Cherokee

We stayed at the Flaming Arrow Campground while in Cherokee. The owner was very nice and helpful, the campsite was roomy but a little bit difficult to get into and get out of. The road through the campground had tight corners and was not big enough for two to be on it at the same time, which could present a problem on the long approach driveway if someone was leaving and checking in at the same time. Not the most scenic of spots with mobile homes all around the outer perimeter of this somewhat small campground, but there really aren't many choices in Cherokee. If we're ever in this area again we'll stay at the campground we saw at exit 20 in the Maggie Valley area and check out the Cataloochee area of GSMNP instead of coming in through the Cherokee entrance.

We came to Cherokee because I was curious about my Cherokee heritage. My grandmother's grandmother was Cherokee, and I have no information on her except her name and date of birth and death. I was hoping there was some sort of genealogy records here, and when I asked at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian it seemed like the answer was probably not much in the way of official documentation. They had a book in which they looked up the last name I had, but they didn't find record of it and said she was most likely from the Western Band of Cherokees who had made the migration from here to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. I had read a book on John Ross and the Trail of Tears before our trip, and it didn't occur to me that her story probably began in Oklahoma. Those dates are important! However, the story of the Cherokee indian did begin here.

 The museum itself was a disappointment, but I didn't regret the $10 admission fee if it helps them update their facility and improve it. Not a lot of artifacts or information, and the lighting was so poor I was unable to get decent photographs of what little they did have. They also relied heavily on exhibits that were recordings of people's stories, which is how their people communicate, but I am a visual learner and walked right through those exhibits because there wasn't much (if anything) at them to engage me, and no written version of the story being told that I could read myself instead.

The town was very rundown looking, and chock full of tacky shops and amusements. It seemed the only thing shiny and new was the huge casino, besides the local schools and Head Start facility which were pretty amazing and I'm assuming the casino invested in.  Shoplifting seemed to be a big problem with signs warning about prosecution front and center everywhere we went. Very sad as this problem is most likely linked to the casino.

The only thing in town we did enjoy was the smattering of bears painted for auction. I always like finding these guys. I've seen horses in Lake Geneva, bears in Maine, sturgeons in Door County, and a few I've most likely forgotten.

GSMNP - Mingus Mill and Mountain Farm Museum

We finally made it to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! After checking in at our campground in Cherokee (review in the next post) we headed on over to the Oconoluftee Visitor Center. There wasn't much to see in the visitor center itself, but they have a farm museum right out back that was pretty neat. The farm is a collection of historic log buildings gathered from throughout the Smoky Mountains and preserved on a single site. The house is in its original location and the other buildings include a barn, applehouse, springhouse, and smokehouse.   

Wayne really like the wooden gutters on the house and the ash hopper used for making lye for soap. I really liked the gourd birdhouses and the apple trees covered in caterpillars and lichens!

Our next stop was the Mingus Mill just a little ways down the road. It was built in 1886 and was the largest grist mill in the Smokies. It uses a water powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power the machinery in the building. We got there shortly before closing so that in addition to seeing it in operation we also got to see the miller shut it down for the day by climbing the ladder up to the 200 foot long wooden flume and diverting the water. From what we've seen so far, I would definitely recommend coming to the Smokies in April or May. There are no crowds and the weather has been cool in the mornings but it warms up quickly and all the spring wildflowers and flowering trees have made the forest so beautiful. I love the shape of the flowering dogwood against the other trees, but have found it impossible to capture in photographs. Any tips, anyone?

North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville

While we were staying at Lake Powhatan in Asheville we kept driving by the North Carolina Arboretum on our way to the campground. On our last morning there we decided to take a drive in and see what it was all about. The arboretun contains  434 acres with 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking and biking trails. Admission is only $8 PER CAR! Far less expensive than a trip to the Biltmore gardens, and in my opinion the gardens were much nicer here.


One of the exhibits was a bonsai garden, which we really liked. They had a separate section of bonsai only at the end that were on shelves with gray concrete behind them. My only complaint from this whole visit was that they could have done almost anything else to highlight these plants better. In my opinion the gray concrete took away from their natural beauty and the photos I took came out very flat and unappealing.


