This is the story of the third day of our vacation to North Carolina. You can also read about the background and trip up, the first day, or the second day.
What promised to be a gorgeous day started out with a bit of shopping in downtown Franklin. There are lots of cute little shops there so we all kind of poked and wandered. Bleys bought a big thick novel, Trav got a few books to replace some of his old ones, and we got tasty, freshly made chocolate fudge to take home.
Then we set out to visit a place called Dry Falls, a waterfall which projects over a cliff so you can walk behind it. On the way, we stopped at a neat spot, where you can see the cabin from the road, way up on the mountain. Click for original size picture, where you can see the cabin perfectly! It’s the house with the red roof.
Also along the way to the falls was Bust Your Butt swimming hole, on the Cullasaja River:
After driving a little further on the narrow, winding mountain road, we saw signs for Cliffside Lake Recreational Area and decided to stop and check it out – see what was there. We discovered a lovely lake and park, with picnic tables, grills, bathrooms, and hiking trails… everything one needs for a day of fresh air and sunshine. We decided to come back and spend the day on Wednesday. I love this picture of Mike & Jen at the lake:
Then it was off to Dry Falls. We had heard it was being refurbished, and it was still closed when we went by, so we kept on going just a little further down the road to Bridal Veil Falls.
When we got there, people were down along the side of the falls, picking up stuff from the ground. I asked what they were after and they showed me the garnets they were gathering. They were just laying around, right in the open! So we spent a little while gathering garnets and that was really fun for me. I should have taken more pictures but I got in one of those modes where all I can do is look for shiny things. I didn’t want to leave – I could have stayed there all day poking around in the dirt!
After we each got a small handful of gens, we went down the road just a little further into the little town of Highlands. We poked around in the shops there, too. The reason we went shopping so much is because I was looking for a particular souvenir… a spoon rest. I didn’t find one; it’s just not the type of stuff the tourist traps carry around there. It was fun to look at all the stuff, though… lots of bear things, mountain crafts and pretty rocks & jewelry. We agreed to meet up at Buck’s Coffee Cafe when everyone was done browsing. Here we are enjoying delectable drinks:
After a leisurely day of exploring, we headed home, as it was getting to be supper time. We enjoyed our evening meal (I can’t remember what we had), and entertainment was backgammon with Michelle and cribbage with Bleys. A really lovely day!