Oct 9-15 – North Carolina

By tomandcherylinsarasotaOctober 14, 2021 ( 1 )

After two years without a vacation, we HAD to get out of our condo. Tom had the brilliant idea of heading to the North Carolina mountains.

But first we flew to Asheville to see our (Tom’s) son, Jeff, who is an app developer and just developed a new board game. It was really great to see him again, his mother Elaine and her husband Bruce. That day a Facebook friend of Tom’s heard we were here and suggested we stop at the Oconoluftee Indian museum. It was an hour and a half very winding drive through tiny towns that Tom says reminded him of his childhood. (They haven’t changed a bit.) There were Autumn displays with pumpkins and scarecrows in almost every town.

Small NC towns and How the Smokies Got Their Name

The small museum was closed but the grounds had several buildings from the early settlers, with explanations of how hard life was in those days. It is amazing how important corn was and how they were able to use every bit of the corn and stalk. There was also a stream that was so clear you could see every single rock in the bottom.

A couple of people had recommended Snowbird Mountain Lodge, which was booked for the season. On a whim, we called and found a 4-day cancellation. The lodge is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had rented a car in Asheville and had a spectacular drive along and beside the Parkway. The entrance to the lodge property say “You are now entering a stress free zone.” There is a main lodge with rooms, sitting/viewing areas, and a restaurant, plus three guest properties. We’re in the Oak room of the Chestnut cottage, which is right next to a Tesla and other EV chargers. The lodge provides two gourmet meals a day, a day pack with your pre-ordered lunch, tennis courts, free canoes and kayaks, free fishing equipment, lots and lots of mountain trails, fire pits, and fantastic views of the Snowbird Mountains.

The cancellation for four nights (Oct 11-15) was the most expensive room in the resort. For $500 (!!) a night we have a very large room, private deck with our own hot tub, spa tub, and fireplace. If this is the way rich people live, we like it. See the view from our deck below.

After we checked in and unpacked, we took a half-mile hike to the Sunrise View, and it was just perfect. Here’s the path:

Tuesday was overcast all day, so we relaxed, took a hike to Sunset Point, read, and napped. The sunset was spectacular though, and at one point the clouds over one of the mountains made it look like a volcano.

Mountain views (plus ‘volcano’) and photo that shows the reason for the “Smoky Mountains” term

We’re really enjoying the peace and quiet here. We had cleared our schedule before we came, so we just read, nap, and hike. On Thursday, we went to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest to see the only area that wasn’t clear cut by the loggers. It started with 3800 acres, but has grown. It has 100 kinds of trees that are centuries old (the two largest poplars are over 20′ in circumference), and one of the few places where you can see such a variety – 1400 flowering plants, 600 mosses, liverworts and lichen, and over 2000 kinds of fungi, 20 species of snakes, 52 kinds of mammals (including black bears), 200 species of birds, and 20 types of fish. The first photo below shows a tree that appears to be totally decayed at the bottom, but is thriving 100 feet up. The second photo is two trees that grew together. The third photo with Tom shows the largest tree we encountered before turning back. We hiked for only 2 miles, but gained 490 feet in elevation – that’s over 40 flights of stairs!

Part of the Joyce Kilmer upper and lower loops from trailhead

One of the things that was most impressive was the growth provided by the natural decaying of the old trees. There are fungi, mushrooms, moss, lichen, and other amazing plants.

After packing up, we headed to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC. The museum was quite well done, but we think their coverage of the “Trail of Tears” was far too kind to the government and white settlers who expelled them from a beautiful country of mountains, streams, plentiful animals and land for planting to the lands of Oklahoma, which provided none of that. The Native Americans got screwed! It’s appalling. The most interesting part of the museum was a display by an artist (Dilani Morgan) who really likes the craft of basket weaving. He had some amazing pieces and explained exactly how they are made.

It was a perfect trip and we’ve decided that we need more of these short getaways. These last photos are from our deck or the lodge during the week. The beautiful cardinal at the end is our ‘KamiKazi cardinal’. He would (unintentionally) entertain the diners in the lodge by trying to fly into the dining room through the glass. He tried several times, but failed to make it through the glass. The waitress says he comes every day at the same time. Poor little thing!