Penrose, NC 7/12 to 8/8/2023

 

Our first stop was to visit Connestee Falls Golf Club.  It's a beautiful course in a community that has a tennis club, pickleball (schedule bottom middle), rec center with a pool - all the fun stuff.  We played the course twice and the last time we played with Jenya Scott.  Jen is a Titleist Performance Certified Golf Fitness Instructor.  And, boy, can she hit the ball.

The beauty of the RV park location is that it was between Brevard and Hendersonville. Ashville was just a little farther away.  Hendersonville was our favorite.  Here are some of the creative bears that decorate the downtown area!

What a unique experience to play Broadmoor Golf Links.  Yes, the photo on the left shows the runway right beside the fairway.  The jets flew in while we played.  It's scary!  The top right photo is a beautiful course in Lake Junaluska!

There are so many unique cities in this area.  Mark mapped out a day trip to visit Waynesville, Sylva, Franklin and Highlands.  This is our stop in Waynesville.  We enjoyed a unique appetizer, tomato pie (top left).  And we just had to stop at Frog Level to enjoy a beer flight down by the water.

Our next stop in this itinerary was Franklin to enjoy the downtown flower filled park.  Our last stop was at Highlands, NC.   You can see the water flow on the rocks (right photo). We enjoyed Wolfgang's Restaurant's Hand Breaded Fried Brie with a cranberry walnut compote.(top left 2 photos).  "That's Right Nice" painted on the side of a building is totally a North Carolina phrase.  

Downtown Hendersonville has some unique restaurants.  We could not pass up visiting Mikes Soda Shop.  I left my sweater, and they mailed it back to me!  You don't see customer service like this anymore!!  Then we went to see the movie "Sound of Freedom."  It was very emotionally moving for both of us!

When we go to a new city, we like to experience the local theater productions.  In Hendersonville we saw "Rock of Ages."  Let's just say it wasn't the best.  During "birth week", we saw: 1) Into the Woods at The Brevard College - first act was good, second act not so good.  2) Cleopatra- an interpretive ballet.  It was amazingly well done.  "Birth week" is the week between my birthday and Marks.  We traditionally celebrate every day from one birthday to the next.  During "Birth Week" this year, in addition to the two performances, we also spent a day at Biltmore Estate but, that will get its own blog update.

This is a 'birth week" stop at a restaurant in Hendersonville called Shine.  Stuffed shitake mushrooms (bottom right), panko shrimp (top right) and Lobster hush puppies (bottom left).  And who did we meet walking down the street after dinner - our Connestee golf playing partner, Jen!!  Isn't life fun!!

Another visit to Hendersonville during "birth week" for a weekly street concert and dinner at Brandy's on Main.  We enjoyed 3 great appetizers: The Brie Bardot - wrapped in puffed pastry and topped with honey, maple drizzle and candied pecans, served with fruit and crostini.  The McEnroe- Jumbo shrimp & tasso sausage sauteed with mushrooms, onion & garlic in spicy red sauce served over bubble and squeek (potatoes and cabbage).  Lobster Bacall - Main lobster sauteed mushrooms, onions garlic and artichoke hearts wit fettuccine, brandy & cream. 

As we were in Ashville to see Cleopatra, we decided to make a stop at the famous Omni Park Grove Inn for dinner, prior to the show.  Built in 1913 the hotel had some famous frequent guests like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.  We ate in the Edison dining room.  We loved the Thai beef lettuce wraps - butter lettuce, soy lemongrass marinated beef/ napa cabbage, carrot, toasted sesame.  The smoked pork belly tacos dish was our first-time eating pork bellies - orange chow chow, bourbon barbecue, lime crema ad cotija cheese.  We finished our celebration dinner with Bourbon Banana Pudding - banana pudding mousse, bourbon caramel, lemon whipped cream, brown butter crumble, candied lemon and lemon cream. 

It's a big "birth week" full day which has an itinerary of stops. First stop is at the visitor's center at Pisgah National Forest.

Wow, what a surprise to get an up-close look at Looking Glass Falls.  It's one of the most visited and photographed falls in Western NC.  The falls drops unbroken more than 60 feet.

Here is a short five second video to share the beauty and the sound of these falls!

Next stop is on the Blue Ridge parkway. We stopped at a few of the many overlooks to enjoy the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  You can clearly see why the National Park out in the distance is called Smoky Mountain National Park.

Its onto Sylva, NC to City Lights Cafe to enjoy some delicious crepes.  I had a sweet crepe, a strawberry "cheesecrepe" and Mark had a big fat Greek crepe - grilled chicken, fresh spinach, kalamata olives, and house made greek dressing.  

Next stop - golf - it's "birth week", so we played Sequoyah National Golf Club. It is owned by the Eastern band of Cherokee. This Robert Trent Jones II and Notah Begay design with zoysia grass tees and fairways provides the best playing conditions we have ever experienced. Every hole had a plaque with a little story about the area or the Cherokee.

This perfect day comes to an end with a stop at Lulu's cafe in Sylva, NC.  Our dinner was a mixed grill. That's prime steak kabob, gulf shrimp skewer, mahi-mahi, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and broccoli.  We ended the day with a final unplanned stop in Bryson by the river for a cool beer for Mark and a nice glass of wine for me.  You can see from the itinerary in the middle photo just how carefully Mark planned out this incredible day!

A few miles down the road from the campground was a farm stand with fabulous fresh fruits, berries and vegetables at very reasonable prices.  It was just wonderful to enjoy fresh picked corn, raspberries, blueberries, melons, green beans, onions, tomatoes and peppers!!

It's the last day of "birth week and its once again a quaint city tour."  We started with Saluda NC, then Tryon NC ad Landrum SC followed by a stop in Greer, SC.  After walking around the town, we stopped at "Select" restaurant.  We ordered the Shrimp Puttanesca to share.  It's a fabulous dish of butterfly shrimp pan tossed in walnut garlic sherry butter served on fettuccine amid kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes and red onions intertwined with caper berries, basil and chives.  Amazing!!  Its Mark's birthday so we had to order a dessert and the Strawberry pandowdy did not disappoint.  Fresh strawberries baked with sweet dough and whole cream vanilla ice cream served in a cast iron skillet.  Now, one of our favorites!!

Cummins Cove was such a fun golf course. We actually did well on the elevated green with the shot over the water.  We were in awe of the amazing mountain views!!

I just can't leave out the memorable Springdale at Cold Mountain Golf Course.  With the carts decked out in what we call "Bernie Orange" and the magnificent mountain views this was one we want to remember.

The last Hendersonville restaurant we just had to experience was Postero.  It is in an historic bank building. It was built in 1923.  We truly enjoyed the roasted beet hummus (bottom left) with tahini and lemon, warm flat bread, cucumber spears, pickled golden raisins and toasted hazelnut relish.  Sweet corn and fontina arancini (middle photo) risotto balls with tomato pomodoro and aged parmigiano.

It has been one fabulous month at Pisgah Forest RV Campground.  The beautiful view of the group campfire right outside our front window and the beautiful sunsets made it so enjoyable.  Nearby Etowah golf course provided us with two great rounds of golf and Mark had quite a few practice sessions there.  We truly enjoyed the Zeke's greenside tavern with a beautiful view of the course.  

We are not ready to leave.  But the schedule says we must.  Next positing will cover our day at Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC.