Last glimpses of the Parkway and on to Monticello and Shenandoah NP

We are leaving the Parkway and going on to the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park.  Here are a few shots ending that long drive.

Last glimpse from one of the many overlooks.

James River - the lowest point of the Parkway.

Sherando Lake camping area.  It is actually off the Parkway but was the closest campground where we could go to as the Parkway ones are closed until mid May.

Monticello is the family home of Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence and third US president.  Today it is the only home in America designated as a UN World Heritage Site.  Built in a Roman neo-classical style, and designed by Jefferson himself,  it was the centrepiece of a 5,000 acre working plantation tended by 150 slaves.  The man who declared that "all men are equal" was a slave owner and rumoured to have fathered 6 children by a slave some years after the death of his wife.

We have now gone along Skyline Drive through Shendandoah National Park.  In fact, we spent three days at the Big Meadows campsite through pouring rain waiting for the weather to clear before we could do any hiking.  Only one of two campsites open on Skyline Drive and the whole length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

When the weather finally cleared we hiked up to Hawksbill which at 4,051 ft is the highest point in Shenandoah National Park.

Accessing wi-fi at Skyland, a lodge on Skyline Drive.  Difficult to see the wonderful view over the fence.

Blue Ridge Parkway across NC and Virginia

The Blue Ridge Parkway extends 469 miles along the crests of the southern Appalachians and links two eastern national parks – Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains.  It was started as a project in the Great Depression and FRD's New Deal Programs to stimulate the economy though the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) public relief program that operated from 1933-1942.

We are driving along the full extent of the parkway.  It goes through South/North Carolina and Virginia.  Beautiful mountain scenery and plunging cliffs along the side of you – scary in parts.  Unfortunately, the national park campgrounds along the BRP do not open until May.  And we are too early for the wildflowers in spring.  Spring is late up here.  But beautiful vistas nevertheless.  And there are national forests and state parks along the way, which do have campsites open.  And when all else fails, we go off into a town and stay at Walmart.

Grandfather mountain.

Price Lake which we walked around.

There is Tiger- a tiny dot across the lake.

Above is Linville Falls and below is the upper falls.

Stone Mountain waterfall below is a 200ft drop in the form of a long waterslide.  And there are more than 250 steps in the form of a wooden construction which takes you from the top to a platform below.  The water at the bottom is not at all deep and there are warnings not to climb or slide – people have been killed here.  It is a very impressive waterslide.

Andrew standing at the platform on the bottom.

Biltmore Estate, North Carolina

Biltmore estate has been described as a veritable American Versailles.  It is the country’s largest private home and a huge tourist attraction, rivaling Hearst Castle in California.  Biltmore is in much better taste than Hearst Castle which in comparison is gaudy.  This house was built in 1895 for shipping and railroad heir George Washington Vanderbilt II who modeled it after the grand chateaux he had seen on his various European jaunts.  It took six years to build and he brought his bride here to live.  Viewing the house and the estate with its 250 acres of gorgeously manicured grounds and gardens takes several hours. 

And the view from further up the marvelous grounds. 

It was built as a home in which the Vanderbilts – a family of three – lived and entertained lavishly.  But as well as very, very rich, George Vanderbilt was an enlightened master too.  All servants had their own bedrooms (hence the 233 rooms), ate the same quality food as the people upstairs and were paid New York wages in North Carolina which was a very significant plus for the employees.  It is an opulent but comfortable house where no expense was spared to make things comfortable and welcoming for the many guests who enjoyed the Vanderbilt hospitality.  Priceless tapestries adorn the walls and pieces of art were collected and displayed with care.  It was a wonderful experience to visit.  Unfortunately no photographs are allowed inside but I captured just a few. 

This grand space - the indoor winter garden welcomed guests to the house.  Below is the loggia.

  

The Halloween room where in 1925 family and friends spent several weeks painting these unusual wall scenes for a New Year's Eve party.

The 70,000 gallon indoor heated pool was only filled when required.  The house heating system provided the heating.

