Touring Tennessee: Day Three - Nashville Zoo, Monell's and Music Row at Night

After an unanticipated hiatus, I'm returning to continue the marvelous spring break vacation we took in Tennessee.

After a long but exciting and satisfying day sightseeing in Nashville, we awoke early the next morning and headed to Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (3777 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37211; 615-833-1534).  Due to the location of our hotel, we only had to spend 15 minutes in the car - 10 minutes drive time, and 5 minutes to get into the gate and park.

Nashville Zoo is an unfinished attraction - they have some heavy plans ahead for this wild animal park - but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.  First, we wandered through a raised-boardwalk pathway surrounded by a lush green canopy of foliage.  It made us feel as though we were in the jungle.  We saw several types of wild birds, my favorite being the blue macaw (three of them).

There is a bit of a system in the zoo (as there are in most zoos) that you can follow easily in a circle and see all the exhibits from start to finish.  We attempted to follow this system but failed due to two toddlers and heat exhaustion.  Still, we saw the majority of the exhibits - just not all of them.

A list of what we did see:  Gibbon apes, meerkats (they had the babies out!), a trip to the petting zoo (where the children lovingly patted pygmy goats and exclaimed over kangaroos), flamingoes, African crested porcupines, giant anteaters, tapirs, red pandas (which look like adorable teddy bears), clouded leopards, a white Bengal tiger, lemurs, zebras, elephants, and giraffes.  We also paid a visit to the zoo's historic working farm, where we saw mules, cows and beautiful flowers.

There is a gorgeous carousel that features jungle animals and fast-paced African drum music.  Betsy and I were all set to go for a ride, but when I placed her on her animal of choice (a giraffe) she backed out and wanted down, so we didn't get to go around after all.

We headed back to our hotel after passing off our tokens to a young family entering the zoo (paying it forward) and took a nap before going to dinner at Monell's (1235 6th Ave. North, Nashville, TN, 37208; 615-248-4747).

Now, some of y'all may have not heard of Monell's, and maybe some of you have.  In any event, you NEED to know that this place serves the best fried chicken I've ever tasted.  Tourists like to say Loveless Cafe is where it's at, but locals know Monell's is the place to go.  It's a family-style restaurant, which means you are seated at a long table with complete strangers, encouraging interesting conversation.  The food is a set menu and they only serve sweet tea and water (you've got to love the simplicity in that).  They always serve their fried chicken every night, and I could not get enough of it.  They also make a so-excellent-it-defies-description baked potato salad, loaded with cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon bits and who knows what else.  I just know it's good.  And, you pay a flat rate of $13.50 per person over 6 to eat as much food as you want.  They just keep it coming.

Once we were so full to the point that I actually had to use the restroom before we left, we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to experience Nashville at night.  I was so excited to have the opportunity to use my camera on all the bright neon lights on Music Row and snap some photos of street musicians.  I was surprised and delighted to run into Lily from Pied Piper, who was downtown doing the same thing as me.  She remembered me, which cemented my belief that Nashville really is a friendly town.

After a very full day - and night - of fun, we finally decided it was time to call it a night.

(After taking a couple shots of this gorgeous fountain across the street from where we parked.)

Day Four is up next - We visit a train museum, get lost, annoy an entire group of middle-aged tourists at the Grand Ole Opry, and head back for more Pied Piper ice cream.  Brace yourselves.

Touring Tennessee: Day Two - Nashville Proper and East End

We awoke early the following morning and got out of our crusty hotel room before 8:00 AM.  We headed to Pancake Pantry (1796 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212-3704; 615-383-9333), a Nashville legend.  It's a restaurant which serves over 50 varieties of pancakes.  They're celebrating 50 years this year.

The kids split a plate of Polka Dot pancakes - plain buttermilk pancakes sprinkled with chocolate M & M's.  (I had a couple bites.  They were simple and yummy!)

Christopher enjoyed a plate of pecan pancakes - the maple syrup had pecans in it!  And I had the "Chocolate Sin" crepe plate - crepes filled with raspberry preserves and chocolate sauce, with fresh cream.  We all split a platter of sausage links.  The staff was friendly and the service was fast.  We were probably there less than an hour, which is ideal when you have small kids.

Our delicious breakfast!

Keep your eyes peeled - Pancake Pantry is supposedly a hotspot for Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman.  They love to eat there!

After our breakfast, we drove over to Centennial Park (2600 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203) so the kids could play. 

At Centennial Park there is a full-scale detailed replica of the Parthenon in Greece.  There is an art museum located underneath the Parthenon.

