Better late than never!
By wohlibuli
5 comments
We decided to take Friday off and do our annual drive up to the mountains. We had left it a little late because of so much to do at home, but now was the time or we would miss the beautiful wildflowers.
We drove up through N. Georgia and into western N Carolina to a little town called Cherokee where the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains Nat. Park is, the little town has changed a lot in recent years, probably due to the flow of tourist money at the Indian reservation casinos, which opened a few years ago.
It has a pretty river running thru town called the Oconaluftee, a big joke in the family cause this is the river my daughter fell into when she was 3, she wasn’t hurt, just lost her shoe! The town has flower baskets hanging on main street and lots of outdoor art displays.
We then drove into the park and north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic drive that runs along the mountain ridges of the southern Appalacians. We saw some beautiful Mountain Laurel and some wild Rhododendrons and fabulous native Flame Azaleas. Plus lots of smaller wildflowers too many to name! And one very surprising plant called Cow Parsnip, which looked like Queen Anne’s lace on steriods! It was huge!
Naturally all this beauty and I had forgotten my camera, but I prevailed on my hubby to take a couple of shots with his cell phone.
This is some Rhododendron along the side of the parkway
This is some great looking Flame Azalea
and this is looking down the side of a hill into a patch of Mtn. Laurel and enormous Cow Parsnip!
We then drove south to a small college town in S. Carolina called Greenville, to a pretty historic old hotel in downtown, it’s a pretty lively town with lots of restaurants and shops on the old main street. They were having a street market and craft show, with live music and even fireworks. We stopped and had Kansas City style barbeque for dinner and then watched the fireworks and grooved to the music.
An enjoyable little trip all around! : )
21 Jun, 2009
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Comments
Lovely looking photos Wohlibuli, it looks a gorgeous area.
21 Jun, 2009
It is a beautiful area and we try to do it every spring.
Yes Bob, it is the same mtns. This time we stayed on the east side of the mtns, in North and South Carolina. The western side of the mtns is Tennessee, which is where Dolly is from. Pigeon Forge to be exact, it has become a huge tourist area now that Dollywood is there. It is a little further away from us so we usually stay on the eastern side.
You can also go up thru Chattanooga, Tenn to another scenic drive on the western side called the Cherohala skyway. Both are very beautiful places and some place I have gone on a semi regular basis most of my life. There just seems to be something relaxing about the mtns.
21 Jun, 2009
Stunning scenery and photos.Particularly like the wild rhododendrons.
21 Jun, 2009
Hey now there's a song I grew up with 'Chattanooga choo choo' Its wonderful to actually visit some places that you relate to in songs and other things from when younger.
22 Jun, 2009
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I love Dolly Parton so is that the very same 'Smokey Mountains' she was brought up in? I would love to go to see 'Dollywood' Thanks for sharing your drive with us.
21 Jun, 2009