Drive to Asheville from VA

The Linville Gorge area was the first point on my list of places to see in North Carolina. I drove from Virginia to the Linville area via back roads. There were many depressed areas with buildings that by most standards were uninhabitable and I could see people were living in them with cars parked in front. This was on both sides of the Virginia / North Carolina boarder. I wondered how some of the buildings remained standing.

Virginia: Working farm

As I meandered through a section of Virginia near the North Carolina border, I began to see hills covered in Christmas Trees. Periodically, a truck would pass me going in the opposite direction laded with trees for some distant market. Scattered in these hills were farms which looked to be raising black angus cattle or farming Christmas trees.

Tree Farm: Southern Virginia

The trees and fields created many patterns. I tried to capture some of them, which was difficult because of the light and distances between objects. I had trouble with the depth of field in many of the photos. The following photo was taken right before I crossed the border and there was enough sun to allow the aperture to be closed down.

As I crossed the boarder I noticed a sign about North Carolina. What struck me was the text, “FIRST TO VOTE READINESS FOR INDEPENDENCE (APR. 12, 1776). I saw a similar sign in Delaware, which was the “First State to Ratify the Constitution”. North Carolina was almost the last state to ratify The Consitution on November 21, 1789, almost two years after Delaware. The Virginia sign says “First PERMANENT ENGLISH COLONY IN AMERICA, 1607”. I wondered what firsts were for other states?

As I crossed into North Carolina there were even more tree farms. I notice a group of farmers taking freshly cut trees into an area covered with tarps. At the other end trailers were being loaded with wrapped trees. I went into the store and bought a small pecan pie. There was a small cat with a lot of energy that wanted to be outside. The cashier was from Texas and had just started a few days ago and didn’t know a lot about the tree farm operations. She did tell me that next week they would be selling trees at the farm. People come from quite a distance to buy their trees. There’s a bigger market where the loaded trees are taken for distribution to other states.

The temperatures were dropping, but I was ready for hiking and great views. There had been a light dusting of snow on the mountains overnight and the sun would hit them with a gray filtered light from the clouds creating an interesting cauliflower effect of black and white on the hilltops. I wanted to get closer to these mountains but the Linville valley was mostly gated communities and they would grant me access to take photos. I couldn’t find a road on the other side of the mountain.

Goolge was taking me to the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to my hike in the Linville Gorge. Unfortunetely, the parkway was closed in all directions. I called the park service and the park was open, but there was no access to my hiking trails. This is when I decided to to go visit Little Switzerland. Having lived in Switzerland, I thought I’d drive to little Switzerland, hoping to have raclette cheese or perhaps a fondue. It was already afternoon and and getting later. After a few incorrect directions from google I drove the narrow roads to the small town of Little Switzerland. It looked like a California Gold Rush ghost town. Everything was closed. I didn’t really see much that reminded me of Switzerland. There was a hotel and many kitschy shops, obviously catering to tourist. I pasted the Little Switzerland post office and saw a bookstore that sold coffee and looked like it was open. When I got to the door it was 4:00pm and the store was closed. The shopkeep was on here way out and I asked her about the town. She told me Little Switzerland is an unincorporated town which was created many years ago for tourism. She didn’t know of any Swiss that lived in the area and didn’t think there were any restaurants serving the famous Swiss cheese dishes. There was one shop that was flying a Swiss flag, but it didn’t seem to have any Swiss items in the shop.

It was getting dark as I drove back into the valley. The restaurant selection was pretty bad and there weren’t any campgrounds in the area. I decided to drive to Asheville where I knew I would be be able to get a good meal.

I drove to the center of Asheville and immediately found parking at N Pack Squarere. I crossed the street and read the menu at Rhubarb which is a local farm to table restaurant. I ordered the trout (farmed) with collard greets and a cornbread dumpling. The bartender liked to talk and I settled in to a relaxing evening at the bar. I pulled out my computer and processed photos from the last couple of days.

Asheville has changed so much since I was last there to give a database class in the late 70’s at the US Geological Survey office. I remember staying at the Sharaton with my boss and having drinks at the bar. There was some rule about not being able to buy drinks at the bar, but you could bring a bottle and the staff would make you a drink. I also remember the jukebox had a lot of Lou Rawls music and someone was playing all of his songs.

I found a Cracker Barrel and pulled in. I went in and ordered a tea. They had trouble figuring out how to charge me for it and told me not to worry about it.

The parking lot was pretty dark and I decided to read a chapter of my French and Indian War book before drifting off.