I came upon this article by Outside where they list 50 underrated state parks, one in each state, and I wanted to share it here (link is shown below). The author points out that of the 424 units managed by the National Park Service, 26% of visitors went to the eight most visited parks. However, depending on who you believe online, there are anywhere from a whopping 10,000 state parks to 2,500, the latter number being called “official” state parks. I’ve also seen numbers around 6,800 state parks. Even at the low end, that’s a ton of state parks.
Like the author of the Outside article, I also tend to seek places that are off the beaten path. The result was this list of underrated state parks compiled by the author based on research into state parks, campgrounds, and trails. Other outdoor writers and trail users across the United States were also asked to give some of their favorite hidden gems.
Minnesota has some amazing state parks
Of course I read through the list to see which ones I’ve been to, and it turns out I’ve been to a surprisingly decent amount of places on the list. Many of the places I haven’t been to are ones that I’d love to go to. However, I have a bone to pick with the author. This is supposed to be a list of state parks, and yet some national parks/monuments/areas are on the list, like North Cascades National Park in Washington (one place I’d love to go to), Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota (I’ve been there and it’s definitely worth going to), Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana (another place I’d love to go to), and some others. There are plenty of beautiful state parks that could have easily been chosen here, like Custer State Park in South Dakota or one of dozens in Washington. In other words, there was no reason to include national parks in this list when there are plenty of state parks to choose from, especially when that’s supposedly the whole point of the article.
Not all state parks are filled with trees and dirt trails either, like Jockey’s Ridge State Park in North Carolina
Being from North Carolina, I scanned the list until I reached the state park chosen for North Carolina, South Mountains State Park. Huh? Never heard of it. In fact, I had to look it up on Google Maps just to see exactly where it is. I’ve spent plenty of time everywhere from the mountains to the beaches and many places in between in North Carolina and yet I’ve never heard of this place, but maybe it’s just me. I would have thought any number of other state parks would have made the list, like Gorges State Park, Hanging Rock, Chimney Rock, or Stone Mountain State Park. Maybe I should check out South Mountains State Park to see for myself.
One of my favorites, Smith Rock State Park in Oregon
Here’s the list. See what you think and if you agree with the choice for your state, or some of the other states if you’ve been to any of them.
This post was inspired by my other post What has running brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had? Similar to running, travel has brought into my life so many things that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, nor could I have ever imagined how radically travel would shape who I am today. Fortunately I don’t have many negative travel experiences so I’m just going to focus on the positive travel experiences here.
One of the first things to come to mind that travel has brought to my life is an open mind when it comes to people from different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in West Virginia, a state not exactly known for their open-minded people, or at least not when I grew up there. My parents and grandparents were likewise not what I would call open-minded when it came to people from other cultures or alternative lifestyles.
On my trek to Machu Picchu, we stayed (in tents) with this guide’s family one night, and met his parents and their llamas
It was only when I went away to college that I discovered just how sheltered in many ways my childhood had been. Sure, there were some people from other countries in my schools but they were by far the minority. The ethnic restaurants in my hometown consisted of Americanized Mexican and Chinese foods which today I wouldn’t even consider eating.
I also took my first international vacation when I was in college after I won a day cruise to Freeport, Bahamas that included a hotel stay in Freeport (3 or 4 nights; I don’t remember which) and a day cruise on the same smallish cruise ship back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That trip opened my eyes up to travel and left me with wanting more. It was my first exposure to international food and culture and I wanted to experience more.
Travel has also brought me countless experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to share with friends and family. The older I get, the less materialistic I am and the more important experiences are for me. Instead of buying me a piece of expensive jewelry, take me on a vacation where we can make some memories.
Yes, my daughter and I have even been to Hell together
I’ve always thought it was imperative, not just important, but necessary to take my daughter along when I travel. She had flown to Florida, Vermont, and Hawaii all before she turned two years old. She’s gone to places like Austria, Germany, New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Peru, Chile, Portugal, Costa Rica, the Caribbean and all except three states in the United States. Her teachers told me over and over that they saw personally how travel had helped shape and influence my daughter. One teacher thanked me for taking my daughter along on vacations because “travel is one of the best forms of education.” I fully concur.
Travel has educated not only my daughter but also myself. I’ve learned about cultures in a diverse array of places around the world that you just can’t otherwise learn. You can’t watch a video on YouTube and be effected by it in the same way as when you’re there in person. By watching a video, you only see what’s on the surface. You miss things like the smells, being able to look around beyond the person being videoed, you can’t ask questions in real time (I know, unless it’s a live streaming video). Instead of just watching something, you’re more of an active participant.
Travel has shown me that people are mostly helpful, most of the time. Sure, there are exceptions like pickpockets and at the most extreme end of the spectrum, people that do others physical harm, but for the most part, those are rare and can usually be mitigated by staying aware of your surroundings, not having valuables out in the open, and avoiding known dangerous areas. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, even on vacation, and that’s just a fact of life.
