Sights seen

Little Switzerland

A charming little collection of stores and such perched (precariously, I’d say) on the side of a tall mountain. Wonderful views from the smattering of inns there. The community is reminiscent of if Gatlinburg and Asheville, had a runt of a child community. There’s a Witch Shop, and a cafe, and a used bookstore, as well as other things. Sadly I got no pictures of the area. I didn’t stop at a picturesque location for pictures, and route 226A is winding and hanging on the edge of the aforementioned mountain. I did not dare release my iron grip on the steering wheel whilst driving.

The Switzerland Cafe

Taking route 226A was absolutely worth it for a meal at the Switzerland Cafe. I had the corned beef reuben, and it was delicious. I had the wavy fries with it, which are sort of a fat ruffle chip, but a fry. The menu is varied, and I would love to stay for a couple of weeks to try everything. There was a BLT trout sandwich, which would be next up for me.

There is an attached general store with some local souvenirs and such. I bought a Little Switzerland sweatshirt, as I forgot to bring anything but a coat for the cooler nights.

Little Switzerland Books & Beans

I was surprised by the three levels of this charming used bookstore. Again, being built on a precipice would require multiple levels. There was a large fireplace in one room, and I found myself wishing it were wintertime so I could cozy up next a fire in the stone wonder.

There are a ton of books, not all used, but there appeared to be many older books, and first editions.

They also have coffees and pastries. The cream cheese danish I had was tasty.

Museum of North Carolina Minerals

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

These ancient hills are swarming with history. Whether it be of the revolutionary war sort, or of a more geological nature. This little museum has it all.

Starting off, I was lucky to have the full attention of one ranger who had a lot to say about the history of this location, and how it figured into the revolutionary war in general. Apparently the Battle of Kings Mountain was a key point in the turning of the war to the favor of the fledgling United States. The ranger was steeped in the lore and made a great presentation.

Outside the building I saw tents being erected, and the weekend has a mini-reenactment of the events of this and nearby areas.

One note is the prominent part the Overmountain Men played in this portion of the war. Leading directly to the surrender at Yorktown. Having grown up on the western slopes of the Appalachians, I had heard of the overland trail, and the movement of the patriots over into the Carolinas for the battles.

Geology of the Blue Ridge Mountains

The next portion, and the significantly larger portion, was the geology section. Leading into the exhibit, one walks through a manmade representation of the thrust fault that placed ancient rocks over younger rocks. This, as well as the multiple orogenies, made the Blue Ridge Mountains a treasure trove of minerals. (see what I did there?)

The second ranger, while not touting themselves to be a geologist, did get their undergraduate degree in geology. I don’t know about you, but that qualifies someone as a geologist in my book. They were more than booksmart, and were able to answer any and all questions I had.

One exhibit dealt with the radioactivity of some minerals. There were several samples behind the case, and a rotatable Geiger-Mueller detector could be circled around the samples. (NOTE: I have my doubts that it was an actual GM detector, and rather an exhibit built to mimic the effects of one. I could be wrong.) The ranger asked me which of the samples I thought would be the most and the least radioactive. The two I chose as the most were the U samples. Urananite, and Uranophane. The one I chose as least was Calcite, it’s just calcium carbonate. I won the prize on Calcite, but missed it on Urananite, barely registered radioactive. Uranophane was pretty radioactive, but the truly radioactive one was Samarskite. I asked about the two U minerals and why so different. We looked up the chemical composition, and it was the number of Uranium atoms in the element.

The geology section of this museum was right up my alley, and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing.

Linville Caverns

Linville Caverns is on route 221, a major thoroughfare through this Linville area. There is much to see here. It is a privately owned cavern tour, and it was well-presented. I do think my tour group was a little large, but that’s okay.

Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on this area of Appalachia. Apparently there was quite a bit of damage done both inside, and out in the surrounding area of the caverns. While driving to and from the place, I saw the creekside devastation. The waterfalls outside the caverns are no longer accessible. The fish in the water in the caverns were washed away as well.

There was just so much to see, I am going to have to restrain myself from putting too many pictures in the gallery. Wish me luck.