Also for viewing (and excellent photo opportunites) is a 1942 N.C. & ST. L. Locomotive-576 steam engine.  We're a family who likes our trains, so we all enjoyed this little (or, rather, large) surprise upon our arrival to the park.



There is also a wonderful, sprawling playground for children of all ages and stages.  We ate a picnic lunch here and the kids played for an hour or two.  Our favorite features of this playground is that although it is raised, the toddler structure uses ramps and wide, shallow stairs so even the smallest child can ascend easily; also in the center of the structure is a large oak tree which provides shade all day, so nobody gets too hot or sunburned.

After playtime and lunch, we went sightseeing.  We strolled around just taking in beautiful churches, funky little shops, street performers and of course, Union Station Hotel (1001 Broadway, Nashville, TN, 37203; 615-726-1001).

Built in 1900, Union Station is now owned and operated by Wyndham and is considered a "Wyndham Historic Hotel".  The trains still run past it (as shown above) and its location is just a ten minute walk from Broadway.

We also visited the state capitol building (600 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, TN, 37219; 615-741-2001):

Entry to the building is free and every 30 minutes they have a free walking tour of the premises.  Upon entry you are given a sticker pass and are directed down a long corridor to an elevator.  Once you get to the first story, if you have a stroller or a wheelchair you pretty much can't go on the tour because it's all stairs from there.  The elevator does go all the way up but you can't participate in the tour that way.  Still, it has beautiful architecture and spectacular view of the city.

This is about the point where we were all very tired and sunburned and I got hungry, so I snatched a hot dog from a vendor on Broadway.

An all-beef footlong with mustard and relish on a toasted wheat hoagie bun.  It was worth $5.  Trust me.

There was one more stop before we decided we were done for the day - Pied Piper Creamery (114 South 11th Street, Nashville, TN, 37206; 615-227-4114).

This place is not considered part of downtown Nashville; you have to cross the Cumberland River just to the east of downtown.  It's known as East End, a quaint village-like town, with craftsman homes and funky boutiques and eateries.

I'd read about Pied Piper Creamery while researching for our trip (thank you Alphamom!) and knew we just had to go there.  It's a quaint little ice cream shop owned and operated by Jenny Piper.  They have classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, but they also have really cool off-the-wall varieties such as avocado, ginger-lemon custard, and their bestseller, Trailer Trash.  The babies each had a small vanilla cup, Chris chose Thankth Eather Bunny (a malted vanilla ice cream with robin's eggs candies, two of his favorite things), and I enjoyed a cone of Some Like It Hot - dark chocolate ice cream with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

I also had the opportunity to chat with Jenny and Lily (as Jenny calls her, the shop's high school intern).  They are both really sweet and interesting people, and very helpful.  We talked about photography (Lily is a budding photographer), children (Jenny has a little boy), ice cream (of course!) and the tornadoes that touched down in Alabama and Tennessee the day before.  I highly recommend visiting Pied Piper if you ever find yourself in the area.  The ice cream and the people were just so good, we went back for seconds!

After Pied Piper, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel.  We talked about going out to eat but we were just too tired and decided to order a pizza instead.  We had to be up early again the next day - Day Three!  We go to the ZOO!  Stay tuned...

PS:  While downtown, watch out for this dude.  He WILL flash you (don't worry, there's a stocking suit under the trench coat, but the idea is still intact!).

Touring Tennessee: Day One

Due to some personal issues, we were not able to travel to Missouri and Kansas as we'd originally planned.  We opted instead to drive to Nashville, Tennessee for a few days.  None of us in the Renz family had ever been to Nashville and we figured, why not?

The first day of our trip was spent in the car.  We left Charleston, SC at about 8:00 AM EST.  We stopped for lunch in Spartanburg, SC and a quick visit with my friend Rebecca Williams, who is starting her own cosmetics company, Vexxy Cosmetics, a fully vegan line of make-up.  You can check out her progress blog here.

When we finally entered Tennessee through North Carolina, tornado warnings were tearing up the radio station airwaves.  We were in Knoxville hearing reports of tornadoes touching down all over the area, so we chose to pull over and wait it out in a Wal-Mart.  Let me tell you something, Wal-Mart is the worst place to take refuge in the event of a tornado, because there isn't anywhere to go in a giant warehouse.  They'll just stick you in the center of the store, most often the Apparel section, and tell you that you'll have to wait it out and hope a tornado doesn't come crashing down on you.

Obviously a tornado did not come crashing down on us or I wouldn't be writing this.