The estate is as famous for its landscaped gardens as for the house itself.  Unfortunately, April is too early in these elevated parts for the spring flowers to come out so we could not do justice to the hundreds of acres of beautifully laid out gardens.  Here are three glimpses. The first is the gardens generally as you stroll through acres of this sort of beauty.

The walled garden featuring thousands of tulips in the spring.  We were just in time for these.  Reminded us of The Netherlands.

The Italian garden.

Great Smoky Mountains and Nantahala National Forest

From Greenville we proceeded up to the Nantahala National Forest and then on to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We stayed a night on top of Wayah Bald which is at elevation 5,342 ft.  Andrew ventured out at just before sunrise to capture this lovely shot of the moon against the ice-clad tree tops.  The temperature was pretty low that night.  There had been snow the evening before and still ice on the ground.

The artistic shot of the sunrise.





Below is picturesque Lake Cliffside.

Dry Falls is a waterfall at the bottom of pleasant stone steps which lead to a path that goes behind the waterfall.

It is not often that you can stand behind a great torrent of water rushing past your face.

The observation tower at Clingmans Dome at the Great Smoky Mountains NP.  Elevation 6,643 ft.   The path to the tower is a very steep 1/2 mile but the view at the top is a rewarding one.  On a clear day one can see four different states.

Looking from Tennessee to North Carolina.

Icicles on the rocks - they looked spectacular.

Visiting Greenville, South Carolina

We visited an old friend of an old friend in Greenville which is a lovely gracious city in South Carolina.  I understand it has been rated the second most popular city to retire to in the US and I can see why.  It has great facilities - lovely buildings, good retail outlets, numerous theatres and eateries.  We went to see Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid at the Furman University Theatre put on by the drama department - a great performance.  And dinner beforehand with Zermah, our gracious Greenville hostess and a friend,  Moffett.

These dogs were sculpted out of either cream or butter, displayed in the dining room.

A waterfall right in the heart of the city with a lovely park and a bicycle trail running alongside.

There is an amhphitheatre at the bottom of the park and they put on Shakespeare plays there in the summer.

We went for a drive and a picnic to a mountain beauty spot outside Greenville called Caesar's Head.  This photo was taken at Bald Rock lookout.

Going down a crevice at Caesar's Head.

A mountaintop church which holds a weekly Sunday service.

More South Carolina wanderings

Moving inland, we stayed at Santee State Park on the shores of Lake Marion.  Below is the loveliest setting for wi-fi access we have ever had - at the lounge of the park's store.

Last night we went out to dinner with a couple we met from Ottawa.  Here we are in front of the Lone Star BBQ with Jake and Mary.  They are both originally from The Netherlands.  Jake/Jacob Maarse is a keen long-distance speedskater and he competes seriously in Canada and Europe.  He is on the internet.

The buildings have been transported here from different parts of the district and they serve as the Lone Star establishment - store and restaurant.

The Bluegrass singer who entertained us during our dinner.  She sang a Patsy Cline number which made me want to swoon.

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is Savannah's sister city and they are both gracious Southern cities with beautiful buildings.  We had a wonderful lunch at both places but Charleston in particular has the reputation for fine food.  We ate at Blossom's there in East Bay Street and the seafood pasta was quite divine.  We played bridge in both cities and the standard was very good.

This is a single house, a peculiarity of Charleston.  The house is only one room across but stretching back quite far into the property.  The reason for this strange construction of quite grand houses was the scarcity of street frontage.  Even though there is what appears to be a front door, entry is through a verandah.

The verandah and the rest of the house is very spacious as you can see.

One of the even grander single houses along the waterfront.  Still one room across at the front.

These are two of the grander houses along the Charleston waterfront.

The Charleston Dock Street Theatre from circa 1800.  The first theatre in America was on this site before that.

The lovely interior with cedar paneling, painted a dark mahogony.

The sumptuous lounge.  Almost the same colour as my dining room back home I notice :-)