Tag: North Carolina

If it’s Fall, it must be the Mountains

Every time October rolls around, I am irresistibly called back to the mountains. This year, it will be twice. Right now I am in the far western part of North Carolina, crossing here and there into Tennessee, and in a couple of weeks it will be the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. Today I explored the area around Robbinsville. Here are a couple of diverse snapshots from the area. The image of mountain layers was taken from the Sunset Overlook on the Cherohala Skyway; the waterfall is Yellow Creek Falls on Hwy NC-219, and the bridge is also on Hwy NC-219.

The Seas are definitely Rising

Charleston is not the only city with a flooding problem. I believe that there is definitely enough evidence to support climate change, I just don’t think that we have a whole lot to do with it. Climates have always changed over time, and they always will. These photos are of streets in Carolina Beach, NC at high tide. This has nothing to do with the storm that came ashore and dumped 18″ of rain in the space of 24 hours. This is what the residents deal with on a regular basis. Police block off certain roads, and if you live there, or if you are a DHL, Fedex or UPS driver, you just have to plan your schedules very meticulously!

Kure Beach, NC

This will be a season of quick “break-aways” from Charleston. The weather is changing, fall is coming, and this weekend I am in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. This trip has been on my calendar for months, but only last week, they had an unnamed storm come through here, dumping 18″ of rain in the space of 12 hours! The event was unexpected to say the least, and a week later there are areas that are still flooded, sections of Highway 17 are still closed, and piles of debris testify to the ferocity of the storm. The beaches suffered their usual battering and resulting erosion, but that is nothing new for this part of the world. One beloved landmark still stands, and that is the Kure Beach Pier, an historic wooden structure that has been destroyed, damaged, and rebuilt over the years, but continues to be enjoyed by tourists and locals alike. That’s where I was at sunrise this morning.

Winter Storm hits the NC Mountains

I had made plans a few weeks back to spend a few days in the Blowing Rock area in the hope that it might snow, and that I would capture some white, winter landscapes. Well, boy did it snow! In fact it snowed to the point where it caused significant chaos on the roads, and people were stranded all over the place. Some couldn’t travel home from ski resorts, and the roads and ditches were littered with cars planted firmly in the ice and snow. Not such a big deal up north, but certainly it certainly presented a challenge for the Watauga County public officials, stretching their resources to the limit. Fortunately for me, I was there for fun, and my Jeep Cherokee 4×4 certainly earned its stripes as it carefully transported me through a winter wonderland. One of my more thrilling and adventurous excursions!

More from Western North Carolina

Prepare to be surprised by sudden and ongoing changes in the weather when spending time in the upper elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our biggest surprise this time was to get caught in a flurry of snowflakes while admiring the brilliant fall foliage on the parkway. Here are a few more of my favorite images from this trip. Until next time ….

Fall in North Carolina

It’s the second week in October, and time to make my annual pilgrimage to the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. We are coming to the end of three wonderful days spent in the rural community of Valle Crucis, near Blowing Rock, and tomorrow we will drive south down to the Lake Toxaway area and spend a week there. So far, we have covered over 500 miles and tomorrow will add another couple of hundred. Here are a couple of snapshots from our wanderings up and down the BRP.

Wintery day in Bryson City, NC

We chose this week to spend some time in the Smoky Mountains, and so far we haven’t seen much of the mountains. I chose to explore the “Road to No-Where” (see sign in last image)! In the 30’s and 40’s Swain County gave up the majority of its private land to the US government for the creation of Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hundreds of families were forced to leave those small mountain communities. Not only were their homes gone, but also the roads leading to those communities. The US government promised to create a new road. Lakeview Drive was to have stretched 30 miles along the north shore of Fontana Lake, from Bryson City to Fontana; providing access to the old family cemeteries. But Lakeview Drive fell victim to an environmental issue and construction was stopped at the tunnel about six miles into the Park. Swain County citizens gave the unfinished Lakeview Drive its popular, but unofficial name, “The Road to Nowhere”. Here are a couple of photos taken along the way.

North Carolina in the Fall

Every year I go back to North Carolina at least once during the fall season. It’s definitely my prime “happy place”. This year, a few of us girlfriends rented a house on Lake Summit for a week, near Flat Rock / Zirconia. What a great getaway it was. We explored the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, Brevard, Caesar’s Head State Park, Pearson’s Falls, the Sky Top Orchard for apples, apple pie, apple cider donuts … We took long walks to try and atone for all the food we ate. Just a really good time with good friends.

Downtown Brevard

“It’s got everything you need, and nothing that you don’t”, words borrowed from the Zac Brown Band but totally applicable to this charming mountain town. The people are relaxed and friendly. One of my new Brevard friends told me that if someone honks their horn at you, you know they’re from somewhere else, because the folks just don’t do that here. Great restaurants, coffee shops, shopping, festivals, exhibitions, entertainment; there is always something going on in Brevard. Here are some cameos of my favorite downtown stores. The photo of the trio jamming was taken inside a local bakery – folks just gathering to enjoy music together and the locals going about their business, drinking coffee, working on laptops, and stuffing a couple Dollar bills in the tip jar.