Les Jones

East Tennessee > Weekend Notes from Waynesville, NC

We made the trip to Waynesville, NC again this weekend for the apple festival. It was lovely, just like last year.

Waynesville is similar to Boone in some ways - Mast General Store, nice old downtown, surrounded by mountains. But Waynesville doesn't have the resident college kids, so the flavor is a little different - lots more upscale, less edgy, and without a good pub like the one in Boone. We ate at the pizzeria, which was pretty good, and which has a good selection of craft beers. While lots of other downtowns have problems making a go of it, there's not a single empty storefront in downtown Waynesville.

Last year we took Katie to Waynesville. This year she went to Georgia with Grandma Moore, and we took Natalie, who was an angel. This was our first goofy trip with her, and she was a hearty traveller. We're very grateful she's out of her cholicy phase.

The fall colors in the mountains were beautiful, but not quite at their peak. Next weekend should be spectacular.

On the way back we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop on exit 407 to get my brother a birthday present. Coincidentally, we arrived their hungry, so we ate at the restaurant there. Maybe it's because we were cutting it a lot of slack for being a chain seafood restaurant in a Bass Pro Shop, but it was actually pretty good, and the prices were fair. We liked the vinaigrette so much we asked for the recipe (it was tarragon vinegar, tarragon leaves, pepper, sugar, and oil). I picked up some ammunition and a pair of Columbia pants for myself. I snagged a Woolrich shirt at the Mast store, so that's about half of my fall clothes shopping done right there.

See also:
- Waynesville and Sylva, NC (last year's trip)
- Boone and Banner Elk, NC