This trip to Portugal really tested my perseverance. I got yelled at, ignored, had to take a bus when the flight to Faro was cancelled, and missed my flight going back home but despite all that, it was an incredible trip that I treasure!
Another thing travel has brought into my life is the ability to be more resilient. I didn’t have an easy childhood so I already had a good foothold in being resilient but travel has expanded that. Things often go awry when you’re traveling. Your luggage is lost by the airline (one reason I never check a bag with an airline; see my post Never Check a Bag with an Airline Again), you miss a flight and there are no more flights out that day, you get lost, you get injured or sick, your credit card doesn’t work in another country, etc.
How you handle those issues has a lot to do with how resilient you are. If for example you miss a flight and just break down in tears in the airport and can’t think straight, it’s going to be much more difficult to figure out what to do than if you can remain clearheaded and find someone else who can help you if you don’t know what to do. One thing I say to my daughter over and over is, panicking never helps. I can’t think of a single scenario when panicking would make a bad situation better. Travel has given me the ability to stop, take a deep breath, and with a clear head, figure out what to do when something goes wrong in my life.
A final thing that comes to mind that travel has brought me is it’s helped bring my daughter and me closer. We have travel memories that we’ll both forever cherish, like when we first saw a sunset at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, when we took that boat ride in New Zealand and laughed the entire time, when we ate so many delicious meals together all over the world, standup paddle boarding in multiple states, spontaneously seeing dolphins on a walk along the water in Florida and that same day seeing peacocks in a neighborhood, running half marathons together in multiple states, and on and on.
What are some things that travel has brought into your life?
Every year in December I like to summarize my year in travel and what I learned from each vacation. This year was different from most years in that I feel like I barely traveled, compared to most years. There were multiple reasons why I didn’t travel as much but it made the vacations I did have even more special.
I started the year off with a bang and went to Hawaii for a week with my daughter. I’ve been to the Hawaiian islands a few times and every other time I went, I spent some time on one island and more time on another island. For this trip, I spent the entire time on the Big Island of Hawaii, but I stayed at a part of the island I had never been to before.
Hiking in Hawaii
This trip taught me a couple of things: 1) Airfare to Hawaii drops hugely in January compared to what it is in December. I knew my daughter would have a week off from her classes in January and desperately needed to get away but I couldn’t decide where to go. When I saw airfare to Hawaii was literally half what it normally would be that week in January, I bought the tickets immediately. Score!
In April I went with my daughter to see my dear friend who lives in Miami, Florida for a week. Miami is another place I’ve been to multiple times, some to see my friend and others before she moved there. Usually I’m an avid planner and have multiple places lined up to visit, things to do, and restaurants I want to go to. This time, I had literally nothing planned in advance and left all of the planning to my friend.
From the botanical garden in Miami
I also learned two things when I was in Miami: 1) sometimes it’s OK to let someone else do all of the vacation planning for you, with some caveats. I’m fortunate that my friend and I are alike in many ways and enjoy similar things to do and like the same foods so I trusted that she would choose places that my daughter and I would enjoy. If that hadn’t been the case, I would have simply planned things for us to do and suggested specific places to eat.
This was my first time using public transit in Miami and I learned that even though it may seem complicated, I could figure it all out, thanks largely to Google Maps. We ended up taking multiple forms of transportation and had to walk a bit after getting off one form to get on another but between the signs, Maps, and asking someone once, I was able to piece it all together. When I told my friend later that evening what my daughter and I had done that day, she said she was impressed and that she had been too nervous to take public transportation there. I told her it really wasn’t that difficult and not a big deal, but I understand how taking that first step can be challenging. My posts on this trip to Miami are here: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, Everglades National Park, and. Figuring Out the Public Transportation System in Miami plus another one from a previous trip here “Welcome to Miami”- Long Weekend in Miami, Florida.
Some of the Miami wildlife we saw
May, June, and July were spent getting the house ready to sell, packing, getting my daughter ready to start college in August (including a quick trip to her college for orientation and registration), finding a new house, moving, and unpacking in the new house. There was zero time for travel or much of anything else for that matter.
Finally in October during my daughter’s fall break, we went to Charleston, South Carolina. This is one of my favorite cities in the world, and one of few that I’ve chosen to return to many times over the years. However, on this trip, I learned not everything about Charleston is always rosy. There are many things I adore about Charleston but on this trip I noticed some things that weren’t so great, like the traffic, which was congested no matter the time of day or where we were going.
In November, I went to the mountains of North Carolina to spend time with my daughter over her Thanksgiving break. I discovered a little mountain town called Waynesville, which I don’t have a post about specifically, but it’s on the map in my post Southwestern North Carolina- Small Towns, Mountains, Nature, and Not Much Else (but that’s a good thing!). Waynesville has a beautiful lake called Lake Junaluska, which I fell in love with. You can walk or run around the lake and there are several little cafes, restaurants, and shops plus a few options for accommodations, ranging from a hotel to cabins. Waynesville is decently-sized (for a mountain town) and has a few department stores, a couple of grocery stores, and several good restaurants. I’m sure by the time my daughter graduates, I will have visited each of the tiny little towns at least once and will be making new discoveries all the time! On this trip I learned how much I enjoy discovering new little mountain towns.
