North Carolina – Oh, the Places We See . . .

Sit a spell or shop? Your choice at Valle Crucis, North Carolina!

With fall approaching and the urge to “git outta town” hitting us all, you might consider Western North Carolina for many reasons — colorful leaves, winding highways, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and clean country air. But one place in particular has it all: little ol’ Valle Crucis. We’re calling it little because if you want […]

by Oh, the Places We See

One peaceful drive: Blue Ridge Parkway from Blowing Rock to Asheville

Although we’re living in stressful times in America right now and travel to faraway destinations seems a distant memory, we’ve found an antidote to fill our urge to get out and about: a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Billed as “America’s Favorite Drive” by the National Park Service, this beautiful winding highway offered at […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #158: Along Back Country Roads

This week’s LAPC challenge by Beth of Wandering Dawgs comes at just the right time: We’re beginning to travel again! But with that decision, we’ve decided on a different path: We’ll navigate side roads only. That’s right. We’re avoiding the interstate and cruising through small towns, past farmland and fences, and waving at cows, farmers […]

by Oh, the Places We See

A Quiet Moment: Lens-Artists Challenge 102

I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. Chaim Potok On a recent journey through the Great Smoky Mountains, we understood Patty’s Lens-Artists Challenge for this week: “A Quiet Moment” since, we, too, were searching for the hushed beauty […]

by Oh, the Places We See

An artsy find in North Carolina: Penland School of Crafts

Visiting the home and studio of Michael Kline (featured in our previous post “Outstanding in any field: Michael Kline Pottery”) had many side benefits: pastoral setting, creative pottery, and a tip from his wife, Stacey Lane, about where to go next. It happened unexpectedly, but when you’re a traveler, you train your ears to pick up […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Outstanding in any field: Michael Kline Pottery

Who knew that a trip to the 2016 Apple Festival in Hendersonville, North Carolina, would have so many perks — a stay in a tiny house, tours and tastings at apple orchards, and drives along back roads through some of the most scenic country in the South. But a little-known (to us, at least) show […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Livin’ large in a Tiny House: Flat Rock, NC

When you wait ’til the last minute to make hotel or B&B reservations wherever there’s a huge festival, you just may be out of luck. And we were. No rooms in Hendersonville, North Carolina, during Apple Festival 2016. Sold out. Nothing much on any of the tried-and-true websites we rely on for lodging. And that’s […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Right to the source: Apple orchards near Hendersonville, NC

As you might have guessed, it was this hay bale critter — Juicy, the Giant Apple Bug — that caused us to pull off Chimney Rock Road in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and into Lyda Farms. And cute he is, don’t you think? But our eyes were on the prize: the stunning apple orchards we had […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Main Street’s the Main Thing: Apple Festival 2016, Hendersonville, North Carolina

If you’re a Jerry Lee Lewis fan, you’ve probably quoted this line before: “There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on!” And that would be true of the 70th Annual North Carolina Apple Festival in Hendersonville on Labor Day weekend. What’s shakin’? Why apple trees, of course. And you could get those red or green or […]

by Oh, the Places We See

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror

Just an ordinary pond bordered by corn fields near a farmhouse in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Still waters on a still morning. Until the geese arrived. And changed the mirror just by being there. For more entries in the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror, click here.