Durham & Asheville, NC

Sunday, April 22nd

Miss Kya got me up early on Sunday morning so I was able to take her for a morning toodle and see sunrise on the beach before we left Cape Hatteras! Excellent! We headed west on Historic Albermarle Highway (64 West). Our stop for Sunday afternoon was Apex, NC, located near the Raleigh/Durham area. It was a pretty ride through lots of flat farmland. We saw two guys fishing in the median strip in the middle of the highway. That was different. Not surprising, there was a cop chatting them up. We arrived at the Jordan Lake Rec Area (Crosswinds Campground), which is a state park. The lake is huge. We had a wooded long narrow back-in site with a rock on one side and a post on the other and a curving road. Lovely. We start the process of backing in, knowing this is going to challenge our shaky back-in skills. The guy across comes over and lends some assistance and we manage, with a few tries, to get it in. It was very nice of him to help us. It was also in his best interest since he was trying to get out with his rig. 🙂 It’s a work in progress, but why do I feel as though we’re not progressing… practice, practice.

Monday, April 23rd

The stop in this area was really just to break up the drive to Asheville. My rule is that I don’t really want to travel more than about 250 miles a day. Gary would do more, but he wants a happy wife because it makes his life easier so he acquiesces to my wishes on this. We didn’t really have any plans while we were here. But, also, we’re trying to avoid two back-to-back travel days so thus we’re here for two nights. Gary did a little research and discovered that Duke University isn’t far from here and they have a 55 acre free garden to explore called Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Who knew?! It’s entirely free and amazing. There is a rose garden, native plants, prairie garden, iris garden, azaleas, an asiatic arboretum, various streams, koi pond, amphitheaters, and the list goes on and on. It’s truly remarkable, and to think that it resides on the grounds of a university is more incredible. The campus itself is spectacular… huge mature trees throughout and an oasis of large beautiful stone buildings.

We also walked over to the Duke University Chapel. It has 77 stained glass windows, 3 pipe organs, and is enormous with a small Memorial Chapel inside for smaller gatherings. A magnificent structure. A real treat to see a small portion of this gem of a university.

Tuesday, April 24th

We awoke to rain. The first time we’ve had to pack up, and hitch up in the rain. Thank goodness for rain pants and rain jackets! We had a nice drive heading west to Asheville, NC. We arrived at Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground. It’s at the top of a mountain and located on Uphill Road… that gives you an idea. OMG! We were escorted to our site. It was a trip! Steep, uphill climb once you’re in the campground. But, the views up here are incredible! Not sure how we’ll get down but that’s a problem for another day!

We took a walk in the afternoon in the campground and visited with a couple from Toronto who have been full timing for two years. We had a fun conversation with them. They don’t have dogs themselves anymore but give dog treats out at will. Kya, of course, was a hit and we chatted for quite awhile and heard about their lifestyle. They had never camped before, but 2 years ago they sold their house and farm and business, bought a 38 ft. motorhome and hit the road! People are fascinating!

Wednesday, April 25th

Since we had visited the Biltmore House last time we were in Asheville, we decided to forego that on this trip and save the $65/person entrance fee and opted to explore downtown instead. It’s a lovely artsy community. Reminds us of Portland, Maine. I needed an art fix and luckily Gary enjoys this too so we spent the day visiting art galleries and checking out the historic architecture. We visited the Grove Arcade which is a historic building built in the 1930’s and at 269,000 sq. ft. is the largest building in downtown Asheville. The ground level has beautiful local art galleries, shops and local restaurants. Second floor has businesses and the 3rd through 5th levels has 42 apartments which must be gorgeous. We found a cute local restaurant in the Grove Arcade to have lunch. Food was delicious as was the beer. We also visited the Basilica of St. Lawrence built in 1905 in the heart of Asheville. Beautiful building. I lit a candle and said a prayer for our family members in heaven.

Thursday, April 26th

We decided to get another art fix today and headed to the River Art District. Home to dozens of working artists who have their studios open to the public. Beyond cool… both the buildings and the work! Some of the more well known artists have their own studios but many share space and there can be a dozen artists in one building. These are mostly older buildings… reminiscent of the Button Factory in Portsmouth or Salmon Falls Mills in Rollinsford. A fun day of gallery hopping (we looked rather than shopped) and a fun lunch with tacos from a food truck and beer from a brewery. Afterwards, thanks to Ellen’s tip, we visited The Folk Art Center! Beautiful collection of folk art from the Appalachian region. A great way to end the day! Asheville is truly a mecca for artists! What a fabulous city!

Tomorrow we move on to Nashville… assuming we get down off this mountain. 🙂