Anyway, after we left the Wal-Mart, we continued driving along the I-40 to Nashville.  I was scared out of my mind because the tornado warnings and reports were nonstop, and I had my dad on the phone the whole time looking at the radar on the Weather Channel's website.  He said there were several cells to the southeast of us and it looked like we were barely missing all the rotations.  Somehow we managed to avoid seeing one single cyclone, which is a blessing because we're not dead, but frustrating because I really wanted a shot of a twister to show everyone.

We finally arrived at our hotel in Nashville around 9 PM CDT.  We stayed at La Quinta Inn on Sidco Drive in southeast Nashville.

Do not stay at this hotel.

I am going to summarize our four-night, three-day stay at this miserable pit in this blog post only so the rest of the blogs about the trip aren't tainted with the bad taste of displeasure.

When we arrived, they gave us the wrong room.  It was a nice room, with a big king sized bed.  But we'd asked for two doubles when we'd reserved the place.

We should have just stayed in this room.  It was bright and happy and clean.

After that was cleared up, they put us in a new room with two double beds.  The smell upon entering - I don't even know where to begin.  It clearly had poor ventilation and being next to the swimming pool didn't help.  It was an odd mixture of chlorine, mold and mildew.  The floors were not vacummed.  The towels were folded neatly but upon unfolding to use one to take a shower I discovered they were all extremely damp.  The place was so bad I decided I didn't want to remember it, and hopefully eventually forget it, so to help with that I refused to take photos of the abomination disguised as a hotel room.

I complained the next morning and they apologized and said while they couldn't move us again, they'd fix the towel issue and knock $10/night off our price.

Almost an entire workweek goes by and the towels are consistently damp, the floors are never vacuumed and they never honored the discount.  We made sure to have maid service come every day we were there and nothing changed.  They didn't even take out the trash.  Continental breakfast, while certainly is not going to be stellar by any means, included a waffle machine that was utterly destroyed by another guest on our check-out day and it took staff almost an hour to start cleaning it up, without even bothering to throw down a plastic "Caution" sign for the benefit of the other guests.  Their toaster was plugged in but did not function - period.  They had stale slices of white bread and bruised apples.  Basically the waffles were the only halfway decent offering the place had and they allowed what I imagine a four-year-old to attempt to operate and essentially demolish it and anyone else's chances of happiness that morning.  Allie Brosh at Hyperbole-and-a-Half knows what I'm talking about when it comes to waffles equaling happiness and love. 

Anyway!  If we ever go back to Nashville, which we ADORED, we'll be staying here:

Wyndham Historic Hotel:  Union Station

NOT HERE:

La Quinta Inn Nashville South

Day Two of our Tennessean trip coming soon!  With BETTER photographs, I promise!

Being a Tourist in Your Own Town: Part 1

(or, "I got a new camera and my in-laws are in town, let's go on a five-mile walk")

My family and I live in Charleston, South Carolina.  While I myself have lived here for 20+ years, I still love to explore the Peninsula.  There are always new secrets to discover in this coastal city, whose history dates back as far as 1670.

As I'm sure you can imagine, being an almost-native to this city has its advantages.  I know where the free fun is, where the cheap eats are, and little secrets that you won't find in a traveler's guide.

As the alternate title implies, my in-laws are visiting from San Diego, CA, for Christmas.  The last time they were here was for our wedding, and they didn't have a chance to do much exploring of the city.  Therefore they were unaware of the many charms of Charleston.  It's easy to think Charleston is a city full of nothing but fast food restaurants and strip malls if that's all you see your first time around.  It makes me wonder how many people come here for a wedding that isn't on the Peninsula and that's all they experience, and they never choose to come back.

Anyway, enough of my pointless musing.  Let's see some photos!  (Shot with my totally sweet, brand new Nikon D3100.  Thanks husband!)

The first thing we did was park at our church.  We attend Second Presbyterian, one of the oldest churches in Charleston, and the oldest Presbyterian church in the city.  It was founded in 1809 and has withstood hurricanes, floods, an earthquake and a war.  We visited the cemetery first, as my father-in-law is interested in reading headstones and none of us (not even myself) had ever entered before. 

It's amazing what you can find in a cemetery.  Each headstone tells a story - even the small ones with little or no markings.

In the sanctuary, we went upstairs to the choir pit and got an amazing view of the entire interior of the church.  Dr. Julia Harlow is the Director of Music at the church and is a highly skilled musician.

