Another great family vacation! And again, we headed to the hills. This year though, we decided to do something way out of the ordinary. Usually, we go up to Tennessee to the Great Smoky Mountains. However, this year, we went up to North Carolina... to the Great Smoky Mountains. We had a blast.
We did all of the usual stuff. We did some shopping, some whitewater, a couple of days in the park, and we took our first train ride. Anyway, enjoy Bryson City, NC. We sure did.
Typically, we try to break the trip up into a two day affair and maybe see "something new along the way." This year was no different, so we stopped in Charleston, SC on Saturday. Debbie wanted to see Market Street, and Martelle and I wanted to see the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. Actually, the Old Exchange is the second building to have been errected at that location.
The first was the Court of Guard (model pictured below) which was built in 1704, and stood until 1764 when it was demolished to make room for the Exchange and Customs House. The Half-Moon Bastion, or Battery, was originally part of the fortification of Charles Town, and protruded out into the harbor as a half-circle or "half-moon" shape (see Charles Town lithograph below). The Old Exchange has some very interesting history. Among other things, South Carolina elected its delegates to the First Continental Congress in the Great Hall (1774), it has the distinction of being only one of three buildings still surviving where the United States Constitution was ratified (1788), Charleston city officials entertained George Washington there during his southern tour (1791), and it became the Charleston post office (1815).
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Sunday morning, we took the final leg of our trip up and got settled into the cabin, and what a great cabin it was. It had a gazebo right by the creek which could easily be heard from the cabin's deck. Little Bunny Foo-Foo was a constant evening companion, song birds were there for us every morning and evening, and as the sun set over the mountains every night, the fireflys started their nightly show. And, as a bonus, when they are in season, black walnuts are there for the picking.
As for the cabin, the rates were reasonable, the setting was spectacular, and the cabin was superb! If one is looking for a fantastic getaway, contact Cherie Bowers at (866) 586-8058 or visit her website at Meadowbrook Log Cabin.
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Cherokee, NC is one of the gateway communities into the Great Smoky Mountains on the North Carolina side. It also happens to be the Indian reservation, or tribal home, of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Accordingly, it's a tourist trap extrodinaire with everything from nick-nacks to wonderful, authentic pottery. Many, like those at the Oconaluftee Indian Village, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and the Unto These Hills drama are doing great things to educate the public on the heritage and history of these proud and noble people.
Sadly, some on the reservation have been reduced to little more than carnival side show men. As Debbie and the kids were shopping in one of the many shops, an indian dressed as a tribal chief was outside posing for photos. I went out to see if I could frame a decent shot and the man was quick to tell me "Hey, that picture will be two bucks. I'm tryin' to earn a living here." I went on to explain that I was simply trying to see if I could get what would be a good shot of him with my kids when he said "Yeah, I'll bet!" It sort of put a damper on the whole day, and ultimately, I didn't get his picture... and he didn't get his two bucks!!!
Regardless, for the most part, we had fun shopping and riding the ski lift to the top of one of the mountains.
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On Wednesday, we spent the first of two days in the park. At the New Found Gap entrance to the park, located just a couple of miles north of Cherokee on U.S. 441, on the North Carolina side is the Oconaluftee visitor center.
A few hundred feet down a path from there is the Mountain Farm Museum that holds an intriguing collection of log structures, including an old barn, smokehouse, farmhouse, applehouse, corn cribs, and other structures. All of the various buildings were moved from various places within the park to the museum area, and they depict mountain life in a simpler time. On occasion, the park rangers hold demonstrations, and on this day, one of the junior rangers were doing a metalsmith demo.
After the park, we went up for some genuine ruby, emerald, saphire, and GOLD mining. That's right, pay your $5.00 and get your bucket of sand... er, I mean stake your claim! Eric was mining for emeralds and Debbie was after rubys and saphires. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pony up another five spot hopin' for gold...
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Thursday was a fun-filled day! It started with a trip on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. It was a first for all of us. The GSMR covers 53 miles of the 116 mile Murphy Branch of the Western North Carolina Railroad. Departing from depots in Dillsboro and Bryson City, the trip includes portions of the Smoky Mountains with two tunnels and twenty-five bridges.
Around noon, we switched gears. It was off the train and onto the whitewater for two miles of the Nantahala River. The Nantahala is a "beginner's" river with class I and class II rapids, and one class III at the very end of the stretch we went down. Although the river is fairly tame, it's also one of the worst foot entrapment rivers in the south. Our guide for the trip was Sarge, a military careerist who retired from the Army in the mid 80's. He said his last duty station was as a trainer for wilderness survival training in NC. He's been guiding folks down the Nantahala since he retired. Sarge works for Wildwater Rafting. If you're planning the Nantahala, give 'em a call for some low impact, great fun.
** NOTE ** Some of these pics are pending their development from the "wet" camera.
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By Friday, Deb and the kids were kinda tired from the weeks events, so I took off for the park and Clinman's Dome by myself. Ascending 330 feet over half a mile from the parking lot to the top of the 6,653' mountain ain't for the faint of heart or the fat of body! It works out to about a continuous seven degree incline and by the time I got up there, I was one tuckered pup. And even though the day was hazy, the view was quite nice.
After that, I stopped back by the cabin and picked up the kids. We took a ride on the "road to nowhere." Officially, it's Lakeview Drive, but to the folks in Byson City, it's just a broken promise. For more on this, see my Mountains pages.
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It was time to leave our mountain paradise. The kids had never eaten at
"Big Boys," so that's where we went for breakfast before the long trip home.
The Big Boys in Cherokee is backed right up to one of the mountains and the
rock shears are in the back of the parking lot. As we were eating,
Martelle: "Oh my gosh, it's a BOBCAT!"
Sam: "Where? I don't see it."
Martelle: "Right there on the rocks..."
Sam: "Cool! I'll be back in a minute... I'm gonna get my camera."
Little did I realize that the guy in the booth next to us was eavesdropping. Well, when he got up and started reaching into his pocket for his camera, I wasn't about to let eavesdropper go out and ruin my shot when it was my daughter spied the critter in the first place. As I got in the parking lot (running to the van to get my camera), I looked over and saw "the bobcat" crawling across the rocks to its companion...
Sam: "Martelle, it's just a couple of cats. It's not a bobcat."
While I'm saying this, I look over at the window where about 80 people had gathered to view the bobcats.
Typically, when we get on the road home, it's go until we get there. This year was planned to be no different, but after breakfast, we hadn't stopped for lunch and in South Carolina the kids all wanted to eat at Cracker Barrel. It just so happened that when we pulled off, we were only about 20 miles from Debbie's aunt Irene's house, so off for a little visit we went. We didn't realize it, but we had gotten there in the middle of the annual watermelon festival. As an added bonus, Debbie was also able to see three of her cousins, Lisa, Paula, and David, as well as her aunt Irene and uncle El. It was a great little visit.
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