Been doing quite a bit on the non-work front of late. Last Friday I made good on a resolution and went to my first Asheville Tourists game. Those of you who’ve watched Bull Durham a million times may know that’s where Crash Davis went after the Durham Bulls cut him. Its the Astros’ Class A affiliate (High-A actually), so these players are in the Astros’ farm system. The ballpark is pretty nice, albeit small. It looks fairly new. They had a good crowd (roughly 3,000 people). They were playing the Red Sox affiliate in Greenville, who smoked them pretty good. But I sat just about four rows off the third base (visiting) dugout, really close to the action. Lots of enthusiasm in the crowd, and the Tourists have some real power, hitting several balls out of the park or off the outfield wall. Friday night fireworks followed, and you know how I love explosions. Looking forward to getting back out to the yard.
The next day, after taking forever to get out of town, I went out the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Mountains to Sea Trail, hoping to hike to Rattlesnake Lodge. As best I can figure, Mountains to Sea is sort of a small scale Appalachian Trail, running the length of the state from the Smoky Mountain National Park to Outer Banks. This section, a little east and north of town, had some great views just off to the east. Naturally, it started raining not long after I got out there. My object was Rattlesnake Lodge, some famous guy’s summer home, abandoned in the 1920s and then destroyed by lightning in the late ’20s. I finally made it through the downpour, to the site, expecting to see some remnants of a structure. But nothing remains really, except some piled up rocks that were part of a retaining wall. The site is really beautiful with the amazing greenery. But couldn’t help thinking about the deceptive trail descriptions, appearing to promise something akin to a home ruin, when no such thing exists. I mean, Roman ruins are still intact, 2,000 years later, but this guy’s house didn’t make it a century. Still, what have the Romans ever done for us? The rain cleared up and sun came out on the way back, just in time.
Sunday I drove further out the Parkway to Mount Mitchell State Park. Its about an hour drive, other than wanting to pull over at every overlook to catch the incredible mountain range scenery. Craggy Gardens was the most spectacular of these, with a spectacular overlook of these “crags” from above. Finally I made it out to the park, and began a four mile round trip up to the Mount Mitchell summit. Which, of course, coincided with when the skies opened up with more pouring rain. I seem to have brought it with me, from drought stricken Central Texas, although with the lush green surroundings everywhere its almost like the area hosts a rain forest. I was totally soaked.
One other thing deserves mention. Wildflowers have been blooming all over, especially at Beaver Lake. But all through my hikes, and all throughout the city, sunflowers, daisies, forget me nots, Queen Anne’s lace, lilies, and other wildflowers are carpeting the place. Its like we’re living in an arboretum.
Next-A Visitor!
Summer In the Mountains 