Things to do on a rainy day

I think I may have stumbled upon a sure-fire way to tell ... before you go into a restaurant, how good the food will be.  No, really!  It's a matter of simple observation probably overlooked by millions of eater-outers'.  I'm not expecting the Noble prize for great thinking but here's my perfect example.

See this?  Do you see the condition of this entrance door?  It's almost worn out.  This wasn't caused from somebodies old dog scratching to get in but money packing patrons itching to place an order.  I've visited a BBQ place or two around the country and I can assure you my science is good.  Head out to Lockhart Texas to Black's and you'll see what I mean.

The reason this old door is worn out is that inside is BBQ.  Good BBQ.  Ribs, pork, and chicken carry the load here.  Nothing fancy for sure but just good food.  What you may not know about Carolina BBQ is there are two distinct styles available.  A vinegar-mustard base coating/sauce and a tomato based coating/sauce concoction.  We must have been luckily today as they offered both in this joint.  So we tried each, in a special combo plate of pulled pork, ribs, and chicken.

Look at that menu and all the goodness

Conclusion ... I was surprised I liked the vinegar/mustard base but actually mixing them both together was  the one for me.  So if you are ever around Greenville SC stop in at Henry's Smokehouse.

Moving on ... we were searching around rain-soaked Hendersonville NC for a nice lunch so we headed downtown.  Lots to choose from here but Sharon noticed a little Thai place that had a chicken-cashew special on a sign outside, so we went in.  A place called 'Limeleaf Thai Fusion' does not exactly drag you off the street, but once inside it was pretty fancy.

Nice cloth tablecloths and settings, low indirect lighting, and a pleasant wait staff.  The special came with soup, and an egg roll, for $5.95 per plate, this was an absolute bargain.  I'm not a big fan of the sweet and sour sauce that was on the dish but Sharon loves it and I loved the price so it was a win-win.

Romantic LimeLeaf Fusion

 We stopped in a nearby mall and noticed this little beauty.  She didn't tolerate me hanging around taking pictures and before long, she produced one of those dark, deep barks that let me know she wasn't too happy.  I was leaving anyway, I think.

Marmaduke?

We decided to take a short trip to the nearby town of Bat Cave.  Who knows why but I thought there had to be an interesting story behind the name.  So down another one of those twisty, two lane mountain roads I've grown to love.  Especially when it's raining and foggy.  Looking into my rear view mirror and I see a big yellow school bus gaining on me at every corner.  Now this is another one of the 7% descents so again my blood pressure took a leap.  All I can think of is those poor little kids hanging on for dear life and this mad-man behind the wheel had plans to take us all over the edge.  The elevation dropped over 1000 ft in the stretch of about 2 miles so I started looking for a turn-off to get out of the way.  The kids were on their own, I'm going to save us.  I got a little of head of the bus and pulled into a small side road.  The only thing I noticed as they went by was a bus full of sweet little kids having a ball in the back of the bus.  Laughing and  smiling without a care ... so why am I worrying?  I think I need a little more practice on these roads.

Anyway, we made it to the bottom of Hickory Nut Gorge, Bat Cave and the non-stop tourist trap was waiting for us.  Apparently, not known to us 'flatlanders', people actually vacation in these parts so there are plenty of places to stay, eat, and buy stuff for several miles along the valley.  Bat Cave is named for Bat Cave Mountain and I guess there is even a big cave somewhere around there with a bunch of those hairy little carnivores flying around at night.  Sharon wasn't too interested in finding the cave so we moved on.  However, down the road was this beautiful old home, now antique shop that was worth a picture.  A lot of the businesses were still closed as the tourist season doesn't start for a few more weeks.

Fancy storage place for old stuff

Another big attraction in this area is Chimney Rock.  A large chunk of granite with an observation- lookout platform at the top. Some say on a clear day you can see Los Angeles, I think.  It's also surrounded by a big state park.  Since I'm not a big fan of heights there was little chance of us going to that attraction. (www.chimneyrockstatepark.com)

Hickory Nut Falls ... a 404 ft drop.

What really caught my attention here and many others local areas, are the number of great trout stream.  You can hardly go 10 miles without seeing a really fishable stretch of water.  In the Gorge, the Broad River runs alongside the road (NC 64/74a) and empties into Lake Lure.  Large, smooth boulders litter the river bottom creating many giant pools I'm sure are filled with monster rainbows.  More fish stories coming up later.

We stopped into the visitors center at Lake Lure to find out what was the big deal about this area.   This in one hot destination in season.  So within a few weeks it will be wall to wall mountain vacationers with traffic jams and folks fighting for a parking place.  At the Visitor Center's suggestion we drove about halfway around Lake Lure and discovered many resorts and beautiful mountain perched homes.  No doubt the views are spectacular.

We even found a luxury class 'A' RV park near the lake.  Apple Valley Farm RV Resort (www.applevalleyfarm.com) has about 60 sites that were very well landscaped and maintained.  I questioned  if anybody in their right mind would take the route we took to get here, but later discovered on our return trip a far more benign road, far more suitable for big rigs.  It looks like it would be a very quiet and relaxing spot to camp that is just close enough to the activities around Hickory Nut Gorge.  However it is not inexpensive.  Somewhere around $60/night I think.

All this sightseeing really takes its toll so we really needed to seek out some nourishment.  We headed back to the Hendersonville area.  We'd gotten a tip from somebody the good Mexican food could be had at Pappa's and Beer.  OMG ... if you like Mex food, and we really do ... find this place if you're in the area.  I've been in many of this style restaurant but this is hands down, one of the tops.  Great service,
great chips and salsa, and excellent margaritas.  We ordered chicken fajitas for two and ended up with enough food to take home for two more full meals.  And the bill was less than $25 bucks.

When we first arrived in the Flat Rock / Hendersonville area we only planned on staying about two days.  Those two passed and we decided on two more, then another two beyond that.  So I guess I'm trying to say there is a lot to see and do in the area.  Our next stop, Nashville will be coming up soon.  Maybe Sunday.

So another day, another adventure and we're still livin' the dream.

Phil

ps ... to continue with another fish story ... while eating dinner the other night at Piggy's and Harry's ( a combination BBQ shack and ice cream parlor), we sat next to the local police captain who is an avid trout fisherman.  Fishing the Oconaluftee river near the Cherokee Casino, he took a 9 lb rainbow on a night crawler.  Using ultralight spinning gear and a 2 lb line, it apparently was a helluva battle.