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A not untypical view of Western North Carolina

 Over the course of the years we've been to a lot of nice places. Sometimes really nice places. At the end of each trip though, we were always ready to call it a day and retreat to home sweet home. Out of all the places we've been, none have beckoned us beyond a visit except for one. North Carolina was a place I hated to leave and actually enticed us to try to relocate.

 It didn't happen. Oh we tried, I even put in for a transfer to Raleigh, but it just wasn't meant to be at the time although we still hope for the right circumstances to allow us to make the move.

 I wasn't expecting it to be that good. In fact, I'd never given the Tar Heel state a second thought until one day we were at my inlaws house, knockin' a few back while we were watching a stock car race on TNN. A commercial came on from the North Carolina tourism board with an offer to call an 800 number for a free visitor's brochure. What made me make the call? I don't know, maybe in the heat of the race (we're big race fans by the way) I thought it'd be cool to see a race at one of those good ole boy tracks down south.

 Well the brochure arrived and the timing was right. There was a fall race at Charlotte and we could get dirt cheap tickets. We even found an open room at the Motel 6 nearby (as race fans could tell you, a cheap room during a race weekend is an extremely rare thing...try getting one at Indianapolis during Memorial Day weekend). This would allow us to see the race and then give us 10 days afterward to explore.

 Flying to Charlotte, we took US Air which is about the only choice you have since they have 90% of the gates locked up there. It was a great flight and we had the bonus of several celebrities on the plane with us like Jeff Conaway, Don Knott's, and some we recognized but didn't know their names like the guy who played Kevin's older brother on the Wonder Years. It was a fun flight.

 Arriving at the airport, US Air have their sponsored car with driver Ted Musgrave waiting to greet arriving passengers. To those of you who wonder why it's a big deal, in Charlotte a big race weekend is comparable to Super Bowl weekend. Anyway, we did the meet & greet with Musgrave who was a superb gentleman and even put our son Tim in the driver's seat of his Winston Cup racer. All in all a wonderful way to start the trip.

 We caught a taxi to our motel. Upon checking in, a young man came in behind us at the lobby and held the door for us as we went to our room. 10 minutes later, reality came down on us as the manager who checked us in came to our room and asked us if we remembered what that man looked like because right after we walked out he robbed them!

 Luckily, no one was hurt. He just took the money and was actually polite about it. We gave our statement to the police and went on with our trip. We were a little shaken up, but that was the first and last bad thing to happen on our trip.

 We soon realized that Charlotte has one thing in common with Southern California...you need a car. God must have been smiling on us because after calling several agencies, we must have got the last available car in North Carolina at Enterprise Rent a Car.

The next day we drove over to the speedway for the race. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a marvelous place to watch a race. We had great seats in turn one and could see all the action easily. It was also quite warm, pleasantly so, we sat in our shorts and t-shirts soaking up the sun enjoying some great NASCAR Winston Cup action.

After the race and another night, we caught the train to Washington, DC (which will be covered in another trip report) and took a week's break there before returning to Charlotte. Now, we have 8 more days, no plans, no reservations, nothing in mind but we do have a rental car for the duration. We check in to a La Quinta Inn and press on.

We pull out a map and look for somewhere to go. We see that the town of Hickory is within a couple of hours drive so off we go.

The Blue Ridge Moutains Spectacular Fall Color

Being October, the leaves are putting on a show and what a show it was. The hills and mountains were literally ablase with color. Vibrants yellows, flaming reds, glowing oranges. A SoCal boy like me never sees anything like this. We were extremely lucky to hit right at the peak of color (we've been back since and have not been able to time it just right as we did on this trip).

Murphy's Mill, North Carolina

On top of the fall color, the countryside scenery is straight out of Norman Rockwell or Mayberry...which of course is set in North Carolina to begin with. Thousands of little country roads criss cross the state with breathtaking views around every corner. Heading up to Hickory, we round a bend and are hit with a view straight off of the cover of the Saturday Evening Review, Murphy's Mill.

