Friday, May 11, 2012
Traveled from milepost 376.7 to 431.4
Another beautiful sunny day, not too hot, not too cold. After breakfast at the hotel Karen and I dropped the guys off at yesterday's ending point at the Tanbark Overlook. They headed off before us, but we ended up at the Folk Art Center at the same time. It takes them a bit longer to climb those hills, but they are fast going down. There is a 45 mile/hour speed limit on the parkway, but usually we couldn't drive more than 30-40 miles an hour due to the curvy roads or fog/rain or some other reason.
 |
| Thumbs up again from everybody |
 |
| Ready to go again |
Karen and I were thinking of going to the
Biltmore House, estate of George Vanderbilt, but first of all it was a bit pricey and would have taken the whole day if not more. We just wanted to see the house, but they didn't sell tickets just to see the house. You had to see everything, the gardens, the winery etc. We figured that we'd rather go to the
Folk Art Center. Not only were they selling things, they also had a museum sort of thing and an art gallery and demonstrations, like weaving and broom making, at least today. I ended up buying couple of smaller things, but I also saw this bowl that I really liked. I left the center and got to my car and decided that I would kick myself if I didn't buy it since it was a one of a kind piece and I could never find another one like it. So I went back and bought it.
 |
| Folk Art Center |
 |
| Folk Art Center |
From there we were thinking of going to the North Carolina Arboretum, but thought that the guys could use a SAG stop so we went looking for them. They had passed the Arboretum exit by 10 miles by the time we found them. Instead of going there we went to our next hotel, which is the
Pisgah Inn, right on the parkway. Before getting there we stopped at the Buck Springs Gap Overlook which had the ruins of George Vanderbilt's Mountain Hunting Cabin. While we were there the guys had passed us again and we saw them at the hotel. After checking in they kept going since they had decided to lengthen today so that our last day would not be so long and Mark, Jeff and I could head back home earlier.
 |
| View from Buck Springs Overlook |
 |
| View from Buck Springs Overlook |
 |
| Site of Vanderbilt's Hunting Cabin, tree on left is in old pictures |
 |
| Site of Vanderbilt's Hunting Cabin |
 |
| Site of Vanderbilt's Hunting Cabin |
 |
| Buck Springs Overlook |
 |
| Mount Pisgah Inn |
 |
| They got here before we did |
Karen and I stayed at the hotel and had a lovely lunch in their dining room. There are not that many places where you can eat along the parkway, so this was a real treat. I had the best turkey wrap ever, with Brie cheese and apples and other stuff. After lunch we headed up the road, had to go and pick up those guys, for some reason they did not want to ride the 20+ miles back to the hotel. We stopped at several overlooks. The views were just amazing and the pictures do not do them justice at all.
 |
| View from our room |
 |
| View from our room |
 |
| They are ready to head out again, Pisgah Inn |
 |
| Mount Pisgah |
 |
| Best lunch, turkey wrap, ever |
 |
| Pounding Hill Overlook |
 |
| Some kind of Azaleas growing on the side of the road |
 |
| Caney Fork Overlook, elev. 5650' or 1722 meters |
 |
| Haywood-Jackson Overlook, elev 6020' or 1834 m |
We picked them up at the Richland Balsam Overlook which is the highest point right on the parkway. It is at milepost 431.4 and the elevation is 6050 feet or 1844 meters. We drove back to the hotel and after a shower and some rest we regrouped for a glass of wine and a nice dinner at the hotel. This is our last night on the parkway and tomorrow we are all heading home.
 |
| Jeff at Haywood-Jackson Overlook |
 |
| Richland Balsam Overlook, highest point on parkway, 6053' or 1845m |
 |
| View from Richland Balsam Overlook |
