DESTINATION: Pigeon Forge, Tn

Though I seemed to be cursed by a driving rain that followed me everywhere I went yesterday, I found some joy of childhood at The Island in Pigeon Forge, Tn.

http://islandinpigeonforge.com/show-fountains/

Halle (left) and Hanna of Maryville, TN, make the best
of the rain in front of Margaritaville.

Members of the Karnes High School Soccer Team
from Knoxville, TN, run for cover just before
the rain began falling.

For more information:

The Island of Pigeon Forge

Margaritaville

My Pigeon Forge

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Dragon Boat Races: Tellico Marina, Maryville, Tennessee

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Ethan Hathcock, 13, (left) of the Prospect
Pirates Team from Seymore, Tenn.,
prepares his team's tent for the
day's festivities.  Approximately 2,000 people
participated in the Blount County Education
Foundation fundraiser.

Leah Thomas of the Prospect Elementary team from Seymore, Tenn., said
she wasn't nervous about rowing in a dragon boat competition for the first time.

Dragon boat racing is a watersport which has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which has been held for over 2,000 years throughout southern China. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976. But the history of dragon boats in competition reaches as far back as the same era as the original games of ancient Greece. Dragon Boat competitions are held all over the world.

Boat Captain Tyce Fitzmorris of The Villages, Florida, shouts instructions to rowers as
Drummer Lesa Stinnette of the Draggin Tails team from Carpenter Elementary School
in Maryville, Tenn., encourages teammates.

Angela Dirmyer of the Blazing
Paddles team from Alcoa's
Clayton Homes.

Travis Felder from Maryville's Heritage Middle School
team dances to DJ music in the team area.

TEAMS

Bount County Public School District Central Office

Carpenter's Elementary School, Maryville, Tenn.

Chattanooga Dragon Boat Club

City of Alcoa

Clayton Homes, Alcoa, Knoxville & Maryville, Tenn.

DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee, Inc.

Eagleton Middle School, Maryville, Tenn.

Eagleton/Rockford Elementary Schools, Rockford & Maryville, Tenn.

Heritage Middle School, Maryville, Tenn.

Mary Blount Elementary School, Maryville, Tenn.

Middlesettlements Elementary School, Louisville, Tenn.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Porter Elementary School, Maryville, Tenn.

Prospect Elementary School, Seymore, Tenn.

Ruby Tuesday

Union Grove Elementary School, Friendsville, Tenn.

Union Grove Middle School, Friendsville, Tenn.

William Blount High School, Maryville, Tenn.

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Notice:  All photographs are copyrighted by Robert Berlin.  

Feel free to  CONTACT ME  for publication rights.

DESTINATION: Maryville, Tennessee - Bicentennial Greenbelt Park

The crown jewel of Maryville's City Park System was 
dedicated in October 1998.  It is now part of a 9-mile Greenbelt 
park system that connects parks in the cities 
of Maryville and Alcoa with plans to continue expanding
to the neighboring cities of Townsend, Sevierville and Knoxville.

Maryville City Parks & Recreation grounds crews
carefully manicure the lawns and keep the park spotlessly clean.

The Bicentenniel Greenbelt Park sits right in the heart of Maryville's downtown area with extended trails 
leading to other area parks and to Maryville College.

The park was first created when City officials agreed to damn Pistol Creek
to create the larger body of water that is now the centerpiece of the park and
a focal point for Downtown Maryville.  Multiple species of wildlife now call this area home,
including turtles, ducks and cranes.

Volunteers plant a variety of flowers and plants throughout
the park for special surprises.  This special variety of thyme
can be found in the Blount County Library's gardens.

Bicylists, walkers and joggers share the park's paved pathways.  The park was originally funded by an $850,000 grant of Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) monies for the Greenway.

Through a unique partnership between Blount County, Maryville and Alcoa governments,
$10 million dollars was committed to this 93,000-square-foot public library that overlooks
the Greenbelt.  According to Library Outreach Coordinator Joan VanSickle Sloan, an average
of 1,500 people visit the library daily to utilize the more than 260,000 items 
on the shelves, including DVDs, Music CDs, audio books and print items as well as e-books and online databases available through the library website.

Learn More:

http://www.maryvillegov.com/

http://www.cityofalcoa-tn.gov/

http://knoxblounttrail.org/

http://www.knoxtrans.org/plans/bikeprog/cc_maps/blount2.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicentennial_Greenbelt_Park

http://www.blountchamber.com/

http://www.smokymountainsgreenways.org/

http://www.blountlibrary.org

Notice:  All photographs are copyrighted by Robert Berlin.  

Feel free to  CONTACT ME  for publication rights.

 @RBerlinComm

 @RBerlinComm

Sun Ripened Tomatoes

Rained most of the day, so I just went out in the backyard in search of something to shoot.  Voila!  Tomatoes.  :-)

Hot Summer Splash

Ahhhh.  To be young again.  I love capturing moments like this.

Join me on the Journey!

Gyp·sy

  [jip-see]

noun, plural Gyp·sies.

1.

a member of a nomadic, Caucasoid people of generally swarthy complexion, who migrated originally from India, settling in various parts of Asia, Europe, and, most recently, North America.

2.

Romany; the language of the Gypsies.

3.

( lowercase ) a person held to resemble a gypsy, especially in physical characteristics or in a traditionally ascribed freedom or inclination to move from place to place.

I hope my complexion isn't swarthy; however, I do suffer from an inclination to move from place to place.  

Join me on the journey...

Here's to blue skies and open roads!