Miles Driven: 542
States: North Carolina · Tennessee
Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls
Without an exact destination for “waterfall hiking”, which is what I wrote on the itinerary for North Carolina, we set out to chase waterfalls in Transylvania. We stopped at the North Carolina Welcome Center outside of Mars Hill, as the map indicated we were close to Transylvania, but far from cell service. If you haven’t stopped at a welcome center lately, or ever, they are mainly staffed by cute elderly volunteers. I was frustrated with her inability to understand the map on my phone. She was frustrated with my inability to read her upside-down map of ¼ of the state. Patience seriously tested here. Little did I know, Transylvania county is home to 250 waterfalls, so no doubt Cathy was unable to assist me in finding “waterfalls”.
Still no destination, we continued driving….to cell service. I quickly text my friend, whom we were staying with in Tennessee and had originally told me waterfall hiking in Transylvania was a must. Renee to the rescue, driving resumed! Making our way on the winding road into Dupont State Forest to High Falls Access Area, we found parking on the side of the road and made our way to the visitor’s center for a trail map.
May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor
If you’ve ever seen The Hunger Games, you may recognize scenes from the river and forest. However, it’s not too likely as much of the area was transformed to protect from the fire scenes. There are three significant scenes in the movie filmed here at DuPont State Forest, the fire scene, pool scene, and river scene. Being a huge Hunger Games fanatic myself (I mean c’mon I dressed up as Katnis for Halloween) I was stoked to take in the scenic area. Now, if only I had my Mocking Jay pin…
Yelping My Way Across the United States: Hobnob
Just 15 miles east, in Brevard, I found the cutest restaurant thanks to Yelp. An old family home right on Main Street called Hobnob Restaurant. Upon arriving, we were told they were completely booked with reservations coming in within the hour. I charmed the host into sitting us outside on the quaint porch promising we were just grabbing a quick bite.
Hobnob had an undeniable southern charm.
This restaurant is now closed, but you can read my review of Hobnob Restaurant from our trip on Yelp here.
Home (For the Next 4 Days)
Our next stop was much more welcoming, in more ways than one. It was only the end of Day 3 and I was beyond exhausted. Maybe because I had been nonstop for the past several months, but I needed a little relaxation. We drove the final 2 hours north to Johnson City, located west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast of Tennessee. I rambled on to my aunt about my (ex) co-worker turned friend, Renee that we would be staying with. Renee and I have spent the past 4 years getting to know each other generally in Las Vegas at our company’s annual trade-show Surfaces, and the remainder of the time sympathizing with each other over the struggles between our offices.
Hosts of the Year Award Goes To…
After introductions of Renee’s husband Chris and daughter Zöe, we dropped our bags, freshened up, grabbed our solo cup roadies filled with box wine courtesy of Chris to head over to Renee’s cousins’ place. Truthfully, I was a bit hesitant about the box wine, I mean c’mon I hadn’t had it since college, but wine is wine and I wasn’t going to be a picky guest. Boy, was I in for a surprise! It ended up being really good, so good, that every time I turned around, there was Chris filling up my solo cup. It was literally never empty.
A Night to Remember, Or Not…
Fireworks aren’t a fire hazard in East Tennessee like they are in California, so, much to my surprise, my aunt had never lit fireworks in the backyard or even seen a home-firework show. Renee’s cousin put on a show in their open field. We oohed and ahhed at their enormous firework show. I was seriously content if we missed the fireworks on Monday they were that good.
Bonus of the night: watching my 50-something-year-old aunt, a sparkler in one hand spelling her name, and a red solo cup of box wine in the other. This pretty much completed the night. It was like watching a 4-year-old with fireworks for the first time. 4-year-olds and drunk people are essentially the same.
Thanks to Chris, the box wine, and the little platter from Hobnob, I have absolutely no other pictures from this evening. It truly was a night to remember, that I barely remember.
Do you remember the first time you lit your own fireworks at home?