Although this was by far my lightest year for travel than ever before, I still learned so much. Plus, having visited some of my favorite places in the world, Hawaii and Charleston, and getting to see one of my favorite people in the world in Miami, I have no complaints and feel fortunate.
Charleston, South Carolina is one of my favorite cities in the world and one of few places I’ve been back multiple times. There’s plenty to love about the city- the food, the culture, the historical sites, the beaches, the colorful homes and stately mansions to ogle, the ocean views. However, there’s also plenty to not like about the city- the traffic, the high prices of pretty much everything, the tourists that don’t respect property and do stupid things, the heat and humidity in the summer that stretches well into the fall, and the lack of parking.
Let’s start with the great. Even though I don’t consider myself a foodie, I appreciate a good meal. I’m not a picky eater and love everything from ramen to po’ boys; there isn’t much I don’t like. On my first trip to Charleston, I had shrimp and grits and was like, “Oh, that’s what grits are supposed to taste like? I had no idea!” Only once have I had a bad meal in Charleston. Think about that for a second. Out of probably around 55-60 meals eaten in the city, only one wasn’t good, and most were outstanding. That’s saying something.
Huguenot Church in downtown Charleston
While I don’t consider myself a foodie, I am a beach-lover. Even though I could get to beaches in North Carolina quicker, I prefer to drive longer to get to the beaches near Charleston. Why? Well, I find the beaches like Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island Beach, which are all near Charleston to be cleaner, generally wider, with powder white sand, and clearer water than North Carolina beaches. All of that great food in the surrounding area is an added bonus!
Charleston is a known hot-spot for historical sites, with museums, walking tours including ghost tours where your guide can fill your ears with stories that may or may not be true, historical mansions and former plantations. Since the city was founded in 1670, originally called Charles Towne, there are an abundance of historical sites. There’s also Fort Sumter, the site of the first battle of the American Civil War, which you can tour.
The famous Angel Tree near Charleston
Many people have seen photos of the famous Rainbow Row, the stretch of townhomes that are pastel pink, mint green, light blue, yellow, and purple. It’s become an iconic part of Charleston, just like City Market, Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Huguenot Church, the Battery, Angel Oak Tree, Pineapple Fountain, and the many mansions like Boone Hall Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, and more. Even if you don’t go inside any of these places that are open to the public, they’re still unique enough to admire the view. This brings me to the not-so-good, however, as admission to the plantations in particular is expensive and quickly adds up.
Not only are admissions to things to do expensive, so is lodging and restaurants. While it’s possible to find less expensive things to do in Charleston, like just walking around the historic district or window shopping, you often have to pay for parking so even those things aren’t completely without a price. You can stay in West Ashley or Mount Pleasant for considerably less than in the historic district but it’s still not that budget-friendly compared to other parts of the country. To save money at restaurants you can eat your largest meal of the day at lunch and have a smaller dinner, otherwise meals for dinner often run $30 per person and up, just for the entree, not including a drink, appetizer, dessert, or taxes and tip.
As I mentioned earlier, Charleston can be hot and humid from around April through the end of September, sometimes stretching into early October. When the humidity drops, usually in September, it’s noticeably more comfortable, and when the temperatures also drop, it’s what most people would say is finally tolerable. I’m used to hot and humid weather so I’ve been to Charleston many times during the summer months, which coincide with the best beach weather, and it’s never bothered me, but I’m more heat-tolerant than most people. October is probably the ideal month to come, when crowds are a bit less and temperatures are comfortable.
Soft, white, sandy beach in Charleston
I was just in Charleston in late October and was shocked frankly at how bad traffic was. It had gotten worse from the last time I was in the city, just a little over a year ago in November of 2022. I overheard many people who live in the area complaining about how bad traffic has gotten here. It seems the word about Charleston being such a wonderful city has gotten out and the growth rate has been hovering around 1.8% the past few years. When you pile a bunch of people into tiny connecting islands with not much physical space to grow and it’s nearly impossible to expand the roadways, that just makes for a traffic jam.
Even still, given how expensive everything is, how bad traffic is, and how hot and humid it can be, I still love Charleston and will keep coming back. The many good and great things about the city outweigh the not so great and bad things, so at least for now, it remains one of my favorite cities in the world. No city is perfect and neither is Charleston, but it has enough charm to capture my heart.
I’m writing this post in honor of America Recycles Day, which was created to remind the community of the importance of caring for the environment by recycling. Most of you probably don’t know this about me, but I work as a scientist at a place that emphasizes taking care of our environment and the impacts that humans have on the environment as well as the impact it has on humans and all living beings. All that being said, I didn’t choose my job based on any of that and I don’t have a degree in Environmental Science or anything like that. However, over the years I’ve become more aware on my personal impact on the environment, not just when I travel but in my every day life.