The main garden had paths that meandered away into the extensive acreage. There were a few people on the paths out walking their dogs or jogging. If I lived in this area I'm sure I would have an annual pass and be out here on those paths every chance I got! There were quite a few nooks and crannies like the one pictured at left that were away from the main areas that would be great for reading a book or listening for birds.

There was a greenhouse full of interesting but "wicked" plants that was inspired by the book "Wicked Plants: the Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities". My favorite was the white narcissus flower, which photographed surprisingly well for me!  My other favorite part of the gardens was the fern garden. I am just a sucker for those ferns, especially when they are still unfolding!

 As great as the plants were, I'd have to say the highlight of our visit was all the frogs in the little concrete ponds. They seemed to be immune to the presence of humans...even when I stretched out on the ground and put my camera six inches from their little faces. I can't imagine what I must have looked like to them! Some freaky giant creature with a big black appendage right in the middle of her face!

Biltmore Estate

Okay, so I'm sure a lot of people reading this have already been to the Biltmore. For those of you who haven't been there yet, here's a quick overview. The Biltmore House was a collaborative effort between George Vanderbilt, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick law Olmstead. It took 6 years to complete and was finished in 1895. The limestone was hauled 600 miles from Indiana and building supplies were delivered via a 3 mile long railway spur between the estate and the neighboring village.  The architectural style was inspired by the chateaux of the Loire Valley in France. The original estate was 125,000 acres of forest, 8,000 acres remain and is open to the public. After George's death his wife sold 87,000 acres to the US government and it became the bulk of the Pisgah national Forest.

Admission to the Biltmore Estate is currently $59 each and includes admission to the house, gardens, winery, and also the Deerpark area of the estate. Cameras are not allowed inside the house. The house has 250 rooms, including 43 bathrooms, 3 kitchens and 65 fireplaces. An indoor Winter Garden room is to the right of the main entrance which has a glass roof that lets in light. The basement area also contains an indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium and a bowling alley. The many visitors at Biltmore were encouraged in the early 1900's were encouraged to use the entire landscape by hiking, riding or playing lawn games. The Biltmore's daughter, Cornelia, even used to swim in the large fountain in front of the house.

We toured the gardens first, figuring they would be less crowded on a chilly April morning and we'd be better able to get shots of the Azalea Garden without people in the background, not to mention shooting before all that harsh afternoon light! We toured the whole garden area, which is quite extensive and includes the Conservatory where plants are grown for the garden and for display in the house. There is also a garden store where visitors can buy plants.

We really enjoyed the tour of their home, and were surprised that touring the gardens and house took us almost five hours. We're quick when we tour places, so I'm assuming most guests would require 6-8 hours. The most interesting parts of the tour for us were the servant areas and trying to contemplate how many servants and staff it took to run the house as well as the gardens and the farm. The had their own dairy farm and even sold produce and meat as part of their goal to make the money needed to run such a large estate.

I purchased the book about the estate on our way out, and it was interesting to get some more details that were missed during the tour. I would suggest to anyone who takes the tour to utilize the staff placed throughout the building and ask lots of questions. I asked if the decorative marble panels in some of the rooms were replicas or actual antiquities and was happy to find out that they were indeed replicas based on the famed Elgin Marbles. If anyone knows whether the Art Deco-looking metal doors on the first level in the doorways surrounding the Winter Garden area were added at a later date or if they were part of the original design I'd love to know! I forgot to ask that one!

Lake Powhatan and Pearson's Falls

We spent 4 nights at Lake Powhatan Recreation Area in Asheville earlier this week and just loved it! I would definitely stay again if we return to the area. They have some sites with full hook-up and we were lucky enough to snag the last one upon check-in. All sites are first come-first served at this USFS park. Sites are large and very well maintained, restrooms are immaculate, and the camp hosts went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. They even helped us find a mechanic in town who squeezed us in to get our brakes worked on...on a Saturday morning! The park has miles of mountain biking trails, which we took advantage of on two different days while we were there. I wore the new GoPro video camera, but our laptop doesn't have any software for editing it so I'll have to post it after we get back home. The trails were much wider than mountain biking trails in Wisconsin are, but also steeper! Our hearts were pounding pretty hard, and we hopped off the bikes to push them as much as we pedaled them I think!



One of the camp host couples recommended we head over to Pearson's Falls in Tryon. The trail to the falls is only 1/4 mile long, but it was beautifully maintained by the local garden club and as much a treat for the eyes as the waterfall itself was.

