Over the River and Through the Woods

This past weekend we took a long weekend vacation to Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, and Bat Cave, NC. It was the first vacation we took as a family of four while not visiting extended family.

After doing a little research online, we found a cozy little cabin in Lake Lure at a bed and breakfast called Grafton Lodge. It was about the size of a single wide trailer, but it had two bedrooms and a little kitchen. A very nice place.When we got to town, we stopped at the only gas station we could find. I didn't know these pumps still existed, so I had to take a picture...

The main reason we chose this area was because the Old Cider Mill in Bat Cave. Mason has recently been really into watching a show we recorded off the Food Network that shows how fresh apple cider is made. He's borderline obsessed with it and has asked to watch it daily for the past couple of months now. So we figured it would be a good learning experience for him to see a real cider mill in action.

We stopped here first, but they weren't pressing that day. They told us to come back the next day, so while Lauren was napping, Dave took Mason to watch. You can see the apples lined up to go up the little apple escalator to the grinder, and the 'mash' falling down the chute to the press below. The fresh cider was so delicious, we bought 1.5 gallons of it over the course of the weekend. Dave said Mason was riveted by the whole thing.

Later that afternoon, it was raining, so we headed over to the kids museum called Kid Senses in Rutherfordton about 20 miles away. I wasn't sure what to expect for a little museum in a small town, but it greatly exceeded expectations. I highly recommend you go for a visit with your little ones if you're ever in the area. Here's Mason inside a bubble.

And inside a kaleidoscope of mirrors...

Lauren enjoyed the bananas (her favorite fruit) at the grocery store...

On Sunday before we headed home, the weather cleared a bit, and we went to Chimney Rock Park to enjoy the gorgeous views and beautiful autumn leaves.

This is in the tunnel heading to the elevator that will take us to the top of Chimney Rock. Lauren and Mason enjoyed hearing their echos in there.

On the walkway heading to the top of the rock...

Our family on top of the rock...

Chimney Rock, elevation 2200 ft. I wish I could show in better detail how beautiful the views are here. The leaves were so pretty. We hit it right at the peak time for the changing colors.
After heading down off the rock, we rented a backpack for Lauren and headed out for a little hike to see the Hickory Nut Falls, also in Chimney Rock park. I wasn't sure if Lauren would be up for this, but she did great. It wasn't long after we started walking that she fell asleep.
The path to the falls was so beautiful. It was about a 1.5mile round trip, and I wasn't sure if Mason would make it, especially after walking around on the top of Chimney Rock, but he did great. He got a little tired and whiny at times, but he made it better than I expected.
The bottom of Hickory Nut Falls. Scenes from the movie Last of the Mochicans were filmed here. The picture doesn't do it justice.

By the time we got back to the car after our hike, everyone was tired and hungry. We stopped for some pizza for lunch and headed home. Lauren slept the whole two hour trip.

It was a great little vacation despite the rainy weather we had most of the time, and not getting enough sleep due to Lauren's nighttime antics and the dreaded time change. We've learned it's pretty hard to take two little kids, especially with one that still naps, on a vacation, but even though it's tough, it's worth it to me to expose them to new things and to get away to spend some family time together. I'll be looking forward to visiting this area again sometime.