 After a long walk from the church, we ended up at Charleston Place Hotel (which spans between Meeting and King Streets) to view its large model train display that is on exhibit in the lobby every Christmas season.  It's free to visit and photos are permitted. 

The pictures I took are embarrassingly bad so I left them out of this essay.  However, here is the obligatory photo of my husband with his stepfather and brothers:

 We soon found ourselves on Market Street, browsing rocks, gemstones, incense and beads at Black Market Minerals.  You can usually find a little something there that is a relatively inexpensive purchase.

Agate windchimes at Black Market Minerals.

 Just a thirty second walk to the corner of Market and Church Streets caused us to stumble upon a wonderful surprise:

A one-man band, playing and singing Green Day's "Good Riddance".  He had a very Bob Dylan vibe about him.

Now, there's something you might not know about Charleston:  there is limited parking, and almost all parking downtown costs money, even to park on the street.  However, they only run Monday-Saturday from 9AM to 6PM.  Outside of those hours you can park there gratis, and all day for free on Sundays.  An insider tip:  all day, every day, there is free parking on Ann Street/Wragg Square, just off of Meeting Street.  If you have kids and want to take them to the Children's Museum, this is the perfect place to park for free.  There's a beautiful park (Wragg Square) with a fountain, the Visitor's Center is directly across the street, and America's first museum, the Charleston Museum, is also on Ann Street. 

Along Church Street you can find many fascinating things.  Cobblestone alleyways, haunted theatres, cemeteries, gardens squeezed in at any and every opportunity.

(You might need to take a break while exploring.)

Church Street is also one of the many streets in Charleston that will lead you to this:

A beautiful view of the Ashley River, off of White Point Gardens (better known as the Charleston Battery).

Now, if you've gotten this far, at some point you'll have to start walking back.  I suggest doing so before it is too dark, as no city is safe at night, especially if you aren't sure of where you are going.  We decided to head up King Street to get back to Meeting Street, which is where our church is located.

This is the upper fenceline of the Miles-Brewton House on upper King Street.  It is constructed completely of wrought-iron and was installed in 1820 after the failed slave uprising.  It is said that this house is haunted by the ghosts of slaves who died trying to escape over this fence.

Sometimes there is no getting around it:  You end up staying out even when it's no longer light outside.  When there is so much to explore, you don't want the day to end, and you cling to it.

This is the original Citadel Military Academy building.  It is located in Marion Square (named so for Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox", a Revolutionary War hero), formerly called Citadel Square.  It was founded in 1842.  The school has an excellent reputation and because of its need to accomodate a rising student population moved to Hampton Park on the other side of the Peninsula on Thanksgiving Day, 1920.

Christmastime in Charleston is a beautiful affair.  Many palmetto trees are strung with lights, such as this one in Marion Square.

If you have a moment before finally getting back to your car, enjoy a lighted fountain.  There are hundreds of them on the Peninsula alone.  This one is located on the Meeting Street side of Marion Square.  There is a larger one on the corner of King and Calhoun Streets, on the opposite side of the Square.

My in-laws are in town until December 30th, and we will be going downtown at least once more to discover more of historic Charleston.  I hope you'll come back to my blog next week and explore with us!

Things to keep in mind about Charleston:

• Most church tours are free.
• You are always invited to explore cemeteries free of charge.
• The best and least expensive way to see the city is on foot.
• Parking garages are overpriced.  Try to visit the city on an off-day where there is less tourist traffic.
• There are thousands of small pieces of history scattered across the Peninsula that don't require a ticket to be informed of them.  Look at houses and businesses for the CAROLOPOLIS medallion, or even a plaque that will have a short history of what role the building in question held at a time long ago.
• We talked to a man who maintains the exteriors of many houses in the South of Broad neighborhood of the Peninsula (near White Point Gardens).  He told us about the Great Earthquake of 1886 and how it devastated the city, and why some buildings in Charleston have huge metal stakes running the width of them - to keep them from collapsing.  My point?  If you kindly ask a local, they will happily give you directions or even a nugget of history for the small price of a "thank you".



Chimney Rock, North Carolina: September 10 - 12, 2010

After nearly three years (you heard it, three) of no camping whatsoever, my husband Chris and I decided we needed a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  Our townhouse was starting to feel suffocating with two babies and a large dog, and the humidity of Charleston made it almost impossible to run around outside to let off some steam - even in the early mornings.  So we did some research and decided to go back to North Carolina. 

The last time we'd been to North Carolina had been Thanksgiving weekend, 2007.  We'd gone to Pisgah National Forest and went backcountry camping - at this point it was just the two of us; no kids, no pets.  So this was going to be a completely different experience for ALL of us.