I’m not an extremist but I do what I can. I reduce/reuse/recycle in that order when possible. When I go out to eat (which honestly isn’t that often, especially if I’m not traveling) I never remember to bring my own container for the leftovers but I do reuse the one they give me unless it’s of a material that can’t be reused. However, when I bring my lunch to work (5 days a week), I always put it in reusable containers from home and include my own silverware and water bottle. Things like this are easy to do when you’re at home but when you travel it may seem like it gets a bit tricky. In reality, there’s probably many things you’re already doing when you travel that are good for the environment but there may be some other things you could also do.
When traveling as a single passenger, the train (Amtrak) emits the lowest CO2 emissions per person compared to traveling by air or by a gas-powered passenger car.
Bringing your own water bottle is an easy way to reduce/reuse when you travel!
When Traveling by Air Consider the Following:
Avoid using single use plastics and packaging. Bring your own reusable bottles, headphones and small blanket.
Choose direct flights when cost and time effective. Taking off and landing is a large portion of aircraft related emissions. Taking connecting flights increases distance flown and adds to take offs and landings associated with your journey.
Evaluate if you can travel by car or train instead of by air, especially if you are traveling with others and can carpool together.
Pack light. The lighter the plane, the less fuel used and the lower the emissions from the flight. An added bonus for you is you don’t have to pay for that checked bag.
Pack snacks and meals in reusable containers. This reduces food and plastic waste, and you’ll have the added comfort of enjoying the foods you prefer while you travel.
Use public transportation and/or carpooling/ride sharing to travel between home, the airport and lodging at your destination.
Use the airline’s mobile app to check in and receive your electronic boarding pass.
Consider the Following When Traveling by Vehicle:
Avoid excess idling, accelerating and braking to improve your fuel economy and lower your emissions. Cruise control can help with this as well. Each five MPH you drive over 60 MPH can reduce your fuel economy by 7%.
Carpool – the more people in the car, the greater the avoided emissions.
Check for warning lights before a road trip. Along with safety, a well-maintained car has better fuel efficiency.
If driving an electric vehicle, map out the locations of charging stations along your route/near your lodging, and planning for recharge time.
I managed to pack for a 3 week trip to San Diego, including all of my race gear for a half marathon in just a carry-on and small backpack (no checked bags)! It can be done!
When Selecting a Hotel, Consider the Following:
Determine if the hotel has transportation to and from the airport, which will save on emissions and resources associated with renting a vehicle locally.
Determine the carbon footprint of your hotel stay. You can estimate your CO2 emissions using the Hotel Footprinting Tool and the hotel’s address.
If driving an electric car, determine if the hotel offers charging stations.
Read the hotel’s environmental policy to get a sense of their commitment to environmental stewardship. This is often located on its website.
Review EPA and WaterSense’s H2Otel Challenge to see if the hotel is listed. Listed hotels pledge to ACT (assess, change and track their water use) to improve their water footprints.
During Your Stay, Consider the Following:
Help to conserve water by reporting leaky faucets, toilets, and shower heads to the front desk.
Help to reduce single-use plastic by bringing your own shampoo and soaps or choosing hotels that provide these products via refillable bulk dispensers. Bonus points if you bring a bar of shampoo.
If your room has its own thermostat, reduce cooling and heating when you’re out for the day to conserve energy.
Reduce paper use by choosing paperless check in/check out.
Reuse your towels and linens during your stay. Many hotels now offer the option of proactively requesting towels and linens remain in place until you check out.
Use recycling bins in public areas and rooms.
Do you try to do any of these things when you travel? Do you have any other environmental-related travel tips to add?
I saw this blog post idea and it inspired me. Running has brought a myriad of things into my life I wouldn’t have otherwise had, both good and bad, to be perfectly honest (shin splints, IT band issues, to name a couple of the bad), but of course most people want to hear about the good so that’s what I’ll focus on here.
When people ask me how long I’ve been running, I always tell them the same thing: I’ve been running since I was in grade school. Usually I’ll get a side glance and they’ll raise their eyes and ask, “REALLY?” To which, I’ll say, “Yes, really.” I guess I’m not your typical runner. I did take a few years off from running consistently in college after a particularly bad bout of shin splints but other than that, I’ve been running since I was about 8 or 9 years old.
I’ve written before about how influential my grade school PE teacher was to my running. He also highly encouraged me to earn the Presidential Physical Fitness awards when I was in the 5th and 6th grade.
In grade school, I ran on our school’s track team, which is when I was introduced to the camaraderie that often goes along with running. I still remember doing laps around our school on those chilly days with my track teammates. Even though I couldn’t tell you the name of any of the meets or even where they were (not at my school is all I know), I remember a couple of the “big” ones, and winning some ribbons. When I went to junior high and high school, I chose not to even try out for the track or cross country teams because I chose other extracurricular activities instead since running was one thing I knew I could do on my own. I continued running through college on my own until aforementioned shin splints happened so the camaraderie part was just a brief glimmer of my relationship with running in my life to that point.
