2011-05 Bald Rock, "Pretty Place" and DuPont State Forest

We took several drives up Hwy 276.  This is a very winding road that climbs sharply up to Caesar's Head and then continues on through Brevard, NC.  We saw the beautiful red Rhododendron shown above at the Chamber of Commerce in Brevard. 

Not far after leaving the campground is a roadside pull off we subsequently learned was called "Bald Rock".  We had seen a number of cars stopped there but did not know why.  So one day we parked and took a short stroll to discover a large rock outcropping with long distance views.  We were glad we stopped to explore.

In the distance you can see Table Rock:

Past Caesar's Head just before you come to the NC border is road leading to Camp Greenville YMCA.  Monique had driven there once before with a group of ladies on a church retreat to see "Pretty Place".  She knew it was a place I would want to see.  "Pretty Place" is the name given to the YMCA camp's open air chapel that has a fantastic overlook.  It is generally open to the public unless there is a wedding or other scheduled activity.

 

Continuing along Hwy 276 after crossing into NC there is a road leading to the DuPont State Forest.  This property once belonged to the DuPont Company and has recently become a NC State Forest.  There are a number of beautiful waterfalls.  Here are the two we visited:

This is just a gorgeous area.  We went to Hendersonville, NC each week while at Solitude Pointe so James  could get his allergy shots.  Usually we traveled Hwy 25 which is a relatively new 4 lane highway.  There is limited development along this route, and it is a beautiful drive with long mountain vistas.  Twice we traveled along Hwy 276 and then past DuPont State Forest.  This was a longer route but equally beautiful with part of the route through the state forest and part through pretty mountain valleys.  We certainly recommend these areas in SC and NC to visit and tour.

2010-11 Carrboro, NC

In November 2010, we traveled to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC for a second opinion to verify Monique’s diagnosis.  Monique had a thorough exam by Dr. Joseph Moore and his staff.  Dr. Moore did confirm that Monique has a type of Lymphoma Cancer called SLL/CLL and that “Watch and Wait” or  his preferred description of “Active Monitoring” was the appropriate course of action.

We found a very nice campground near Carborro, NC.  This small town adjoins Chapel, Hill, and it is hard to know when you have crossed from one town to the other.   The campground was Spring Hill Mobile Home Park.  As the name implies it was once a mobile home park, but is slowly converting to a RV campground.  We had a large site with huge beautiful oaks overhead.  We hope to return sometime in the future.

We stayed a few extra days to tour the area.  We always love touring gardens and found two very nice ones.  First we visited the NC Botanical Gardens near Chapel Hill.  It was a beautiful fall day and we enjoyed walking the woodlands trails.

(The photo of the pitcher plant at the top of the page is from another part of this garden.)

Another day we visited the Sarah P Duke Gardens at Duke University.  This is an especially nice garden.  There were not as many things in bloom as you would see in the spring or summer, but the gardens were still very lovely.  A few roses were still blooming.

Here is a pretty gazebo overlooking a small pond.

Another area has an oriental design with a lovely little red bridge crossing one end of a lake.

A third day we visited the historic town of Hillsborough, NC.  It was established in 1754 and has more than 100 historic homes and buildings dating from the 18th and 19th century.  Most of these are well marked with a sign showing the home or building name and date built.  We enjoyed a nice stroll around several neighborhoods using a walking guide we picked up at the town museum.   This town is well worth a visit if you are  in this area.  On the way back to the campground we stopped in Carborro and shopped in some nice craft shops.  We love seeing the craft work of local artists.

We definitely want to return to the “Research Triangle” area of NC to see the gardens in a different season and to tour more of the historic towns.

2010-06 New Friends and the Grove Park Inn

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn

Our stay at Creekwood Farm RV Park was one of our most enjoyable.  Besides the beautiful scenery in the surrounding mountains, we really enjoyed the people we met.  

