Driving Directions (If You Are Not Carpooling)

These directions are for people who are not going to be carpooling to the wedding and will be driving straight through from out of town or from Unicoi TN. If you are going to be carpooling I will make another set of directions that will be mostly the same but will send you to the reception hall FIRST, where you can be picked up for carpooling since there is limited parking at the wedding site.

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL BE DRIVING TO THE SITE OR CARPOOLING.

 

Important Points to Remember:

Once you reach HWY-107 you will lose cell phone service and GPS until you reach the wedding site (approximately 1 hour). Therefore you will need to PRINT THESE DIRECTIONS.

Have a full tank of gas, or at least enough for 1 hour of driving. There are no gas stations beyond Unicoi until you reach Bakersville (45 minutes away).

Your last bathroom break is at The Pit Stop on HWY-107.

Please take Dramamine before beginning this trip if you are not accustomed to driving mountains.

Watch the roads for Black bear, Deer and other wildlife. Assume they will cross your path.

Stay within the lines on the roads. The edge of the road is often a straight drop down a cliff or bank.

Wave at all the locals.

Note: These Directions assume you are driving toward Unicoi, TN coming from Asheville, NC. If you are headed this direction from Knoxville, TN you will still arrive at Unicoi using Exit: 32. Use your GPS to arrive at Unicoi, then refer to these directions.

 

When you turn left at Jones Hardware you will then be on E-107 and you will continue straight on this road all the way up Iron Mountain and down the other side.

 

 

Once you pass The Pit Stop you will shortly begin heading up Iron Mountain. On the other side of Iron Mountain is the North Carolina state line. At this point E-107 becomes called 226.

 

 

Once you have passed the North Carolina state line you will still continue straight. You will pass through a town called Buladean, formerly known as "Magnetic City" due to it's abundance of magnetite.

 

Eventually you will reach a detour caused by a bridge collapse during a flood this year. Follow the detour and...

 

 

You will continue on Fork Mountain Rd straight (which is a road that travels across the side of Fork Mountain) until you reach the end of the road at the stoplight pictured below.

 

 

After you have turned Right to follow the 226 detour you will head down some curvy roads until you reach Bakersville (shown below). If you need gas or a restroom break, you may do so here though it's best to wait another 15 minutes straight down the road.

 

Once you have driven through Bakersville and are nearing Spruce Pine you will find this Valero station (pictured below) on your left. It is also called the P&R station which (for people who drive the Iron often) is an acronym for Piss and Rest.

 

Once you have taken care of your business here, continue straight on 226 as if you had never stopped. If you can't remember which direction you were headed when you stopped, just know you need to turn left out of the Valero (the opposite direction of the high school).

 

Eventually you will come across a sign that points toward downtown Spruce Pine. Don't turn off! But celebrate that your journey is nearly over. Continue straight.

 

At the end of 226 you will see a set of traffic lights. BEFORE you reach those traffic lights there will be a road on your right with a small sign that reads "Deer Park Rd". Turn Right here if you are driving to the Wedding Ceremony. I will provide a different set of directions later if you are driving straight to the reception hall.

 

Drive slowly down this road because many animals and children like to play on it and there are several blind curves. Beware of a very cute seemingly suicidal dog who will take a seat in your lane as you're driving through. Eventually, on your right, you will reach a cove that opens up to the lake...

Meet the Brides Court!

(written by Jacqueline)

Maid of Honor: Taylor Hill
(Her bio written by herself)

 

I am Taylor, Jacqui's sister. I am mom to a beautiful one year old named Kennedi Rae. She is the sweetest and funniest little girl. I am a hair stylist, but for now I stay at home with my daughter. My boyfriend's name is Dan and we have been together for three years. We live in Greenville Texas but we are both from Michigan. I am so excited for my sister and Jimmy, and feel quite blessed to have Jimmy as my brother in law. I am so happy to have Jimmy and Ocean added to our family! Can't wait to see you all at the wedding!

Bridesmaid: Stephanie Hudson Cooley

 

Stephanie is the beautiful wife of Jake Cooley (our officiator) and mother of two very cute, wild boys. She has always welcomed us into her home and when Jimmy is out of town for work and stays with her and her husband I know they take care of him and feed him great Pinterest recipes.  :) Thank you Stephanie for everything you've done for us and for being such a generous, kind person all the time!

