Northwest North Carolina

The drive from South Carolina to North Carolina is pleasant and although this was a long drive (250 miles) we made it in good time and arrived at Green Mountain RV Resort in Lenoir, NC in good shape and with plenty of sunlight left for setup. Green Mountain is a Mid-Atlantic park that is now a part of the Thousand Trails system.  It is set in the Appalachian Mountains within striking distance of a number of interesting sights including the Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville NC & Biltmore Estates, Boone, NC & Appalachian State U, etc.  We stayed three weeks and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.  The sites at Green Mountain are separated into several sections with many of the sections up steep inclines.   In fact, the park is one big incline and most of those in the know, including staff and maintenance, get around in gas-powered golf carts.  We requested a site with 50 amp. and were give a number to choose from and an escort to show us around.  Most of the sites are rather narrow back-in sites with cement pads and wooden porches equipped with a picnic table.  We selected site #91 and are really glad it was available.  It is located at the end of section 1 (known as the downtown section) and the back-in was fairly easy, although the coach rocked and tilted going over some uneven pavement.  Once in, we had nice fifty amp, a beautiful view of the creek and mountains, and a wonderful wooden porch.  Since there are trees everywhere we opted for cable TV.  The charge was rather steep at $40.00 for our stay.  Wifi and phone service are difficult to get in the park with some sections having a bit better reception than others.  We found it easier to leave the park and go into nearby Lenoir to make calls.  Green Mountain’s staff is friendly and the maintenance department works very hard to keep the park nice.  On the negative side, it is hard to find a suitable site, especially for a big rig and the cable is a bit high.  We would definitely stay at this park again and give it a solid “8” on the Moore scale of 1-10.  Here are a few pictures of the park.

For those of you who follow our blog, you know we really enjoy eating out.  Of course to cut costs, we always order water to drink (a savings of $4 - $5), and split a meal when we can (another ½ off the potential bill).  In Lenoir we ate at Mayflower Seafood (made a mistake and didn’t split … seafood doesn’t do that well as leftovers and there were copious amounts of leftovers … should have split but eyes were bigger than stomach).  Their fish is excellent and their portions are good sized.  Of course we ate at the ubiquitous Waffle House (I can make a meal of the hash brown special for $4.50).  Fatz restaurant serves a good burger but we didn’t care for the fries (too fat – we prefer the thinner fries).  In Hickory we ate at the Old Hickory Taproom in the downtown area and split a cheeseburger with chili and slaw on it … good, but a bit strange.  We really enjoyed the homemade chips.  One of our favorite stops became Cookout.  They feature over 40 flavors of shakes … luckily we moved after three weeks to save us from ourselves.  We tried Fumiyoshi Japanese Steakhouse in Hudson … they had screaming fast wifi, but mediocre food.  Also on the poor side was Hong Kong Palace in Lenoir.  The last place for a cheap meal was the Coffee House where we each had a foot-long hotdog with fries for $6 total.  On the more expensive side was the Sagebrush Steakhouse in Lenoir.  We split the rib eye, loaded baked potato, and wedge salad ($19 without tip).  The steak was delicious, but the service was poor … a bit too pricey for poor service … we would not return.

We took a series of daytrips north to Blowing Rock, Boone, Grandfather’s Mountain, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The scenery was spectacular on the Blue Ridge Parkway with newly blooming flowers, and deciduous trees budding out with numerous shades of green.  The Dogwoods were in full bloom and the whole area was lovely.  We stopped at the Visitor’s center in Asheville for information.  Down the road from the Visitor’s Center is a wonderful folk art museum with artisans performing and a large display of Appalachian Folk Art on display and on sale … don’t miss this one!

Blowing Rock is a great place to stop for lunch on the way to Grandfather’s Mountain.  We ate at Storie Street Grill and split a sandwich of turkey, smoked Gouda, bacon and tomato supplemented with Yukon chips and a bowl of beef stew on our way out.  Grandfather Mountain is a wonderful place to visit.  There is an admission charge ($15 each), but it was worth it.   The museum about ½ way up has excellent displays and is very well done.   Also at the museum location is a fudge shop (had to stop) and the wildlife habitats.  The swinging bridge doesn’t really swing, but it does sing and offers spectacular views of the entire area.  On the way back we stopped at Six Pence Restaurant & Pub for coffee and pie.  The pie was Irish bash pie, made with Bailey’s Irish Cream and was excellent … the coffee was ordinary.  Unfortunately the bill was extraordinary ($14 including tip), so we probably will not return.  Boone is a nice little town.  The downtown area is a lot of fun to browse and has the feel and look of Boulder, CO in the sixties and seventies.  There are a lot of artists of all types and skill levels, but it is fun to browse the unusual offerings.  Boone has numerous small restaurants, but we stopped at Cracker Barrell (delicious as usual).

We spent a very full day at Biltmore Estates and saw 42 out of the 250 rooms.  This tour took around 2 ½ hours and was made more informative by the audio narration we purchased ($10 each).  The Estate is well worth visiting, but plan to spend some money.  It cost us $108 for admission and that is the cheap price you get for purchasing 7 days prior to your visit.  Following the house tour (no pictures allowed inside but below are a few outside pics) we took on the extensive gardens.  The tulips were in full bloom and beautiful!  We ate at The Stable Café… as the name implies the old stables have been converted into a really nice restaurant.  We split the Carolina Sampler for two (ribs, chicken, and pulled pork supplemented by greens, cheese grits, and cole slaw).  It was tasty and as inexpensive as most everything else on the menu ($30 plus tax and tip).

A few miscellaneous items here at the end.  We got Cody, our faithful companion, groomed at All God’s Creatures, Great and Small in Lenoir.  Unfortunately, the groomer had a problem with directions and our Shih Tzu looks like Frank the pug in Men in Black… not a pretty sight … but hopefully he will grow back into his Shih Tzu self.  We also switched from Verizon Mifi to Millenicom.  We were paying $120 for 14 gbs and now are paying $70 for 20 gbs.  In addition, Verizon seemed to find a way every month to put us over our allotment and charge us outrageous overage costs.  We also decided to turn in both of our smart phones for a month to month unlimited text and talk plan for a fixed $50 per month.  So for those of you who have our phone numbers … use Lynda’s number as that’s the one we kept.

Until next time … keep doing what you love.