Family Trip

[randlemanboater]

Last Friday after the kids got out of school we drove up to the NC mountains to play in the snow. They had a big (2 feet in places) snow last Wednesday and I knew there would be some left.

We stayed in Marion NC (about a 2.5 hour ride up I-40) which is at the foot of Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain peak (6684 feet) east of the Mississippi River.

The hotel had an indoor pool so we swam in the morning and then set out to wander.

First we drove around Lake James and stopped at the State Park, the weather was clear but cool in the morning with a stiff breeze.



I spent a lot of time of Lake James as a kid, it was the closest big lake to where I grew up, about an hours ride.

Then we went up the mountain to try to get to the snow, we could see the snow on the tops of the mountains from Marion.



We had lunch at Famous Louise's Rockhouse Restaurant, it sits in 3 different counties, and has good food. It is right next to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Hwy 221.

The Parkway is the only road to get to the State Rd. that goes up to Mt. Mitchell. It was closed at 221 so I drove around to try another way, but it was closed there too, so no snow for us.

This was as close as we got. I grew up on the other side of this mountain.



My son, who absolutly loves rocks, wanted to go to one of the "gem mines" that are all over up there, we found one that was open (not much is open up there this time of year as tourism is the only industry). The kids found about 15 emeralds, and rubies along with other colorful rocks.



Here is the view from Little Switzerland, NC.



It was a nice little 26 hour trip.