{"id":2345,"date":"2013-09-12T21:33:56","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T02:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2345"},"modified":"2013-09-12T21:33:56","modified_gmt":"2013-09-13T02:33:56","slug":"vacation-day-7-three-for-the-price-of-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2345","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Day 7 Three for the Price of One"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are maintaining our schedule pretty well.\u00a0 We got up a little earlier, but took our time about breakfast.\u00a0 After straightening up, we head out to the park yet again.\u00a0 Today, we go across the park to Cherokee, NC.As a kid, we used to come to the Smokies and camp.\u00a0 We always went over to Cherokee to check out the Indian reservation.\u00a0 There were several shops and places where the Cherokee would do different dances.\u00a0 We would walk around, watch the shows, and just hang out. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t pass up going over to see how much it had changed.<\/p>\n

But first, we have a couple of side trips to make.\u00a0 Our first stop is at the Sugarland Visitor\u2019s Center.\u00a0 There is a trail to the Cataract Falls.\u00a0 This is labeled as an easy one and short.\u00a0 We park at the center and follow the directions to go to the bathrooms.\u00a0 Sounds strange, but just beyond the bathrooms is the trail to Fighting Creek and Cataract Falls.<\/p>\n

As we are walking down to the start of the trail, a man stops me to ask about the trail.\u00a0 I explain what I\u2019ve learned about the nature trails.\u00a0 He asks questions about what to expect.\u00a0 We say good-bye and head down the trail.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty easy with few ups and downs.\u00a0 You walk over several bridges and under the main bridge for the road.\u00a0 We go up a set of set steps and through the forest.\u00a0 A beautiful waterfall is at the end of the trail.\u00a0 We take a couple of pictures and enjoy the view.<\/p>\n

We head back to the car.\u00a0 On the way, we run into a couple with a baby stroller.\u00a0 We explain the trail and that they will have to lift the stroller in a couple of places.\u00a0 We leave them and continue on to the car.\u00a0 We then drive over to Sugarland Valley Nature Trail.\u00a0 What luck!\u00a0 This is an easy trail also.\u00a0 It is all concrete walkway through the forest.\u00a0 The trail is on a homestead site where cabins had stood and open corn fields.\u00a0 The stream here is very nice with lots of rapids and rocks.\u00a0 Rich is looking for trout without any luck.<\/p>\n

We get to the construction, which is where the Chimneys overlook is at.\u00a0 We want to stop and get pictures.\u00a0 This means we have to pull up to the next pullout and walk back to the overlook.\u00a0 The sun is shining in the wrong direction for good pictures.\u00a0 We figure we\u2019ll try to stop again on the way back.<\/p>\n

In the car, Rich figures out that we see the Chimneys rock formations for another overlook further up the road.\u00a0 We drive up and find the Morton Overlook, which did indeed have a much better view and vantage without the sun.\u00a0 We get the pictures and read the sign for the overlook named for Ben Morton who pushed for the roads through the park.<\/p>\n

Back on the road again, we head to Oconauluftee Visitor\u2019s Center and Farm Museum.\u00a0 This the southeast entrance to the park from the North Carolina side.\u00a0 Here, they have a museum set up with buildings, gardens, and other things to depict farm life in the early 1800s.\u00a0 I find it cool.\u00a0 It reminds of my grandparents\u2019 farms in a lot of ways.\u00a0 There is a house, smokehouse, barns, applehouse, honey hives, pig pen and chicken house.\u00a0 There is one lonely little piglet and a couple of chickens.<\/p>\n

Inside the Visitor\u2019s Center, Rich checks out the swinging bridge trail we tried to take.\u00a0 Yes, that was definitely a huge drop on the trail.\u00a0 Good thing we didn\u2019t try that one.\u00a0 We check out the falls where we are going today.\u00a0 Time to hit the road again.<\/p>\n

We drive through Cherokee.\u00a0 It definitely looks a lot different than I remember it.\u00a0 There is only one place with Cherokee dancers.\u00a0 There are lots of stores and more modern buildings.\u00a0 I see a couple of older places that resemble the buildings I remember.\u00a0 We continue through and head out toward Bryson City.\u00a0 The entrance for this part of the park is out in the middle of nowhere, but we are confident we can find it.\u00a0 Rich is reading the map and tells me to turn on Tom Branch Rd.\u00a0 I never see a road named this or has the State Road number he tells me.\u00a0 I continue on past the one that Rich it should be.<\/p>\n

