The last day of the road trip started with a visit to the Southern Highland Craft Guild. During the summer demonstrations are held and I talked to a woodcarver for a long time. The building has a museum of folk art items and also a very large store of every kind of hand made item imaginable.
The next stop was downtown Asheville to the Grove Arcade, a shopping mall constructed in the 1920s. The building is beautiful and it's a good place to catch lunch. There are a variety of interesting stores there, including a fiber craft store and a used bookstore that doubles as a champagne bar.
The last stop was DuPont State Forest that houses several impressive waterfalls that were used in the filming of the Hunger Games movies. High Falls is especially impressive and offers a lot of photo opportunities.
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The rain finally caught up with us and we decided to go to Pisgah National Forest. There are some good and bad things about Pisgah. One of the good things is that there is a large waterfall near the road that is easy to find. Moore Cove Falls is also fairly easy to find.
The problem is that Pisgah's maps to other waterfalls aren't very good and the forest has had recent flooding that has caused some of the roads to be blocked off. My understanding is that the park doesn't have the money to fix some of these things, so there are maps showing directions to waterfalls that it is not possible to find. And some of the directions are just bad.
That's a major problem since one of the main draws to Pisgah is the waterfalls. We saw maybe one other hike within a reasonable distance from the visitor center, the rest was just driving through forest.
Despite weather predictions being for rain all week, this day turned out lovely to visit the Biltmore. Biltmore tickets are expensive and it behooves you to spend all day there. Get there early. I made the mistake of not getting there ahead of my tour ticket time, which made me have to stop at information. That wasn't all bad considering internet was very spotty there and I needed my tickets printed out anyway.
Expect big crowds at the Biltmore. It wasn't completely overwhelming when we went, but I can see it getting packed easily on weekends. The ticket includes a very nice two hour tour of the house with a handset. It was much nicer than having to follow a tour guide around and not be able to hear or see with a group. I would suggest adding an additional tour package, as I was interested in the Roof Tour, but none were really being offered this summer, which is a shame.
Definitely use the bathroom before going on the tour since there are none after you go into the house. And do your shopping at the very end. No one wants to tote bags around or have to rent a locker to store things. I do think the shops hold items for people at the end of the day. The candy store is very nice and if you're looking for food take your lunch at the Stable Cafe. The novelty of eating in the old stables is worth it.
If you can, walk the gardens early. They are worth going to, especially the conservatory, but in hot weather they're a killer. It's also worth stopping at the winery and village on the drive away from the house as it is less crowded and the village has working craftsmen.
On the second day in Alabama, we went to Joe Wheeler State Park. We hiked a trail and wandered around the marina for a bit. It's a very nice park with a good restaurant on the lake with lots of wildlife around. Well worth a day trip.
We then headed to the Jesse Owens Museum. This small, very nice museum is on the actual farm Owens was born on. They have a reconstruction of the cabin he was born in and a long jump pit along with a nice small park. The staff is very helpful and friendly and the museum is very professional looking even though it's small.
On the way to visiting all 50 states, we took a quick trip to Alabama over the long weekend. Staying in Florence we visited Tuscumbia on the first day to see Helen Keller's birthplace and the Wachahpi Commemorative Wall with a quick stop at Cold Water Falls.
Cold Water Falls is a few yards off of the main square of downtown Tuscumbia. It's a man made stone waterfall that is very pretty and easy to walk to. There are some petrified trees also in the park and some rides that are for children that seem to be on in the summer. Helen Keller's birthplace is nearby and offers a nice tour of a historic house that has 85 % of the original artifacts of the family. The guides are very knowledgeable about the Keller family and the house has productions of the Miracle Worker in the summer.
From there we went to the Wachahpi Commemorative Wall on the Natchez Trace. This wall was made by a man in honor of his grandmother who was forced on the Trail of Tears. The wall was made over 30 years and is the longest non-mortared wall in existence. The area is very peaceful and people leave tokens along the wall.
Another hidden hike in the Smokies is Avent cabin, the home of artist Mayna Treanor. Heading down Jakes Creek trail, the cabin can be seen on a hill at about 1.5 miles and there is a little trail that plunges off to the side and winds up to the cabin. Most of the people we saw there were locals as this cabin isn't a well known stop. You can walk around the cabin and sign a guest book as the park keeps the cabin in order.
The craft festival in Eagleville is getting bigger every year. Using the high school for parking now and having shuttles pulled by tractor, the whole main street of Eagleville is shut down for booths selling crafts similar to the Bellbuckle Craft Fair. There's live music and cloggers and plenty of good food. I got a delicious meat and two there and bought some books at the library book sale. There is a pony ride area and bouncy houses for kids. The whole affair has become much larger and better organized.
One of the main features of the area of Kentucky we traveled to was Mammoth Cave. A tourist attraction for hundreds of years, the cave system is the longest in the world. There are a multitude of different tours you can take into the cave. For ones that go to the formations in the cave pick one of the geology tours (Niagra or Onyx). If you fancy something unique try the lantern lit Violet City tour. We chose the Extended Historic tour that took you to the medical experiment that a doctor tried in the cave and then through the ridiculously low and tight Fat Man's Misery pass. This was a three mile tour so wear decent shoes and a jacket since the cave stays in the fifties year round.
Another fun unique tour in Bowling Green is to Chaney's Dairy Barn, known for their ice cream and robotic milking machine. Pay 4 dollars and go on the self guided tour that showcases the robotic milking machine that does all the milking for the farm without a person having to go near the Jersey cows.
What Chaney's is the best know for is their ice cream. Try the seasonal flavors that they have for limited times. Grab some lunch there as well. The chicken salad is great.
If you're looking for something interesting, quick and free in Bowling Green, try Aviation Heritage Park. Near the southern part of the city, the park has a host of restored planes and helicopters, one of which has been used by all the men to walk on the moon. The planes all have markers telling detailed history about Kentucky aviators and the history of the particular item. If you want an up close look at a fighter jet or a Huey helicopter this is the place to get a glimpse. After you're done try a trip to the Fruit of the Loom Outlet (also in downtown Bowling Green) and Vette City Antiques, one of the largest antique malls I've been in.
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AuthorA librarian who likes to travel and experience life. CategoriesArchives
June 2022
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