October 30, 2010 - Saturday

Everywhere you look in
Maggie Valley you see "these people"
sitting on bales of hay!  100's of them!

     We got up to a cold morning with a heavy frost.  We drank our coffee and headed out to Cherokee, NC.  After passing through Maggie Valley, NC we drove a beautiful drive up, up, up the mountain with so many twists and turns.  The road was good but it was a 2 lane highway with no pull offs.  Suddenly we were headed down, down, down with many more twists and turns. 

     We entered the Cherokee Reservations about midway down the mountain.  From the direction that we came into town after just a few homes, the first big thing was the Casino and a huge parking garage that is being worked on.  There was construction with flagmen working even on Saturday!  Once you get to the other side of the Casino you come to more parking for the Casino.

      We headed through town to the Museum.  We started our tour with a film and then through all the exhibits.  Pictures in the museum didn't turn out well - I guess it was the lighting.   We then entered an art gallery with an exhibit of modern Native American art - interesting but very pricey!  the tour ended in the gift shop.  It was weird - nobody was friendly.  Not a single person said "Hi".  It was like there was a battle going on - we want you here to get your money and how dare you come to our place!                        

   
   






 One of the fun parts of Cherokee was the fact that there were bears statues.  Everyone had been painted differently.  So we went on a "Bear Hunt"!  We were able to get quite a few pictures- which says quite a bit because there are only 2 lanes with sooo much traffic.

     We ate at Newfound Lodge right on the main street.  The real reason  was the sign for "Fresh Mountain Trout" which Sam ordered.  The fish was very good - breaded with panko so light and crunchy with a good mild taste.  I opted for the buffet and had salads and fried chicken. 
 
     After eating we drove to "BearMeat Indian Den" which was just outside of Cherokee.  Interesting place to look around.  They have a stuffed immature Bald Eagle.  It died when it got caught in electric wires and was gifted to the owners of BearMeat.  There was a plaque explaining where it came from and the fact that it was not for sale.  It also explained that the eagle will be passed down in the family according to their traditions.

     My find at BearMeat was frog jam and moonshine jam.  They also had toe jam but I just couldn't do it!  I know I can make moonshine jam but I'm not sure about frog!  (It's a blend of fruit but fig and tangerine are the main fruits.)  I also got Corn Beads which are tear shaped seeds that are gray.  They are used in jewelry and medallions and are said to represent the Trail of Tears.

     When we drove back through Maggie Valley we saw a bead shop called "Beadstro".  Of course I had to stop!  I also noticed that they sold gourmet coffee - which turned out to be the same coffee that we have in the RV made in the Keurig coffeemaker.  They were charging $2.

a cup!  It was a tiny bead shop but had some beads I hadn't seen before.  I got some turquoise sugar beads.

     We then headed back to the RV and relaxed for the night.


            Hope you enjoy the "Trophies" from our Bear Hunt!