Last week we got fed up with the oppressive Charlotte heat and retreated up to my parents’ house in the mountains for some relief. We ended up spending the whole week there. Kurt worked a few days and took the rest of the week off. We would have worried about overstaying our welcome, but we had a cute little blonde ambassador who fell over herself trying to please Grandma and Grandpa, so we figured we were good for a few extra days.
Sarah Beth is head over heels in love with Grandpa. Or “Pawgaw” as it sounds the way she says it. Poor Grandma does everything to keep this girl happy and entertained, from tap dancing to rolling around on the floor, but it is Grandpa sitting in the recliner who has her wrapped around his finger. The slightest glance or act of silliness from Grandpa and she is in hysterics. It is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. We all went on an outing to the WNC Nature Center which was fantastic, btw. But for Sarah Beth…cougars, wolves, and bears…whatever. It was Grandpa who got all her attention. She was quite concerned about leaving him behind so when he lingered a little, she would holler “PAAAAAAWWWWWWGAWWWWWW” and wait until he caught up.
So a little about the WNC Nature Center since I brought it up. It’s in Asheville. And it’s amazing. The animals have wooded and wild enclosures, but some of them were right up at the fence. We were 10 feet away from two wolves. One stood up and stared us right in the face. There was so much intelligence behind those wild eyes. Sounds corny, but I felt like he was looking right into my soul, sizing me up. A humbling experience. We saw the newest residents, two beautiful cougars, pacing their enclosure. They were so graceful and quiet as they moved their huge bodies, jumping effortlessly, showing off to their slack-jawed visitors (including us) by bouncing off trees like a Kung Fu movie. I could have sat there for hours watching them.
The bear exhibit is a little unusual as you are actually viewing them from above on a wooden walkway. One could technically lean over the barrier and fall right into the bear enclosure. I have visited before and it never bothered me, but standing there with my 2 year old it freaked me out a little. Especially since the bears below us were clearly in the midst of a domestic dispute. The larger of the two bears stood up on his hind legs to prove a point, I’m assuming, and it definitely got my attention, if not his partner’s. Bears are fast by the way. You are not going to outrun one. Of course there was the token redneck there dangling his toddler over the railing. Seriously, people are so stupid. I didn’t want SB anywhere near the edge, much less hanging her juicy little feet over the side. And I swear I felt the wooden platform sway a little bit, so that was the end of my bear watching. On to the turkey vultures, Sarah Beth, let’s hurry!
Another one of our unplanned adventures took us to Cherokee, NC. We love the Blue Ridge Parkway and spend lots of time driving around up there, soaking in the views and the fresh air. When SB falls asleep in the car, we tend to just drive until she wakes up, so this time, it led us close to the Southern end of the Parkway. We decided to see what all the fuss was about in Cherokee and kept going. Well, let me just do y’all a favor and spare you the trip. It was downright depressing. We pulled off the parkway and as soon as we hit Indian land it was trailer after trailer after burnt out shack after trailer. We passed by closed up motels and broken down cars. Other than the big “Tribal Bingo” building with the glowing neon sign, there was barely a building that looked inhabitable until we rounded the bend and saw the towering Harrah’s Casino blocking out the sun. It was so startling to see this shiny structure in the midst of such poverty. I wonder if the folks living there see it as a slap in the face or is it their salvation, the only money-making operation in the area. Anyway, we cruised past the casino, past the “hourly drop-in daycare” in case you need to dump your kids somewhere while you gamble (shudder) and then reached the tourist trap of souvenir stores selling moccasins and tomahawks amongst other random items. (I get the Indian paraphernalia, but statues of lighthouses? Really? The closest beach is like 5-6 hours away.) We stopped to get out of the car and get some ice cream, but that was about it. The whole experience made us feel sad. I’m sure there are other parts of Cherokee that celebrate the Indian heritage in a more appropriate way, but we never got that far. We were ready to go home at that point.
Here's a few shots from our ice cream stop.
Hugs!
We ventured into DuPont forest one day for a beautiful morning hike.
It's not a long walk to the falls, but SB always seems to go halfway regardless of length before wanting Mommy to carry her back. Why Mommy? Daddy is strong and she thinks he hung the moon, but apparently Mommy is the designated pack mule in her life. Good thing she's so cute.
Our last adventure was something of a ghost story. We again, were driving on the parkway aimlessly. I was reading the Lonely Planet BRP guide, realizing we had hit every stop in the book except for a few, so we decided to go to one of the random places the guide mentioned. The Balsam Mountain Inn in Balsam, NC. Near Waynesville and Sylva. So really in the middle of nowhere. Back in the day, however, it was a bustling rail town and this hotel was a big destination resort in the 1900s. We like historic places so off we went. The guide described it as "luxurious" which by Lonely Planet standards could just mean you get your own toilet, but we were shocked by the condition of the place when we arrived. You cross the old rail tracks and climb up a dirt road to see what must have been a fine hotel but is now a crumbling mess. Peeling paint, missing siding, overgrown landscaping. The place was in utter disrepair. It definitely had the makings of a Stephen King horror story, but we figured what the hell, we were there, we'd get out of the car and check it out anyway. Take a few pictures on the old porch.
We pulled into the nearly vacant lot and unbuckled SB from her carseat. As soon as she got out, she wanted to get back in the car. That NEVER happens. Kurt picked her up and walked over towards the steps of the building and she kept turning around saying "CAR CAR" which was the oddest thing. I picked her up and carried her up the steps. She tried to get down, I thought, to run along the porch, but she turned around and went down the steps back to the car. Completely freaked out and demanded to go back to the car. We were like, um ok is this place haunted or something because she has never acted like that before. Sure enough, we look up the hotel and there are a few "known" ghosts that reside there. Including a sheriff who was gunned down at a box lunch social in the 1900s right in front of the hotel. So maybe SB just didn't feel like getting out of the car, but I wonder if she sensed something that we couldn't see? It was pretty spooky there. Boo!