Betsy, our daughter, will be two in October - and our son, Ben, will be one in October.  With this in mind, we knew backcountry camping was out of the question.  We chose Chimney Rock because it catered to families with children, even offering the option of taking an elevator to the top of the Rock - gratis.

On Chimney Rock State Park's website, we located a nearby campground for $30 a night and discovered we could rent a baby carrier pack for $8 a day from the park's gift shop, instead of purchasing a pack of our own for upwards of $150, which would have likely only been used one time.  Betsy would be hiking it, and we bought an inexpensive toddler pack with a detachable tether for her to carry. 

We also have a puppy, as mentioned earlier.  Hobo is a black lab/boxer mix and is only four months old but is over 35 lbs. and looks full-grown.  We purchased a lightweight sporting harness for him to wear and a Waterboy jug so he could stay hydrated on the four-hour drive from Charleston, SC to River Creek Campground in NC.

The campground was fantastic.  It was located less than 30 minutes from Chimney Rock, and as its name suggests, had the Broad River on one side of the property and a creek on the other.  The owners live on-site and are friendly and knowledgeable of the area.  Because we came the weekend after Labor Day, the grounds were nearly deserted, save for the permanent residents in RV bays and a total of five other camping parties. 

Our tent site was much nicer than we were expecting - we thought we'd get a patch of dirt or grass and a fire pit.  But we were pleasantly surprised to find a covered area with a small dock overlooking the Broad River, and a picnic table.  There was also a well pump and an electrical outlet.  Chris pitched our tent while I took the kids to play with some of the other children on the playground near the office.

The bathrooms and shower houses are neat and clean.  The water comes out hot almost immediately.  The owners keep complimentary bottles of shampoo and body wash for communal use on the bathroom counters just in case someone runs out or forgot to pack something.

We went to bed early the first night we were there - because it was cool we felt comfortable placing Hobo in his kennel in our Jeep's cargo bay and rolling down the windows, and we humans packed in to our two-person tent.  It was a tight squeeze, but not uncomfortably so as the babies are still so small.  However, we are already researching a larger tent for future camping trips!

Saturday morning started with shake-and-pour bottled pancakes.  It was slightly drizzling but we were sure it would clear up by late morning.  We cleaned up and packed the babies and dog into the Jeep and drove past Lake Lure - where Dirty Dancing was filmed! - and into Chimney Rock Village.  We followed a winding road into the mountains, and paid the $28 admission fee ($14 per person age 16 and up) for the park.

The rain only got worse, but we'd already paid for the day.  So we perused the gift shop and bought Ben a pocket knife (for MUCH later use), Betsy a silver NC/Chimney Rock charm for a state-to-state charm bracelet we've started for her, rented a carrier for Ben and we were off.

As it turns out, hiking to Chimney Rock is strenuous, especially if you have two babies and haven't hiked in three years - and even moreso if you're a mom of two under two and spent the last two years of your life pregnant and not permitted to exercise!  The trail to the Rock is mostly very steep stairs, which was difficult for Betsy to climb because she is little and not accustomed to so many steps.  Then as we reached the final turn before reaching the Rock, we came across a problem with the carrier - Chris had to crawl up the stairs in order to get past low points hanging over the stairs to avoid bashing Ben's head into a boulder.  All guilt about keeping Hobo in the Jeep while we hiked to the top vanished, as it would have taken us over an hour with him along and possibly may have resulted in an injury or two.  But once we reached our destination, even with the rain and the mist from the Great Smoky Mountains obscuring most of the view, it was all forgotten.

Then it started pouring, so we ran over to the Sky Lounge and Gift Shop to dry off.  We chose to take the elevator back down to the car, where an elderly and friendly attendant named Dave entertained Betsy and helped keep her from having a huge tantrum (as toddlers will do when they are cold, hungry, and overtired).

We asked a park ranger if our ticket was good for the whole day and he told us it was, so we drove down to the Village for lunch.  (We had packed supplies to make grilled cheeses while hiking, but with the cold rain we opted out.)

We parked the Jeep in free parking - there is a parking lot that offers all day parking for $1, but less than a minute's walk away is public parking, next to Duncan's Bar B Que (461 Main Street,Chimney Rock, NC, 28720, USA), a funky shack of a restaurant that bikers from all over the USA frequent.

