Chestnut Top Trail - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

Our mid-April 2021 visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park continued with a short walk (less than ¼ mile) up the Chestnut Top Trail to view the spring wildflowers. The trailhead is located across the road from the Townsend Wye parking area just north of the intersection of Laurel Creek Road and Little River Gorge Road. The trail is much longer, but the wildflowers cover the hillside above the trailhead.

Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)

Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera)

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)

An unknown type of spring ephemeral

Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum)

False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Another yellow trillium

Another white trillium

Greenery along the trail

Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)

Closeup of Purple Phacelia

Closeup view of a yellow trillium

Wildflowers spilling across the trail

Ferns

Lots of roots along the trail

There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.

Cades Cove - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We visited Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in mid-April 2021. The fields were green and the Dogwood Trees were blooming. Spring was gradually making its way up the flanks of the mountains.

There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.

Take 2: Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve - Charleston County Parks

What a difference a few days make! We returned to Lighthouse Inlet on Folly Island a few days after our first stop and found a clear, blue sky and nearly unlimited visibility. Compare these views of the Morris Island Lighthouse with the views on this post. We visited Charleston in February 2021.

Morris Island Lighthouse

A closer view

Sullivan's Island Lighthouse (Charleston Light 5.5 miles)

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (8.1 miles)

Folly Beach and Lighthouse Inlet

Erosion-control wall

Wind-driven sand

One more look back

Atlantic Ocean

An entry fee of $1 per person is collected on the honor system at the kiosk at the end of Ashley Avenue.

The webpage for the preserve is https://www.ccprc.com/3149/Lighthouse-Inlet-Heritage-Preserve.

The Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point

Located aboard the USS Yorktown, the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point is also the home of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. All members of the society have been awarded a Medal of Honor. The museum seeks to tell the stories of the over 3500 men and one woman who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor that the United States can bestow upon an Army soldier, Navy sailor or marine, Air Force airman, Space Force guardian, and Coast Guard coastguardsman for valor.

I visited the museum in February 2021 during our visit to Charleston, South Carolina.

Adult entrance to the museum is $27 and includes access to the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey as well as the Vietnam Experience and the Medal of Honor Museum. The USS Clamagore was closed to visitors due to Covid-19 restrictions when I visited the museum. Other tickets are available for active duty, retired military, veterans, first responders, teachers, seniors, and children. An adult annual pass is $69. Discounts for an adult ticket are often available online, but not on the museum website.

The museum website is https://www.patriotspoint.org/.