The Many Hills of Western North Carolina

View from Pisgah Inn viewing platform, Pisgah National Forrest

And we felt like we climbed them all! After our month in Charleston, SC, we moved away from the coast and up into the mountains near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We spent a month based out of Waynesville, NC, which is about 30 miles west of Asheville. Because we were up in the mountains, the weather was much less humid and only comfortably warm (mid 80s for highs). It did rain almost every day, but since most days it was only a little or only in the afternoon, it rarely impacted our ability to go hiking or enjoy other outside activities in the mornings while we were there. And, we had plenty of opportunities to use the BBQ.

There were lots of other things to do in the area. For example, there were TWO breweries within easy walking distance from our airbnb in downtown Waynesville. Both regularly have live music, which we definitely enjoyed. There’s also a legit wine bar just off the cutesy old timey Main Street. We were impressed by the wine bar’s selection of wines - and the prices were reasonable (if not great). There was even a piano player playing old standards the day we went. He gave Craig crap for being a Yankee fan (Red Sox fans 🙄), then played a bunch of NY themed songs 🤷🏻‍♀️.

We had so much fun at Frog Level Brewing on the 4th of July, enjoying a beer and music by the creek. The band looked like they were teenagers, but they did a great job playing 50’s early rock style songs, with a hint of the Stray Cats. The next time we went, they had an “electric bluegrass” band that was very popular with the locals (we do not enjoy country music as a rule, but apparently some bluegrass is OK). It was a great way to spend a summer evening.

Here are some additional highlights from our trip in this area, but if you are interested in many more photos, check out this gallery

Biltmore Estate

The best sight seeing we enjoyed in the area, was during our visit to the Biltmore estate in Asheville. The estate was built in the late 1800’s by George Washington Vanderbilt, a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the railroad tycoon. We spent the day there and many photos were taken. There’s a separate gallery JUST for the Biltmore estate.

HIKING:

We were super excited for weather more conducive to outside activities, which was convenient since we were in an area with a plethora of hiking trails in multiple National and State parks. Many mountains to climb, lakes to enjoy and burbling creeks added to the joy.

MUSHROOMS!

I also somehow picked up a new hobby - looking for interesting and weird mushrooms. Here are some of them - I still haven’t gotten the hang of identifying them. I did try one of the top apps for that and it REALLY didn’t work. Apple’s photo AI did better, but not great. Since we are not planning on eating any of them, please simply enjoy the anonymous fungi with me.

Note that the weird one in the bottom right is called a “ghost pipe,” because if you hold it sideways it looks like a pipe. A helpful fellow hiker was happy to explain.

I have to say, some of the signs we saw were also weird and wonderful.

Apparently, the Elk come hang out in this field at dawn and dusk.

I guess all swans are assholes? Who would have guessed?

Brilliant.