Well this summer has been hotter than normal and also drier. So nothing was on the schedule for a couple weeks, so let's get out of here and head for the Blue Ridge Mountains.
One destination was the Biltmore in NC. A quaint little cottage built by the van der Bilts. We stayed at the Inn, which if I do it again would opt for the Village Hotel which not only is cheaper but next to the restaurants (not discounting the very high end restaurant inside the Inn).
Our first stop was Savanah, GA. Wow this is a MUST see stop. A quaint old southern town, very walkable, lots of great restaurants and night spots. We stayed at the Marshall House, right downtown, built in 1851 and surviving the civil war. Nightly wine hour.
Between eating (what else do you do on vacation?), we took a hop on hop off tour. We learned Savannah was the most haunted city in the US, having some neighborhood just built over old graveyards, in addition to local horrific murders in the past. One other thing of note is there are a number of squares in the town each named after a historic figure, however, each square has a statue to someone other than the named square. I guess a bit of sense of humor back then.
Next onto Charleston, SC. Also known as a foodie town, but frankly we need to give that place a second chance, but it was hot and we had a reservation at the Biltmore the following day.
Here at the battery in Charleston, the site of the start of the Civil War.
After the Biltmore we spent a couple days in Asheville, NC. Great place to poke around with local artists and more food to sample. Sorry took no pictures. We took one of the hop-on hop-off busses, and learned of the history including the "battle of Asheville" in the civil war. Not well known, but there was no confederate army in Asheville, but it was approached by a batallion of Union troops who camped outside of town. That night a rag tag group formed from the town for defense and they decided to attack that night. They surrounded the union army and shot all their ammunition in the dark and returned to the town to finish the job the next day. That next day they returned to find the Union troops had left (it must have been a great victory). But really the Civil War had ended and the Union troops got notified and headed home. And also there were no casualties in all the firing the night before.
Now we are in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Staying in some small towns, sampling some of the local wines. Some were quite good, a nice change from the blueberry wines of FL.
Some grapes grown locally, but most reds grapes coming in from OR or CA.
Checked out the Blowing Rock that has it that the winds saved a native girls lover from a different tribe when he leaped off the rock was blown back by a gust of wind. This is one of many cute little towns along the Blue Ridge Parkway which we traveled for the southern 80-90 miles up and down to the Great Smokey National Park.
Our last stop was Gatlinburg, which we thought was a bit of a tourist trap, but also right on the edge of Great Smokey National Park. We headed over to Pigeon Forge, which I think now defines tourist trap, with a Titanic Museum, Hollywood Museum with King Kong and lots of ticky-tacky roadside attractions. We might go back there to visit Dollywood some day, but didn't have the time this trip.
