Hendersonville

We’re almost there! It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the road for a month now! It definitely seems like it’s been longer. I am having a hard time remembering all that we’ve done so far. 😂 I guess moving every couple days will do that.

The RV park in Hendersonville is small and charming. The surroundings are nice and all, but the host is what makes this place one of the best sites we’ve visited. From the moment we arrived he offered us cold water, generously helped me back into a rather tight spot in a torrential downpour, recommended a really amazing park for the kids, and even had cool watermelon waiting for his campers to enjoy. It feels like he invited us into his home and we are welcome guests, as opposed to being treated like we’re invading someone’s space for a couple nights. He’s shown us true hospitality. Or as they say out here, Southern hospitality.

One of the tourist attractions in this area was of interest simply because of its name.

When I think of panning for gold or gems, what comes to mind is a couple pieces of fools gold hidden in a big bucket of sandy dirt… not so in this case. The kids got a 5 gallon bucket of dirt and sifted away. What they found was pretty amazing.

The kids found sapphire, green opal, ruby, quartz crystal, amazonite, petrified wood, a clam fossil, jasper, a megalodon tooth, amethyst, and a large geode, to name a few.

We also checked out Asheville. It was pretty cool! There were a ton of unique shops, breweries, and some beautifully maintained older buildings. I can see why people might called it a miniature Portland (or at least what Portland used to be). It’s quite a lovely town, and somehow manages to have more trees than Portland, too!

We had some really tasty barbecue at Bear’s Smokehouse. Their burnt ends were THE best we’ve ever tasted. Their meat didn’t need barbecue sauce either, and that’s saying a lot!