Weekend in the Mountains

To say this past weekend was full of natural beauty would be an understatement.  Whit and I took a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and relax, which is exactly what we did. We stayed in one of the Watershed properties luxury log cabins just outside of Bryson City near the Nantahala River. Our cozy secluded cabin was perched on the side of a mountain and included all of the right amenities.

Before heading to our cabin, we started the trip off with a scenic tour through the mountains via The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.

The tour was 4 hours round trip, stopping for an hour at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.  We booked an open air car, which is definitely the way to go. It was a little chilly, but so worth it!  Here are some of the scenes we saw from our train car. The photos just don't do it justice...

Fontona Lake 

Another view of the Lake
 

Nantahala Outdoor Center

 After an enjoyable train ride, we made our way to the cabin for some peace and quite. The rest of our evening looked something like this.

 

 

Dinner compliments of Chef Whit

 

Keeping with tradition, our dessert was a slice of the top of our wedding cake

Saturday morning we headed out for a 3 mile hike to the Wesser Bald lookout tower, a historic location on the Appalachian Trail/Tellico Gap . The views were totally worth it once we reached the top. It was breathtaking (literally).

View from the Wesser Bald Lookout Tower

Creek along the way back

After our hike we headed back to the cabin to enjoy some time by the fire and get started on dinner.

Nothing like Homemade Tomato Soup & a Grilled Cheese

We really enjoyed our long weekend at the cabin, although it wasn't long enough. It was decided that we definitely will be making a trip back in the near future.

"Call of the Wild Cabin"

On Sunday, we said goodbye to our little cabin in the woods and headed back to SC, but not without one more stop in Bryson City.  We spent some time checking out a few of the shops in town, the ones that were open anyway.  Looking for a few things to bring back home, we came across this little store called the Choo Choo Coffee & Trading Company. This charming country store has homemade fudge, an espresso bar, gifts, souvenirs, and assortment of specialty food that will tempt your palate.

The Blueberry Cheesecake Fudge Looked Amazing

Assortment of Relishes

 

We may have left with a few shopping bags in our hands......

One last stop was made at the National Park, where we found a pretty waterfall.

Perfect end to a great trip!