When I picked running back up after college, I noticed how running lets you get to know an area like no other activity. I had moved to a new state and running allowed me to learn the area better than just driving around ever could have. Often, I would set out to run a certain route but get sidetracked when I saw a greenway or new neighborhood I didn’t know existed before. Running became an outlet for me to go exploring.
I discovered even when I traveled, I could run and stumble upon restaurants, parks, or shopping areas that looked interesting. When I got back to my hotel room, I would look up those places I had seen on my run and often go back to them later to spend some time there. I’ve also seen countless animals while on runs, including deer, peacocks, a wild turkey (and so many other birds), dolphins, alligators, snakes, but I’ve never had a bad encounter or anything that scared me.
Deer poking their heads out to get a drink at a lake (seen on a run)
When I decided to run a half marathon in all 50 states, running allowed me to travel to every state, something I’m sure I never would have done otherwise. By having that goal and specific half marathons on my calendar that I had planned out, sometimes years in advance, it pushed me to achieve that goal. Although I’ve always enjoyed traveling, I’m sure I wouldn’t have otherwise traveled to many of the states I went to, like Nebraska, which I loved, or South Dakota, which was one of my favorite half marathons ever and I fell in love with the area, or Rhode Island, another state that I feel is underrated and I had a great time visiting, plus so many more.
Probably one of the absolute best things that running has brought into my life is my group of running friends I met at a running group just a few short years ago but I feel like I’ve known some of these people my whole life. Some of them have become like family to me. A few people in the group have been through some traumatic events over the last couple of years and no matter what, we all ask, “How can I help?” when something comes up. I know I can count on these people regardless of what I asked from them and I hope they know they can count on me.
I’ve joined some other running groups over the years but none of them have been what this group is to me. We come from all walks of life and have very different types of jobs so if not for running in these group runs, we never would have met, or certainly never would have become as close as we have. Running together has allowed us to open up to one another in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise.
One of the running groups I’m a part of asked me to be a mentor with a training plan they offer in the spring and fall months. There’s always a goal race at the end of the training plan, usually either a half marathon, 10-mile race, or sometimes a 5k as well. I’ve been a mentor for a few times at this point and every time I’ve been inspired by the people who sign up for these training plans. Inevitably, the vast majority of these people don’t see the potential that I’m able to see in them, but by the end of the plan, they’re starting to see glimmers of what they’re capable of and what can happen whey they push their bodies in a thoughtful, educated way (proper mileage build-up, good nourishment, hydration, stretching, etc.). I always feel like I get so much out of these sessions and have found myself looking forward to them and am always pleased when I’m asked to come back as a mentor.
One thing I didn’t mention is all the miles I’ve run with my daughter. It’s brought us closer and she’s gotten to run in many of the same races I ran in, in addition to running on non-race vacations and just running at home together.
Finally, running has given me a mental health outlet. I’ve always known that when times were difficult, all I needed was to go for a run outside and I would come back feeling better. That’s not to say running magically made all of my problems go away but after running, I felt like I had the mental clarity to deal with my problems better.
If you’re a runner, what has running brought into your life? If your preferred form of movement is something else other than running, say cycling, hiking, swimming, or walking, what has it brought to your life?
Since I live in North Carolina, I don’t have to travel far (or at all really!) to see the leaves change from green to shades of yellow, orange, and red all around me. However, I have often traveled during the fall months because of a planned half marathon and I’ve witnessed some spectacular Autumn shows put on. I could never say which states are the “best” places for fall foliage, but what I will say is, there are plenty of options no matter where you live, as long as there are deciduous trees of course.
At the end of this post, I’ve included a link to a super cool website where you can slide the bar at the bottom of the map and see a prediction of fall foliage by date ranging from no change, minimal, patchy, partial, near peak, peak, and past peak. If you’re someone who likes to surround yourself with peak fall foliage, this is a good planning tool for that.
But first, here are some of my photos that have captured some of the fall beauty I’ve been lucky enough to witness:
I absolutely fell in love with these cottonwood trees in New Mexico!Some of the various colors in West Virginia in the fallThe Ozarks in ArkansasI’m lucky enough to have trees like this where I live in North CarolinaI loved these trees (red maple?) with bright crimson leaves all over Massachusetts in the fall!
My daughter will be starting college this fall at a school in Southwestern North Carolina. We’ve been to the mountains several times at this point but until she announced she wanted to check out the school, I had only been to that part of North Carolina once despite living in the state for 26 years. I had been to Asheville many times, which is about 45 minutes to an hour east of where I’m referring to, and I had been to Gatlinburg and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is about 90 minutes to 2 hours north of the towns I’m going to talk about here.
