Although it was freezing cold in the morning, chilly around noon, the sun pleasantly warmed the afternoon up. We had about 3 hours of gorgeous temps.

There is so much to check out around Asheville that it is difficult to figure out what to do first. We decided on a circle drive to Sliding Rock Falls and Looking Glass Falls in the Pisgah National Forest; Brevard, a QT; Hendersonville, another QT; and lastly, Chimney Rock State Park.

Somehow, I took a wrong turn and ended up in Brevard first. This mountain town is an extension of Asheville even though it is 30 miles to the south. There are art galleries, high-quality antique shops, taverns and restaurants, novelty stores, etc. We ended up spending a lot more time in Brevard than I had allotted.

My favorite store was the MANtique Shop. This antique store specialized in high-end antiques for wealthy men. Set up like a furniture store with bedroom displays, dinning room displays, living room displays, and study displays, each room featured antiques that men would get a kick out of. I know I sure did, and I’m not a big antique kind of guy.

OP Taylor’s Toy Store, another unique shop, had every model known to man. When I asked about the Visible V-8? Yep, they had it. In the window display, they had a giant twirling Lego ferris wheel and a Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon. When I mentioned that the Lego Store in downtown Chicago has that same space ship plus many more giant Lego sculptures, the manager told me that Lego has a warehouse filled with such Lego sculptures repossessed from the defunct Toys’r’Us franchise. He tried to get a sample or two. No such luck, however, there is a Lego artist, Sean Kenny, that travels around the country building all kinds of outrageous sculptures. Plastic Legos and art - what is the world coming to?

Brevard was a fun little stop.

The MANtique Store.

OP Taylor’s toy store. So, it took me a long time to figure out that OP Taylor was referring to Ron Howard’s character in the Andy Griffith Show.

Yep, OP Taylor’s had the Visible V-8. It cost $100. I had this model as a kid. It was pretty complicated but I did manage to get it to work.

The town of Brevard had a couple of these public eating spots, however they were in some odd places.

We had to backtrack on the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway to see Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock Falls. Looking Glass Falls is supposed to be the most photographed falls in North Carolina. It was impressive, even in November when most waterfalls are just a trickle.

Sliding Rock Falls is different. In the summer, you can tube down the falls for $5. This wide long slide would be a blast. It ends up falling into an 8’ deep clear pool of water. The only cautionary thing is that the water is a constant 55º, even in the summer. That is pretty cold even when it is 90º. Today, with an air temp at 45º, the water might even feel warm - ha, I doubt that.

The roads through the Pisgah National Forest south of Asheville were enchanting. Yes, the Smokey Mountains are special, but don’t take anything away from Pisgah. What a beautiful area. There is a whole section of the Pisgah National Forest north of Asheville that we probably won’t get to. We will have to return to the area on another trip.

I took two versions of Looking Glass Falls - one with a normal exposure and one with a longer exposure.

It did get very cold overnight.

Rock Slide Falls does look inviting for tubers.

Hendersonville proved to be just as nice as Brevard in much the same way, that is, it is an extension of the artsiness of Asheville, or Asheville-lite if you will. Technically, Hendersonville is outside of the Pisgah National Forest. It is still in the mountains, and the surrounding forest is thick and beautiful with steep hollows. The roads switchback severely as they follow creeks tumbling down the valleys. Art galleries, craft breweries, restaurants, high-end antique shops, and delightful street musicians all reside in Hendersonville.

There are several Mast General stores in these parts.

There was a smaller OP Taylor’s Toy store in Hendersonville.

A great leather store. The proprietor claimed that everything in the store was hand made by himself.

It gets dark quickly as Thanksgiving is just around the corner. By the time we reached the twin villages of Bat Cave and Chimney Rock Village, it was too late to go up into Chimney Rock State Park. The twin mountain towns are tiny, but rugged tourist towns with trailer parks and buildings that are far less than pristine. However, it is the State Park that is the true star of the show.

Chimney Rock Village sits below the cliffs.

The hollow where Chimney Rock Village resides was formed by this fast-running creek.

The Chimney Rock monolith overlooks Chimney Rock Village.

In 1902, Dr. Lucius Morse purchased 64 acres that included the monolith, that has become known as Chimney Rock, and the surrounding cliffs. From 1902 to 2007, the family expanded the area to 1,000 acres, and developed the property into a tourist destination. They engineered an elevator from the main parking lot to the top of the Chimney Rock monolith. They built trails and staircases to reach several incredible overlooks. Finally, in 2007, North Carolina bought out the attraction and currently operate Chimney Rock State Park.

It was 4 pm with the sun already waning when we drove up to the park. At $15 per senior person to enter, we turned back, determined to return either tomorrow or the next day. Chimney Rock was too good to miss.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

Get Vaccinated To Save Lives.

Virtual Business Card

North America . Europe . Mexico . Asia . Product Reviews . Books & Maps

Please send us your thoughts and any errors we may have missed. We're on the road and cellular service is intermittent in the remote areas. As soon as we get online, we are eager to read all of your messages.

Message us: 715-252-6664 | 715-252-3326

Email: alloverthemaptravelventures@gmail.com