems in the sand, you are guaranteed to find some and not all of them are from North Carolina, so it is really geared toward children. It was not quite the mining experience from an actually property we were hoping for, but it was still fun. We actually found multiple rubies, sapphires and emeralds in the rough! After mining, we headed down to South Carolina to visit family.

As you may know, Gabe moved all over the country when he was a child. Before moving to Oregon, he lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In fact, these years were some of the happiest of his whole childhood… along with his time in Bay City, Michigan. His dad worked as a pastor at Helen Street Church of Christ and Gabe lived just around the corner from there. He had a close friend who lived across the street and other friends he loved to play with. One of his neighbors even had a creepy “Boo Radley” house (it’s still there). The Fort Bragg military base was near Fayetteville, which fascinated Gabe as a boy. This city was such a special place to him, so I was exited to see it. After visiting family in South Carolina, we drove to Fayetteville to see his old home, church and friends’ houses. We noticed that Fayetteville is not a very nice city (I’m pretty sure we passed some strip clubs), but Gabe’s old neighborhood was nice and felt safe. It was so special to see his house, hear him share memories and see him point out where things happened… such as where his sister and her friend crashed his go cart into a bush at the church! I’m thankful we had the chance to see it all. It was almost dark when we left Fayetteville and headed to Oceans RV Resort near Surf City for the night. Surf City is another place Gabe has happy memories from because his family had gone there multiple times for vacation when they lived in Fayetteville. The next day, we drove into the resort town for breakfast. Gabe loves donuts and was craving some, so we found the most delicious donut place called Daybreak Donuts. They are not your average donuts… they practically melt in your mouth! We also got some savory breakfast bagel and egg sandwiches… yum! As we drove around town, I noticed all the brightly colored beach houses, which adds to the charm. Gabe was so excited to swim at the beach, but unfortunately, there was a storm coming in off the ocean. While the temperature in the air was warm, it was also windy and cloudy, so it was not ideal beach weather. Gabe decided to jump in the water anyway… so brave! We sat on the beach, put our feet in the sand and made the most of it. On a sunny day, this beach would be heavenly! Since the weather wasn’t cooperating, we decided to get back on the road.

One of Gabe’s childhood friends happens to live in Wilmington with his family. Years ago, Gabe found Kenny on Facebook and reconnected with him, but he hadn’t seen him since he moved away as a kid. Since we were driving toward Wilmington, Gabe decided to reach out to Kenny to see if he wanted to get together while we were passing through. It was a wonderful surprise when Kenny responded quickly and invited us both over for dinner that night. What a sweet experience it was to see my husband reunited with one of his close childhood friends. We enjoyed meeting his wife and children as well… Kenny’s mother was even there too. What a sweet family! We had a lovely dinner together and shared old stories and memories. I could see God’s handprints all over our time together. I even got to hold their pet bunny! After our visit, our hearts were full as we left for South Carolina.

South Carolina: is where “my peace will rest.” Out of all the Lower 48 states we visited, South Carolina was by far our favorite! It has the charming culture of the South and feels very all-American. There are farm stands, country stores and antique shops all across the state. You can tell Christian and family values are strong there, and I love that! We first entered the state when we drove down to visit my cousin Garrett and his wife Bailee in Greenville. They moved there from Oregon a couple years ago to start their life together and were expecting a baby girl. They took us into downtown Greenville for dinner and I was so impressed with the city. It was clean with bright, colorful buildings and strings of lights in the trees. We ate at Smoke on the Water, which had an amazing Southern menu and a great atmosphere. We had such a fun, encouraging time together and we prayed blessings over them. We stayed at their new house and the next morning, they made us some hearty biscuits and gravy for breakfast. My cousin even made us a full pan of lasagna so we could have multiple meals while traveling… what incredible hospitality! After saying goodbye, we drove across the state and passed by Columbia on our way to Fayetteville, North Carolina. After our time in North Carolina, we drove down to Myrtle Beach and stayed a night there. Myrtle Beach is a fun oceanside city with plenty of hotels and activities. We drove along Ocean Boulevard to see all the attractions… theme parks and shops line the road. It would be a fun place for a family vacation. The weather was still cloudy, so we didn’t go to the beach, but we did go to a themed outdoor shopping center called Broadway at the Beach. The shops are built around a man-made lagoon, which reminded me of Disney Springs in Florida. I’m not sure if Gabe enjoyed this place as much as I did (he’s not much of a shopper), but I had so much fun walking around exploring the shops. The most interesting place to me was the Paula Deen Store. It had all the fun kitchen gadgets and Southern foods. It also had a restaurant upstairs. What a fun concept! When it began to rain, our outdoor shopping adventure was over and we got back on the road to head for Charleston.

Out of all the cities we visited on this trip, Charleston was our number one most favorite city in America! The names I heard the Lord give it are “Charming Charleston” and “A jewel in the Lord’s crown.” I also heard Him say that it has a “special purpose… not for common use.” This word reminded me of the scriptures about “special purpose” items. The first one is Romans 9:21: “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” The other verses are 2 Timothy 2:20-21: “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” I encourage all the believers who are in the Charleston area to pray into these words and see what the Lord will do. He has special plans for this spectacular city!

We arrived in Charleston in the evening and found a seafood restaurant called Charleston Crab House, where I had some delicious shrimp and grits. We walked around the city after dark and fell in love with it. Gorgeous old plantation-style mansions line the streets right into downtown. The homes are painted in pretty pastel colors with window shutters and balconies (some even hang out over the sidewalk). Lanterns on the sides of the houses and buildings flicker with real flames, which feel like stepping back into another era. As we walked past a park enclosed by ornate iron gates with Spanish moss draping from the trees, I wondered how we even found ourselves in such a mysteriously romantic place. Palm trees stand tall along the streets where horse-drawn carriages pass by. The French Quarter has some cobblestone streets, bistros and a night market with art and live music. Many of the churches have tall steeples and some of the buildings have flowers and vines climbing up the sides. The city is on a peninsula surrounded by rivers that converge and open up to the ocean, so there are boats on almost every side. We stopped to have coffee and dessert while listening to live music at Bennes. It reminded me of the kind of place you would see in Paris. After a dreamy evening in the city, we drove to our Hipcamp spot in the area of James Island. This place ended up being pretty sketchy and was not as advertised. We were supposed to have access to a shower and a hot tub in the backyard, but instead there were two dogs aggressively barking at us through a chain-link fence and a lot of junk in the backyard. There was a low-hanging wire above the driveway, so we almost couldn’t park there and the water was basically inaccessible. The owner wasn’t helpful either, so we quickly got out of there the next morning and went back into downtown Charleston. We explored more of the French Quarter and stopped for coffee and a chocolate croissant at The Black Door Café. We also bought some tasty Benne wafers in a cute shop that had an old well inside. Then we left the beautiful city and headed for Georgia. Lastly, I couldn’t resist stopping at a little roadside shop called Carolina Cider Company in Yemassee to scope out all the goodies and gifts. Little gems like this are all over the state. I can’t wait to go back someday!

I hope you enjoyed learning about our favorite state and city on the trip. Did it surprise you? All three of these states hold special meaning and memories for us. We feel so blessed. Thank you for reading and be watching for more states coming up next week!