West of Asheville, NC and South of Gatlinburg, TN lie many quaint small towns worth checking out, especially if you love nature and want to “get away from it all.” Picture traditional bed and breakfasts where your room is filled with antique furniture in an old Victorian-style house with a full breakfast and coffee served every morning or waking up in your cabin by the river and watching the deer graze right outside. There are waterfalls and trails scattered all throughout the area to fill your days and when you’re tired of hiking, you can stroll along tiny downtowns with brick buildings and every shop is locally-owned and full of friendly faces.
I’ll start with some of the towns you might want to check out and what they each have to offer.
Some Unique Towns and What They Have to Offer
Sylva is a cute little town with some breweries along the water, like Lazy Hiker Brewing, Balsam Falls Brewing, Innovation Brewing, and Nantahala’s Brewing Sylva Outpost and Brewpub, plus other restaurants like Mad Batter Kitchen (with really good pizza), Lulu’s on Main, Creekside Oyster House and Grill, and City Lights Cafe, just to name a few. There are also some coffee shops like The Farmhouse Mercantile and Coffee Bar, The Coffee Shop, and White Moon Coffee Shop. Saturday mornings from 9-12 you can find the Jackson County Farmer’s Market. If you want to relax after a long day hiking on the trails you can make an appointment for a massage or other body treatment at Fusions Spa and Wellness. https://www.fusionsspa.com
Dillsboro is a short drive from Sylva (just a few minutes by car) and you can find some antique shops and locally made products in the Old Dillsboro Shops. It’s a tiny town so I wouldn’t plan to spend much time here but it’s worth checking out if you have some time to kill. If you enjoy museums, you can check out the Appalachian Women’s Museum. They’re open on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm April through October. They have events scheduled throughout the year so check out their website https://www.appwomen.org
Continuing south, you’ll come upon three towns, Highlands, Cashiers, and Sapphire. Highlands is the furthest west and is 20 minutes from Cashiers, which is 15 minutes from Sapphire. You can find many restaurants in Highlands including Lakeside Restaurant, Madison’s, 4118 Kitchen and Bar, The Secret Garden, and The Ugly Dog Public House, just to name a few. There’s also the Highlands Country Club, Mountain Theater Company for live shows, and The Bascom: Center for the Visual Arts. https://www.thebascom.org
In Cashiers you can find The Orchard Restaurant, Events, Barn, and Cottage (so yes, you can stay here as well), Cashiers Valley Smokehouse, a few Mexican restaurants, Slab Town Pizza, and more. There’s also Cashiers Sliding Rock (which is technically in Highlands so it’s a bit confusing; even more confusing when there’s another sliding rock in the area simply called Sliding Rock in the Pisgah Forest), where you can slide down the rock in the summer months into icy cold water to cool off.
Sapphire has a ski resort, Ski Sapphire Valley, where you can go skiing in the winter or go hiking in the warmer months. You can stay at the sprawling and pricey golf resort The Greystone Inn on Lake Toxaway or the Cabins at Seven Foxes, not on the water but nearby. You can eat at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company, Grand Olde Station Restaurant, Villa Amato (pizza), and Los Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant.
Most of these towns are dog-friendly so here’s my dog at one of the restaurants with outdoor seating, which many places have
Trails and Waterfalls
This part of North Carolina has the highest concentration of trails and waterfalls in the state. By no means is this all of them (just a tiny fraction) but I’ll list some of the more popular ones, starting on the furthest west near Highlands and going east towards Sapphire, then I’ll go up towards Sylva. Just put them in Google Maps and make your own waterfall map.
Bust Your Butt Falls (Highlands)
Bridal Veil Falls (Highlands)
Sequoyah Falls (Highlands)
Ranger Falls Loop Trail (Highlands)
Glen Falls (Highlands)
Secret Falls (aka Big Shoals Falls) and Secret Falls Trail Head (Highlands)
Silver Run Falls and Trail Head (Cashiers)
Rainbow Falls Trailhead (Rainbow Falls and Turtleback Falls) (Brevard)
Panthertown Valley Trail (to Schoolhouse Falls) (Glenville)
John’s Jump Falls (Sapphire)
Frolictown Falls (Sapphire)
Granny Burrell Falls (Sapphire)
Gorges State Park (Sapphire)
Southern Highlands Reserve (a botanical garden in Lake Toxaway)
North of the already mentioned trails and waterfalls you can find the following:
Upper Sols Creek Falls (in Tuckasegee)
Cowee Mountain Overlook, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Canton
Courthouse Valley Overlook, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Canton
Little Bird Falls (Canton)
High Falls (Glenville)
Pinnacle Park (Sylva)
For something unique, there’s the Judaculla Rock in Cullowhee, a large soapstone boulder with carvings believed to be 2000-3000 years old, pre-dating the presence of Cherokee Indians in the area but their origin is unknown. It’s free and a quick stop for something different. https://freecharm.com/JudacullaRock/JudacullaRock.html
Logistics
The weather is relatively mild throughout the year so you can easily hike during the spring, summer, and fall months. It does snow here, as you can tell from the fact that there’s a ski resort in the area, and you could hike during the winter months, but I’m not a fan of hiking through the snow myself but you certainly could do that with good winter boots and warm clothes. I personally like going to this area the most during the summer because it’s cooler than where I live and not as humid so it’s a nice break from the heat and humidity, but it is the most crowded then.
