Friday, October 22nd: We pulled out of our driveway at 6:00 am. (We had a 5 hour drive and Kevin wanted to start early to get it over with and that way we could have most of the day to walk around, not spend it driving). Kevin was surprised at how easily I got up that morning, but I told him it was because I knew I was going to school. (I had taken the day off). About 10:00 am we realized that we were going to be getting to Bryson City way too early. We couldn't check in until 3:00 that afternoon. We needed something to do to take up some time, so we decided to detour through Maggie Valley and go to Cherokee. It had been a long time since either of us had been to Cherokee. It didn't seem like much had changed. We went into some shops, but after the first two shops, you saw the same things over and over. We decided to get lunch from Backyard Burger and took our lunch down near the river. There were many geese and ducks in the river. It was fun to watch them, because they really looked like they were enjoying themselves. They would twist and turn down the river. After we finished our lunch we walked along the river for a little while. Then I saw something that I was not expecting. I heard all this noise and looked up and what do I see coming across the bridge to the park to eat lunch, a group of about 40-50 school kids. I was was like oh no, I thought I left that far behind me. They looked to be about 3rd grade age and were eating lunch on their field trip. So, that was kind of funny. We left Cherokee and headed to Bryson City about a 10 minute drive. We checked in to a very nice room. I took a nap and Kevin watched some TV and napped too. We at dinner at the Fryemont Inn. We sat by the fire place and enjoyed a dinner of bread, vegetable soup, salad for me, fruit for Kevin, lemon herb chicken for me, steak for Kevin, and mac 'n' cheese, Lima beans, cinnamon apples and to top it off for desert hot fudge cake with ice cream and whipped cream for me and a cookie pie with ice cream and whipped cream for Kevin. We really enjoyed our dinner! So delicious and so much food! Then we found were to go for the train to ride the next morning and headed back to our room.
Cherokee, NC
Saturday, October 23rd: We got up at 7:00 am to eat breakfast at 7:30. We were going to ride the train and the train was pulling out at 9:00, so we had to eat and get downtown which took all of 2 minutes, but we had to pick up our tickets. Anyway, we had another delicious meal; scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown casserole (that tasted like my aunt Ann's), biscuit, and juice. Kevin dropped me off at the depot and went to park. It took a few minutes to find the correct line I had to be in to pick up the tickets. Then I waited and waited on Kevin. They told me they would board the train at 8:45. It had been long enough I thought for Kevin to park and get back to me. I was starting to get worried. Finally, I see Kevin coming. He had to pay to park and I had all the money with me, so he had to go to the bank to get some cash. We got on the train and started our journey to through the Nantahala Gorge on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. (http://www.gsmr.com/). It was 34 degrees that morning and we were thankful that we had an inside car. I know those that rode in the open air car, were very cold. The sights were very beautiful with the fall colors in the leaves. We stopped half way through our ride for lunch. Kevin and I had pre-ordered a meal ticket through the train, so we each got a hamburger (which you fix yourselves) a large drink, large bag of chips, and a cookie. We took a lunch and found a nice, quiet spot by the river looking at a waterfall. It was so peacefully. After our hour lunch break, we boarded the train and headed back. By this time it was warmer out and so we rode on one of the outside cars. You can take better pictures and see a lot more on the outside cars. We both really enjoyed our ride. When we returned we visited the train museum-they gave you free passes for ordering train tickets, then we headed back to our room. Where I took a nap and Kevin watched a football game. We went downtown for dinner. We first walked around and went in a few shops, then ate at a local place called "Jimmy's Mac" for dinner. Kevin had steak and fresh mountain trout and I had a baked potato. For some reason as soon as we sat down, I nausea feeling and knew I couldn't eat much. Kevin said the trout was the best he had ever had. Then we went into one more shop and headed back to our room.
Our train ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad
Sunday, October 24th: We slept a little bit later this morning, we ate breakfast at 8:00 instead of 7:30. Once again we had another delicious meal of a Belgian waffle with bananas, pecans, whipped cream and bacon. Which Kevin ended up having two waffles, with juice and I had hot chocolate this morning. We said good-bye and checked out of our place. Saturday night, the last shop we went in, the lady told us about a waterfall to go see. So, after we checked out we went to find this waterfall. We found the pull off for the waterfall and you had to do a little hiking. It wasn't too bad of a hike, but due to this little one I'm now carrying I did have to stop some along the way. The waterfall was very pretty and we had it all to ourselves. We were glad the lady had told us about it. After spending a few minutes enjoying the beauty, we headed back down. It was pretty walking through the woods. The leaves were falling all around us and it was like you were in a snow globe. Once we got back to the car, we headed out of town and back down the mountains home.
Trail to the Juney Whank Falls
Kevin and I had an absolutely wonderful time. The weather was perfect, the views were awesome, we enjoyed getting away and spending some time together, just us. It was a very stress-free and relaxing weekend. We both said that so far this was the most enjoying weekend away that we have had. Our other trips had been nice and fun, but this was just so relaxing and peaceful. For those of you that have never been to Bryson City, you need to take the time to go. Those of you that have kids, they would love the train. They do a pumpkin patch trip with Snoopy and the Peanuts gain through October. They also do a Polar Express train ride November through December, where the kids wear their pjs, and it's like the book and movie and at the end, they get to meet Santa. If you want to visit in the summer, you can tube or go white water rafting down the Nantahala river.
1 comment:
Wooo! Makes me miss Chimney Rock and our little get-away by the river! So glad you had a great time!
Love - Aunt Wanda
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