 



 Jack-in-the-Pulpit was one of the few wildflowers still blooming, but I had to look really hard to find it! We saw a LOT of flowers during our stay in Asheville, but that hard to find Jack-in-the-Pulpit is still one of my favorites!


 

Race City and Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens



Earlier this week we stayed at the Lake Norman RV Park in Sherrill's Ford, North Carolina which is just outside Mooresville also known as "Race City USA". The RV Park is as described on their website, and the staff is very helpful and friendly. However, we would not come to this park again because the spaces are EXTREMELY close together. We had to back all over multiple sites to get our fifth wheel in and out. It would have been a problem had some of the neighboring sites been in use. There is not even room for a tow vehicle in each site, much less a fire area or picnic table. Very pricey for what you get.






We visited multiple race shops including Stewart-Haas Racing, Dale Earnhardt, Ruosh Fenway, Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske.  Each shop had a viewing area and a gift store. When we were leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, Wayne was waved down in the parking lot...by Joe Gibbs himself! He leaned in to talk to him for a few minutes and he gave Wayne a signed pamplet for his book and told him to go inside and get a free copy from the receptionist.

  

We also drove into Charlotte to visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame and then to the town of Belmont for the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. It was very nice, but I have to say we thought the St. Louis Botanical Garden was much better. There was very little statuary and the layout was a little simplistic except for the area right outside the main entrance.

 

         

The orchid building was very nice, and I got a lot of interesting close-ups. We learned from the gardeners working outside that the practice of "topping" the crape myrtle trees that we've been seeing down here is actually not good for the trees as it leaves them susceptible to disease through the pruning sites and there is no reason or need to do this as they grow into very beautiful shapes if left alone.

We've moved on to the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area in Asheville, but I'll have to post on our experiences here in another couple of days because we are having trouble getting a wi-fi signal due to the heavily forested area. The weather here is gorgeous and I would recommend a trip to North Carolina in April to everyone since there are no crowds at any of the attractions, the weather is very mild, and it's too early for pesky insects to be an issue!

Goober Says Hey!

We left for North Carolina on Friday, the miles flying by as we drove through Illinois and all the way to the Indiana/Ohio border where we stopped for the night at the Walmart in Richmond. We were up early and making our way through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and then finally into North Carolina.

The drive was beautiful, getting hillier with every mile, and when we were almost to our destination Wayne started having trouble with the brakes on the truck. We pulled into the Mayberry Campground in Mt. Airy and he took a look, declared it beyond his skill-set, and we went to the office to see if we could get any advice. The staff was very accomodating and even made some calls to see if we could find a mechanic...on the Saturday night before Easter! I won't include any photos of the campground, the photos and descriptions on their website are very accurate. We were devastated about the truck, assuming we were going to be stuck in Mt. Airy for at least 3 days instead of just a quick stopover. We cancelled our reservations at the Croatan National Forest campground on the coast in order to keep the late cancellation fees down. Later that night Wayne called a mechanic friend who diagnosed the problem as the brakes probably being overheated from the hills and advised we increase the braking on the trailer if the brakes on the truck seemed to be working in the morning. Luckily, he was right, and after some morning sightseeing we were on our way, with a complete change in plans of course!

Before we hit the road again we took a drive around Mt. Airy, the fictional setting for The Andy Griffith Show. Griffith incorporated several community places and names from his childhood home into the show.

Well, Goll-ly!

 

23 cents for regular, 25 for "hi-test"

We also saw a few items of interest as we were driving through Cana, Virginia, just a few miles north of Mt. Airy. We came upon a Leonard's Market and stopped to take a few photos because that's our last name. We've also seen the name Wayne everywhere we look in this area!



I just had to take a picture of this giraffe on the side of the road...my daughter will understand why!

Giraffe for sale

We had just enough time for a quick hike around the top of Pilot Mountain on Easter morning before hooking up the camper and heading down to Mooresville to see the race attractions. I took all of the pictures on this blog entry with my new point and shoot instead of my DSLR, and it was great not to have to drag my backpack full of accessories around with me. I'm sure it would have been fun trying to get a shot of the birds soaring around the top of Pilot Mountain with my zoom lens and tripod, but I was pretty pleased with the shot I got without them.  

Pilot Mountain

Starting 'em young!