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Late September and early October in the Smoky Mountains offers up some extra special magic – mating season for the Elk. Entering the Great Smoky Mountain National Park at the Cataloochee Ranger Station (near Maggie Valley and Cherokee) you can see the largest herd within North Carolina’s 140 Elk population, and watch the big males “rut”, exhibiting their famous bugling calls. The calls attract females and challenge other Bull Elk. When two… Read More
I saw the Farmer’s Market through new eyes on a recent visit with cookbook author Jill Dahan. Through a class at the Kitchen at Little Pond Farm in Valle Crucis, we started our Saturday with a morning trip to the Watauga County Farmer’s Market in Boone. Once there, Jill introduced us to farmers, bakers and vendors of all sorts. We tasted goat cheeses, honey, breads, and organic chicken. An egg purveyor told… Read More
Going Off-Road to the Wilson Creek National Wild & Scenic River Well, maybe not really “off” road – but at least the less traveled gravel roads so common in the NC mountains. We recently found ourselves off in the Jeep for a photo-expedition to the beautiful Wilson Creek area. A popular hiking, swimming and picnicking destination, the Creek is actually quite lengthy and often wider with much more dramatic scenery… Read More
Many visitors to the NC High Country have stopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway (milepost 294) to see the lovely Cone Manor. Left to the state by Moses Cone, the home and estate include orchards, lakes and carriage trails. Mr. Cone was known as “The Denim King” and he and his family were generous to their neighbors and employees. Having no children, he continued his generous legacy and left the property to the… Read More
