The Highlands, North Carolina

We had a lot of fun in the mountains and at the Chattooga River in North Carolina. Classic mountain roads meant lots of winding and a little car sickness for me. Between scenic overlooks, trails, and water, we stumbled upon quite a "happening place." I had never heard of Highlands, NC, but apparently it's something. It looked like everyone had decided to go to downtown Highlands for Memorial Day weekend! Oh my. Downtown Highlands was maybe similar to a Pendler's Village in PA, or a Camden, Maine type vacation hangout. There were upscale mountain cottages, shops, food, art, classy churches, and real estate! Anthony got a map and a small book of the area at one shop. We got some ice cream at another shop, and sat in the window overlooking the street. Shastya enjoyed watching all the passersby while we sat there, and all the passersby enjoyed watching baby Shastya. Back in the woods, we had fun hitting a bunch of hiking trails on foot. Then, in our car on the way down the mountain, we ran over a copperhead. We were glad we saw the snake on the road and not on a walk. We had a good time in Highlands, NC, and we do believe we have discovered a gold mine of waterfalls and trails that will need some revisiting.

Grandpa's Gardens

Baby Shastya is already very fond of the great outdoors. On our latest trip to Grandpa Garland's and Grandma Cindy's, Shastya and Mommy enjoyed walking around the yard and gardens while Daddy studied. Mommy liked taking pictures of the pretty flowers. Baby liked playing in the grass.

Chattooga River At The South Carolina Georgia State Line

This weekend we went for a short walk on a percentage of a 25 mile trail near the Chattooga River. I must say, all the signs about thoroughly freaked me out. There were the large permanent signs about recent drownings. There were all the signs about how to manage the bear traffic. There were signs about not defacing property, and there was defaced property . . . . The river and walk were nonetheless beautiful!

Ham & Bean Soup Inspired Pizza

I was so impressed with the outcome of my ham and bean soup inspired pizza endeavor! It so totally worked, and then some. It was like pizza, soup, and fluffy bread sticks, heaven in my mouth. It had the ham and bean soup nuance of flavor, and it also could have been called healthy ham and bean alfredo pizza, or cheesy ham and garlic bread sticks! It was amazing.

 

Japanese Bean Soup

Anthony and I found an old international cookbook by Myra Waldo (Schwartz) at an antique store in downtown Easley, SC. Naturally, we bought it. I cooked a Japanese bean soup recipe from the cookbook last night. We thoroughly enjoyed the soup. It was pretty heavy, including four different sources of protein: beef broth, white beans, shrimp, and eggs! Our soup also included carrots, turnips, soy sauce, vinegar, and scallions. I made some slight modifications to the original recipe.

Mother's Day Hike

Anthony, Shastya, and I went on a relaxing five mile hike in Clemson Experimental Forest for Mother's Day afternoon and evening. We had a very nice time walking and talking. A lot of people were out enjoying the beautiful day, and the company they were with.