NC Recap–The Final Day

 

Happy Friday everyone! 

I know you might be tired of my vacation recap posts this week, but I have had a ball reliving it!  Next week Grocery Lane will be back on a normal schedule with lots of tips and recipes but until then, here are the highlights of our final, yet busiest day of our Appalachian adventure:

• Downtown Hendersonville, NC

Downtown Hendersonville is one of my favorite places to visit when in the mountains.  It is so quaint with tons of local shops and eateries.  I love all of the outdoor seating and the cozy setting is so inviting.

 

 

Mike and I got up early and snuck into town for a quick coffee date on Main Street before we started our last day.  Jongo Java was our destination for a much needed cup of Joe.

 

 

Although we were planning to make breakfast at the house a bit later, we couldn’t resist a scone to tide us over.

 

 

Outdoor seating, coffee, scone and a cute date – *perfect*.

 

 

Another cute aspect of downtown are the adorable painted bears.  They are on almost every street corner and are painted differently according to their given names.  I got my picture with “Amelia Bearheart”.  Hilarious.

 

 

Before heading back to the home front and getting everybody up and moving, we decided to take back some sweet treats to eat with our homemade breakfast.

We headed to McFarlan Bakery which is a staple on the downtown strip.  Around since 1930, these bakers definitely know their stuff.  The pastries were amazing (and I’m not usually a big sweets person).

 

In our box?

• bearclaw (very appropriate)
• orange twist
• cinnamon bun
• cheese danish
• apple strudel

 

 

After breakfast, we headed out to experience more of what the mountains had to offer.  Our destination?  DuPont State Forest with the intent on going to Hooker Falls.  When we arrived we were lucky once again with parking and headed to the information pavilion to see what fun things there were to do around the falls.

As we started talking to trail guide, she informed us that there were actually three different waterfalls located near that particular area, two of them which were actually used to shoot scenes from a movie recently…you may have heard of it…The Hunger Games!

 

We were so excited and just had to go explore.  Jenny was especially excited to be in “District 12” so we headed to that location first.

 

• Triple Falls – DuPont State Forest

After hiking about 1/4 miles or so* up the mountain we got a glimpse of our first waterfall of the day:  Triple Falls.

 

*I say, “or so” in this instance because it sure felt a lot longer than 1/4 mile.  We were working hard to get up that mountain.  However, flip-flops didn't help that much either.

 

 

Triple Falls (seen in The Hunger Games) is a 125 ft. water fall located in the DuPont State Forest.  There are three falls in succession and the view from the overlook is breathtaking.

 

 

There is swimming at the base of the falls, but we opted to keep climbing to see what High Falls had in store for us.

 

This is where Katniss finds Peeta in the movie – so cool!

 

 

• High Falls – DuPont State Forest

 

After a short rest checking out Triple Falls from the overlook, we kept on truckin’.  Climbing another 1/2 mile (give or take)we made it to High Falls, the tallest of the falls at 150 feet.

 

 

 

We made our way to the base of the falls and climbed over a few more rocks and boulders to get to the swimming area.  There are no limits to the fun that can be had!

 

 

 

The view is absolutely amazing and the water was chilly but refreshing.  We ended up staying and playing at this location for the majority of the day.  It just didn’t get old!

 

 

 

 

Since the rock face is natural granite, there were plenty of opportunities to more "sliding rock” adventures.

 

What goes up must come down! 

I’m so glad my husband has insurance.

 

One of my favorite pics from the trip!

 

Nature’s massage chair.

 

These rocks were perfect for setting up shop.  They were so warm from the sun and great for lounging.

 

• Hooker Falls – DuPont State Forest

 

After descending from High Falls and Triple Falls, we headed to Hooker Falls (which was also featured in The Hunger Games movie).  These falls were across the street from the other falls and we were able to make a quick pit stop at our cars before taking in the last location of the day.

 

 

Although Hooker Falls was beautiful, it was less impactful visually than the other two.  However, it did lend itself for a different type of adventure: “cliff jumping”.

 

 

I opted to be the official photographer for this activity, and loved how the pics came out.  If you don’t have a waterproof camera you should invest in one today.  We had so much fun with ours!

 

 

Once we were finished swimming, sliding and jumping we headed to a local BBQ joint on the way back home for some North Carolina barbeque.  We were starving and definitely needed some refueling.  We even finished it off with some ice cream.

 

 

To end our amazing day, and amazing vacation we hung out at home by the fire and ate s’mores.  The perfect ending to a perfect day.

 

 

Have a great weekend!