The drive from Knoxville, TN to Lenoir, NC was a beauty. Driving into the Blue Ridge Mountain range along I-40 was stunning with the wild flowers blooming along the road and the majestic pines and hardwood trees covering the mountain sides.
SOUL FOOD
We took a day trip to Charlotte; the highlight was lunch at Mert's Heart and Soul Food restaurant. I ordered their famous salmon cakes which came with fresh out-of-the-oven corn bread, and ordered a side of red beans and a side of collard greens. After I licked my plate, I was fuller than a tick on a hound dawg.
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| Charlotte not only has Soul Food, it has Soul Music. |
A mountain creek runs along side and in back of our campsite in a gap of the Green Mountains. Shortly after getting back from our trip to Charlotte, a storm passed through raining cats and dawgs with thunder shaking the camper, and lightening barely missing the towering trees surrounding us. We watched our gentle peaceful mountain creek turn into a river, raging like a mad bull seeing a red bandana hanging out of Bubba's overalls pocket. Jim started singing that Johnny Cash tune "How High's the Water Mama?".
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| The creek running around our campsite - before it started rising. |
September 7th we arrived in Asheville, NC. The next day we toured Biltmore Mansion,the largest single family home in the U.S. The estate covers 80,000 acres, is a working farm, and produces award winning wine from the estate's vineyard. The estate built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800's is still owned by the family and the various enterprises are operated by his great granddaughter and great grandson.
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| Magnificant Biltmore mansion has 250 rooms filled with priceless art and artifacts. |
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| Fantastic gardens surround the mansion. The Conservatory in the background has thousands of plants and flowers |
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| These orchids are just a small sampling of the many varieties in the Conservatory. |
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