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. 

Grampy Knockin' Back a Bloody Mary

Hanging with "the fam" on a beautiful afternoon on the Laurel Hill deck...

The Little Mermaid in the Spa

The grandbaby has been running a fever, and had to start antibiotics for otitis media.  She took a little break from being sick to enjoy the spa with Grampa.

Thank You!

This blog would not be possible without the wonderful photography from Debbie and Yann and the technical expertise of Heather.  Thanks to each of you for your contributions....and no, you're not getting paid for any of them.  Seeing the fruits of your labor on such a wonderful blog is your reward (ha ha ha).

Using the Spa

The temperature on the front panel will be set on 80 degrees on your arrival.  Set this to your desired temperature.

Undo all four corners of the cover, and fold the front half over the back.  Then just lift the folded cover and it will hang on the back of the spa on the black metal bar.  You don't have to take the cover off, just fold it back.

If you don't undo the back straps, you'll either tear them off the cover or tear the brackets out of the spa.

You'll need to open the umbrella over the spa to open the cover.  If you don't want the umbrella, undo the knob near the bottom of the umbrella and swing it out of the way.

You can either use the control panel on the front of the spa or the one in the back right corner to turn on the circulation pumps.  There are two pumps; pump #1 has one position and pump #2 has two positions. 

The lighting is controlled from either control pad.  The secret to adjusting the lighting is to get to the red light.  From there, you can dim the light, or get the lights to alternate colors.  You just have to play with it. 

There are test strips and chemicals next to the spa.  Go easy on the chlorine unless the water is cloudy.

When you leave, please reset the temperature to 80 degrees and make sure the spa light is off.