Chris and I took the past weekend off from unpacking and settling a bit and decided to go exploring our new area in North Carolina.  It is always fun to find out what lies beyond and living in Transylvania County is offering us far more than what the name might suggest.  No neck biting here but over 250  waterfalls to find so we are on a mission as you can imagine.

We started the weekend off by visiting the Transylvania Farmers Market and it was amazing.  If you wanted it you could probably find it here.  I will show you just a few photos to illustrate the variety of items that could be found at this amazing Saturday market located behind the Comporium building in Brevard. The market is open through December 19th on Saturdays from 8 am – 12 pm.

I took more pictures of dogs than I did of the vendors.  I realized this as I looked at what pictures to include.  That is a post for another day I think.

We did go in search of waterfalls and decided to save some of the more popular and crowded ones for a non holiday weekend. We stopped when we saw some by the road but did not hike in anywhere on this trip. This drive found us in Pigsah National Forest which is an amazing place.  It is massive and covers over 512, 000 acres. The Pisgah National Forest was established in 1916 and was one of the first national forests in the eastern United States. One thing I remembered from my tour of The Biltmore was that approximately 86,700 acres  had been part of the Biltmore Estate, but were sold to the federal government in 1914 by Edith Vanderbilt. We were able to find some beautiful waterfalls close to the road and took a few pictures of those on the way through the park.

After driving the windy roads we decided to stop off at The Cradle of Forestry which is touted as the Birthplace of Forestry Conservation in America.  There are numerous trails to explore and exhibits to look at and the $5 admission fee was very reasonable.  We chose to walk the Forest Festival Trail  and found the brochure and trail markers to be very informative and interesting. The hike was only 1.3 miles so it was an easy walk and we took a lot of time to stop and take pictures along the way.

I think the great thing about this place is that it preserves the history of America’s first forestry school.  There are historic buildings that were part of the Biltmore Forest School and trails that show past and present forestry.  Dr. Carl Alvin Schenck was Biltmore’s resident forester for some time and was the founder of the Biltmore Forest School in 1898.  His words and passion are documented in every aspect of this facility.  One of the favorite quotes I found was from him at age 86:

Woods are sanctuaries! Send the kids to the woods. They are better for them than any classrooms built of brick.

We have so much to explore in North Carolina and you can bet that I will be sharing a lot of adventures on the blog.  The mountains are beautiful and we are enjoying the scenery and the sounds of our new area.