Bicycling

If you're doing road biking, throw your bike on the car and head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The speed limit is 45 MPH and there is plenty of room for cars and bikes.

If you're mountain biking, I suggest Panthertown.  This is a 6,300 acre Forest Service property which can either be accessed off Cedar Creek Road or Hwy 281 at the east end of Lake Toxaway.

The most popular destination is School House Falls, which is closer to the Lake Toxaway access.

Panthertown is a steep in-and-out but is pretty flat down in the valley itself.  Take a map and compass from the house or get them at Highland Hiker in Cashiers.

Shooting

The ONLY safe place to shoot on our property is the gun range at Hidden Falls.  There are homes on the ridge tops above Hidden Falls, so you need to keep your aim downward at the targets.

You can ONLY shoot targets, not animals.

If you want to set up your own targets, use paper, cardboard, cans or plastic bottles.  No glass.  Please clean up used targets and dispose of them properly.

If you are not used to shooting metal targets, you better study up.   There are a ton of online articles if you want to educate yourself.   If you shoot my metal targets, you better be far enough back for the firearm and ammunition you are using, and eye protection is absolutely mandatory.  Frangible ammunition is a great idea for shooting metal to prevent ricochet.

Our neighbors can hear gunfire from Hidden Falls, so confine your shooting to reasonable hours (10:00 AM to 4:00 PM).

If you decide to shoot on our property, your safety and the safety of your family and our neighbors is our primary concern.  Pay attention to safe firearm practices, and use caution when cleaning and storing firearms and ammunition.

Think safety at all times, please.

Shutting the House Down

How to Close Up the House

1.  Move outdoor furniture on deck under cover.

2.  Make sure there are no wet clothes in washer or dryer.

3.  Make sure all candles are out.

4.  Make sure gas is shut off to BBQ and great room log lighter.

5.  Close flue to great room fire place after COLD ashes are vacuumed out and disposed of.

6.  Empty ice cube container in freezer and put bale in "up" position.

7.  Pull out all four power cords behind armoir in the loft to disable WiFi and printers.

8.  Put spa temperature down to 80 degrees and make sure cover is fastened.

9.  In the garage:

• Turn off water heater breaker
• Unplug grey pressurizer cord in utility room
• Turn water off to house using the handle near the northern-most overhead garage door.

10.  Make sure all inside and outside lights are off.

11.  Set air conditioner appropriately (if you don't know what settings, call us).

12.  Lock all doors and windows.

13.  At the front door, touch "A" on alarm key pad.  You will hear "Armed to away".

14.  Exit front door within 60 seconds and lock deadbolt.

15.  Thank you, and have a safe trip home!

Area Restaurants

Area Restaurants

This is a sampling of restaurants in Cashiers that we have enjoyed.  There are others, but these are the ones we know about.  It's always a good idea to call for reservations.

Table 64 is just west of the Hampton Inn.  It is a nice restaurant with full bar and wine list.  The Cork Barrel is the bar in the same building, and stays open later.  You can get tapas in the bar which are not bad.

The Orchard is our favorite for a nice meal in a fun setting.  However, Windslow's Hideaway is maybe taking over at first place (see below).  Chad is the co-owner with his brother Travis, and reservations are mandatory.  Full bar.  Seating inside or under the covered outside patio.

For BBQ, the best choice is On The Side, located at the Cashiers Crossroads next to the Farmers Market.  Takeout or covered picnic tables on site.  Make sure the BBQ sauce is in the bag before driving home!

The Library Kitchen & Bar (828-743-5512) has recently opened across from the tennis courts at the Sapphire Valley Resort.  It is a 160 year-old house converted to a restaurant.  It is co-owned buy the chef and Mr. Gralnick, the guy who started Chicos clothing brand.  The chef is fantastic, and the art is all modern works by Mr. Gralnick (if you like modern art).  We had a very nice meal there the other night; very trendy.  Full bar, reservations recommended, not mandatory.  Just being in the place is worth the visit.

Slab Town Pizza is excellent.  Clean, fun, family environment.  Great pizza, sandwiches and salads.  Beer and wine served, tap or bottle.  Hours are 11:30 AM - 8:00 PM Tuesday through Saturday.

Chile Loco is so-so Mexican food on Slab Town Road in Cashiers just north of the Crossroads.  Beer and wine during the day, margaritas in the evening.  Family-run, very nice people.

The Cornucopia is always awesome.  Excellent family place.   Full bar, nice inside-outside dining.  The fried chicken dinner is a favorite.

The Randevu is located just east of the Crossroads on Hwy 64 and has a strong following.

The Zookeeper Bistro is located in the Slab Town strip and has a good reputation.

Winslow's Hideaway is upscale, behind Wells Fargo Bank off 107 South just a stone's throw from the Crossroads.  Debbie and I enjoyed dining there tonight, and we kid you not, this is probably the best food we have ever tasted.  Edgar is the son and bartender and server (fantastic), the Mom is a server and the chef is out of this world!  Romantic, upscale, health-conscious; what can we say!  Full bar and fantastic.  The cheese cake is made in-house, so get that for dessert.  LOVE THIS PLACE!

Bon Appetit!

Boating Lake Glenville

You need to rent a pontoon boat and tour Lake Glenville.  It's located 8 miles north of Cashiers on Hwy 107 North.  It is the highest lake east of the Mississippi River and has 26 miles of shoreline and encompasses 1,450 acres.  It is very clean and safe.

Rent your pontoon boat from Signal Ridge Marina (828-743-2143).  Reservations are always a good idea, especially on weekends.  You can pay more, but I like the 22' boat with the 90 HP Yamaha outboard.  It's about $45 per hour and gas and tax are extra.  Three or four hours is plenty.  Get a map showing where the four waterfalls.  There is a little dock and picnic area near the dam.  Great swimming area with clean restrooms for the kids.   You can rent tubes to pull the kids around if you're so inclined.  

