The weather is awesome out here..sunny bright and warm. Dont wanna be stuck in this cubicle with artificial lighting!!
Asheville
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. The weather was awesome and our mood was on a cheerful high. After breakfast we started off but we got kind of disappointed to see that the spring has not yet arrived fully. The plants were still budding and most of the trees were still all twigs and branches. One of the biggest attraction of Asheville is the Biltmore Estate. It is a huge estate with acres of land that boasts of beautiful grounds, lawns and gardens. The highlight of the estate is an old Victorian mansion which is supposed to be America's largest home. We went there but were astounded by the entrance fee which was $40 per head. We decided the amount was not worth since the flowers were not even in full bloom.
We made a u-turn and went to the next stop, the Chimney Rock Park. As the name suggests, the park consists of a 315 foot tall rock shaped like a chimney located at 2300ft. There were numerous hiking trails of various lengths and difficulties. We took the shortest one...drive almost all the way up, ride up an elevator and then climb 42 steps to reach the top of the chimney :-). The road was narrow and winding...which reminded me so much of the roads in Sikkim specially as the surroundings were mountainous too (Smoky mountains). The elevator was quite amazing as had constructed it by cutting through the mountain...we had to go through a small tunnel to reach the elevator which took us 26 storey up in 30 secs. The view from the top of the rock was spectacular. One side of the rock was the rocky mountain wall and the rest faced the faraway mountains and down below we could see forest sparsely dotted with small villages. The rock also overlooked Lake Lure, which it seems is a man-made lake. There were a number of tiny nooks and fissures in and around the rock which had been made accessible by constructing wooden staircases. We stayed there for a while..exploring those quaint corners and 'view-points', enjoying the scenery, taking lots of pictures, and buying some souvenirs.
Our next stop was the North Carolina Arboretum which we decided to go via the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a long scenic road that connects the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with the Shenandoah National Park both of which are a part of the Appalachain Mountain range. It is supposed to be America's favorite drive and the ride is beautiful. It twists and winds up and down the mountains providing breath taking close-ups of the mountains and the rivers. The roads are in perfect condition and V had a great time driving the van. I too wanted to drive on the road, but since it was a big car, I did not feel confident enough. We were wondering how awesome the view would be during the fall season. V and me have thought of coming back here during Fall in the MR2 as the thrill of driving on the road would be best experienced on a sports car.
The NC Arboretum turned out to be a HUGE disappointment. The pamphlets boasted of acres of gardens and lawns with hundreds of varieties of flora. I guess we came a bit too early and like in other places, the flowers were not in full bloom. There were some patches of flowers here and there...but not much. There were a few gardens which seemed too small...good enough to be someone's home garden. The Vrindavan Garden is so much better than this. We took a short tour and didn't even bother to go to the green house.
Since we still had plenty of time in our hand, we decided to go to another place called Hot Springs. We expected some hot springs and S was particularly looking forward to take a dip due to the medicinal value of the mineral water. It was another long but beautiful drive and when we reached there we were met with one more disappointment. Though the place did have hot springs (we had started to wonder if maybe the place was just named so)...there were 12 in all. They had constructed hot tubs around each spring and enclosed them so groups of people normally book them for some hours. Since we reached quite late in the eve, all the springs were booked for the night.
We then headed back to the town, had dinner at the Indian restaurant there. This was a treat to us from S to celebrate him buying the car :-). We had no plans for the next day so we decided we will do river rafting, provided the weather was good.
To be continued..
Asheville
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. The weather was awesome and our mood was on a cheerful high. After breakfast we started off but we got kind of disappointed to see that the spring has not yet arrived fully. The plants were still budding and most of the trees were still all twigs and branches. One of the biggest attraction of Asheville is the Biltmore Estate. It is a huge estate with acres of land that boasts of beautiful grounds, lawns and gardens. The highlight of the estate is an old Victorian mansion which is supposed to be America's largest home. We went there but were astounded by the entrance fee which was $40 per head. We decided the amount was not worth since the flowers were not even in full bloom.