We pull off to take a look at this historic grist mill. We later learn that the state is dotted with such mills. The banks of the placid mill pond with it's rushing waterfall are too much to resist picnicking at.

The General Store at Murphy's Mill

No lunch? No problem, turning around we see this pleasant little country store across the street with all the supplies we need.

At this point, may I just say that the people in the state are also top-notch. You hear about Southern Hospitality but it's something else to experience it first hand. The people here are very friendly and are a pleasure to deal with.

Arriving at Hickory near dinner time, we find another charming little Mayberry-like town that the state is full of. Now Mayberry is, of course, an unobtainable fiction and all towns have problems. But the towns we've seen are beautiful examples of small town America populated by some very friendly folks.

We pull in for dinner at the Hickory Station, a nice dinner & steak house set in the restored railroad depot. As my wife dines on some savory shrimp, Tim on a nice juicy burger, and me on a tender rib-eye, we enjoy the wonderful view of the twinkling lights of downtown and the hills beyond. After dinner, the host invites us into the kitchen to meet the chef and after a nice chat we head on back to Charlotte.

The next day, we head over to the hometown of Elizabeth Dole, Salisbury. Here, we ride on the historic restored steam train at the railroad museum. The coal fired locomotive gives us a clue as to why it's not used as a fuel on modern trains anymore. Our skin, hair, and even teeth are filled with a fine, gritty soot as the smoke from the burning coal settles over the entire train.

The town offers a self guided tour of its magnificent old homes, some dating back to the 17th century. We marvel at these grand old buildings and head back for another night in the big city.

No, it's not Lake Tillery but another beautiful lake, Lake Lure.

For our last day in Charlotte, we head over to nearby Morrow Mountain State Park and Lake Tillery. We rent a rowboat at the bargain rate of $2.50 an hour a take a leisurely cruise to the other side of the lake, watching the fall leaves drift down to the surface and the snapping turtles drift up. A wheelchair accessible platform hovers over a prime fishing spot on the lake. A few bucks for a license and a cheap rod & reel from Wal-Mart is all that's needed to dip a line here (licenses are free for disabled persons).

The Pinebrae Bed & Breakfast

For a change of pace, we head to the hills for the rest of our trip. Our home is now the beautiful Pinebrae Bed & Breakfast just outside another charming North Carolina town, Rutherfordton. We arrive at 9:00pm hungry. After checking in and unpacking, we head into town to see what's for dinner. Not much at that time of night.

The only place open (and for only a few minutes more) is a barbecue place just outside of town on the road to nearby Spindale. I'm sorry to say that North Carolina barbecue and me just don't get along...just way to vinegary. The food was atrocious but luckily, it's the worst we would have to endure.

The Pinebrae is a antebellum style mansion situated on 15 acres of prime western North Carolina countryside with woods to wander through, great expanses of lawn, and many wild furry visitors popping through.

The owners, Alan and Charlotte, tell us it used to be a home for troubled youths back in the depression years. Now it's a beautiful home with four guest rooms for travelers. And fellow travelers here tend to be nice & quiet since most of their guests are visiting doctors working at the hospital down the road.

This waterfall is not on any map, this is where our hosts led us too.

A great home cooked breakfast awaits everybody each morning and guests eat at a common great table in the massive dining room with Alan holding court leading the conversation. He also tells us of the sites nearby, off the beaten path, that lead to spectacular waterfalls and mountaintop views. This luxurious and homey retreat costs us a grand total of $69 a night including breakfast.

A country lane near Rutherfordton

Travelling through the countryside towards nearby Asheville, we stop at roadside stands to pick up home made jams, jellies, and preserves to take back with us.

We travel over to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and hike up to the top of Clingman's Dome, the second highest point in the state and the highest point of neighboring Tennessee (the state line bisects the peak).

