Heading up higher into the mountains from Asheville, we stopped off at a gem mine, where you can ‘pan’ for gems.
drama / romance
The Blue Ridge Mountains
You pay to sift a bucket of sand in running water to reveal a lucky dip of rocks, of which some will be precious gemstones: aquamarines, amethyst, moonstone and peridot – even rubies and sapphires.
You can take your stones away as they are, or pay to have them polished and cut to make jewellery.
You’ll notice the sign also advertises boiled peanuts, which are a local ‘delicacy’ and a soggy experience, that I’ll probably not be repeating.
FOUR65:
After this we went for a pizza lunch in the small, picturesque town of Highlands. An upscale Italian restaurant Four65 that reflects the town’s well-to-do ambiance. https://www.four65.com
My Hot Pig pizza went down very well, topped with soppressata, jalapenos and spicy aioli.
WELLS HOTEL:
We drove on to Cashiers where we stayed at the Wells Hotel, self-contained suites with self-catering facilities, spotlessly clean and modern just along from the main street. https://thewellshotel.com
For dinner that evening, we went to On The Veranda: beautiful old-style décor and lovely lakeside views. http://www.ontheverandah.com. I ate a chargrilled North Carolina Pork Chop, with local maple apple ginger compote, roast onions and mashed potatoes. It was huge and very tasty.
The next morning we got up early and hiked up the Whiteside Mountain. It has an elevation of 4,930 feet and the views are breathtaking.
That evening, we decided to have dinner ‘at home’: we shopped at the Farmers Market for gorgeous local cheeses, cured meats and apple butter. Apple butter is a sweet, smooth apple jam – great with cheese – that’s traceable back to Germany and Belgium in the Middle Ages. It’s popular in North Carolina and is thought to have been brought to Appalachia by the Pennsylvania Dutch who migrated to NC after the Revolutionary War.
