Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2017 - 39

WHAT TO DO
AND WHERE
TO STAY
GEORGIA
Smithgall Woods State Park,
Helen
706-878-3087
gastateparks.org/SmithgallWoods
The trout fishing streams
close when the weather gets
too hot.
Mountain Laurel Creek Inn &
Spa, Dahlonega
706-867-8134; mountainlaurelcreek.com

Craft-making in
Berea, Kentucky

their putters and irons.
"It's relatively quiet as far as the
number of rounds per day, compared to most resort courses," says
Alley, who started golfing as a young
teen. "We're not packing the course
just to run numbers through there.
And each hole is kind of almost to
itself. You feel like you're the only
one out there, so when you're starting out, that makes you feel a little
more comfortable."

Cleveland/Bradley ChamBer of CommerCe

NORTH CAROLINA
High Hampton Inn, Cashiers
828-743-2411;
highhamptoninn.com
This year's twilight Dinner
With the Dahlias takes place
September 12 in the garden
first cultivated more than
100 years ago.
VIRGINIA
Primland, Meadows of Dan
866-960-7746; primland.com

Courtesy of Primland

The Audubon-certified Primland golf course is known for its breathtaking views.

Rain pounds on the roof of Lindsay
Gallery Studio in Artisan Village as
jewelry maker Bob Mattingly picks
up a thin tube of metal and runs it
through a roller contraption he jokingly calls "a pasta machine for metal" to fashion the frame for a Russian-inspired filigree pendant. Using
pliers to bend thin curls into the
shape of a nautilus shell, the former
computer science teacher gingerly
inserts the curved piece into the rim
and, with a small torch, glues the
two parts together with silver.
On July 7-23, budding jewelers
and wanna-be potters, woodworkers and glassblowers can learn how
to make their own at the annual
Festival of LearnShops in Berea,
the self-proclaimed Folk Arts and
Crafts Capital of Kentucky. Dozens
of classes in everything from storytelling and multimedia sculpture
to broom-making and landscape
painting allow visitors of all ages
to learn a new craft, or at least give
it a try. Those who prefer to watch
from the sidelines can eavesdrop on
Mattingly, other gallery owners, and
students and graduates from nearby
Berea College in the Emerging Artists Studio.
Across the street from the tuitionfree college-the South's first interracial center of higher education-
the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel &
Restaurant offers a welcome respite

from the rain and a full day of sightseeing. After immersing myself in
the art of Berea, it's time to sample
another local tradition: the elegant
restaurant's signature spoonbread,
which tastes like a cross between
custard and cornbread and, along
with a savory dish of pan-seared
scallops and ricotta ravioli, offers a
tasty ending to a curiosity-filled day.

Boating past
waterfalls on
Lake Jocassee, Salem,
South Carolina
A lone bald eagle swoops into the
top of a scraggly white pine, its head
a flash of bright white in the dark
forest flanking Lake Jocassee Gorge.
Up ahead and not far from our first
"baby" waterfall, is another one. A
third eagle appears in a cove punctuated by tangled tree roots like odd
sea creatures jutting into the clear,
spring-fed lake. Kay Wade, co-owner
of Jocassee Lake Tours and a former
landscape designer, is steering the
pontoon boat along the Southern
Blue Ridge Escarpment near Devils
Fork State Park. Fourteen waterfalls
spill into this lake, visible only by
boat, although in summer the tree
foliage hides a few of them. The
opening scene in Deliverance, she
announces, was filmed here.
So far, my trek to the South Carolina Piedmont has been both deeply
relaxing and sense-heightening.
July/August 2017 39

http://www.gastateparks.org/Smithgall http://www.relcreek.com http://www.highhamptoninn.com http://www.primland.com

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2017

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