On the way back to Charlotte, NC we stopped at Chimney Rock. It is a pretty cool rock formation that you hike to the top of and get an amazing view. I also picked up some more Paul A. Lanquist prints. See them all here I got some of his stuff in Oregon a few years ago.

We finally made it down to Atlanta to visit George and Ben. After knowing them for years and hanging out in New Orleans, Boston and Provincetown we finally made it down to their turf. George took us to a cool restaurant surrounded by sleazy establishments. We also hit the Home Depot Aquarium and some of the local bars.

In Linville there are basically three things.. Famous Louise's Restaurant, a cavern and a waterfall. We hit all there. Homemade pie at Louise's was amazing, the caverns so so. Although they were made more entertaining by being stuck with the dumbest family I have ever met. Including the dad telling a story about getting stuck in a hole. And a clearly soon to be pregnant teenage couple (we weren't sure if the girl or the boy was part of the family). The Falls actually are really cool, except that it started to rain and thunder while we were hiking. We sheltered under a big rock for the worst of the lightning and then continued the hike. We hiked 3 of the 4 view points but bagged on the last one because we were hungry and the rain was getting worse!

Here is a small gallery from the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is a very scenic drive and there weren't even too many people out and about so it wasn't crawling slow. We hit a bunch of the overlooks on a number of different drives on the Parkway.

This was a fairly strenuous hike, not really all that long but very much straight up. A lot of ladders and cables to help you the rocky sections. Along the way the trail was covered with blueberries and blackberries and we ate a ton of them, actually would have finished a half hour earlier and a lot hungrier if we hadn't eaten so many. The views were great and I think we only saw one or two other people hiking which is a welcome change from what we are used to. The platform on attic window peak for staying overnight was empty, it would be an amazing place to stay over, unless of course the weather got bad while your over a mile up!