Highlands is a small town nestled in the mountains in the southwestern part of North Carolina. It is a two hour drive from our home in northern Georgia, through the curving hills of NC. How beautiful the scenery was, driving through the mountains, and the village of Highlands had its own charm!
This is Main Street where interesting shops, boutiques, and restaurants line the street.
In front of this store is a pretty waterfall, some greenery and a bench to sit and enjoy "people watching" after a day of browsing in the shops.
There are several churches on Main Street but everyone seems to designate the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation as the landmark from which to give directions. "It is across the street from the Episcopal church." "Walk a block down from the Episcopal church." And here is the Episcopal church!
This is the Highlands Community Theater where Mr. Neat and I spent a lovely evening. Celebrating their 40th anniversary, the musical play highlighted several of the numbers from shows which the theater has performed in the past and also some numbers from plays which they would like to put up on the boards in the future. Such talent from the writers, musicians, and the actors! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
This is the lovely condo we stayed in. Owned by friends of Gainesville State College, they shared their elegant home with us for the week.
Behind the condo was this pretty creek. Isn't the setting beautiful?
And where there is a creek, there will be little boys! Our two grandsons visited for a couple days with their parents and M and M loved wading there.
One day when AE, C, M and M were visiting, we climbed aboard their van and took off to visit a state park a few miles from the Highlands. This Looking Glass Waterfall was so pretty. Tumbling down from the huge rock formation and forming a quiet pool of water below, it attracted lots of folks, some of whom only looked and took photos (me!) and some actually went down and waded in the pool of water. Maybe you can see some of the people in the water at the bottom of the photo.
Travelling a little further down the road, we stopped at Sliding Rock. It is an enormous rock formation with a waterfall on which people could sit down at the top and actually slide down on the rock into the water below. C, M and M went down the rock into the water and declared it was great fun! I took some pictures but I couldn't get far enough away for you to see the whole area. Too bad because it was a fun thing to watch.
On our way home we stopped for ice cream at Dolly's, whose reputation had been touted by many. "You must stop at Dolly's!" Flanked by the two bears, M and M, Mr. Neat and I enjoy the treat.
Our son and his family also joined us for a couple of days and we had breakfast at the pharmacy on Main street. They served up some fine vittles at this drug store!
Being able to visit the beautiful mountains, to become acquainted with the delightful town, and to share a few days with our kids and their families---as well as having a couple of days by ourselves to relax---was a great pleasure for us.
If you are ever in western North Carolina, a side trip to the Highlands would be a treat! Just drop down south of Asheville and you will find the town just waiting for you.
Hasta luego.
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