Travel & Lifestyle Blog

Peace Valley Campground Murphy NC

The Peace Valley KOA campground near Murphy NC is a great place to camp! Surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains and with Valley River running through it, you will find that it is a very peaceful place to camp. They are open year-round and are pet-friendly! The campground is located just minutes from the small town of Murphy NC, where you will find great shopping, attractions, and restaurants!

Also, the natural beauty of this area provides lots of places to explore!

Marble Creek, Murphy KOA — ***Valley River***

The campground is located at 117 Happy Valley Road, Marble NC. Which is about 53 miles southwest of Cherokee NC and 107 miles west of Asheville NC. The Georgia state line is about 25 miles to the south.

If you take the drive from Cherokee to Murphy on Hwy 74, you will drive through the Nantahala National Forest and along the Nantahala River. The Nantahala River is famous for its whitewater rafting, as well as, the Nantahala Outdoor Center(NOC). If you have time, you may want to try some whitewater rafting! If not, you can just stop along the way to watch the rafters and kayakers traveling down the river.

The NOC is just 30 miles from the Peace Valley/Murphy KOA. It would be fun to spend a day on the Nantahala River and then return to your campsite for an evening campfire.

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Things to do In Occoquan VA

20 Comments / Travel / Cathy

Have you heard of Occoquan VA? It’s a Charming and Historic Town on the Occoquan River. It’s also a suburb of Washington DC and has a population of about 1200. Occoquan is located in Prince William County. Prince William County includes Washington DC and is the largest county in Virginia.

While planning our vacation this year we wanted to stay close to home but still have a new adventure. The states surrounding our state of North Carolina are; South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We researched places in about a 6-hour driving distance from us. We were also researching reasonably-priced Airbnbs at the same time. Our goal was relaxation in a town with a waterfront, great restaurants, and a reasonably priced place to stay.

We found all that and more in Occoquan!

Occoquan History

Occoquan is derived from an Algonquian Doeg Indian Word meaning “at the end of the water”. It’s located on the Occoquan River and was home to several indigenous people. The Dogue Indians were the first to settle in the Occoquan Valley. In 1608, the first Europeans arrived and found the Tauxenent tribe. Their main village was at the mouth of the Occoquan River.

In the early 1600s, Captain John Smith(he established the first English settlement at Jamestown, VA) sailed and explored the Occoquan River

By 1755, the Anglo-American colonists had established an industrial settlement at Occoquan, with bakehouses, grist mills, tobacco warehouses, and dwellings.

In 1759 the Merchants’ Mill was built and became one of the first fully automated grist mills in America. It’s said that they produced cannonballs for the Revolutionary War!

The Mill was destroyed by fire in 1924, all that remained was the Mill House. The Mill House soon fell into disrepair until the Alexandria Water Company purchased the Mill House in the middle of the 20th century and restored it for use as office space. The company’s successor, the Fairfax Water Authority (now known as Fairfax Water) eventually turned the structure over to the Town of Occoquan, which leases it to the Occoquan Historical Society for use as a museum.

Things to do in Occoquan

Stop by the Visitor’s Guide
Check out the Mill House Museum
Kayak rentals
River Mill Park
Rockledge Mansion
Shopping at the many stores
Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Take the Occoquan Ghost Tour
Scuba dive, Patriot Scuba

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Lighthouses in Door County, Wisconsin

18 Comments / Places to see / Cathy

Door County Wisconsin

Door County is the largest county in Wisconsin, it is a very beautiful and unique part of the state. On the map, it’s the little finger(peninsula) on the northeast part of the state. Door County is located on a peninsula located between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. From the city of Sturgeon Bay to Gill’s Rock and Washington Island. You will find a series of quaint small towns with names like; Egg Harbor, Ephraim, Baileys Harbor, Fish Creek, and Sister Bay. Some of my favorite things about visiting Door County are the beautiful views of Lake Michigan, great hiking, outdoor fish boils, and cherry pie! If you are looking for a place to do some hiking, eat great food, or just enjoy the beautiful scenery, Door County is for you! You will have 5 State Parks, 19 County Parks, and dozens of local parks to explore! Don’t forget the 11 lighthouses!

Door County State Parks

Potawatomi State Park, Sturgeon Bay, WI
Whitefish Dunes State Park, Sturgeon Bay, WI
Peninsula State Park, Fish Creek, WI
Newport State Park, Ellison Bay, WI
Rock Island State Park, Washington, WI

I don’t think many people consider the state of Wisconsin when planning their vacations, but Door County would be a great place to add to your Travel Wish list! There are many great things to do in Door County.

With 300 miles of coastline and 11 majestic lighthouses, Door County has one of the highest concentrations of lighthouses in any county in the country.

Door County History

The first inhabitants of this area were Native Americans. The dominant tribe in this area was the Potawatomi.

In the early 1600s, the peninsula saw French explorers and fur traders, such as Jean Nicolet and Father Marquette pass through. Many ships loaded with furs were lost in the treacherous Great Lakes as they made their way back East. This is one of the reasons that Lighthouses were needed!

The British claimed this area from the French, and in 1783 the United States claimed it from Britain.

In 1844, the first permanent white settlers made their home in Little Sturgeon Bay, they eventually moved North to Weborg Point and Fish Creek.

In 1853, Reverend Andrew Iverson and 3 followers set out from Green Bay and walked on the ice to Eagle Harbor where they met others crossing from the opposite direction. There he found a site for his congregation and the community of Ephraim was born.

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Fun Things to do in Morehead City, NC

24 Comments / Travel / Cathy

Unique small towns can be found in every state across the United States. Many times we just drive through them on our way to somewhere else. If you would take time to stop, shop, and eat in these towns, I think you would be pleasantly surprised! Small towns are “hidden gems” among the big, bustling, more popular cities.

In this series, I will highlight unique small towns from each state. You may be interested in reading about another great small town in North Carolina, Murphy.

Morehead City

Newport RIver — A Barge on the Newport River

The town of Morehead City is located on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. It’s a beautiful town bordered by two bodies of water, the Bogue Sound to the south and the Newport River to the north and east. The town has a population of about 8700. It’s a fisherman’s paradise. The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is held every year at Big Rock Landing in Morehead City.

History

In the 1850s a group of investors formed a land development project known as the “Shepard Point Land Company”. They purchased 600 acres of land on the eastern tip of the peninsula bordering the Newport River known then as “Shepard’s Point” which is the present-day location of Morehead City. Their purpose was to take advantage of the deep channel of the topsail inlet known today as the Beaufort inlet. They were trying to develop another access point for North Carolina’s timber products to relieve the pressure at the port around the city of Wilmington further south.

Governor John Motley Morehead was a member of the “Shepard Point Land Company”, the city was eventually named after him. The city was officially incorporated in 1860. The town prospered until the Civil War began and in 1862 it was occupied by Federal Troops. This greatly disrupted the progress of the town and it wasn’t until 1880 with the construction of the Atlantic Hotel and promoting the railroad, that they fully recovered and prospered once again. With this grand hotel, the railroad, and the natural beauty of the area, it became a premier summer destination.

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