Mount Mitchell and Asheville NC

On a beautiful Memorial Day we set off early for a trip to the North Carolina Mountains.  We realized neither of us had ever been to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the Appalachian Mountains and also the highest peak in eastern mainland North America.  For some reason I had thought Mount Washington in New England was higher but no it is about 400 feet lower than Mount Mitchell which is 6,684 ft.

We left about 8:30 after Jane had time to review her garden.  Swapped the tomatoes and beans this year with the beans on the south garden and the tomatoes on the north garden...we will see how it goes!

We headed towards Asheville.  The views were beautiful and it looked like it was going to be a great day!

WAZE sent us right into downtown Asheville where we got off I 40 at Charlotte Avenue and almost immediately were on Town Mountain Road - a VERY curvy 13 miles of 2 lane mountain road that would lead to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Deep woods with very nice homes built anywhere that a house could fit or hang on the mountain.  Jane was holding on tightly and barely took two photos - The Sprinter and Ben love mountain roads - Jane not so much.  Sorry no photos of the huge homes and condos in that 13 miles - but a quick real estate search told us the homes ranged from $600,000 to $3.5 million.

After the 13 miles of VERY curvy road we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and were on a normal curvy road with tunnels and some rhododendron still blooming. The rhododendron were probably at their peak here 2 weeks ago. The sun was shining and the views were beautiful.

Soon we reached Mount Mitchell State Park which can be reached only on a spur road from the Parkway.  We entered clouds and the views were not as clear but still striking.  There was a restaurant but we did not visit it.  We did visit the visitor center, a small museum, and a gift shop at the parking lot about 900 feet from the observation tower.  There was a student from Appy state giving a short talk on bears and other wildlife.  We walked about halfway to the observation tower - the wind was blowing, the sun gone, and it was about 55 degrees,  The incline was steep and without hats or warm jackets - we chickened out!  Since we were in a cloud there would have been little to see at the peak.

There were many wildflowers blooming.  The most striking were the bluets and a type of yellow ragwort that bloomed at high altitudes - they were like a carpet along the roadway.  This photo certainly does not do justice.  The gray part on the photo is a carpet of bluets.

From Mount Mitchell we retraced our steps back towards Asheville and continued on the Parkway south instead of turning off on the Town Mountain Road.  We crossed I 40 and several other Asheville highways and got off at US 25 or Hendersonville Road about 2 miles north of the Tupelo Honey - our lunch spot.  We knew Asheville was in the mountains - but it is literally in the mountains.  Except for a glimpse of the highways when we crossed over - we would not have known we were so close to the urban sprawl of the city.  Little or no traffic and we were from one side of the city to the other in less than 20 minutes.

We had a gift certificate from Jeff and Robin for Tupelo Honey and had been looking for a good day to cash it in!  Today was the day!  Jane had a Cobb Salad with added fried chicken and Ben had the special fried chicken with a potato casserole and some soup.  We brought home a very rich chocolate caramel cake.  Thanks Jeff and Robin!

For the return home WAZE took us back on the Parkway to I-640 and then it was a straight shot home.  Certainly a different trip in and around Asheville where we usually get lost at least once!
Home about 4:00 after a nice day trip.