Now we are going into Bryson City.\u00a0 It\u2019s a small town with a touristy downtown.\u00a0 It\u2019s cute.\u00a0 We wind out way out of town on a small country road.\u00a0 After a couple of turns, we get to the park entrance.\u00a0 Right outside of the entrance, we drive through the middle of someone\u2019s tube rental business.\u00a0 It looks funny because there are stacks of yellow tubes on either side of us.\u00a0 Then we see the park entrance.\u00a0 I guess they really want you to rent a tube for the river.<\/p>\n

First stop is lunch though.\u00a0 We drive into the picnic ground and find a table right next to a stream.\u00a0 We have our ham and cheese sandwiches.\u00a0 I have a peach and Rich opts for a banana.\u00a0 That should hold us until dinner.\u00a0 As we eat, a group of people come by with their dogs.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a furry friends group outing and they brought their master along.<\/p>\n

Rich stops a lady who is walking by about the waterfall.\u00a0 She tells about the June Whankey falls and then continues her walk.\u00a0 We load up and move on to the parking lot for the trail.\u00a0 So the trail starts at the Deep Creek trail and takes you up .1 miles to another trail going around the mountain side for .2 miles to the miles.\u00a0 The return trip is .1 miles down to the Deep Creek trail again.<\/p>\n

This first section is like straight up!\u00a0 I\u2019m huffing and puffing again and begging to stop every couple of feet.\u00a0 We get to the next section, which is a horse trail to where the waterfall trail starts.\u00a0 It\u2019s very convoluted.\u00a0 But the falls are worth the trip.\u00a0 There is a bench to sit on and look up at the falls.<\/p>\n

Some lady is standing at the side shouting instructions to some guy as he is scrambling all over the water below the falls.\u00a0 There are signs everywhere telling you to stay out of the water and off the falls.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised he didn\u2019t slip and fall.\u00a0 It might be fun, but it is very dangerous.\u00a0 The bill to rescue you won\u2019t be cheap either.<\/p>\n

We head up the other side and down a steep ravine to get back to the Deep Creek trail on the other side. \u00a0As we are going down, the lady who answered Rich\u2019s questions was coming up.\u00a0 I stop to ask her about her running shoes.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been looking for a new pair and these look like what I want.\u00a0 She tells me they are old and handed down from her daughter.\u00a0 That figures.\u00a0 I like the old style and not the new ones.<\/p>\n

We get down to the Deep Creek trail and decide to follow it for a while.\u00a0 Up ahead, we see another waterfall.\u00a0 This is the Tom Branch waterfall.\u00a0 It is high with several individual drops that create a nice cascade.\u00a0 There are benches so you can sit and admire the water.\u00a0 I sit while Rich is taking pictures.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to get good clean pictures since there is some guy crawling around through the water with a tripod trying to take exposure pictures of the falls.<\/p>\n

After a rest, we decide to continue up the Deep Creek trail to see what else is there.\u00a0 We know this trail makes a loop, but it pretty long and we don\u2019t have time to walk the entire thing.\u00a0 We get to the top of a rise and see a sign for another waterfall.\u00a0 This is the Indian Creek waterfall.\u00a0 We walked down a very steep path to reach the falls.\u00a0 It was spectacular.\u00a0 Rich went further down to get better pictures.\u00a0 I hear a small yelp and he is balancing on a couple of logs.\u00a0 I yell down that I\u2019m not coming to the rescue if he falls.<\/p>\n

We start back up the trail and return to the car.\u00a0 We saw a group of guys coming down the river in rafts when we were walking up.\u00a0 As we walk back down to the car, we pass two different groups of ladies on their way up to raft the river.\u00a0 I can image how cold that water is coming down from the mountain.<\/p>\n

We get back to the car and unload our stuff.\u00a0 The first group of guys have strung all of their rafts together on top of a van.\u00a0 Only one doesn\u2019t fit and someone is holding it out of a window.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t look safe.\u00a0 They pull out ahead of me from the parking lot and stop in the exit.\u00a0 I have to drive around them to get out.<\/p>\n

Rich has decided that we are going to follow the same road back.\u00a0 He is pretty sure that the road right across the creek from the parking lot is the road he was looking for.\u00a0 I\u2019m up for anything, right after a bathroom break.\u00a0 I come out from the bathroom to find one of the dogs yelling at Rich.\u00a0 He\u2019s telling Rich to stay away from his people.\u00a0 Dachshunds are protective.<\/p>\n

