Rhode Island Trip Christmas 2025

 I am catching up my blog for 2026. This trip was the last week of 2025. Only David, Rebekah and I decided to go. We took the train to Providence, RI and then rented a car and drove to Newport, RI.  I have always wanted to see Newport and it being decked out for Christmas made it even better. It was bitter cold and a bit snowy.  I was completely in my happy place and my husband and daughter did their best not to complain or freeze to death...lol.

We stayed in a cute little inn that included breakfast.  It was quaint, old and imperfect. The staff was lovely and helpful. We enjoyed walking around the town and visiting several antique and thrift stores. We bought extra gloves and hats. I found an antique ceramic Christmas tree at one antique shop for my husband. The owner was very talkative and walked right out of his store with us. He walked us all the way up the block to a lunch spot he thought we would love.  The people of Newport are very friendly. 

My favorite morning was walking the cliff trail. The Newport mansions are on one side and the ocean is on the other side of the trail. Wherever you look their is beauty.  I loved the ocean so much. I am not a sandy ocean person, but an ocean with a rocky beach is my happy place...especially if it is a bit stormy. 

 

We went to two Newport mansions.  My favorite was the Marble house. It was owned by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont who was a fascinating woman from the gilded age. She fought for women's rights and did her part to champion for our right to vote.

 

We were able to get seats for afternoon tea in her tea house. It was lovely and a fun experience. The food and atmosphere was exceptional. 

 

It was a quick and lovely trip. We had several difficulties during the trip with reservations and weather. I can hardly remember them now, but I very much remember how much fun we had. It just goes to show that travel is worth the difficult moments. 


Blessings, Dawn

Helene 2 years After

I know I have not posted in a long time. I hope to write a few update posts from the last year. It has been very busy, with mostly positive events. However, first I will cover this important anniversary. 

This week marks two years since Helene tore through our city and all of WNC.  The devastation was vast and is still ongoing. Every picture in this post was taken within the last week. 

The present federal government hasn't kept its promise to help, and any money that has come to WNC in the last year has come as a result of lawsuits. I personally think the government should use our tax dollars to help its citizens...all of its citizens...not just the chosen few. To this date federal funding has covered 16% of the $60 billion in total damages from Helene in WNC, and the president told us that he won't give anymore if we don't vote as a region the way he wants us to. What an un-American statement. In comparison, federal aid covered 78% of damages from hurricane Sandy and 73% of damages from hurricane Katrina.  

All this to say our recovery is very slow. The scars seen and unseen run deep. There are towns that are still hard to access. PTSD is very prevalent among our citizens, especially the first responders. Yes, there are still people in campers and many homeless families. My husband and I recently traveled to the town of Chimney Rock. Getting there pre-Helene took us 30 minutes...now it is more than an hour's journey in which we traversed temporary bridges and roads (some dirt where once they were paved). We went through stretches where parts of houses were hanging off of cliffs and where there is still no power. The river is filled with giant boulders, and it has left its bed and made a new course in places. In fact, more than a dozen river systems and watersheds were permanently altered by Helene! I just can't express the vastness of the devastation. 

This first set of photos are from the recreation area below our nature center zoo. This is 1.5 miles from our home. It will be a long time before this section is worked on. There is a temporary one lane bridge with a temporary solar traffic light giving access to this area (which includes our city's zoo and 40+ homes). The water rushed through here with power that is comparable to the flow rate of Niagara Falls. At one dam in our area the flash flood came at 1.2 billion gallons per second.  In comparison, Niagara Falls flow peaks at 700,000 gallons per second, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is understandable that bridges, roads and buildings the water met are gone or destroyed.

Layers of asphalt moved by the rushing water

This was our city's largest community pool. It is now filled with dirt.

This was the bridge into the community. 

The road is gone.

There are many abandoned buildings or blank areas where once there were buildings. These pictures are 2 miles from my home in the opposite direction. 

 

My children used to have a doctor in this building. 