As we walked in the misting rain, I spotted a sign for Genny's Family Restaurant (451 Main St., Chimney Rock, NC 28720, USA) .  Their marquee said "Kids Under 3 Eat Free", so we chose to eat there. 

Genny's is not a frilly, gourmet eatery.  If you want that, go to Medina's Village Bistro (430 Main Street, Chimney Rock, NC 28720, USA) across the street.  Genny's is closed on Sundays and is a very Christian establishment, but very cozy and friendly as well.  Almost all of the food options are under $10 and they will fill you up.  Chris got a cheeseburger, and I got the Carolina Burger - with chili, coleslaw and chopped onions.  It was delicious, but I only wished it had been a little bigger! 

I enjoyed a blackberry cider, plus a free refill.  The kids each had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with fries - please keep in mind, this is the ONLY free meal Genny's offers, and it only applies with every adult meal purchase of $8.99 or more.

Genny's has a great view of the Broad River and Chimney Rock on the covered back deck.  The restaurant also has a fenced area outside where you can eat with your pets.  At the register, in addition to postcards and other tchotchkes, they offer cobblers, pies, cookies, and candy.  You can get three cookies for $1.50, and a stick of rock candy for 99 cents.

After lunch we headed back to the park, to hike to Hickory Nut Falls, which on sunny days offers amazing views of Hickory Nut Gorge.  But it was still drizzling and gloomy, and the hike, again, was strenuous, full of steep stairways, and took us probably an hour to hike there, and another thirty minutes back.  Still, it was an awesome sight to see the falls so close - they are 404 feet tall!

We'd wanted to hike the Skyline Ridge, which is the highest trail in the park and site of the final scene in the epic film The Last of the Mohicans, but we were tired, the kids were tired, and poor Hobo was still in the Jeep.  The rain was still not letting up, and all we wanted to do was get back to the campground, take a shower, eat some dinner and hit the sack.

That night a huge rainstorm came through the camp.  I woke up in the middle of the night and double-checked the car in case a flash flood came through and we had to leave in a pinch.  I also let one side of our covered tarp down to keep everyone warmer and keep some of the rain out.  I checked on Hobo in the back of the Jeep and he was fine. 

The next morning was gorgeous, of course.  (As it turns out, flash flooding doesn't just "happen" - it occurs when Lake Lure begins to rise and the dam operators need to open the dam to prevent flooding in town.  We would have had a two hour warning and been completely safe!)  We broke camp and I played in the river.  Then we went back to the Village to do some sightseeing and shopping.

Some of the shops to definitely visit are Bubba O'Leary's General Store, Featherheads, Chimney Sweeps, and The Hickory Nut.  ALL shops and restaurants - except Genny's - are open on Sundays.  There were a few shops that we wanted to explore that weren't yet open until we were ready to leave, such as a quaint toy shop that offered local "Grandpa made" toys, called Turning Point Woodcrafts (828-625-9738).

Bubba O'Leary's General Store (385 Main Street, Chimney Rock, NC, 28720, USA) is a riverfront shop connected to Bubba O'Leary's Outdoors Shop.  It has regional goodies as well as items you'd find in any general store; also magnets, toys, shirts, knickknacks and home decor.

Featherheads (398 Main St., Chimney Rock, NC, 28720, USA)  is incense-laden, and a cross between a head shop and a Native American spirit store.  They offer hand-carved figurines made of minerals, rocks, and semi-precious stones; miniature birchwood canoes and tipis, antique marbles, and an antique working Coca-Cola dispenser.

Chimney Sweeps (400 Main St., Chimney Rock, NC 28720, USA) sells mostly tourist trap items, but we loved it because it was the only shop around - including the Park's gift shops - that sold Chimney Rock tee shirts (not just onesies) for small children and babies, for only $4.95.

The Hickory Nut (215 Main St., Chimney Rock, NC 28720, USA)  sells affordable and unique antiques.  It is a large shop, and it also offers live herbs and potted plants in the roadside nursery in its parking lots.  A very sweet, very old Irish Setter will come greet you more often than not when you first enter.

We ate lunch at the Riverwatch Deli (379 Main St., Chimney Rock, NC 28720, USA) .  The menu was small and simple, and the deli only uses Boar's Head meats and cheeses.  Unlimited free refills and a raised back deck with gorgeous views of the Broad River and Chimney Rock made it even better.  Try their potato salad - it's the best we've ever had, with BACON in it!  Again, very few items on the menu were over $10.

Some fun, free things to do with your children in the Village:

• Try to see how many carved wooden bears you can count.

• Explore the Broad River close-up along the Riverwalk.