Two Lane Adventures: Day One-Hundred-Thirteen to One-Hundred-Sixteen - A Summer of Bluegrass, Camping and Friends - Sunday 8/18/2024

Sunday August 18th it was sunny, warm, and 68° at 7:30 am for my 231st walk of 2024. I enjoyed my walk, talk with God, and my positive affirmations. There was a ton of activity while I walked this morning, as many people were hooking up to leave. It will be nice to have it a bit quieter here today.

We had to do laundry. The first place we went to was super busy... there was a second place in Marion and that was almost empty. It was clean and reasonable. So, check another domestic chore off the list. Laundry done.

After we put the laundry away, we decided to take a drive. Up Route 80 N we headed. This highway connects the various mountain communities straddled along Buck Creek and serves as a direct route, via the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Mount Mitchell State Park. The highway is popular with bike and motorcycle enthusiasts, because of its hairpin turns. Trucks are not recommended to take NC 80, with multiple warning signs posted at each major intersection. Charlie was not a fan of all these hairpin turns, but he is such a trooper!

We saw this dam, but we could not pull off or get any closer. We learned it is the Lake Tahoma Dam.

We came upon Lake Tahoma, an Indian word believed to mean "mountain lake of the gods," located between Mount Mitchell and the town of Marion, was created in 1924 by a group of local investors interested in land development. The lake’s water supply is Buck Creek and Little Buck Creek, and early on, it was described as a “recreational place of remarkable attractiveness.” A stone pavilion, known as the casino, was built over the lake where summer visitors could watch speedboat races or dance to orchestra music provided by local and regional ensembles. A power plant generated electricity which was sold to the National Utilities Company, supplier of power to the town of Marion.

The construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in close proximity to Lake Tahoma, sparked new interest in the lake. The Lutheran Church considered buying the property for a summer assembly. In 1945, Gov. R. Gregg Cherry set up a commission of men from McDowell, Burke, and other nearby counties to study the possibility of obtaining the property to establish a state park. The property was later purchased by a group of investors and businessmen, who formed the Lake Tahoma Corporation. The organization issued stocks and established restrictions for developing lots in the area. Today, Lake Tahoma and the surrounding property is privately owned and is administered and maintained by a homeowner’s association.

After leaving the western shores of the lake, highway 80 hugs along Buck Creek to the Sunnyvale community, where it then begins its ascent up Singecat Ridge. Along this route there are numerous 180-degree turns. At Buck Creek Gap, NC 80 connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we turned to continue to make our way towards Mount Mitchell State Park.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is fondly referred to as “America’s Favorite Drive,” stretching 469 miles through the Appalachian Mountains, offering some of the most breathtaking views in the United States. Winding through North Carolina.

Big Laurel Gap Overlook (formerly the Hewat Overlook) on the Blue Ridge Parkway that includes a view of Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain on the East Coast at 6,684 feet. The overlook was originally named for the Hewat family, early settlers of the area. No one knows why the overlooks name was changed.

In 2006 a landslide wiped out the Parkway in this area. The Curtis Valley Overlook was built as the result of repairs. This is an eastward-facing overlook, with breathtaking afternoon view.

The Green Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway is V-shaped. However, the point of the V, which sticks the farthest out into the valley, was the best vantage point at the overlook. But now, it is completely overgrown.

We found the road to Mount Mitchell. It's still another 6 miles to the top. The Cherokee people, who long occupied this area as part of their homeland, called the mountain Attakulla. European-American settlers first called the mountain Black Dome for its rounded shape. They later named it after Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina, who first explored the Black Mountain region in 1835. He determined that the height of the range exceeded by several hundred feet that of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The latter had been commonly thought at the time to be the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Mitchell fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls in 1857, where he had returned to verify his earlier measurements.

We had to walk 300 yards to the top. Charlie waited at the midway point.

At 6,684 feet, the mountain is the highest point east of the Mississippi River, and an observation deck provides breathtaking mountain views.

As we got back onto the Parkway, Charlie spotted some water in the distance. It took us many twists and turns to see it again. We learned it is the Burnett Reservoir, which is part of the Asheville Watershed. If you’ve ever spent time in the Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway, chances are you’ve seen signs that restrict roadside parking along this fifteen-mile stretch. But do you know why? The City of Asheville has some of the nation’s most pristine drinking water and it’s all thanks to the protection of the surrounding forests and the responsible actions of visitors like you. Parking only in established paved lots is one way to prevent erosion and keep greasy runoff from entering Asheville’s primary water supply.

The North Fork Reservoir (historically called the Burnett Reservoir). It's that crystal-blue body of water that can be spotted along the Parkway between Mount Mitchell and Craggy Gardens. Its one of two artificial lakes that feed the city’s water system. This 5.8 billion-gallon lake serves as the primary drinking water source for nearly 125,000 customers both inside and outside of the city limits — including Asheville’s beloved food and beverage industries. According to the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, who the city designated to hold a conservation easement on the land, “the Asheville watershed hosts eleven plant species and nine animal species considered endangered, threatened, or significantly rare.” This easement not only protects the water quality and forest health of the surrounding area, it also protects the scenic vistas that make the Parkway famous!

We finished driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, exiting east of Asheville. We headed into Black Mountain, where I had found a brewery with food, Lookout Brewery. Lookout Brewing opened the doors on May 1, 2013. John Garcia, along with his wife, family, and close friends, remodeled a barren strip mall unit into the current tasting room and brewery starting in February of 2013.

