All American Road Trip Part 2: Blue Ridge Parkway MP 408 - 294 Food, Fog and Water (falls & rain)

This summer we decided to stay stateside and go on an All American Road Trip. Starting in the The Smokys, we drove the entire Blue Ridge Parkway to Shenandoah and ended with a few days in Washington DC.

This is Part 2. You can read Part 1 here.

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We woke up at Pisgah Inn to rain. We ate a good breakfast at the restaurant and watched the rain and fog roll across the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was pretty to watch from the safety of the dining room, but we weren't looking forward to climbing Mt. Pisgah. So we skipped the hike and headed north, past Asheville. There was restaurant up the road that we had to make by 3:00, so we figured it was worth it. Plus, we are pretty sure we climbed the mountain a while back when we were backpacking in Pisgah.

There's a lot to do/see in Asheville, but my sister lives there so we've seen or will have chance to to see it next time we visit. For your purposes, here are some things worth stopping for:

Art Deco buildings in downtown Asheville
The Biltmore if you have the time. It's pretty cool.
The North Carolina Arboretum
Eat at: 12 Bones, Tupelo Honey, Luella's, Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, My Father's Pizza in Black Mountain & Early Girl (full disclosure: Early Girl is not my favorite, but Todd and most other people think it's the bees knees).

Craggy Flats

On the other side of Asheville, we stopped at Craggy Gardens at MP 364.5, past Craggy Gardens Picnic Area. It had stopped raining, but there was still a lot of fog, which made the views and hike through rhododendron tunnels to Craggy Flats more magical. Craggy Flats is a an open, windswept heath bald, as if there is any other kind. Balds are summits "covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected." This particular bald has a lot of rhododendron and flame azaleas.

Todd and his spirit bird at Craggy Pinnacle

.5 miles away, on the Parkway, is Craggy Pinnacle. We drove. And then realized that we could have hiked up from the Visitor's Center at Craggy Gardens. The trail is a little steeper than the Garden trail and features cool, wind-twisted beech trees among the rhododendron. At the top you will find sweeping vistas that include a great view of the Parkway itself. Todd found his spirit bird here. Then it started to rain.

Brunch at Knife & Fork

Hot Tub at Little Switzerland Inn

Back in the dry car we made a beeline to Spruce Pine (exit near MP 330) and The Knife and Fork for brunch. We really wanted to eat here, but had to make it a priority, because they close early on Sunday (when we were there) and aren't open at all on Monday. The rained out hike at Pisgah had put us ahead of schedule and the continuing rain made us feel better about driving past Crabtree Falls. We made it well before our 3:00 deadline. It was worth all of the trouble.

We split Chicken & Pancakes, Three Cheese Plate, Chicken Wings & Rabbit Wings. Everything was delicious, but the Rabbit Wings were off the charts! I'm going back just for more of those and the great service. Everyone was super sweet and really wanted to know that you were enjoying the food & the space.

After lunch, we checked in at The Little Switzerland Inn (MP 334) and decided to backtrack to Crabtree Falls (MP 339). There were a few other cars in the parking lot, but the rain was really coming down & the fog was getting thicker, so we went back to our lodgings at Little Switzerland Inn and waited it out in hot tub.

Lobby at Little Switzerland Inn

Little Switzerland is a strange, not in bad way, place. It is very old school fancy & is kept up pretty well, which is good because we spent a lot of time there. We ate in the bar, instead of the Chalet Restaurant. After our amazing brunch, we weren't that hungry, so we had what we called "Blue Ridge Tapas": Swiss Onion Soup, Homemade Chips with Blue Cheese and Carolina Caprese ( fried green tomatoes with homemade pimento cheese & a red pepper puree). They put the game on, so we stayed for a while.

Crabtree Falls, NC

We woke up well rested. It was still raining, but we decided to head back to Crabtree Falls for the third time & just go for it. The Ranger at the Visitor's Center said we should be ok, just be careful on the rocks. He did not tell us that trail was almost all rocks at some points! We went slow & made it down the steep, rocky, wet trail. Luckily, the Ranger also told us that we could shorten the hike by driving to a trailhead in the campground, instead of hiking in from the main parking lot. This cutting .5 miles out of our hike. In the rain, this is a very good thing. Regardless of how long & slippery the hike, the 70-foot falls are definitely worth it. And I think they might have been even better in the rain. We had them all to ourselves! Note: don't get these NC falls confused with Crabtree Falls in VA, also off the Parkway.