The next set of pictures were taken on the road to Chimney Rock. 

The force of the water split this boulder.

This is all that is left of a small historic amusement park. 

New road and a lost bridge. You can sort of see how the river moved its course in this picture. 

So many houses are still hanging off cliffs.

That is all the words I have today. We are broken...but we are strong and resilient. The people of Appalachia will rise and our communities are still close-knit.

Blessings, Dawn

Helene One Year After

 It is hard to put into words the impact that Helene had and continues to have on Western North Carolina. We are all changed. Some of us have returned to a new but comfortable normal and others are still living in tents with no running water or power. Many are still without jobs. Many still don't have access to help. Most of us are amazed by the love and support private citizens of the world have showered on us. 

More of the Blue Ridge Parkway has opened, but it is still heavily damaged.

 Forty percent of the trees along the Parkway have fallen or are damaged.

A few statistics as to how WNC stands today ~

• There were 8,000 private bridges and roads destroyed in Helene. Today, 7,000 roads and bridges are still destroyed, leaving thousands of people without access to fire and EMS rescue services. Yes, their houses are intact...but when a crisis strikes, there is no way for help to get to them. 
•  More than 180,000 homes were destroyed in Western North Carolina. 
•  Ninety percent of homeowners who lost their homes didn't live in a flood plane, so they didn't have flood insurance. That means that home insurance won't help them. Unfortunately, our current administration won't help them, either. People are relying on private donations. 
• The federal government has only released 7% of the funds it gave to Sandy or Katrina survivors and cities to rebuild, even though Sandy was significantly smaller and Katrina was similar to Helene. The federal government usually provides about 50% of recovery fees. WNC has received 8% to date of the overall cost in damages. Appalachia is a very poor part of the country and many of us feel utterly forgotten. 
•  At least 108 died; 43 of these deaths came from my county (we don't have a definite total of how many homeless were lost because they often lived near the flooded rivers). 
• There were over 2,000 landslides in WNC. Officials stopped counting at 2,000, because there was more important work to be done. Of those who died on that fateful day, landslides were responsible for about 50% of the deaths. 
• Our community has collective PTSD. We live in a temperate rainforest so it rains often. With every ordinary rain storm, many become frantic and worry.
• Our water treatment system that serves Asheville is temporary. It costs $6 million a month to run the temporary system! FEMA is currently saying that they will not continue to fund the temporary system. As of today, there is a lot of confusion about what happens when FEMA pulls out in October. The worst case scenario is that we will only have chlorinated raw water (not drinkable but toilets will  be flushable). 
• Most people I know, including ourselves, are still drinking and cooking with bottled water, because our water tastes bad.
• There are so many areas we haven't been able to visit, because the public roads are still closed and the routes around are for residents only or take triple the time to travel. For instance, we live about 35 minutes from Chimney Rock, but the most common way to get there is washed away. It now takes almost two hours to get there from our house. 
• Private organizations ~ the Amish, Spokes of Hope, Samaritan's Purse, Beloved, Precision Grading and so many more volunteers have really helped. There are individuals who arrived here the first week and are still here trying to help!
• The unemployment rate in our county was 2.5 percent before Helene and soared to 10% after Helene. That number has come down to about 5% -- partially because so many have left this region.     

NOTE: ALL THE PICTURES IN THIS POST WERE TAKEN OVER THE LAST THREE DAYS. 

This is what much of the area still looks like within 2 to 5 miles of our home. 

Landslide

Landslide

This is a caved-in roof in the River Arts Distract, which used to house artist galleries.

Moe's is obviously not open.

A favorite playground sits waiting for the joyful sounds of children again. 

Windows are boarded up.

Recovery is slow...so slow and some will never come back. There are patches and blank areas where nothing remains. However, there are spots where rebuilding and relocating is going on. Mountain people are strong and we are doing our best to recover with very limited resources. 

Please don't forget us!

Blessings, Dawn