Asheville, NC

As we pulled out of the Bear Creek Campground in Asheville, NC after our 2 week visit, I felt as though we still had “unfinished business” in that remarkable community. There’s a lot of hype right now about the perks of living in that little berg, populated by musicians, artists, writers and all sorts of creative types. The downtown is cute, vibrant and a great walking venue. Days are mostly sunny (albeit, a bit cool when we were there), and the area is surrounded by the beautiful Smokey Mountains.

With the Johns at Enka Lake

We arrived on a Friday and immediately connected with our old Texas friends, Jan and John Johns, who had recently moved to Asheville from Florida. We headed over to the community center, in the neighborhood where they live, on Enka Lake, to listen to a fantastic trio headed by guitarist Anne Coombs. The community sponsors entertainment every other Friday afternoon, and residents come in with their wine and snacks and enjoy before moving on to dinner. What a welcome!

March for our Lives, Asheville

The next morning we participated in the Asheville March for Life, protesting the lack of common sense gun regulation in this country. Over 6,000 residents showed up from a community not much larger than Bellingham. We met some new friends of the Johns’ that day and we later escaped the cold weather (coldest day of our visit!) in one of Asheville’s 4 star restaurants for a bite of lunch.

During our visit to Asheville, we visited the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center, featuring juried examples of fiber arts of all types, forged iron works, baskets, and blown glass, to name a few. The center was a great introduction to the handiwork of Appalachian artists.

Next, we visited the impressive North Carolina Arboretum.

North Carolina Arboretum

Hiking trails are abundant throughout the arboretum grounds, and Cisco and the Johns’ dogs, Coco and Chewy, played and romped on the hillsides. I was surprised at the number of species that also inhabit our Pacific Northwest, including azalea, rhododendron, English laurel, dogwood, etc. The mild, but not hot summertime climate provides a great environment for these plantings.

John and I spent afternoons exploring the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the developing River Arts District, with refurbished old buildings housing artists of all ilk, and the Western North Carolina farmers market. We even attended the Unitarian church on Easter Sunday!

Lover’s Leap

Our last day in the region we spent traveling into the Smokey Mountains where the Appalachian trail intersects the little town of Hot Springs. It was so cool to talk to mostly “kids” who dropped into town to provision as they hiked all or part of the 2,200-mile trail. The town sits on the French Broad River that runs through most of Western North Carolina, and we headed up a 2+ mile climb to Lover’s Leap. So we can say we hiked part of the trail!!

So as I said in the beginning, it was with a bit of misty eye that we departed this beautiful part of our great country. Now we’re heading west, on our way to the Mississippi River!

 

 

The Music Highway

 

We left our Texas friends, Marilyn and Steve in Hillsboro, TX, and headed to a wonderful city park campground in Little Rock, Arkansas for a week. The 1,700 acre park sits on the Arkansas River and boasts miles of hiking trails, bicycle paths along the river.

Little Rock bike bridge

We enjoyed a spate of sunny weather that was perfect for joining one of John’s old school mates for bike rides, and taking Cisco on hikes. Our wooded campground was a perfect spot to chill, practice my guitar and generally catch up, after weeks of being on the go. John reconnected with school buddy, Vernon,

John and Vernon

and they spent a few hours catching up, and he showed us into Little Rock along one of the bike paths that skirt the Arkansas River.

 

We headed from Little Rock to Memphis so that we could enjoy all things Elvis, and of course Graceland.

Elvis’ mansion

Elvis was born in 1935, and although he had huge charisma and talent, I was just enough younger that I was more the Rolling Stones generation. Nevertheless, it was so fun to visit his home (surprisingly, a rather small “mansion”) and see how he spent his time away from recording and tours.

Sun Studios

We also got to visit Sun Studios where Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, among others, began their recording careers.

Perkins, JL Lewis, Elvis, Cash

It was St. Paddy’s Day, so after we toured the studio, we walked to Beale Street to wander in and out of the blues bars lining the street.  Speaking of streets, we were quite happy to take a shuttle everywhere we went, as the streets and drivers in Memphis were crazy. We found ourselves wondering what the city leaders are spending their 9% sales tax on, because it sure isn’t getting spent on infrastructure!

Nashville icons

Nashville on the other hand, was a completely different experience. Great downtown, easy to walk around and FREE (except for drinks and tipping the musicians). We had such a blast popping in and out of bars, hearing some over the top (and not so) music. Our favorite bar was the Legends Corner, where we got to hear Kinsey Rose and her awesome band one afternoon. Nashville is coming into it’s own as being a place to live.

We stopped in Crossville, TN to have lunch with the sister of a good friend of mine from Bellingham, Marci Harris. Nettie, who drove up from Chattanooga to visit, grew up in Crossville with many siblings and was cheerleader at the local high school, with the Jets moniker. She drove us around after lunch and showed us the mothballed military jet she acquired for her school team.

“Miss Nettie”, Teresa and Nettie

“Miss Nettie” still hovers over the football field today!

Finally, as we wound ourselves into North Carolina, we spent a great afternoon with our old friends, Don and Mary Lynne Derrington.

Derringtons and Van Haalens

Mary Lynne and I were Fulbrights together in Argentina, and we’ve kept in contact ever since! During our visit she gave us a great tour of Knoxville, and the University of Tennessee where she works as associate professor.

 

On to North Carolina!