Wednesday 20 Jun: South & North Carolina, road trip on Blue Ridge Parkway
Not exactly an early rise today. After a very nice leisurely breakfast at Caroline & David’s, we are armed with maps and head off for our first road trip in South Carolina, up to the Appalachian Mountains across the border in North Carolina. So many states close to each other in this part: South & North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
We start on the 123, a very pretty road with green lawns on either side, and we wonder who maintains these lawns, as it must take lots of mowing to keep them look so neat and tidy.
In less than an hour we are on the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway 11. We pop into the Keowee Toxaway state park, where there are wonderful houses on a lakeside, water-skiing and camping on small beaches. Looks like a great summer holiday area.
On 178 we come across Rosman village, where we spot several motorbikes in a parking lot, and we rush there imagining we have found a nice bar. It turns out it was just a laundromat!
Next stop in Rosman we find a very good outdoors shop and activities center. Unfortunately our time is limited today and we can’t sign up for river tubing. But we certainly have time to chill with a beer and some food from Mama Bear’s truck!
We follow the 215 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. A pretty meandering road, through thick forests ascending up the foothills. Not much scenery to see as the forest on either side of the road is very thick. Once on the famous Blue Ridge Parkway road, the view over the mountain tops is finally revealing itself to us. We are now in cool air at 6500ft altitude, looking down either side of the Appalachian mountains over miles and miles of vivid green forest. We vow that we will return to these mountains in the fall, to see their golden colours.
On the Blue Ridge we stop at the trail head to Graveyard Fields, a walk-board to Lower Falls. Lovely countryside, clear mountain streams and waterfalls.
It’s already 5pm now, and we start heading back. We both feel tired and sleepy, after not much sleep during last week. As we plot our course back on Google maps we are surprised we are still 1.5 hours away. This country is very big!
In the evening light the return trip is through beautiful scenery of sweet houses with big lawns, horses in fields etc. just as you would imagine the Carolinas to be.
The last town before we arrive is Easley, a very quaint town built either side of a railroad with the trains still passing through the center of the town. With its original buildings, it’s easy to imagine this town as it would have developed next to the railroad stop.
In the evening we dine out in the center of Greenville, at Up on the Roof. A very neat, tidy and prosperous town all very recently modernized around the river front. Old Cotton mills turned into restaurants and places to chill. GE and BMW have big plants recently situated here and the town is thriving.
Again we fall into bed exhausted. And we tell ourselves, maybe we should treat ourselves to a leisurely weekend, one of these weeks!