Spring in full swing at the cabin

Although we've made a couple of trips since last summer, they've been mostly working trips.  This one, too, truth be told!  We're preparing the cabin for a busy spring and visiting with Dad who is home from Hong Kong for a couple more weeks.  We are planning to come back and play in just 2 weeks though, bringing some friends with us for their first visit, and really looking forward to that!

We found a tentative schedule for the recreational, scheduled dam releases for the Upper Nantahala.  There isn't a lot of information out there - we keep checking www.americanwhitewater.org and www.noc.com to see updates.  The schedule we found is:

April 27 – 10 am to 4 pm
April 28 – 10 am to 4 pm
June 22 – 4 pm to 7 pm
July 3 – 4 pm to 7 pm
July 17 – 4 pm to 7 pm
August 31st – 4 pm to 7 pm
September 28 – 10 am to 5 pm
September 29 – 10 am to 5 pm

The cabin is already booked next weekend, but all the rest of the dates are wide open!  Even if you aren't looking to tackle the Cascades and Upper Nantahala rapids, it's a sight to see the normally calm burbling brook down the mountain start roaring to life.

We're also working on a major overhaul of our Guest Information Book.  The majority is done - fact-checked, printed, and left here for you - but now we are working to add even more of our favorite things.  I'm hoping to publish the book here, as well, so you can easily click through to the links we've given you for more information.

I'll post another update on our next trip.  Until then!

August 2012

We meant to start this blog several months ago and then, well, one thing, then another - you know the drill.

But we just returned from a trip to the cabin and it reminded us that we want to make sure to record all of our amazing discoveries in the Nantahala area!

Even though the weather wasn't picture perfect when we last visited, we still found plenty to do as well as time to relax at the cabin.

We started off our trip with a great meal at Caffe' Rel in Franklin, North Carolina on our way to the cabin.  They don't have their own website, and are tucked away on the side of a gas station, but don't let any of that fool you!  You will want to make sure you pay a visit to Caffe' Rel if you plan on eating out while you stay at StarLite Cabin.  It's an amazing French bistro in an unexpected place. We had Coquille St. Jacque (and fought over the last bite), an appetizer of Brandied Chicken Livers (my partner's favorite but not mine - I loved the sauce, though), and a yummy espresso creme brulee.   They don't take reservations and you'll need to visit the ATM or bring a checkbook but it is worth all the trouble.  This is food you don't expect to find in the wilds of western North Carolina - but don't just take our word for it:

Trip Advisor
Yelp
Chowhound
Urbanspoon

We relaxed on Saturday morning, just watching movies and cuddling as there were some storms in the area. But the weather brightened up so we took down the top on the Jeep and drove down the mountain toward the river and watched folks in the whitewater.  Dinner that night was at a newish place in Andrews, North Carolina, Mi Pueblito Restaurante Mexicano.  The food came out hot and quickly, and the beer was cold and plentiful, but that's typical of most Mexican restaurants.  We'd eat there again.

Sunday we had to be in Spartanburg by 3pm, so we were on a schedule.  We left the cabin early and explored some new mountain roads with the top down, again.  I love that Jeep for the mountains!  Swinging through Highlands, North Carolina, we were a little disappointed that Col. Mustard's wasn't yet open.  If you've never been, it's an awesome store packed with jams, jellies, spreads, libations, oh, and, yes, mustard!  You can sample just about everything before you buy, and you can spend hours there...  We didn't have much time to stay anyway, so it was probably a good thing that we couldn't wander in.