|

Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Spring

Last week, I talked about some of my favorite national parks to visit in winter. There’s one park where I would wait until the flowers bloom, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 45 miles from Knoxville or 60 miles from Asheville, the Great Smoky Mountains are in bloom almost year round. There are more than 1,600 kinds of flowering plants within the boundaries of the park. These include the summer display of bright red cardinal flowers and purple-fringed orchids, and autumn’s bounty of goldenrod and sunflowers. Add flowering shrubs like mountain laurel, rhododendrons and flame azaleas, and trees like sourwood, that form bell-shaped white flowers that attract honey bees, and you understand why this wildflower-laden park is the best natural greenhouse in America. A good place to stop and smell the flowers is the self-guided Harwood Cove Nature Trail that begins at the Chimneys Picnic Area. 
 

Similar Posts

|

Top 5 Favorite Spring Drives, Washington D.C. to Shenandoah National Park

There’s no need to be caught in summer traffic on the 105-mile-long Skyline Drive when you can have the mesmerizing Shenandoah National Park roadway to yourself in the shoulder season. After the 2-hour drive from DC, drop your bags off at the Skyland Resort, the premier Shenandoah lodge originally open in 1888. Perfectly perched at the 3,680-foot apogee of Skyline Drive, you have exquisite vistas of Shenandoah Valley. The famous Skyline Drive twists and turns atop the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering numerous opportunities to stop and take pictures or go on a walk. At Mile 42.6 is one of Shenandoah’s signature trails, White Oak Canyon. The five-mile trail snakes through towering hemlocks into a deep and narrow gorge that’s home to six waterfalls. More than half of the plant species in Shenandoah are wildflowers, so be on the lookout for the bluets, pink azaleas, and the fragrant white flowers of the mountain laurel. 
 
|

My Top 5 Bike Rides in America During Fall Foliage, Addison Valley, Vermont

Any avid road biker will tell you that Addison Valley, Vermont, is easily one of the top five biking destinations in North America. The backcountry roads have very little car traffic, great uphill climbs and downhill runs, and around every bend is another dairy farm, massive red barn, white church steeple, and glorious vistas of Green Mountains and Adirondack Mountains separated by the waters of Lake Champlain. Head there within the next two weeks and those views will be even more breathtaking when rural roads radiate with colors comparable to Monet’s finest Impressionist works. If you want a local to design your route based on mileage, go on a self-guided bike tour with Country Inns Along the Trail. Depending on your ability, they will design itineraries from 15 to 60 miles a day, with most bikers averaging 25 to 30 miles. You simply leave your car at the first inn and they will transport your luggage to the next night’s lodging, extending the trip as long as you like. Price starts at $155 a night per person, including lodging, dinner, breakfast, and transport of luggage. They also design hiking inn-to-inn routes. 
 
|

Great Late Summer Day Hikes, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

A mere 20 miles west of the Vegas Strip, desert hikers can strike pay dirt at Red Rock Canyon. This is the edge of the Mojave, where red and yellow sandstone cliffs stretch 7,000 feet into the Nevada sky and Joshua trees scatter across the desert floor. Many of the better day hikes branch out from the 13-mile loop road maintained by the Bureau of Land Management. The 4-mile round-trip Pine Creek Canyon Trail carves into the cliffs through a narrow canyon lined with ponderosa pines. The strenuous 14-mile round-trip Summit Trail begins in a typical desert plant community and ascends through canyons harboring willows and sycamores. Wildlife in Red Rock is as abundant and varied as the plant life. Coyotes, kit foxes, and bobcats all live in the canyon. 

 
|

Top 10 Swimming Holes on Cape Cod

Best known for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Cape Cod is also riddled with more than 300 ponds. These freshwater swimming holes are hidden in the landscape, far from the crowds at the beach, and a joy to swim in on a hot afternoon. However, they are tricky to find. Unlike bay and ocean beaches, where signs point you in the right direction, towns on the Cape like to keep these warm freshwater locales a secret. Many of these ponds have limited resident-only (with requisite sticker) parking. Fortunately, they are near town centers, so you can grab a bike and go have a dip. For my top 10 favorite swimming holes on the Cape, replete with necessary directions, have a look at this story I penned for the Boston Globe. 

 
|

New Brunswick Week—Bathed in Tranquility on the Bay of Fundy

Some of my favorite articles have been written on ferries. I remember writing “Eating My Way through Vancouver” on a ferry to BC’s Salt Spring Island. So I took advantage of the 90-minute ferry from Blacks Harbour to Grand Manan to sit upstairs on the outdoor deck, peer at the large wake, and look back at the mainland with computer in hand. Surrounded by the calm waters of the Bay of Fundy, all my daily stresses just seemed to melt away with the hot midday sun. Every now and then we would pass another anonymous island, a rocky outcropping rimmed with a crown of firs. Far too quickly, we reached Grand Manan and I was driving up to my home for the next two nights, the Inn at Whale Cove Cottages. 
 
I dined on a creamy mushroom soup, almond crusted salmon, and an absurdly good sour cherry pie all created by the talented chef and owner of Whale Cove, Laura Buckley. I was lucky to sit next to a large group, mostly New Yorkers, who return to Grand Manan year after year for the past 30 years. They recommended I climb back in my car after dinner and drive to the end of Whistle Road past the lighthouse to a spot locals simply call “The Whistle.” Wow, what a tip! Perched on a bluff overlooking the rocky shoreline, I spotted kids scouring the boulders for that nutritious New Brunswick seaweed treat, dulse. To my left, cliffs plummeted to the shores below, and directly in front of me was the great expanse of sea leading to FDR’s former summer home, Campobello Island, and the Maine towns of Lubec and Eastport. Within moments of arriving, I spotted seals in the water and shortly thereafter, the graceful arc and fin of the minke whale. The sun was setting, the whales were slicing the water, local old-timers were handing me Moose Light beers. My first night on Grand Manan and I understand the magical allure. 
 
|

The Opening of L’atelier des Lumières in Paris

Paris’ art scene will get a breath of fresh air when L’Atelier des Lumières opens in April to the public. Devoted to immersive art experiences, each year the Atelier will showcase a major exhibition offering a digital perspective on one of art’s biggest names, allowing you to step inside the world’s most famous artworks. Covering a whopping 2000 square meters, L’Atelier des Lumières is set to utterly transform a 19th-century factory, with innovative, 8 meter-high projections cloaking its walls. 

 

Leave a Reply