Today started out the same as it has every morning.  I woke at around 6:00 AM, made a double cappuccino, turned on Fox & Friends, and lay in bed reading while sipping my morning libation.  Also, as usual, Chloe slept in.  After a while, I got up, showered, dressed, went to the breakfast room for some fresh fruit.  Then, at about 7:30, took Chloe out for a walk.  This morning we were met with what looked like an impenetrable opaqueness, fog so dense that it seemed as if we were on an island in the sky.  The Blue Ridge hotel is on an overlook that yesterday offered a magnificent view, today completely obliterated.

On previous days, I have been enroute sometime between 8:00 and 8:30 but even though my route today is less than two hours, it was through the mountains, so I was reluctant to embark during these less than favorable conditions.  I made my second cappuccino and I finally decided to leave once I was able to see into the valley below which happened at about 9:30. I’ve mentioned the winding roads I’ve experienced on previous legs, but today’s route was definitely the best.  This was NOT a road to be driving without complete concentration.

While I was driving along, I experienced a bit of confusion concerning how I managed to get from Georgia to North Carolina without going through South Carolina; I finally was able to clear up this conundrum when I checked out the map and found a small corner of northeastern Georgia bordering North Carolina.  The ride through Nantahala National Forest was breathtakingly beautiful, narrow roads surrounded by towering trees with the leaves reflecting dappled sunlight.  A good portion of the road ran along side a river where occasionally I glimpsed rapids, so it made sense that there were many places offering tubing, canoeing or white-water rafting.  As we were in the mountains, I also saw signs for zip lining.  What did surprise me were the number of places I saw offering paintball!

Throughout my trip thus far, I have experienced some difficulty finding radio stations that remain clear so use my scan feature a lot.  On the trip today, one FM station came in loud and clear and, it turned out it was based right here in Bryson City, basically a Christian station with call ins but usually playing gospel music.  Seemed fitting to listen while driving through this woody heaven.

This was a short trip, planned because I want to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway starting in the morning.  Bryson City, picked by me purely because of its proximity to the beginning of the Parkway, turned out to be a delight.  Bordering the southern side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Bryson City is a laid-back, non-touristy town of 1,300 with more stop signs than stoplights. I found it to be an easily strollable town with local bookstores, arts and crafts galleries with working artisans, bike shops, a fly fishing shop, a historical museum, a fly fishing museum, a scenic train, a brewery, and a surprising variety of restaurants.  The eastern side of the town borders the reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

We experienced a gorgeous sunny day with gentle breezes so Chloe and I spent several hours wandering around, gazing at ducks paddling by on the Tuckasegee River (this was directly behind our hotel), eating ice cream at a local creamery, and sitting on rocking chairs watching a stream of bikers cruising through town.  Another thing I noticed is that the town is clearly influenced by the Cherokees as there are plaques all over praising their supportive role during the Civil War; Cherokees were famous for their skill and persistence in tracking escapees and bushwhackers. And, yes, there are monuments here!

I found out that Bryson City was featured by Smithsonian magazine as one of “20 Best Small Towns to Visit (2016); one of “20 Best Mountain Towns in America” (2017) by Mens Journal; by Backpacker magazine as one of 12 US “Top Hiker Towns” (2016); voted by Trip Advisor readers as one of “8 Beautiful Little Lake Towns Across America.” (2017).  Cool, huh—and I didn’t even know this when I planned this town as one of my stops!

Finally, the funniest saying I saw today:  “Men are like cow chips.  The older they get, the easier they are to pick up.”