Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [38]
Oceanic Restaurant
Munch calamari and Oysters Rockefeller at sunset on the pier of this well-loved seafood restaurant overlooking the Atlantic. 910-256-5551; www.oceanicrestaurant.com; 703 S Lumina Ave, Wrightsville Beach, NC; mains $7-26; 11:30am-10pm Mon-Sat
SLEEP
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Take the ferry over to this island park, which offers both backcountry and beach camping. 912-882-4336 ext. 254; www.nps.gov/cuis; Cumberland Island, GA; ferry $17, entry fee $4, campsite $4;
Hunting Island State Park
Rent a fully equipped cabin, complete with microwave, TV and central air, amid the palmettos in this popular seaside wilderness area. 843-838-2011; www.southcarolinaparks.com; 2555 Sea Island Pkwy, Hunting Island, SC; cabins $89-172;
Island Inn
Sleep amid mismatched decor in a spooky turn-of-the-century building built from shipwrecked wood. 252-928-4351; www.ocracokeislandinn.com; 25 Lighthouse Rd, Ocracoke, NC; r $99-169
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.discoversouthcarolina.com
www.nccoast.com
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LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner
TRIP
15 Pirates of the Outer Banks
24 Myrtle Beach & the Grand Strand
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Return to beginning of chapter
TRIP 9
The Great Smokies
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WHY GO The Cherokee Indians fell in love with these ancient, mist-shrouded mountains, which they named Shaconage (Place of the Blue Smoke). Lose yourself in their lush valleys and mossy, shaded trails. But lest you overdose on trees, there’s plenty of man-made fun (hello, Dollywood!) on either side of the park.
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The Great Smoky Mountains, a subrange of the Appalachians, straddle the North Carolina–Tennessee border. On a map, the southwestern corner of North Carolina looks like a lump of taffy being flattened by the rollers of Tennessee and Georgia. This “tail” – geographically part of the Tennessee Valley – is crisscrossed with thundering mountain rivers, and dotted with lakes and hidden waterfalls.
The terrain, unsurprisingly, is fantastic for whitewater rafting, kayaking and tubing. The Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) launches trips on the class II and III rapids of the Nantahala River from their main outpost west of Bryson City. Ride a group raft or a two-person ducky through the wide, brown river gorge, spinning through a dizzying whirlpool and splish-splashing over the Nantahala Falls. The NOC also offers whitewater trips for all ages and skill levels on a half-dozen other rivers in the Appalachians. Experienced paddlers can brave the 9-mile trip down the roiling class IV-V Cheoah, launching from nearby Robbinsville. After a long day on the river, put your sore muscles to bed at the NOC’s Nantahala Inn, a rustic, pine-paneled motor lodge tucked into the trees.
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TIME
5 days
DISTANCE
180 miles
BEST TIME TO GO
Apr – Jun, Sep & Oct
START
near Bryson City, NC
END
Knoxville, TN
ALSO GOOD FOR
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Trips on the historic Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depart from Bryson City and plow through the dramatic Nantahala Gorge and across the Fontana Trestle. The former Murphy Branch Line, built in the late 1800s, brought unheard of luxuries like books, factory-spun cloth and oil lamps to these mountains, making rural Appalachian life a little less tough. Themed trips on the red-and-yellow trains include a beer tasting, a Thomas the Tank Engine–themed ride for kids, and a mystery dinner theater.
Half an hour to the northeast is the town of Cherokee, the major North Carolina gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee people have lived in this area since the last Ice Age, though many of them died on the Trail of Tears. The descendents of the people who escaped or returned are known as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, about 12,000 of whom live on the Qualla Boundary reservation near town. Contemporary Cherokee