Linville Falls: Erwin's View

With one rainy waterfall hike under our belts, we decided to stick with that day's plan and go to Linville Falls (MP 316.5). We checked with the Ranger to make sure conditions were good and headed up. In the end we felt a little silly, since the trail at Linville Falls is pretty easy, at least the main trail. There are three spurs off of the main trail that lead to three different views. At .5 miles is the Upper Falls, at .6 miles is the Chimney View and at .8 miles is Erwins View. We went to all three, but if you only have time for one, Chimney View is the most popular. However, we preferred Erwin's View, it's higher and farther out, giving an overall perspective of the falls and valley.

It stopped raining by the time we left Linville Falls, but we decided to skip Wiseman's View anyway. It sounds like a great hike, dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the East", but is a couple of miles off the Parkway and the drive involves "leaving pavement", which didn't sound like a great idea after all the rain. Instead, we backtracked to the Linville Falls Community (MP 317.4) and had Pimento Cheese Sandwiches and Pie at Famous Louise's Rock House. It was really good and is indeed a rock house. It's also on the National Register of Historical Places, which is cool.

Driving

Next stop, Grandfather Mountain. And stop we did. And turned around. And left. Grandfather Mountain sounds like it would be a lot of fun. It's a privately owned attraction that UNESCO has designated an International Biosphere Preserve. There is a huge backcountry, which would be interesting if you have the time, but we were going for the wildlife habitat and walk across the mile high swinging bridge... until the nice lady at the gate informed us, the rain & fog would mostly like keep the animals out of site and the bridge views would be lost. In fact, she said, we wouldn't be able to see the other end of the bridge. So we left.

Time for more rain hiking, but first, a quick stop at Linn Cove Visitor Center (MP 304.4) to learn how they built the Linn Cove Viaduct, said to be "the most complicated concrete bridge ever built."

Rough Ridge hike in the Fog

At MP 302.8 is a pull off that seems to overlook nothing, until you climb a steep and rocky (and in our case wet) Tanawha Trail to Rough Ridge. We were told, buy our guidebook (Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway by Nye Simmons) that Rough Ridge "takes on a special magic in fog, when the weather is otherwise frightful." Perfect! It really was magical in fog. Once we got there. But the hike was pretty rough, lots of large puddles that almost had us turning around at least twice.

Wet and tired, it was time to head to our most deluxe accommodations on the trip, Yonahlossee. Just what we needed. There were two ladies on the covered porch when we arrived. They were the only other Inn guests (there are also cottages) and have been coming every year since the were girls and Yonahlossee was a summer camp. They were exited to hear about our day's adventure and wanted to tell us all about the trails that they used to hike and the wonderful Manhattans on the terrace at the Crestwood. I think they were a little disappointed to find out that we were only there for one night and already had dinner plans.

We had reservations at The Gamekeeper that night, but had plenty of time to relax in the sauna and big fluffy beds. We skipped the workout room.

Todd at The Gamekeeper

The Gamekeeper is my favorite restaurant of the entire trip. Knife & Fork is pretty close. We showed up early and relaxed at the bar. I thought that it might be a littl too fancy, but it isn't at all. It's a cozy, elegant space and the people are exceptionally nice. We loved our waitress, Sandi, she was very helpful, laid back, but attentive, and she sounded exactly like Amy Sedaris.

We split, as we do, the following fantastic appetizer: Mixed Grill (including ostrich, antelope, rabbit and alligator sausage and bison sausage), Pork Belly, Gazpacho and, of course, the Cheese Plate. It was all fantastic, but I was surprised by how much I loved the antelope... I really, really, really loved the antelope!

I would go back to Yonahlossee just to eat at The Gamekeeper. But, I would also check out some of the hikes the "camp girls" told us about  & maybe even have a Manhattan on the terrace at the Crestwood. Fancy!

Part 3 is here! : Blue Ridge Parkway MP 294 - Shenandoah (Including Mayberry, bears and a bridge!)