Sometimes I have to take a detour.

I enjoy visiting new places even for a brief period of time.   Following our recent ski trip to West Virginia I wanted to see what was in the town of Wytheville, VA.  I've passed by the exit several times traveling up and down Interstate 77.   This year I grabbed a brochure from our hotel and studied a couple of locations that were of interest to me.  The first was Skeeters.  According the the brochure and web Skeeters was a local restaurant famous for their Skeeterdog.  After a large breakfast it was doubtful that I was going to be able to sample a Skeeterdog, but paid a visit anyway with hopes of getting some ice-cream.  Unfortunately Skeeters doesnt sell ice-cream during the winter months.  "It's just sits in the freezer and gets freezer burned." is what we were told.  A couple of other locations were suggested, but I was willing to take a chance due to the second part of my mission in Wytheville.  I entered the location, Big Walker Lookout and my GPS directed me to the top of a mountain approximately 20 miles away from Wytheville.   This was a bit farther off our main route than I had planned to go, but i still wanted ice-cream and wanted to see the 100 foot tower that was showcased in the brochure.   We finally made it around the winding road to a small country store with a tower that appeared to be 1000 ft tall.  The view from the parking lot was decent enough for a few scenic shots of the mountains.  As we walked around inside and finally enjoyed some ice-cream I decided to take a chance and climb the tower.   The base of the tower is built on a 20 ft platform beside the parking lot.  This was plenty high enough for me, but I had already purchased a ticket and we started walking up the stairs.  The higher we climbed the temps got cooler and the wind got stronger.  I stopped when I felt like I was 100 ft and contemplated continuing.  After realizing that I wasn't going to talk myself into finishing the climb, I made my way back down.  After we spent a few minutes on the swinging bridge and shooting a few more pics, we loaded back into the car for our trip back down the mountain.  At least I can say that I've been on the tower.

 

Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography

Annual Ski Trip to Winterplace, WV

We have an annual tradition of visiting Winterplace Ski Resort in West Virginia for a day of skiing.  the school calender usually works out for my son and a friend to leave on a Thursday evening and ski, crowd free, the following Friday.  Last years weather provided snow during the night prior to our ski day and the slopes were near perfect.   This year has been warmer, but the night are cold enough for the snow machines to cover most of the resort with the white stuff.  The conditions this year were great!   We arrived early enough to be among the first to make our tracks on the freshly groomed trails.  I have learned that my legs handle the crunchy, powder area much better than the frozen packed down areas. A few years ago the temps were so cold that the trails were iced over in many areas and maneuvering was tricky and required extra effort to remain upright. This years weather provided temps in the 40's and overcast skies.   I felt comfortable enough to velcro an iphone to my jacket to capture a video while skiing down a couple of trails.

 

We had very few mishaps and I was brave enough to try some more difficult trails with success.  I look forward to another trip back.

Winterplace Ski Resort

 

Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography

Biltmore Estate

During our Summer trip to Asheville we had not planned to visit Biltmore Estate, but I wish that we did.   Since we didnt get to go in June, I decided that September would be a nice time of year to visit.  The temps should be cooler and maybe the crowds wold not be as large.  It was worth the wait.  We had a beautiful weekend to tour the house and surrounding area.

FACT:  Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 135,000 square feet.

The large home and surrounding land is the vision of the bachelor, Vanderbilt.  This was by far an ultimate bachelor pad designed to host various parties and other events.  In addition to the house, there are stables, winery, lodging facilities and several areas for outdoor activities.

When I purchased admission tickets, I took advantage of additional offers for the winery and reservations at Biltmore Deerpark Restaurant.  When we arrived to pickup tickets, the lines were already very long.  It appeared that my attempt to miss large crowds didn't work and I was concerned about parking.  Visiting the home and gardens with enough time to make it back to the van and to deerpark in time for our reservations was going to be a challenge.  Fortunately, the CSR at the ticket counter offered valet parking.   I can happily say that this was the best $15 spent all day.   We parked in front of the house, took our time visiting an shooting pics (when allowed) and the van was returned to the home for us to arrive at Deerpark in time for our reservation.. 

  Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography

Taking the long route to Cherokee

 For  the past two years my family has traveled to over 70 counties of North Carolina to visit and take a picture of the current and previous courthouse buildings.   Most of the remaining counties are in the western part of the state.  We planned a trip for June to locate courthouses for the south western section.  I mapped out that we could drive to approx 11 different counties in one day with our final destination just south of Cherokee in Dillsboro.    A point "A" to point "B" trip would  have been appox 4 hours.  The modified route had us on the road for 11 hours.  With prints outs of each county seat and iPhone GPS we took a very scenic route through the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We made stops in Murphy, Brevard, Hayesville and several other towns.   It's interesting to see how many small towns have been  though or in the process of revitalization.

The route took is up and down winding roads past steep cliffs and waterfalls.  We all slept well after the long day of riding.

The following day was spent site seeing the area including tubing down the Oconaluftee river, indoor putt putt and Paula Deans Kitchen at Cherokee Casino.   Site seeing continued the third day as we visited a few more courthouses with the final destination of the day being Asheville.

We arrive in Asheville in time to get the Buncombe County Courthouse photo and walk around downtown for a couple of hours.  Downtown Asheville was lively as usual with plenty of street performers and bakeries to slip inside for a snack.