Dillsboro Diner 6 '09

Neither of us enjoy trying to eat in a place that allows smoking, so the casino in Cherokee was out of the question.  What to do, what to do?

Checking our local guidebook, we found a well rated bar-b-que smokehouse in nearby Dillsboro .  It tuned out to be an excellent choice.

 The bar-b-que food was excellent, service fast and friendly,  and the decor something out of a movie clique

Definitely a must try kinda  place.

Cherokee NC 6/13/09

 The small Native American Indian village of Cherokee sits at the southernmost end of the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. It's been overrun by a collection of bears. But, don¹t worry­ these bears are completely harmless. Several Eastern Band of Cherokee artists have created a series of large, life-like fiberglass bears and painted them in bright vibrant colors and designs. Currently there are 15 painted bears completed, located in various spots around town. It was fun to try to find them all.

  Cherokee, is home to Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation which is one of the only three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. There are about 13,400 Eastern Band of Cherokee members, most of whom live on the Reservation. Properly called the Qualla Boundary, the Reservation is slightly more than 56,000 acres held in trust by the federal government specifically for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Like many Indian reservations in the United States, it has a casino which is a major source of income for the local tribe that lives on the reservation.

 In addition, the  shops in the town sell a lot of tourist items... 

 some of which are not even vaguely related to the cultural history of the local tribe

The Cherokee  put on tribal performances  in several museums, a outdoor drama and at several festivals   in which they tell tourists about their heritage

 

As the Oconaluftee  River passes through the town of Cherokee, it is split by a beautiful, grassy island. Called the Oconaluftee Islands Park – it is  sheltered by canopies of oak and sycamore with beautiful walking bridges connect the island.   Its a nice place to have a picnic.  

The Cherokee charge a fee for fishing in the  rivers and streams running through their lands.

Once this entire land belonged to them, but the white settlers whittled away at their holdings until the tribe's population was confined to this one small valley.

Even that was jeopardized when the lead surveyor for the  Blue Ridge Parkway wanted to put the terminus of the road right through the center of their only farmland.  It took a near Indian uprising to convince the US Congress, and the President, that such and action was tantamount to genocide.

Fortunately the Blue Ridge  Parkway was diverted through Asheville, giving that city the advantage of it's tourist traffic, but allowing the Cherokee to retain the fertile farm land they need  to feed their people.

Mountain Home Farm 6'09

One of the more interesting places we stopped in the Blue Ridge Mountains was

 The Mountain Home Farm.

Set up and maintained by the US National Parks Service,

The Mountain Home  Demonstration Farm has authentic original  farm buildings that were purchased when the Blue Ridge Parkway was being constructed and moved to this location to demonstrate what life was like on a  pioneer farm in the Blue Ridge mountains.

All of the buildings on the farm have  signs explaining the use of the building , and  Forestry Service  personnel are there to answer questions more detailed questions about the exhibits.

Of course most farms shared their services with their neighboring farms rather than attempting to be completely self sufficient.  So rather than representing a typical farm, the buildings on the Mountain Home Farm shoe  complete  collection of buildings dedicated to every aspect of farming that would be represented in the community.

Most did have pigs, or some form of livestock, and those that did not relied on hunting.

and most had a kitchen garden with herbs for medicinal and culinary use.

But some were wealthier and had really large  barns and farm plots on very fertile soil

When one considers that all of this building and planting ,( including the clearing of the land and the cutting of trees for the buildings), was generally done by hand and by hand tools, it is truly an impressive accomplishment.

Great Smokey Mountain National Park 6 '09

The main objective of our trip was to visit the Great Smokey Mountain National Park while the weather permitted was warm enough to allow us to do some activities  without having to wear snow shoes

Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Asheville is the most visited national park with 10 million visitors each year. There are 520,976 acres to explore. When I think of the park the first thing that comes to mind is hiking  majestic mountain top with  awesome views. While it is true that this International Biosphere Reserve is home to rugged mountains (with many of its  peaks in excess of 6,000 feet),  it also has historic homesteads, 100,000 different types of plants and animals, and lots and lots of water.. 

Since the park is so large,  how does one go about exploring it  in a three day  weekend? There are four entrances to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park within 60 miles from downtown Asheville.  We tried to see  and do all the  top listed things from each of these entrances to the Great Smoky Mountains. I have created posts which  highlight the best of our experiences in these areas.

 The Deep creak area of the Great Smokies is popular for its streams and waterfalls.

Hikers can choose from several loop hikes leading to several small waterfalls We took several of these short hikes.

The sound  of the water gurgling through these ancient  rocks is  musical.

But there is running water everywhere in the Smoky Mountains.

Dribbles out of the mountain side along the road ways

like these trickles along Highway 144

 or chatters noisily through small narrow creeks

 Joining with other creeks, picking up speed andc cascading down hillsides in every larger volumes as it does here in Juney Wank falls

As it reaches the lower elevations  it spreads out

  in large reflecting ponds

 and spreads into  gentle streams safe enough for children to play in (as it does here in a stream near Cherokee).

Of course, there was much more to see and do in The Great Smokey Mountains, but those activities are topics for future posts.

Other hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains NP 6 '09

Besides the paved  walk way to the summit, there are several trails that start on Clingmans Dome Road and parking area.  We chose the Appalachian Trail  (AT)  which crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its journey from Georgia to Maine.

Bruce and I hiked along the length of this for several miles in each direction

 It's interesting how quickly the foot traffic falls off once you leave the paved path behind

 and yet the prettiest and  most interesting  scenes are always off the pavement.

Mingo Falls, called Big Bear Falls in the Cherokee language, cascades 200 feet nearly down granite boulders. It's located just five miles from the entrance to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park on Big Cove Road near the town of Cherokee.  You walk under a lush canopy of trees which keeps the trail cool  even on the hottest of days .. passing  several big campgrounds and a rushing stream which is a popular tube float area in the summer. 

 The beautiful 1/4-mile hike to the falls along the rushing stream is short, but you must climb 161 steps. 

At the top of the stairway, a short path past impressive rock outcroppings leads to a viewing bridge at the base of the falls.

This would be a great short hike to take in the spring time when the kiddies are  in school, and rains have swollen the streams.

Toe River 6/11/09

 The Toe River runs through one of those beautiful valleys  just north of Asheville NC   in the Blue Ridge Mountains .

It is filled with picturesque buildings,  interesting small towns , and a never ending list of artist studios.   We had been drawn to the area by a flyer about open artist studio tours.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived in the area, it was already late in the day, and the studios are very widespread,  and often located in small out of the way locations.  We decided our time would be better spent visiting Penland School of Crafts.

Penland is a national center for craft education dedicated to helping people live creative lives. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in books & paper, clay, 

  drawing, glass, iron, 

 metals, photography, printmaking and letterpress, textiles, and wood. 

 The school also offers artists' residencies, community collaboration programs, and a gallery and information center.

The Penland Gallery and Visitors Center is one of the finest showcases for contemporary craft in the Southeast. Just being there made CC happy. 

 It is a stop worth adding to your trip through Western North Carolina.

Penland School of Crafts, Post Office Box 37, Penland NC 28765-0037 | 828.765.2359