Franklin, NC: The Glorious Smoky Mountains

Yesterday morning, we set out with our friend David on an overnight trip to Franklin, NC, a former mining town where gold, rubies, and other gemstones have been mined for years. The largest sapphire ever found was mined in Franklin. We had permission from park rangers to pan and dig for gemstones and/or gold in the creek. We spent about 4 hours doing that and only found some tiny ruby chips, but we are going back in April with some better equipment (we had basically nothing, because a man was supposed to bring David some gold sifting pans and he did not show up.) It was fun, and the site was beautiful. I took a lot of pictures, and somehow the camera malfunctioned and I lost every single one of those, the first time that has ever happened to me. These are the only pictures I got near the creek:

These footprints painted on the road are a warning that there are bears in the area.

But I did get some beautiful pictures of the mountains, which I will share in a moment.

We stayed at the Days Inn at Franklin, and we paid $56 for a room with two double beds. It was clean and comfortable and the Indian people who managed it were very nice. We got bagels and sweet roles with coffee and juice free this morning.

Last night, we ate at Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant in Franklin, and the food was delicious and very plentiful. I had a Quesidilla Supreme, Ken had enchiladas,  and David had the burritos Mexicano. We were all very pleased, and the cost for each of us was about $9.

After breakfast, we decided since it was very rainy, to go to a few flea markets instead of trying our hand at prospecting again.  On the way, I took these pictures from the car, and they are the only ones I have, but you can see how beautiful the Smoky Mountains are:

In these two you can see the haze that gives the Smoky Moutains their name.

And here is a glorious picture of that haze. It is awesome to see.

We ended up going to three flea markets in three different states within less than eighty miles of each other: one in North Carolina, one in South Carolina, and one in Georgia. I really like the ones in North and South Carolina because people bring things they have owned, antiques, and second hand books, and you never know when you may find a real treasure. One lady in NC gave me 15% off of two books if I would sing a song into a microphone; she regularly gives discounts of 15% on books and art and 25% on anything else for people who will sing!

In Georgia, most of the flea markets are now aimed at the Hispanic demographic and most of the stuff is prepackaged.You can get good deals on things like socks and t-shirts, but it's not very exciting.

Anyway, we had a great time and I can't wait to go back when it's warmer and when some of the free gem museums and other attractions are open.

It's interesting; I used to live in those mountains many years ago, and as a child we visited them many times, but I had forgotten how beautiful they are, and they are only about 2 hours away from us.