Lookout Brewing has come up with over hundreds of quality beers ranging from dark lagers to champagne tasting Saisons. Their personal favorites tend to favor hoppy beers and that inevitably shines through on the tap list in the tasting room.

They love to create brews focused around local and seasonal offerings. From the local Riverbend Malt Company in Asheville to local fruit and vegetable farmers, a lot of Lookout Brewing Company beers utilize local ingredients. During hop season, buckets of fresh wet hops arrive at their door and get tossed in the boil kettle within minutes of having been plucked from the vine. They are grown at Hops to Brew Farm down the mountain in Old Fort and at Hop'n Blueberry Farm just down the road in Black Mountain. Small batch craft brews made with love here on the front porch of Western North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, it was a great end to an awesome day!

We got back to camp and shared our last visit with Frank Lenoir. Frank is a salesman at Camping World. We have visited with him almost every night since we have arrived. He lives here in the rally park. We will miss our nightly visits, but not his "groaner" jokes!

A beautiful sunrise and 60° at 7:00 am on Monday morning August 19th for my 232nd walk of 2024. It was quiet out there this morning. I enjoyed my walk last walk in NC.

We departed the Tom Johnson Camping World in Marion, NC. We are driving on Route 70 for most of the day. We went through Old Fort again, no stopping at breweries this time, but I do love their murals!

The underpasses in Asheville also are very colorful!

We came through a portion of Asheville including driving through the Beaucatcher Tunnel. This tunnel carries US 70 through Beaucatcher Mountain.

The summit of Beaucatcher Mountain has long provided a scenic vantage point from which to view Asheville, but Beaucatcher also provided a natural obstacle to travel. A solution to the travel problem arrived in 1929, when a road tunnel through the mountain was completed. Work on the 750-foot tunnel was started in 1927 and completed in 1929. It was renovated in 2014 with new stone portals. When traffic increased there was talk of a second tunnel alongside the original. After much legwork, it was deemed to be cost ineffective.

In Hot Springs NC, we cross the French Broad River. We will cross this river three more times on this leg of out travels. The headwaters of the French Broad River begin just west of the Eastern Continental Divide near Rosman, NC, near the South Carolina state line. One of several unique features of the river is that it flows north. The French Broad travels for about 100 miles from the headwaters to Hot Springs, passing through Brevard, Hendersonville, Asheville and Marshall, NC. About 6 miles downstream of Hot Springs, the river flows into Tennessee. Ultimately, the waters of the French Broad river end up in the Gulf of Mexico, via the Tennessee, the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers.

The river provided a natural pathway through the mountains. Following the river in the mid 1800’s was a drover’s road called the Buncombe Turnpike. The foot path allowed people to move animals and goods from the flatter lands in Tennessee through the Western NC Mountains, and out to the ports in South Carolina. Small communities along the river grew up to serve the drovers and eventually turned into larger towns. In the 1880’s, the completion of the railroad meant the end of many of the small communities.

Another uncommon fact about the French Broad River is that it is thought to be one of the oldest rivers in the world. There are river features just above Hot Springs that are of particular interest to geologists. The Cherokee called the river “Long Man,” with the tributaries being called the “Chattering Children.” Early settlers called the river the French Broad because it flowed into what was then French territory.

We crossed into Tennessee from North Carolina.

When we got off 70, onto 441 / 321 we came past Bush Beans factory and visitors center.

When we passed through Townsend, we saw a new bear mural being worked on.

We arrived at Melton Hill Campground, a TVA facility in Lenoir City, TN our home for 2 nights.

On Tuesday August 20th it was a beautiful sunny morning and 64° at 7:30 am for my 233rd walk of 2024. We are in Tennessee at Melton Hill Dam campground. It was a great area to walk and my hashtag changed to #walkinginTN

Today was domestic chores day. We went to the bank, enjoyed a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel and grabbed a few groceries. When we got back to the campground, Charlie checked oils, tire pressures and all that stuff. It did inside cleaning and organizing. It was a relaxing afternoon and evening.

On Wednesday August 21st, it was cool, overcast, and 60° at 8:00 am for my 234th walk of 2024. My last morning walk at Melton Hill Dam campground. I love to walk by the water. There is something calming about that. The water flows by, like your thoughts run through your mind. They both continue to flow steadily. We cannot check in to our next campground until 3pm. So we checked out closer to 11am. We continued our drive on US 70 toward Nashville.

We passed through Kingston TN. There is an uncredited mural plugging the area's peach-growing industry in Kingston, Tennessee, a small city southwest of Knoxville.

Our friends, Marcia & Larry, drove down from Indiana to spend a few days with us here. As we arrived at Seven Points campground, we got a text that they were at M.L. Rose Craft Beer & Burgers. It's happy hour!

We set up on our beautiful site and went out to meet them. It was great to spend the evening with them!

The M.L. Rose story began in 2008 in Nashville’s gritty, emerging Melrose neighborhood. Melrose was on the verge of revival, but it didn’t yet have a great neighborhood bar. So with a strong passion for craft beer and sharing it with friends, Austin Ray opened the first M.L.Rose location where studio musicians, hospitality workers, and celebrities mingled with local residents to create a laid-back, full-of-life, stay-a-while kind of place.

The conversation and the beer flowed freely for hours. Our server was Courtney, but we could never remember her name. She told us she was from Sarasota, so that became her nickname. You know, everyone has a nickname!