Most of these towns are tiny, with limited options of where to stay so make sure you make reservations at hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and Airbnb stays well in advance, especially during holidays and the summer. You will need a car to get around so unless you’re driving here, you’ll need to rent a car. The closest airports are Asheville Regional, about an hour away, and for larger airports Charlotte Douglas International Airport is about 3 hours away, and Atlanta is also about 3 hours away.
Have you been to this part of North Carolina? If you haven’t would you like to go?
I saw something from WordPress that I had posted my first blog post 7 years ago, in 2016. I looked back to my first post, which I’ll paste here since it’s short:
Why I Run
I’ve been running pretty much since I can remember. I remember running on the track team in grade school and how my lungs would ache on those chilly mornings in West Virginia. I remember the sheer thrill I would feel as a kid when running with our dog through our neighborhood and how happy our dog looked. I remember running to stave off the freshmen 15 in college. Then I remember getting shin splints during one run in college and almost crawling back to my apartment, followed by the agonizing pain I felt when all of my leg muscles seized up in the shower. I decided to take some time off running at that point and I did not run again for about four or five years. Then I realized how much I missed running and I decided to train for my very first 5k. The race I chose was on the 4th of July in North Carolina. Being young and naive, I didn’t even think twice about running through the heat and humidity that envelopes the North Carolina summers. Fortunately, the race was in the evening, but I remember it was still extremely hot and humid even after the sun had gone down. It was during that summer that I remembered why I run. It’s not to stay in shape or lose weight. It’s not so I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight. When I run, I feel free. I feel alive. Sure, there are times when it’s painful and not much fun, but I know when I’ve finished a run, I will feel satisfied that I’ve put my all into that run and I have done my best. I run because I love it, quite simply. (end of post)
Running in Hawaii
On the same day I added the “Why I Run” post, I wrote the following blog post:
Why I Travel
As a child, I remember going on a few vacations with my parents and later, after they divorced, with just my mom and brother. On one of our few vacations as a family of four, we went to Myrtle Beach for a few days with another family of four.  At one point or another during that vacation, someone from both families either had an earache, kidney stones, a cold, or motion sickness. Needless to say, it was not a fun vacation. During a vacation with just my mom and brother to Virginia Beach and Colonial Williamsburg, my mom kept complaining about how expensive everything was. At least we weren’t sick during this vacation, but still, it wasn’t exactly a fun time either. These are the memories I have from family vacations as a child. I do have some good memories involving vacations as a child as well, but given my history it wouldn’t be surprising if I never wanted to travel as an adult. The funny thing is, I can’t seem to travel enough to scratch the travel bug I developed as an adult. When I was in college, I won a trip to the Bahamas, which was fantastic given that I was a poor college student paying my own way through school. This was my first time outside the United States and I loved it. I knew then that I wanted to travel more and see and do all I could. Unfortunately, that was hard to do on my meager student wages so travel would have to wait. Since finishing school many years ago, I’ve managed to travel to more interesting places and finally start to feel like I’ve dipped my big toe into traveling the world. I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface as far as the places I’ve been compared to what’s still out there for me to explore, but I’m slowly but surely seeing the world. So why do I travel? Not to impress my friends by name-dropping exotic places. Most of the time I don’t even post the photos on Facebook. I think it’s more to see new places and try new things. I know some people don’t like to get out of their comfort zones and go to new places, but I love it and can’t imagine my life without travel. I certainly wouldn’t be the same person I am today if not for all of the places I’ve visited and things I saw and did there. (end of post)
New Zealand- my favorite place I’ve traveled to
After those two initial posts, I began adding posts from the half marathons I had run through May of 2016. I had no real plan for my blog at that point, other than a way to keep my half marathons organized and have a sort of summary for the races. No one helped me set up my blog or guide me along the way. I didn’t take a course on SEO (search engine optimization) or how to monetize your blog (I still don’t make money from my blog).
What I’ve learned has been a journey for me, along the lines of how my quest to run a half marathon was something I kind of fell into and learned along the way. I learned not to just add a blog post and go on my merry way, but part of being a blogger is also to read other people’s blogs and comment on some of them. You certainly could just do the former but it’s way more fun to do the latter and you may even make friends along the way.
I’ve also learned many people suddenly stop blogging, even ones that have been blogging for many years. People get married, change jobs, have children, etc. and find they no longer have time to put into blogging. Because blogging does take time, especially if you include photos and post more than once in a blue moon, and you’re also reading and commenting on other people’s posts.