Among the first we met were Jim and Sharon who were parked just behind us.  Jim is one of about 13 work campers who work about 20 hours a week in exchange for their campsite.  Jim works with the grounds crew, and they kept the campground looking immaculate.  Jim remembered meeting me somewhere.  We quickly established that he and Sharon belonged to the Palmetto Pals Chapter of the Newmar Kounry Klub, and that we had attended the same rally in SC last year.  However Jim said that was not where we had met.  The next day he came back and told me that he remembered that we had met two years earlier in the Barnyard RV Park back In Lexington, SC.  Boy I wish I had a memory like Jim's.  Regretfully I failed to take a photo of Jim and Sharon.


The next friends we made were Bob and Barbara who are also full time RVers.  We enjoyed visiting with them and took a day trip together to Dillsboro, NC to eat lunch at the Jarret House, a historic hotel and restaurant we highly recommend to those visiting in western NC.  Then we came back to Waynesville and toured the Shelton House Museum of NC Handicrafts (See prior post about this wonderful museum.)

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Bob is an outstanding wood carver.  He carved this "patriotic" gecko that he put up on his motorhome mirror for a July 4th decoration.

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Here is a duck decoy that is in progress.  He is working to complete the detailed painting of the feathers.

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Here is a completed decoy:

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Another couple we enjoyed meeting were Jim and Cora who were parked across the road from our site.  

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Jim and Cora are from Louisiana and were staying for several months.  They have camped at Creekwood Farm in prior years and enjoyed returning to the area.  They joined us for a day trip to Asheville.  


After I stopped at an allergist to get my weekly allergy shot, we had a great lunch at Cheddars.  Then we spent several hours wandering through the two gift shops associated with the Southern Highlands Craft Guild.  One shop is in Asheville and the other is a short distance away on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We all enjoyed seeing the wonderful artwork created by local artisans.

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

We next drove over to the Grove Arcade (see our earlier post) and then to the Grove Park Inn.  The Grove Park was built in 1913 and is a famous regional resort.
 

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn

It is a wonderful hotel with outstanding restaurants.  One is on a balcony facing this lovely view to the west.

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn

The Balcony Restaurant is a great place for a special occasion.  My sister Nora Ann and brother-in-law Jack celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary there on July 3rd.

From 2010-07 Grove Park Inn and Neighbors

Jack and Nora Ann's visit also added to the enjoyment of our time in Waynesville.  They brought their travel trailer up from Lexington and stayed at Creekwood Farm.  They came back to Waynesville for their 50th anniversary because their honeymoon trip had been to Lake Junaluska and Fontana Lake, which is a bit further west in NC.  It was great spending time with them before we headed north to our next scheduled stop in Michigan.

2010-06 Friends and Roses

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

One of the delights we enjoyed while in Waynesville was the opportunity to spend a day with our friends and former neighbors from Lexington, SC - Hal and Beverly Zorn.  The Zorn's have a second home in the mountains near Waynesville - a great way to escape some of the summer heat in Lexington.  They invited us over for a visit.  They have a lovely home with a great view.

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

We also went for a ride around Waynesville to get their recommendations for good restaurants and places to visit.  A top recommendation was already a favorite of ours - Lake Junaluska. 

From 2010-06 Roses at Lake Junaluska

We stopped for a stroll along the lake at the section of the walkway lined with beautiful roses.  Here are just a few of the rose varieties we admired:

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

From 06-10 Roses at Lake Junaluska, NC

2010-06 Evening Primrose

Evening Primrose

From 2010-06 Evening Primrose

We are easy to entertain! 

We sometimes take a walk late in the evening shortly before sunset. One evening Bob, the manager of Creekwood RV Park, called to us to hurry over.  He pointed to a plant in his yard and told us it was just about to “pop open”.  Several others were already standing there watching.

From 2010-06 Evening Primrose

Bob explained that the flowers on this plant, which he thought was called a “Nicademus Plant”, would pop open in a matter of seconds.  The flowers open at night and only last for one day.  He and his wife had watched it for  the first time the night before, and thought it opened about 8:30pm.  We all stood there staring at the plant for about 15 minutes.   We began to think he had set us up for a joke  - “How long can I get these people to stand here staring at this silly bush?”.