Take an ice chest and picnic in the grassy park by the dam.   You can rent tubes to pull the kids around if you're so inclined.    Kids under 13 need life vests while underway (supplied).

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Where to Swim

Here are some places to swim on a hot, summer day:

1.  Sliding Rock (Cashiers):  From the Cashiers Crossroads, head south on Hwy 107 about two miles just past the High Hampton golf course to Whiteside Cove Road.  Turn right and proceed about 2 miles to the bridge.  Just a little further, find parking on your right and make your way down the trail to Sliding Rock.  You can usually just follow the sounds of the water and people having fun.  

2.  Sliding Rock (Pisgah):  Head east on Hwy 64 through Brevard to Pisgah Forest.  Turn left into the park and go to the ranger station about two miles on your right.  Ask for directions to Sliding Rock.  

3.  Lake Fairfield:  Head west on Hwy 64 toward Cashiers about four miles.  Look for the turnoff to Fairfield Lake on your right.  There is a very clean swimming area on the beach and some covered picnic tables and restrooms.  You will need your amenity card.  You can also rent paddle boats and canoes from the marina.

4.  Lake Glenville Picnic Area:  Located next to the dam on Lake Glenville.

5.  Schoolhouse Falls:  In Panthertown.  You can walk behind the waterfall and splash around in the cold water.  Easiest access is the eastern access off of Hwy 28 into Panthertown.  

4.  Sapphire Valley Community Center:  Head west on Hwy 64 toward Cashiers about four miles.  Turn left into the Wyndham Resort Community Center.  There are four pools, saunas, steam rooms and spas to play around in.  One of the pools is indoors in case its raining.  You will need your amenity card.

5.  Silver Slip Falls:  This is easy to access, a very short walk, and a nice pool at the bottom of the falls.  Take Hwy 107 south from the Cashiers Crossroads, and look for Silver Slip Falls on your left after a few miles.  The parking is tight sometimes, and the traffic moves pretty fast, so be careful.  Take the little trail to the falls.  You can swim in the pool at the bottom.  


Please remember to stay away from the tops of the falls.  The rocks are slippery and it is very easy to end up over the falls.  Just hang out in the pools at the bottoms of the falls.

         

Using Audio-Visual Equipment

Hi, everyone.  Feel free to enjoy the televisions, CD player and DVD player in our home.  I just have two very important requests:

1.    Please do NOT clean the screen on any of the TV sets in the home.  If they are going to get scratched, I would rather do it myself.  If they get smudgy, please just leave them that way, and I will take care of it.

2.    Please do NOT unplug, switch, or in any other way modify any of the cables attached to the back of the equipment.  Rest assured that everything is hooked up properly.  If somebody moves a cable, it creates major headaches for us.

Man Cave and Master BR

The equipment is pretty self-explanatory.  In the Man Cave, the big screen TV is “smart” and you can access the Internet by hitting the multi-color button on the black remote.  That way, you can access NetFlix or whatever you subscribe to.  If you have trouble switching between the Internet and cable, your problem will be solved by hitting the “source” button on the white remote, and choosing HDMI3.

In the Master BR, this is HD, but not “smart”.  So you are limited to  satellite programming or DVD.

Neither the Man Cave or Master BR systems are hooked into the whole-house audio system.  They are stand-alone systems.

Living Room System

This is a little bit complicated, but if you follow these instructions, you won’t have any problems.

This system can do surround sound in the Living Room.  You can also switch audio output to the following rooms:

            Man Cave

            Master Bedroom

            Master Bath

            Upstairs Guest Bath

If you just want to watch TV (satellite programming), all you have to do is turn the TV on with the satellite TV (STV) remote, and control the volume and channels with that same remote.

The only time you need to use the amplifier is if you want surround sound in Living Room and/or whole house audio in one or more of the four locations above.

To Watch TV in Living Room

1.    Turn on the TV with the STV remote, and adjust channel and volume with that same remote.

2.    If you want surround sound in Living Room, turn on the amplifier with the LR Amplifier Remote and make sure it is set to “V.Aux”.

3.    If you want the TV output to go to some or all of the other four locations in the house (see above), manually turn on the sub-amplifier located to the left of the main amplifier.  Each room that has sound has its own volume control in the room itself. 

To Watch DVD in the Living Room

1.    Power on the DVD player with the Sony DVD remote.

2.    Then take the STV remote and change “TV input” to HDMI2.

3.    Control volume by STV remote.

4.    If you want surround sound in Living Room, you must MANUALLY select “DVD/VDP” on the amplifier (you can’s use remote for this).

5.    When you’re done with the DVD, switch the amp back to “V.Aux”.

To Listen to CD Music in Living Room

1.    Power on CD player with JVC remote.

2.    Select “CD” button on amplifier MANUALLY (remote will not work)

3.    Put in CD, and use JVC remote to play.

4.    When you are done, return the amplifier to “V.Aux”.

Fall Life in the Mountains

Porch rail off eating area

Spa and lounge chairs off Master BR

Nice place for breakfast

Nice place for lunch

Rascal Dog in the driveway

Rock porch off walk-out  basement

Shot of the house looking East from the lower terrace

Looking northeast from fire pit

Master BR and spa on far left

"Fall In" to North Carolina!

Some Old Photos of Laurel Hill

This view looking northeast was taken shortly after construction was complete.  The landscaping has grown in considerably since then.

A wintery shot off the deck looking westward at Chimneytop.  You can barely see Whiteside Mountain to the right of Chimneytop.

This is actually a not-too-bad shot of the kitchen looking from the dining room.

This is a terrible photo of the living room as you come in the front door.