If you can make it, here is the lookout tower that awaits you at the top of Clingman's Dome

A note here for wheelchair users: although there is a smooth, paved path leading up from the parking lot to the top of the lookout tower with no steps whatsoever, the trail is very steep. A strong power chair with lots of traction and a full charge will probably make it. Be sure to bring a very strong pusher or be in extremely good physical shape if you attempt this in a manual chair. I pushed my son up to the top in his manual chair and was having some very serious doubts as to if I would make it to the end of this half-mile trail without suffering a coronary. It is exceedingly difficult for a manual chair and should be attempted with caution...remember, even if you do make it up, you have to negotiate that very steep downhill slope with a chair that wants nothing more than to break loose and make a mad dash for the fall line.

We did make it after much effort and the view into neighboring Tennessee is astonishing. After a hair-raising walk 'n roll back down to the parking lot, we head over to Dillsborough to board the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad.

The scenery of the Smokey Mountains is up close from the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad.

Here, we board a wheelchair accessible coach - with an onboard accessible restroom also - and take a 2 hour ride up the Tuckaseegee River and marvel at the countryside views of tobacco farms, villages, and the river itself. Just before a tunnel, we are treated to the spot where Hollywood created that fantastic train wreck scene from the Harrison Ford movie, "The Fugitive", complete with the destroyed locomotive and prisoner transport buses.

The train makes it back to Dillsborough at 6:00pm and after browsing through the few shops still open at that time, we have dinner at the unpretentious Dillsborough Steak and Seafood house for a delicious dinner before heading back over to Rutherfordton.

We spend our last full day here shopping for souviners in town and taking one last drive through the countryside. The next day, after having one last hot southern breakfast we say goodbye to our hosts and take that 2 hour drive back to Charlotte for the most regretable part of our trip...going home.

Random Notes

Airfare specials are hard to come by to Charlotte because US Air has a virtual monopoly on the market.

In a nutshell, apart from the airfare, this is one of the most reasonably priced vacations you'll find.

North Carolina is amazingly accessible, more so than our home base of Southern California. Trains, buildings, even hiking trails...unaccessible places were very rare here.

On the lodging front, Motel 6 had great accessible rooms complete with roll-in shower. For an economy chain, they really put some of the big guys to shame with their dedication to accessibility. La Quinta had accessible rooms without the roll-in. Pinebrae was not technically accessible but has one great downstairs room with a big private bathroom. There is one step to negotiate at the entrance which the owner will help you over. The bathroom is very large and easy to navigate but has no other aid for accessibility.

Public transportation is not up to big city standards although Charlotte does have accessible public tranportation with its buses. We found the best way is to rent a car. If you need a van, mini-vans are available from all the major rental agencies and specialized companies such as Wheelchair Getaways also operate within the state. Amtrak runs up the middle and to the east of the state and the state itself runs an accessible train called the Piedmont east to west through Raleigh during the week.

Even with the unfortunate event on our arrival, we never felt unsafe here.

We're not the only ones to fall in love with the Tar Heel state. Hollywood has also discovered it. Many movies are made here each year. When director Michael Mann found that upstate New York didn't look like it did during the French and Indian War, he came south and substituted Chimney Rock park for it. As a result, "The Last of the Mohicans" is an excellent movie and a travelogue to see the beautiful scenery of Western North Carolina.

Charlotte is home to the headquarters of my favorite budget steakhouse chain, the Golden Corral. Puts Sizzler to shame!

No longer the novelty it once was due to its expansion nationwide, Hooter's still provide cheap chicken wings with - uh - unique scenery. Politically correct it ain't, but still fun.

The Southend Smokehouse also has a branch in Charlotte serving delicious food in a great atmosphere with great beer and good prices.

Of course, there's only so much you can include in one story but there's much more to do in Weestern North Carolina:

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Great Smokey Mountain Railway

Pinebrae Bed & Breakfast