 

Bridesmaid: Wendy Whitehead

 

 

Wendy is the former wife of Jimmy and is the mother of Ocean Hinshaw. She is a river guide in the summers and a seamstress all the time. She is eccentric and lives her life without compromise or apology. She has always accepted me completely, has always been open and honest and has never sat in judgment of me. There are very few people in the world in whom you can find unfettered acceptance and open-heartedness so I am very thankful for her presence in our lives and wish only great things for her life and future.

Bridesman: Ryan Sullivan

I met Ryan Sullivan when I was 19 years old. He was my ToShinDo instructor and I think he hated me because we argued a lot and he was always wrong (lol). For reasons I could never pin down, we have become good friends over the years no matter how much time passes between speaking or how much distance there is between us.

Everyone is better for having met Ryan Sullivan.

When Jimmy broke his ankle and we couldn't afford to put him in a cast, Ryan sent us cast building materials. When I couldn't do leg exercises because it hurt my knees, he mailed me low impact exercise equipment. He is like a brother to me and I can only hope I can repay his generosity over the years. He is one of the very few people in my life who call me specifically to know how I am doing.

Side note: He is a bad ass at everything he does.

He demanded I attend his wedding (pictured above) so I thought I would one up him and ask him to be IN my wedding. Thank you Ryan for being you. I'm honored to have you as a friend.

Meet Our Groomsmen!

(written by Jimmy Hinshaw)


Officiator: Jake Cooley



 
Jake and I fought on the trenches of Unified Technologies. He hired me to work under him with our current employer. We have dragged boats up a mountain just to fish out of a lake on the other side.  Jake is thorough, witty, cunning, and talented. Jake catches everything that most people miss. He is deliberate and careful (a very stark contrast to me flying by the seat of pants at 100mph with my hair on fire). But there is the key...

He shines where I fail. He helps me find and fix my flaws. Where I am weak, he has strength. We are like different sides of the same coin. He’s heads, and unfortunately for me I am tails.

(editor note: the Bride thinks this sounds like the Groom is marrying his officiator)

Best Man: Mike Riportella

 

 

Mike Riportella is from Ohio. He was my boss for 6 years and became my best friend. He has 4 daughters and he and his wife have always treated me like a brother. Mike and I have been on many, many misadventures. When we get together and tell our stories everyone listening thinks there is no way this is true, or that it when down like we say. But I’m here to tell you the stories are not only true, it was probably much bigger, crazier, and unbelievable than we described.

 

Mike is that guy. The guy I call when I have no one to call. If I were stranded on a desert island somewhere he would drive to the ocean, jump in and start swimming. And when he got to the island, he would have beer, and we would kick back and watch the sun go by-- then figure out how to get our families there.

 

Side note: he can cook his ass off. 

Groomsman: Edward Burleson

Edward, what can I say about Ed. We have been friends since way back in high school. We are heavy metal. From Camaros, Trucks, Motley Crue, Long Hair, Skipping School, Jolt cola we were the wild ones. Edward and I have had many an adventure as well. From being snowed in for days watching Lethal Weapon, to late night homemade heavy metal videos that never need mentioned again.

Edward is my tie to home. He is the one who reminds to be proud I'm from the mountains (as he lives damn near the top of the Roan). Edward I hope every year I am on this earth we get at least one day up on the bluff. Hopefully though, no more changing carburetors on S-10s and stinky fingers.  

Groomsman: Ken Hinshaw

 

My brother, you have known me longer than anyone. For that I must say I’m sorry. Ken has thrown me off of houses, knocked me unconscious, told me about myself, slapped me silly, and even tried once to eat me. I deserved every bit of it if not more.

Ken also has always answered my calls, always come to hang out with me, beat people into the ground for me, saved my life, supported my craziness, and treated me like a friend. Even in times when I wasn’t a friend to him. Ken makes me want to be a kinder person. He reminds me what strength is, and when you should and should not use it. That said if I was his size, someone would have put me down years ago...

Groomsman: Justin Graves

Justin has the best smile in the world. He is Jacqui's brother, and now he will be mine. I could not be more honored. Justin is extremely smart, talented, and hilarious. Justin reminds me about perseverance. He never gives up and he rarely loses because of that. No matter what odds are against him, he smiles, stands strong, and tells the world, “Bring it on, but you better hope you're ready”. That’s the fight we all need, as long as it’s not against him. LOL