“The Marvelous Wonderettes”

After our adventure on the Country Music Highway yesterday, we headed back to the rigs for an early dinner.  It was my turn to cook.  I had started the frozen pork roast in the slow cooker before I went to bed on Monday, so I woke up to the tantalizing aroma of pork roast on Tuesday morning.  I had pulled the roast apart and let it simmer all day while we were gone.  I must say that my pulled pork sandwiches with homemade cole slaw really tasted good.

We ate early since we had reservations for the 6:30 pontoon boat cruise on Dewy Lake.  ($6.00)  It was a very relaxing one hour cruise.  The right side of the lake is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and we drifted past many of their boat accessible only campsites.  Wouldn’t those be nice places to stay if you owned a boat?

That lady on the left was born and raised on the mountain in the distance, and remembers having to leave at the age of five.  In order to protect the area from flooding, a dam was built and Dewy Lake was created.  That meant that communities and folks living in the lower areas had to vacate their homes.  There seems to be a common theme to the places I’ve visited lately.  The creation of things like the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Dewy Lake all involved the removal of people from their ancestral homes for the greater good of the country and all citizens.  While I have enjoyed seeing the beauty of all of these places, I can’t help but sympathize with the sacrifices these people made. 

After all of the hot temperatures many of us have endured recently, this lake tour was a welcome relief.  The young captain of this cruise snapped this picture of Pam and myself as we made our way around the lake.

We were headed for the main lodge this morning for a free van tour of the state park.  It was worth about what we paid for it since we had already seen most of everything on our own in the last couple of days.  I’d recommend it if it’s the first day you are in the park, or if you are the type that doesn’t investigate things on you own.

The highlight of the day came after lunch when we went down near the park lodge to see the Jenny Wiley Theater presentation of “The Marvelous Wonderettes.”   ($20.00)  It was a musical originally produced for the New York Stage, and was a fun and entertaining afternoon.  The songs were from the 50’s and 60’s and depicted four high school seniors performing at their prom in 1958 and again at their 10 year reunion.  Photos were not allowed of the performance, so I had to settle for this hand held time exposure of the stage before it began. 

I felt it was money well spent, and truly enjoyed this live performance.  My feet were tapping, I was tempted to join in singing along, and though it was a little corny, I left with a smile on my face.  I can’t think of any other state parks I’ve been in that offered such an experience. 

We’re going to take a day off from touring tomorrow to relax a bit, but I may just attend an activity to make a walking stick.  We’ll see.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy