So, although we didn't seem to find my calm in East Tennessee, we started out the next morning, headed for North Carolina. There are a lot of things I love about the south. Many of those things were summed up by a place we passed on our way out. Perched on a rise next to the road, a few broken down and basic stools and a ramshackle hut- with a purpose.
Sadly, the club was not
meeting at 9 am on a Saturday morn. Certainly, we would have gotten to stop and
set a spell. Maybe work up a decent sharp stick.
With this chance unavailable,
we kept on driving... headed to "The Dragon."
This is Route 129 from
Tennessee to North Carolina right over the mountains. Popular with the
motorcycling crowd, it is 11 miles of stomach flipping driving; 318 extreme
curves.
I doubt I have ever driven
11 miles any slower.
Eldest was a trooper, as
she wasn't driving, and managed to not get carsick!
It was an overcast day, and as we got closer to the mountains, the mist lifted just enough to show us the pretty Chillhowee Lake, Tennessee side of the Dragon.
The opposite side of the
road was almost as pretty.
The drive over the
mountains took some time, but we stopped for this overlook of the Chilhowee Dam
to settle our tummies.
We seemed to be nearly
alone on our trek over the Dragon, only rarely seeing another car.
We crossed over the North
Carolina line, the road got a little easier to navigate, and soon we were
stopped in our tracks by the incredible Tapoco Lodge. I actually stopped
the car in the road to take a photo. Since we were still alone on the drive, it
caused no inconvenience.
We actually ended up here
for dinner later in the evening. The Lodge is right on the rapids of the Cheoah
river. I am incredibly hard to feed- my diet has constricted to a pinpoint it
seems, but they made me a delicious fresh trout on wilted greens- so good!
The Cheoah is popular with
kayakers and brave inner-tubers? (that sounds like people who feel like they
are truly potatoes)...how about "inner-tube enthusiasts." And when
they let the water from the dam the rapids become very robust and folks sit on
the patio of the Tapoco and drink cocktails and watch the active types shoot
past.
We stopped a bit up the
river at the put-in for the "tubers". The river is wonderfully loud!
Lake Santeetlah, our
objective for the day is not far into North Carolina, and soon we were on the
hills above the lake, looking down. It was so pretty and peaceful!
I was also excited to see
my friend, Kelly. Kelly and I were acquaintance/friends in college 30 years
ago, but one of the plusses of Facebook is finding the joy in friendships not
fully explored in our past lives, and I have followed Kelly's life and career
over the past few years on "The Facebook."
Kelly is a dynamic
powerhouse of lively creativity. She amazes me with her energy and her
"can-do" attitude. A sister, for sure. She and her business partner
and friend, Joann, have a podcast to which I am a devotee. They are interior
designers, entrepreneurs and motivators! I listen to the podcast to get ideas,
but also to help open myself introspection of sorts- plus I get to hear my
friend Kelly's voice! And, Joann should has the most amazing voice. She could
read the phonebook- if they still made phonebooks. Listen! It is called
"Inside Design with Kandrac and Kole."
Anyhow, Kelly had posted a
photo a few years back of a glass of wine on a table with the most beautiful
lake behind and a caption with something like "nothing like relaxing at
the lake!" I had immediately posted the question "Where????" and
at her reply, started searching online for information about this singularly
beautiful spot.
Then, last year, Kelly and
her husband, Mike, had bought a lake house on Santeetlah, and I had followed
the progress of the house during the complete renovation that was necessary to
make the house a useful, peaceful, and strikingly gorgeous home. I think it
didn't take me long to invite myself over.
Kelly was extremely
gracious in allowing us to come visit and showing us around. She set up the
afternoon with her friend and realtor, Lynn Kindley of Cherokee Realty, who was
fantastic, and quickly became like a friend to us too.
This is Kelly and Mike's
adorable lake home! I am a fan of a colorful door. The front bump out added
during the reno looks great, and adds so much function inside....an actual
staircase. You'll have to listen to the podcast, and look at their blog for all
the before and afters!
This is the view across the
lake from Kelly's house. I took this photo to show how calm and clear are
the waters of Lake Santeetlah. Delightful! And...the house across the way is
mighty cute. Kelly and I could talk over coffee-across the water.
We enjoyed some lunch
together, fuel for the house hunt ahead! We got right to it, seeing a house
just a few doors down. It ended up being one of our favorites with a great lake
front and two stories of screen porches.
We saw a few houses
in the most popular part of the lake. The houses are closer together, as are
the docks, but we saw a house that was not perched as high above the lake as
the others. Still has a nice lake vista!
We saw one house that
was incredible... I mean wowza... and the view of
the lake and the mountains sure was stunning. But it was not lake front. Still,
the house was so WOW, it was memorable.
This is my Eldest, with
realtor Lynn and my pretty friend, Kelly. They are on one of the 4 porches of
this WOW of a house, the sleeping porch, with it's double swinging beds.
We looked at big houses and
little houses and building lots...but everywhere the stunning views of this
peaceful lake that is mostly Nantahala National Forest, so no houses at all.
And, it seems this lake has only pontoons, some fishing boats and kayaks. No
ski boats or jet skis- my idea of a perfect lake.
After our lovely day of
house hunting, a fine dinner at Tapoco Lodge and the excellent company of
friends, Lake Santeelah is easily a wonderful place to consider for a visit.
And, maybe even for a Third Age destination.
The recon continues- headed
to Georgia!
Inner-tubers; you are so funny!
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