Catching up on other people’s blog posts has become a part of my life just like writing up my own posts has become. I would miss reading about other people’s experiences and their own journeys. As much as I enjoy writing, I enjoy reading as well, and that not only includes reading books but also blog posts. As you can probably guess, I like blogs about running and travel but also blogs that would fall in the category of generalized, meaning the bloggers write about their lives. I’ve learned so much just from reading blog posts!
So why do I blog? I blog because I enjoy writing about my own journeys and sharing my experiences with others but I also enjoy reading about other people’s experiences and learning new things. Mostly I blog for the community because otherwise I could just keep my own private journal and read books on my own.
I’ll admit I haven’t been on a ton of multi-day tours with companies when I’ve traveled. However, I have learned some things over the years when I have gone on tours. There are some important questions you should ask or make sure they’re answered before you plop down any money for a deposit and certainly before you embark on a journey with a company. I’d like to share some of those questions you should ask in this post.
What is included and what’s not included in the final price
Money is a top concern for most people planning a multi-day tour as they can be a quite expensive once in a lifetime experience. You want to make sure you get the most for your money but also make sure the tour guides and any support crew are supported by a living wage for the area where they live. Do several searches online to determine what the median price is for a comparable tour with several different companies. See how that price varies over a year and if discounts are available for signing up early. Determine how much the deposit is and what the company’s policy is on returning your deposit (and final amount due) should you have to cancel.
If it’s unclear what may not be covered in your fees, ask the company. Make sure things like park fees are paid for and if not how much they will be. If you need transportation to and from the airport to your tour group’s starting and ending points, ask if you need to arrange that on your own or if it’s included with the tour fees. Ensure that all food, drinks, snacks are included and ask for some examples of those things so you’re not left eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with packaged cheese crackers for snacks and only water a few times a day. If special gear is required (tents, sleeping bags, etc.), ask what is included and what’s optional. You also need to budget for tips, which are not included in fees but are an unwritten requirement just like when eating out in restaurants (in the United States anyway).
Scenes from my multi-day trek in Yosemite National Park
What is the agenda
Usually you can find the agenda on a company’s website but sometimes it’s vague and doesn’t include everything. Ask about morning start times during the tour, how long you’ll be hiking/biking/walking each day, and approximate times for meals and bedtime. How much downtime do you have each day? Make sure you’re physically able to keep up with the proposed distance covered each day and if not, perhaps you should choose another tour.
Check your flight arrival and departure times to make sure you have plenty of time for flight delays and for getting to your tour departure especially if they aren’t picking you up and dropping you off at your hotel before and after the tour. Is there a specific place you had your heart set on visiting during the tour that’s not on the agenda? If so, contact them to see if that might be a possibility and if not, see if other tour companies include that spot.
Do you need specific vaccinations before you embark on your trip
Depending on where you’re going, certain vaccines may be recommended or even required. Some vaccines may include more than one dose, spread out over a series of weeks or months so you’ll need to be aware of that in plenty of time.
How many people will be on the tour with you
This is also usually spelled out clearly on the website but again, can be vague. For example, I’ve seen numbers for tour groups listed like “Tours are usually limited to 12-20 people.” That’s a pretty big range to me. I would want to know which end of that range would be most likely for the tour I was thinking about signing up for and personally I wouldn’t want 19 other people on the tour with me (but I know other people would be fine with a large group). You should also know how many people from the company will be on the tour with you. Are there sufficient porters to carry all of the supplies or will you be expected to carry your own supplies including tent, sleeping bag, clothes, etc.?
If you want a private tour with only you and/or family/friends, that will be more expensive unless you have a large group versus if you go with other groups of people. However, group size seems like a personal preference for most people so determine this on your own before signing up. I would say if you’re unsure, go for a somewhat smaller group size of say 10 people maximum.
One of my favorite photos from our Machu Picchu multi-day trek
Do they have someone that’s Wilderness First Responder Certified (or the equivalent of in other countries)
You want to make sure there’s at least one person from your tour that will be able to sufficiently take care of someone who requires care when you’re in the middle of nowhere on your tour. Being First Aid Certified is a good start but it’s a far cry from the skills taught to Wilderness First Responders and is not nearly enough should a severe case happen in the wild when you’re miles away from a hospital.
Along these same lines, you should ask what’s their policy should you require emergency care that necessitates you leaving the tour group. For example, if you experience extreme altitude sickness, how would they handle that? What about if you break a bone or are bitten by a snake or something else that would make it extremely difficult if not impossible to continue with the tour?
What do other people say about the company and tour
Read reviews from not only the company website but other sources as well. Of course the company isn’t going to post negative reviews on their own website so you’ll only find positive reviews there. Do a search of the company with the word “reviews” and see what you get. You’ll likely get links for websites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook, personal blogs, and the company itself, among others.
I’m sure there are some things I’m forgetting here. For those of you that have been on tours, what other questions should you ask before signing up? What was one of your most memorable multi-day tours?
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