We often say that it’s easy for us innkeepers to have “vacation brain” being in the mountains near Asheville and Black Mountain, North Carolina. The area just has a serene quality to it with an easygoing vibe, laid back people, wonderful restaurants and places to go, and stunningly beautiful scenery such as this view nearby, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway (summertime):
Asheville (and surrounding Western North Carolina) is well-known for being tops on lists of places travelers should see, a top food and wine destination, the number one small city for art, one of the most beautiful places in America, and an all-around awesome vacation spot. So it’s no surprise that one of the questions we get asked the most at the Inn on Mill Creek is, “Where do you go for vacation?” And while we do sometimes feel like we are on perpetual vacation simply due to the fact that we live in a vacation destination, we do have an answer.
Last month, we did our own little getaway to Tybee Island, a very small barrier island off of Savannah, Ga. Have you been there? If not, we highly recommend it. We had a wonderful time with the innpugs walking around Tybee, collecting seashells on the beach (sans dogs, who aren’t allowed on the beach; Tybee has two parks for four-legged family members), relaxing, and, oh yes, we did some geocaching while we were there, picking up ten finds, one of which was at the lighthouse, pictured below.
{We took this shot on December 14…what a gorgeous day it was for relaxing and geocaching. And the roses were blooming, which definitely put a smile on our faces!}
If you’ve not heard of geocaching, check out a few of our previous blog posts about geocaching in Western North Carolina and visit www.geocaching.com
to see what it’s all about. It’s such a great way to explore new places
and a fun hobby, which makes it a perfect vacation activity. And
there’s certainly no shortage of geocaches to find in the Asheville,
Black Mountain and Old Fort area…at last count, there were more than
100 caches within five miles of the Inn on Mill Creek, including a 25-cache series
along the Forest Service Roads around the Inn.
And here’s a clever
series near Lake Lure and Chimney Rock State Park, about 30 minutes south of us. The
green boxes are regular caches and the orange dots making the smiley face
are individual caches that are visible to premium members of
Geocaching.com. We’ve never seen anything like this on the geocaching
maps — very cool to us nerdy geocachers!
So if you’re a seasoned geocacher, new to the sport, or want to try it out while you’re staying with us, let us know and we’ll help you with getting a list of good caches nearby.