However about 8:45pm the plant began to vibrate, and several leaves along the stem could be seen to move as if blown by a breeze.  Then sure enough, a yellow blossom petal popped out.

From 2010-06 Evening Primrose

Shortly afterward the four pedals of the green pod that enclosed the bloom, snapped down and the four yellow pedals of the bloom untwisted and opened.  The whole process only took a few seconds.  It was marvelous to see.

From 2010-06 Evening Primrose

Here are four of the blooms after they have opened.  All opened within a 5 to 10 minute period.

From 2010-06 Evening Primrose

I came back to the RV and did some internet research.  It turns out this is an Evening Primrose.  You might find it an interesting addition to your garden.

2010-06 Grove Arcade, Asheville, NC

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

We spent an enjoyable day shopping at the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville, NC.  We have been wanting to see the scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but almost every day has been at least partially overcast and threatening rain.  So we have looked for some “inside” activities.  Thus our visit to the Grove Arcade.

Here is the brief description from the Grove Arcade website:
“Built by E.W. Grove, the visionary and creator of the Grove Park Inn, the Grove Arcade opened in 1929 and thrived until World War II as one of the country's leading public markets. The historically renovated Grove Arcade reopened to the public in 2002 as a destination featuring boutique shopping and exciting dining in a beloved downtown architectural wonder.”

There are shops on the first floor and offices and residential condo’s on the top two floors. The arcade is open to the glass covered ceiling allowing in bright natural light.

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

We enjoyed wondering through the gift shops, such as this one with crafts by local North Carolina artists.

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

We love baskets and were really taken with the baskets in one shop made by African Zulu women.  We bought a medium sized one for the RV.

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

Various local artists have booths in stalls outside along the sidewalk. 

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

One young man was selling terrariums.  Years ago I made a few terrariums for my Mother, Grandmother, etc.  So I was happy to see them again.  In fact that same day, there was an article in the NY Times about the resurgence of interest in terrariums.  We bought this tall one being held by Tristan.  He and his wife also sell paintings at the booth and are among the many fine artists living in the Asheville area.

From 2010-06 Grove Arcade

There are many other interesting shops and restaurants in the blocks nearby the Arcade.  The area is well worth a day’s visit.

2010-06 Lake Junaluska, NC

From 2010-06 Lake Junaluska

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we drove the short 8 miles over to Lake Junaluska.   This is a huge  Methodist Assembly and Conference Center surrounding the lake from which it draws its name.  Growing up in Mississippi, I used to hear about various retreats and conferences, especially for the youth, at Lake Junaluska.  It always sounded like some magical place of wonder far away from home way up in the mountains.  

It truly is a beautiful place, and it has been a real treat to visit Lake Junaluska several times over the years as an adult.

This afternoon was very lovely as we walked around the lake.  It seemed like we were accompanied by half the citizens of the nearby town of Waynesville!  I assume it was just more crowded due to the holiday weekend and the fact a large conference was underway for another denomination using the facilities. 

The late evening views around the lake were really pretty.

From 2010-06 Lake Junaluska

From 2010-06 Lake Junaluska

There were a large number of geese in several spots around the lake including this family group.

From 2010-06 Lake Junaluska

We saw several pretty flowers along the way.

From 2010-06 Lake Junalusk

One reason we came over that Saturday evening was the fact our campground has live entertainment on Saturday's from 7 to 9:00pm outside the recreation hall.  We are parked close to this building and did not care for the loud music.  The Bluegrass players sounded good, just way too loud.  So we went looking for an escape and ended up at Lake Junaluska.

This past Saturday we left before the program started and drove about 30 minutes over to Asheville and did some shopping.  We came out of one store to see a beautiful sunset.

From 2010-06 Sunset in Asheville

Not sure where we will go next Saturday evening.  The following weekend we will be in Mississippi.  We will make a quick trip down to Columbia, SC by car for another Doctor visit.  Then we will head across to Mississippi for a few days to visit family and attend a wedding.  Then back to Waynesville late Sunday June 20th.  This will be a long round trip of about 1900 miles.