This past weekend I went up to South and North Carolina. My first stops were at Kings Mountain and Cowpens National Battlefields.
Then on to NC and the Carl Sandburg Home. The grounds and house were very pretty and his library of over 12,000 books was impressive.
After Carl died, his wife sold the estate to the government for a memorial. She sold it for half of what the government offered her, and then walked away from the house with all the possessions still in it. So the house today is how it was when they left it many years ago.
Where Carl did his writing. He won two Pulitzers- one for poetry and one for a biography.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
At Clingman's Dome
Grandfather Mountain
This trail is known for being very rugged and even dangerous. There are many wooden ladders to get you up rocks- in some cases there isn't much on one side of the ladders. Navigating the tops of the ladders can be tricky too.
When we showed up, there was a constant 38 mph wind (68.15 kph) with gusts up to 50 mph (80.47 kph). This made climbing the ladders and walking on the ridges extra tricky. One gust and your done.
Blue Ridge Parkway
