Carolina on My Mind –Lake Norman State Park, Troutman, NC 6/6

Well who had bets on us taking the ski lift? You were right. We had a great time riding Virginia’s only chair lift down to the tunnel and wandering around looking up at the chasm and just soaking in the magic of the place. We’ve decided this state park is our second favorite, after Montauk. The park employed quite a few young men, about 18 or 19 yrs old, who worked the chair lift. We spent quite a long time talking with one of these Southern gentlemen and exchanging stories about each of our hometowns. (See today’s pic) He is a real sweet local boy. His daddy is a coal miner and the family also used to grow tobacco to supplement their income. We didn’t head out for North Carolina until almost noon! When we finally reached Asheville mid-afternoon we were thinking about taking a tour of the Biltmore Mansion. We went to the Visitor’s Center, saw a short film and then realized the tickets were $70 a piece. Call me cheap, but that’s the equivalent of about 6 nights camping! Fuhgetaboutit. Suddenly it didn’t seem that interesting to view rich people’s stuff. (Does this mean I’m cheap?) Instead, we decided to stroll thru downtown Asheville and had a delish lunch at an outdoor café listening to some great street musicians. We both thought this was a much better use of our dollars. Originally we were going to camp at Lake James SP, but because there was no swimming and we were really hot we thought we’d drive a bit longer and camp at Lake Norman. By the time we got here, it was about 6 and quite muggy. We hopped on our bikes and did the usual tour of the park. It’s a rather large state park and things are spread out. By the time we biked to the swimming beach we discovered that it had already closed. So, we decided to go back to the campsite and hike the lake access trail for an unauthorized swim. Well, as soon as we started on our quest the skies opened up and a huge drenching thunderstorm engulfed us. So, back to the van it was for a quick sketchy meal waiting for the storm to pass. Why am I seeing a heated game of skip-bo or scrabble in our future? Tomorrow we head to my niece’s house. I’m really looking forward to getting reacquainted with my grand-nephews!