Skip to main content

Cradle of Forestry

Jessica is finishing up her work this week, so the boys and I are flying solo - and finding adventures...as always.  And though I have lived here for 16 years - the Asheville metro area continues to provide endless possibilities for adventure and learning.

So yesterday, we drove over to the Cradle of Forestry for an day that combined two of my favorite things: spending time outdoors in the woods, and learning about history.  According to the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, "The 6,500 acre Cradle of Forestry Historic Site near Brevard, North Carolina commemorates the beginning of forest conservation in the United States. On this site in 1898, Dr. Carl Schenck, chief forester for George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate, founded the Biltmore Forest School, the first forestry school in America."

Between the preserved Forestry School, the nature scavenger hunt for kids, and the logging railroad (which includes a preserved steam engine and rail line) - this place is amazing.  The kids especially enjoyed the 100 year old school house (where they accepted roles playing school teacher and student), and the train (upon which they rang the bell...a lot..and loudly...)

After hours of exploration - we finished up at Dolly's ice cream parlor  - where we ate like kings.  It was yet another reason that I am so glad that we chose this place to live, and raise our kids.  



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Burrito Bracket

Eating a ginormous burrito at El Farolito in San Francisco, 2004 I LOVE burritos.  It is a passion that I share with my brother, and we actively seek out a quality burrito in almost every place we visit (Jessica is more of a Fish Taco kind of gal, but she enjoys burritos as well).  My love affair began around the age of 18, in the parking lots of Phish shows - where I could find any number of amazing burritos, cooked up on a dirty Coleman stove.  I just loved the explosion of flavor (and surprise) that came with each burrito I ate in those years. One of the the first times I visited Asheville for a few days in college, I came across Rio Burrito, a now defunct burrito-specific shop on Biltmore Avenue.  I went there all the time, and got to know all the nice folk who worked there.  So, I was quite disappointed when they shut it down - so much so that I wrote about it here.   But when Mamacitas opened in downtown Asheville in Spring 2004, I was smitten...

Best of 2024

Ben Graham's 2024 Mixtape (The Best Songs of {mostly} 2024) Can You See Me Tonight  - Good Looks Misses - Domnic Fike Birdseed  - Merce Lemon Right Back to it - Waxahatchee Alien - Dehd When I Learned Your Name - Daniel Romano Away From the Castle  - Video Age One Bad Day - Spacey Jane That's What Time Does - Oso Oso Never Meant - Iron and Wine Big Blue - Hovvdy Deeper Well - Kacey Musgraves Where Were You - Tyler Ramsey Waiting and Waiting - Bonny Light Horseman She's Leaving You - MJ Lenderman Sexy to Someone - Clairo Stained Glass Window - Sunday 1994 Flowers - Real Estate Taste  - Sabrina Carpenter Run Your Mouth - Marias All I Ever Wanted  - Ivy LUNCH - Billie Eilish That's How I'm Feeling - Jack White Jerkin - Amyl & The Sniffers Burning (Live...Again) - War in Drugs Top Albums of 2024: Lived Here For a While  by Good Looks Poetry  by Dehd Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild  by Merce Lemon Tigers Blood  - Waxahatchee To...

Im 30....seriously.

I am turning 30 today. So in the spirit of reflecting on these first 30 years of living, I am starting this blog. So, to begin - I shall update my status in life (this sounds complicated, so I will just try this in "list form."): Noah = greatest thing that ever happened to me. having a child was like an act of god, immediatly enacting a revolution on my perspective. Everyone tells you that " it is going to change everything." But I think I internalized that in a way that seemed to say ... things outside of me would change ie: schedules, sleeping, finaces, etc. Those things do change. But I did not accept that it would be ME that would go through the most profound changes. What I mean is, that the world itself has not shifted, but my view of that world (like Picasso in his Cubist period) has been transformed. It has been a traumatic shift for me, but in a beautiful way. Stop everything. "Icky Thump" by the White Stripes just came on the ipod. Sweet Jesus t...