Visiting Chimney Rock State Park

Happy Thursday I mentioned in my last post that I recently had a work trip to Lake Lure and Chimney Rock North Carolina. If you missed the last post about the Lake Lure Inn and Spa you can check it out here.

One of our days was spent visiting Chimney Rock State Park. I have been several times. I love it and it is absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect. Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina is located about 25 miles southeast of Asheville.

Over 500 steps lead to the Chimney. Luckily we were able to take the elevator. After a quick elevator ride we stepped off of the elevator into a nice gift shop and cafe. This led to a walkway outside and to the chimney. I can’t describe the view that you have when you step off of that elevator. When you exit the little cafe there are tables and chairs along the walkway to the chimney. A great place to relax after you visit the chimney, I said the day was beautiful and clear. You could see for miles. After spending some time at the chimney our group decided to walk down the 500 steps. You have an option of walking or taking the elevator back down. Oh my knees!! And my calf muscles were so sore the next day.

Three men were instrumental in developing Chimney Rock into a beautiful attraction that’s natural beauty would be preserved for millions of people to enjoy. These men were brothers, Dr. Lucius B. Morse, Hiram Morse and Asahel. They pooled their money and for $5000 purchased a 64-acre tract that included Chimney Rock, Hickory Nut Falls and surrounding cliffs.

The Morse family owned and operated the Park for ten decades. When the family sold the land to the state of North Carolina in the early 2000s, many dedicated employees stayed on. It is just a wonderful place to visit. So much history and dedication in this amazing place.

We got a quick report from one of Park Rangers. He had some great advice about visiting the park and some suggestions about different things to check out. Again, it was an absolutely beautiful day.

The views were spectacular.

***I had to show you this picture to give you an idea of how many steps are involved. This is just a very few of them.***

I hope you enjoyed your quick visit to Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park. For additional information check out their site here. http://www.chimneyrockpark.com

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Hello Monday

Hello and happy Monday!! I was gone all last week on a work trip to North Carolina. Well most of the week anyway. I am so glad to be back to a regular routine. I was even glad to get back to work today. What???

I did take a couple of days off at the end of the week to sort of rest and rejuvenate. I did some work outside in my yard, and trimmed shrubs and some overgrown hedges. I still have a lot to do. I was just reading that and I was thinking, where was the rest? If you are like me working outside is restful. The temps have cooled a little and will be even cooler this week. I am loving it!!!

I stayed home most of the weekend. On Saturday, Mark and I drove to Knoxville with my niece and picked up her kayak from a friends’ house. It was in an area I had never been to before. I just love looking at homes and yards in places I haven’t been.

We also worked on the house a bit and it seems so clean and shiny. Too bad it won’t last long.

I thought I would show you some of my projects I am working on. You know it isn’t me if I don’t have several going at one time. Sorry for the wrinkled comforter. The color is a great background for my projects.

***This is the granny square afghan I am working on for my nephew. This is Tennessee Titans colors. One of his favorite teams.***

***My Hats off to Halloween cross stitch. I really need to get to work on this one. I want to get it finished, framed and out before Halloween.***

This is a shawl I started yesterday. It is sort of a trial and error. I am going with a pattern as I go along. I’m not sure if it will work out. I used an inexpensive yarn so if it doesn’t work out, it’s no loss. I just realized it looks sort of like candy corn. You see where my mind is. There’s several other colors as well.

***This scarf. I love the pattern and I love this green color.***

I am also reading a couple of good books.

***First Lie Wins. I just started this one on my Libby App. It is already full of secrets and suspense. I will let you know what I think of it.***

Isadora is a University researcher. On her 30th Birthday she reads an article about 31 ways to be happy. Being the researcher she is she tries to prove the article may not make everyone happy. A lot of things happen for Isadora along the way. I have heard a lot of good things about this book. I can’t wait to read it.

That is pretty much what I have been up to. A little boring I know but just the way I love it. I have a sister trip coming up in a couple of weeks and a work trip in October. So for now I am just going to hang out at the house and enjoy some quiet time with my husband and the kitties. Speaking of kitties, I will leave you with a picture of Kitty Kitty. She was very cool to me when I returned home. I think she was mad that I left her behind. She’s starting to come around. Silly kitties.

How is your week? Do you have lots of plans and fun things to do?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

A Few Days At Lake Lure Inn & Spa, Lake Lure, North Carolina

I just returned from a short trip to Lake Lure North Carolina. I went there for an attractions meeting. I mentioned before that I work in Tourism and attend these meetings three times a year. The meetings are held at a different place each time. This time we met at Lake Lure and the beautiful Chimney Rock State Park. I was there Sunday through Wednesday. This post will be about staying at the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. I will have other posts about different parts of my stay in this beautiful part of the country.

I left on Sunday. I knew I had about a four hour drive ahead of me. I was off work on Saturday and did all of the usual weekend things that needed to be done, buying groceries, laundry and cleaning the house etc etc. I don’t know about you but I have to have a clean house before I leave. Fortunately my husband was home most of the time with the kitty babies.

Before I left on Sunday I had a quick lunch with my nephew and my sister and niece at a small restaurant in town. It was so good to catch up. Now that my nephew has moved over two hours away I don’t get to see him a lot.

Oh the weather was beautiful on Sunday. The temps were in the mid 70’s F and there was a slight breeze blowing. You could feel fall in the air. I had a very uneventful drive and I even saw some leaves falling along the road. The traffic was a little heavy for a Sunday but I made really good time. I listened to an audio book most of the drive. Sometimes those make me sleepy so I had to switch to music.

I checked into the Inn. We stayed at the Lake Lure Inn and Spa. This Inn, which is on the historic register, was built in 1927. The lobby area is absolutely beautiful with lots of antiques and beautiful furniture. Lots of famous people, even Presidents have stayed at this hotel. This area is also where some of the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed and both Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey stayed at the Inn while filming the movie. None of the movie was actually filmed at the Inn but parts of Lake Lure was used in the famous Baby and Johnny dance practice in the lake. More on that in the next post.

After checking in I went to my room. I had been given an old fashioned key on a huge plastic key chain. The doors still had actual locks. I would like to say the room was beautiful and stylish but it was old and somewhat musty. I understand that a 1927 Inn is going to have some challenges but I could lie on the bed and touch the door. I do know that some of the rooms at the Inn are quite luxurious. My room was very small with a huge king sized bed in the middle, the bed was actually quite heavenly and took up almost the entire room. Fortunately on these trips we do not spend a lot of time in our rooms .I will tell you that bed felt wonderful at the end of our long days of meetings and visiting area attractions. I sank blissfully into it at the end of each day.

After getting settled I went downstairs to find some dinner. The hotel had a nice little restaurant and the food was delicious. A lot of our crew was not arriving until the next day so the hotel was a bit quiet.

Our meeting didn’t start until noon the following day so I slept in and had coffee in my room. I had a quick breakfast downstairs and did a long walk around the lake and property. Again the weather was picture perfect. The Inn also had this huge porch with rocking chairs it was the perfect place to sit and relax.

You can close your eyes and imagine the town during the summer. Lots of families hanging out and swimming and eating ice cream. I’m sure the town is really hopping during the summer months. I can almost hear children yelling and running into the water. It would be such a fun place to be with the little beach area and small mom and pop restaurants. All of these areas are within walking distance of the Inn. Most of them have closed for the season.