We turn back to this road that Rich wants to travel.\u00a0 As soon as we get over the bridge, it becomes gravel and single lane.\u00a0 There is no turning back now.\u00a0 We are committed.\u00a0 The roads winds up and up and over a couple of pretty good sized hills.\u00a0 At the top, we hit pavement again.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recognize the name of the road.\u00a0 But the GPS seems to know where we are.\u00a0 We wind through the countryside and make a couple of turns.\u00a0 Then we are back on the main road.\u00a0 It is the turn that Rich indicated on the way in.<\/p>\n

We get back into Cherokee.\u00a0 I just have to stop at one of the trading posts.\u00a0 I promise this is the only one.\u00a0 We walk around the store, which is full of the same tchotky stuff that you would expect.\u00a0 There is a mountain lion on display with a squirrel in his mouth.\u00a0 I tell Rich I\u2019ve seen that before with Sascha at the last squirrel she got.\u00a0 I see only a silver watch in the case that I would like.\u00a0 But my money is running low and I can\u2019t take advantage of it.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re back on the road again and going through the park.\u00a0 Everywhere, the drivers of motorcycles and cars alike are going 10 miles under the speed limit.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling like I can\u2019t get anywhere.\u00a0 There are some great hills here that are fun to drive at the full speed.\u00a0 We drive straight through without any more stops.<\/p>\n

It is time to clean up for dinner.\u00a0 We shower and dress in our best causal.\u00a0 Tonight, we go to Mama\u2019s Farmhouse for dinner.\u00a0 It is dinner served family style.\u00a0 Surprisingly, we don\u2019t really have to wait in line anywhere for dinner.\u00a0 We are seated in a small room toward the kitchen.\u00a0 Billy, our server, comes by for drink orders and explains what we\u2019ll be getting for dinner.<\/p>\n

There is fried chicken, country fried steak, and country ham tonight.\u00a0 The sides are corn pie, mac and cheese, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes and gravy.\u00a0 We eat up.\u00a0 Billy is giving us a hard time about cleaning our plates and all of the sides before we can get dessert.\u00a0 There is only banana pudding since the peach cobbler is all gone.\u00a0 We are stuffed.<\/p>\n

We roll out the door where one of the doormen stops us to try and sell tickets to events on the main strip.\u00a0 No, we are tired and not interested.\u00a0 He comments on Rich\u2019s Ren Faire sandals.\u00a0 Everyone is making comments about them.\u00a0 Do they really like them or trying not to make fun of them?\u00a0 I love mine.\u00a0 Those are my hiking shoes for this week.<\/p>\n

We get back to the cabin and settle into our routine for the evening.\u00a0 We write blogs and deal with pictures.\u00a0 Then we get our IPAs, of which these are the last two, and we sit out on the porch looking at the stars.\u00a0 It was a great day and a great way to spend our anniversary.\u00a0 It\u2019s been 20 years since our wedding and the reception in the backyard.\u00a0 Hardly seems like it has been that long.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t trade him for anyone else, on his good days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Checking<\/a>
Checking the cloud situation on Mt. Leconte in the morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We passed this tree on our way to Cataract Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cataract<\/a>
Cataract Falls was our first hike of the day. It was an easy one to reach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We put down our hiking sticks to take pictures at Cataract Falls. Time to pick them up again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The trail to Cataract Falls run right under the roadway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fighting<\/a>
Fighting Creek at Sugarland Valley Nature Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich trying to capture the moment at the Nature Trail. Either that or another trout picture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
One of the chimneys still standing from the homesteads.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chickens<\/a>
Chickens at the Farm Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Piglet<\/a>
Piglet playing in mud.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Smokehouse<\/a>
Smokehouse will hams at the museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What's<\/a>
What’s a home without an outhouse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"June<\/a>
June Whankey Falls over by Bryson City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Branch Falls was one of surprise falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich trying to get a good picture of Tom Branch Falls without this guy in them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rafters<\/a>
Rafters we saw on our walk back on Deep Creek trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Indian<\/a>
Indian Creek Falls was at the back of Deep Creek. Very nice surprise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bob<\/a>
Bob signs everywhere in the park. This Bob is a pain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are maintaining our schedule pretty well.\u00a0 We got up a little earlier, but took our time about breakfast.\u00a0 After straightening up, we head out to the park yet again.\u00a0 Today, we go across the park to Cherokee, NC.As a kid, we used to come to the Smokies and camp.\u00a0 We always went over to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,12,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2368,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions\/2368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}