Sliding Rock is and has been a well known summer time “escape the heat” recreation area located in close proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Administered by the US Forest Service in this Pisgah National Forest protectorate, the 60' natural rock slide boasts a 6 - 7 foot deep pool at the base in normal non drought conditions. In recent years, the area has been developed by the park service with observation decks, a rope line to steady yourself as well as pull yourself up by while waiting your turn to slide, lifeguards, and ranger staff.  The latter are on duty from approximately Memorial Day week end to Labor Day.  Kids have to be a certain size to slide by themselves but can sit on the lap of an adult and slide.

So as Memorial Day Weekend rolls in, be sure to bring your swimming suit too since Sliding Rock really is a natural slide that visitors and locals alike have been enjoying for eons long before the water theme parks came into being. This mountain fed river is refreshingly cool you can be sure in the summer time and you too will remember sliding on Sliding Rock as a highlight to a nice summer time getaway in the Carolina Mountains. There is a fee of $1 per person to access the area, which is 7.5 miles north of Hwy 64 on Hwy 276. For more info, call the US Forest Service at 828-877-3350.  The Pisgah National Forest is located on Highway 64 between Brevard and Waynesville on the North Carolina side of the Carolina Mountain Paradise.  Gotta getaway this summer?  Do it in the Blue Ridge Mountains here in the Carolinas.

The third annual Old Fort Pow Wow Event is scheduled for the second weekend in May at the Old Fort Fairgrounds.  So all you Native American Dancers, get your dancing moccasins on and plan to be in attendance.  It’s pow wow time again! Come and enjoy the Third Annual Old Fort Pow Wow at the Rodeo Grounds in Old Fort, North Carolina. The dates are May 9-11, 2008.  Activities start at 9A.M. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and go until 9 P.M. on Friday and Saturday and 5 P.M. on Sunday. There will be dancing, drumming,  and singing. Hey, even you can dance! There will be story tellers, flint knappers, pipe carvers, craft makers and Native American food comprised of fry bread, Indian tacos, and buffalo burgers. Dave Trezak, with a fine maternal lineage mixture of Cherokee and Lakota, is the much traveled Emcee. He is a Native American Music Award Nominee. Now that man can flat put on a show! There will be something going on all day, so bring your lawn chairs and stay all day. Grand Entry is at 7 P.M. on Friday, 1 and 7 P.M. on Saturday, and 1 P.M. on Sunday. Luck of the draw dance money for registered dancers. Admission donation is $5 for Adults and $2 for Children. For more information, call McDowell County Tourism Bureau at 888-233-6111 or Mabel at 813-765-3073.

This rainy day Saturday weekend marked yet again another successful Azalea Festival in Pickens County, South Carolina this year! The traditional afternoon/night festival kick off was held on a gorgeous Friday in downtown Pickens on the main drag. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the foot traffic for the Classic Car Drive In built up a steady head of steam for the always popular live entertainment/dance night on the Center Stage. As always, there were a few hundred different vendors, food, a kid's carnival, live music and a car show.  Talk about fun for the whole family!  Even a rainy Saturday morning, could not dampen the spirits of the celebrants at this two-day festival.  This has always been a perfect way to kick off spring in the Blue Ridge Foothill Country here in Upstate South Carolina.  Nothing quite like going native, drive into the area to experience local arts and crafts, live entertainment, delicious food, and games for children.

This year’s Azalea Festival highlight for this intrepid reporter was the Alabama Blues Brothers.  What a great, great show for young and old alike.  Check out some of the tom-foolery on the You Tube video below from other performances that these consummate showmen have done in other venues throughout the southeast.  Gets better and better every year, don't you know! Ya’ll come back next year now, you hear?

The 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am is scheduled for May 15th – May 18th. Celebrities scheduled to attend this year include Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, Kurt Russell, Cheech Marin and Wayne Gretzky. This is the first time that Samuel L. Jackson and Dennis Quaid will be playing on the tour. According to the PGA Tour website:

The tournament will be played May 15-18 at Bright's Creek Golf Club, The Carolina Country Club and Thornblade Club golf courses. All four rounds will be televised live by GOLF CHANNEL.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am is the only tournament on the Nationwide Tour where amateurs and celebrities are grouped with Nationwide Tour professionals in a three-day better-ball competition. Amateurs, celebrities and pros will rotate between each of the three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the 14 lowest scoring pro-amateur/pro-celebrity teams advancing to play Sunday's final round at Thornblade Club.

The professional winner of the overall 72-hole event will take home $121,500 from the total purse of $675,000, which is one of the largest purses on the Nationwide Tour, as well as a brand new BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle. Amateurs and celebrities will compete for individual prizes and cash donations to the charity of their choice out of the beneficiaries selected by South Carolina Charities, Inc.

Some of the charities for this year’s event include Boy Scouts of America, A Child’s Haven, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas, Camp Greenville and Phillis Wheatley Association.