We made a u-turn and went to the next stop, the Chimney Rock Park. As the name suggests, the park consists of a 315 foot tall rock shaped like a chimney located at 2300ft. There were numerous hiking trails of various lengths and difficulties. We took the shortest one...drive almost all the way up, ride up an elevator and then climb 42 steps to reach the top of the chimney :-). The road was narrow and winding...which reminded me so much of the roads in Sikkim specially as the surroundings were mountainous too (Smoky mountains). The elevator was quite amazing as had constructed it by cutting through the mountain...we had to go through a small tunnel to reach the elevator which took us 26 storey up in 30 secs. The view from the top of the rock was spectacular. One side of the rock was the rocky mountain wall and the rest faced the faraway mountains and down below we could see forest sparsely dotted with small villages. The rock also overlooked Lake Lure, which it seems is a man-made lake. There were a number of tiny nooks and fissures in and around the rock which had been made accessible by constructing wooden staircases. We stayed there for a while..exploring those quaint corners and 'view-points', enjoying the scenery, taking lots of pictures, and buying some souvenirs.
Our next stop was the North Carolina Arboretum which we decided to go via the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a long scenic road that connects the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with the Shenandoah National Park both of which are a part of the Appalachain Mountain range. It is supposed to be America's favorite drive and the ride is beautiful. It twists and winds up and down the mountains providing breath taking close-ups of the mountains and the rivers. The roads are in perfect condition and V had a great time driving the van. I too wanted to drive on the road, but since it was a big car, I did not feel confident enough. We were wondering how awesome the view would be during the fall season. V and me have thought of coming back here during Fall in the MR2 as the thrill of driving on the road would be best experienced on a sports car.
The NC Arboretum turned out to be a HUGE disappointment. The pamphlets boasted of acres of gardens and lawns with hundreds of varieties of flora. I guess we came a bit too early and like in other places, the flowers were not in full bloom. There were some patches of flowers here and there...but not much. There were a few gardens which seemed too small...good enough to be someone's home garden. The Vrindavan Garden is so much better than this. We took a short tour and didn't even bother to go to the green house.
Since we still had plenty of time in our hand, we decided to go to another place called Hot Springs. We expected some hot springs and S was particularly looking forward to take a dip due to the medicinal value of the mineral water. It was another long but beautiful drive and when we reached there we were met with one more disappointment. Though the place did have hot springs (we had started to wonder if maybe the place was just named so)...there were 12 in all. They had constructed hot tubs around each spring and enclosed them so groups of people normally book them for some hours. Since we reached quite late in the eve, all the springs were booked for the night.
We then headed back to the town, had dinner at the Indian restaurant there. This was a treat to us from S to celebrate him buying the car :-). We had no plans for the next day so we decided we will do river rafting, provided the weather was good.
To be continued..
9 comments:
Hey Kaush...didnt expect u to be the 1st :)
I have been to Smoky Mountain durin 04 fall and the colors are soooo superb. It feels like u r living on a picture perfect poster! U r lucky to be staying in such a nice place...i can only imagine how the Blue Ridge would be during falls. Me and V plan to be there this yr too...u'll have to acco us :D
$40 per head, now that's expensive for a damn house (I know it must be beautiful but whatever...lol).
You Americans...I tell you...Hello...who builds elevators to go on top of a mountain. That's so American...ahhhhhhhh...lazy bums. Mountains are for hiking, climbing and enjoying the stuff in between. Sorry, maybe in Canada we are too nature-minded and we hear stories about commercialization in US and here's one proof. Sorry but you know I love hiking (remember my mountain story..;)...though mine was too drastic...he he).
Hot Tubs...ok....that's it...
Indian dinner...ummm...yummy...
Wow...lovely description ... though really sad that u cud not see the flowers in full bloom ... it reminded me of the wrong time i went to see Chandigarh's famous Rose Garden ... quite similar exp...
$40 entrance fee was for all, or only foreigners?
I luv the drive thru the mountains... and the BRParkway sounds beautiful. Hope u r putting up some pics as well.
Ashville..hmm..thats interesting.
Is Indiana your home state?
boomerang <-:
Hey..am no American. I am an Indian:-). But yes, they have made many things so much easier for people like me. For people like you, they still have tough and long hiking trails and easier ones for those in between.
Hot tubs of spring water...thats good :-)
Hi DJ...thanks. And yes, that was quite a dissappointment.
$40 for everyone. Haha...here its not like in India...one price for Indians and a lot more expensive price for Foriegners. Its the same for all.
I will put up the pics once I download them from my camera.
Boomerang..yes it is.
hmmm :) sounds like u could have had a better time. better luck next time
elevater , well not a bad idea. disagree with ricky :D
Gaya, yeah I too agree with u..the elevator was a great idea! Wonder how I could have managed to hike all the way with my high heels :)
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