We left Grand Haven on a Saturday morning and headed toward Lexington, Kentucky for one night. We were lucky to find a nearby restaurant on Bring Fido.
The next morning, we were headed to our VRBO rental in Tennessee. On the way, we made a stop in Knoxville to photograph the statue honoring legendary Women’s Basketball coach Pat Summit at the University.
Our rental was located on Douglas Lake near Sevierville, Tennessee. This was a place I had longed to visit for a while. Growing up, I was always aware that my ancestors came from this area, the Huskey line to which my Great Grandmother was born. Later, I started doing my own genealogy research and I found more names, the Schults, Duggans, Emerts, and Trotters all came to this area of Tennessee in the late 1700s from the east (North Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania). They mostly lived in what is now Smoky Mountain National Park.
It was just about a week before the first day of fall and the mornings were cool, crisp and foggy, especially on the lake. Douglas Lake is actually a reservoir that is used by the Tennessee Valley Authority. This must be the time of year that they lower the lake levels to prepare for the winter because each day, the lake seemed to disappear.
We spent day one trying to track down some grave sites and then exploring the town of Gatlinburg. We found Isaac in a cemetery right behind the busy city of Gatlinburg.
We also visited Emerts Cove and Pittman Center but the cemetery at Emerts Cove was not accessible due to bridge construction. Still, I truly enjoyed just being in this area, soaking in the ambiance and exploring what we could see.