Click here for ticket information.

Long before the European culture came to the Cherokee homeland here in the Carolinas of the Great Smokies and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Native American lore spoke of mythic giants such as Judaculla; a fierce slant eyed giant, as one that dwelt in a cave that European settlers came to know as “The Devil's Courthouse”. The turn of the 19th/20th century anthropologist James Mooney had earlier placed Judaculla at Tanasee Bald where Hayward, Jackson, and Transylvania counties meet at Whiteside Mountain. Others claim that the Tennessee Bald Located at mile marker 422 of the Blue Ridge Parkway was the actual home of this Giant being from Cherokee Legend.  Regardless of where the giant actually resided, later folk tales say that the devil holds court in the chambers of caves that can be found at both locations.

The Smoky Mountain Devil's Courthouse is accessible by taking the trail upward by climbing a half mile to a peak that features panoramic views. In Cherokee oral tradition, a cave within what is nowadays known as the Tennessee Bald is the private dancing chamber and dwelling place of a resident giant. Regardless the panoramic view from the summit includes four states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee according to Wikipedia.  The Whiteside Mountain “Devil’s Courthouse” has stunning views as well and is equally remotely accessible in the Carolina High Country along the Blue Ridge range of mountains.  There is no greater locale than the Carolina Mountain Country for both breath taking beauty, Native American oral tradition, and  early American legend all woven into one.   

This Saturday, March 15th, the Hagood Mill Historic Site will present Kid Fest. The event is free and will feature a free concert, kid’s workshop and celebration of kids making music.

The day will also have a jump roping troupe from Dacusville Elementary School at 11 a.m. and at noon students from Holly Springs Elementary’s Young Appalachian Musicians will perform.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Pickens County Museum will sponsor Milling, Music and Memories.

There will also be tours, concerts, demonstrations and seasonal thematic activities.

Join the Hagood Mill this Saturday for a day of entertainment.

Scenic Highway 11 in Upstate South Carolina is not only a beautiful stretch of road but also a popular spot for avid bikers.

There are many challenging bike trails just off the highway as well as designated bike paths along much of the Cherokee Foothills Highway. The mountain views are stunning and the side trips show the best nature has to offer with waterfalls, rock formations and foliage.

Next time you’re in our neck of the woods be sure and bring your bike for a unique Upstate South Carolina mountain experience and a great workout!

Situated just off of Scenic Highway 11, Table Rock State Park was built by the New Deal Program created by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Civilian Conservation Corps, in the 1930s. There are two lakes, campgrounds, hiking trails, swimming, boating (canoe, kayak, paddle boats, etc.), a children’s playground and much more. Many of the structures are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The park sits over 3,083 acres of beautiful mountainous land that was once inhabited by the Cherokee Indians. Take the well marked foot trails to climb the side of the mountain with spectacular views along the way. It’s a rugged three and a half mile climb to the top of the mountain, but well worth the effort.

Admission to the park is $2 for ages 16+; $1.25 for senior citizens; age 15 and younger are admitted free of charge. The park is open Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

We have two bedroom and three bedroom condos available on the 9th hole of The Rock at Jocassee golf course nestled in the upstate South Carolina Mountains.

The condos are spacious and comfortable and have all the comforts of home including full kitchen. There are decks with great views of the golf course and Jacuzzi tubs.

Great trails for hiking, gorgeous waterfalls and horseback riding also nearby.

These condos are the perfect home away from home for your next vacation/golf getaway.

There is no confusion among the inhabitants here in The Western North Carolina Mountains about the Christian Faith of our Forefathers.  Given the abundance of mountain community churches, it is no great surprise to find an extraordinary tribute to the Old Testament, The world's largest Ten Commandments Monument located just outside of Murphy, North Carolina.  Residing in these parts since it’s completion during the early 1940’s, Reverend Ambrose Tomlinson erected this tribute along with other well known Biblical themed Old Testament Monuments. Revealed in a vision to Rev. Tomlinson years before, the founder of the Church of God of Prophecy (700,000 members strong throughout the world) also fashioned replicas depicting Golgotha and Joseph’s Tomb.

His monumental Ten Commandments construction project feature concrete letters 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide on the mountainside across from where he had prayed and received his vision. According to the Western Carolina Attractions website, “Other oversized markers include, the world's largest altar, a concrete structure 80 ft. long erected where Tomlinson prayed, the world's largest New Testament, an open concrete Bible 30 feet tall and 50 feet wide, and the world's largest cross, a prone concrete structure 115 feet wide and 150 feet long, lined by the flags of the eighty-six nations in which the church can be found. A replica of Christ's tomb was also built at the park, and an outdoor baptismal pool which is used by thousands annually.”  So all you Christian faithful looking to reinvigorate your faith through a mountain themed pilgrimage, this blended mountainside attraction situated amongst the Carolina Mountains might well be worth a day trip drive or a weekend getaway excursion.