I forgot to mention in the first vacation post that there was quite a bit of fishing done yesterday evening.  We have instructions from the property owners to catch as many Bluegill and Crappie fish as we can because they eat up all the minnows and it makes it harder to catch nice sized trout and bass.  So between Rick, Kelsey and Griffin (who mostly just helped) we hauled in 12 fish!  I was feeling bad about keeping fish we won’t eat, but then this morning we woke to find half of our take was gone – the late-night snacks of some local turtles and raccoons, no doubt.  I don’t feel as bad if they’re feeding the food chain as I would if we were just throwing them in the woods. 

So, today was our “down-time” day, right?  I believe I made that pretty clear in my last post.  Well, you know about well-laid plans and all that, I’m sure.

This morning I figured Mom and I might get up and go down the road a few miles to the little village of Tryon to investigate some antique shops and an architectural salvage place we saw as we drove around yesterday.  That way, the kids could swim and the hubby could do whatever hubby wanted to do… but instead, we all piled into the van and headed to Tryon.

We stopped at a fantastic shop called Simply Irresistible that was next to a metal forging business.  The shop was run by a woman who paints tiles and other items, and she features local artists as well – many of whom recycle and repurpose trash to create their pieces.  I was totally inspired!  The girls were busy outside taking pictures of some of the things lying around in the yard, and got some great shots.

We ate lunch at a pizza place that the owners of the lake house recommended and it was great.  Aside from some teenaged drama, we got through it pretty well and had some yummy leftovers to show for it.

Then, this afternoon (still a “down-time” day, remember) we thought we’d take a short drive northwest to some waterfalls we found online.  It was close to 4pm by the time we got on the road… a little later than I would have planned… but this was the day to have no plans, so I guess it worked.  The kids waded in a great swimming hole at Hooker Falls.  Funny how that name reminds me of the Motel 6 in south Nashville… Then we hiked for-EVER up to the rest of the falls.  It was gorgeous!  Lucky for us, the weather was cooperating nicely.  The forest was thick and green with native hydrangeas and rhododendrons everywhere. 

I have to say here that Griffin was a truly big boy today!  He ate like a horse at lunch, then on our hike he only gave out at the very end.  Mommy was happy to pack him out at that point. I needed to work off that pizza.

Tomorrow we hit the gem mines for our first of two visits.  I’m sure I’ll have tales of happy hijinx to share tomorrow evening… and a dollar amount of the value of our haul.  Oh, and we have that lottery ticket still sitting in the car that’s worth $25 Million…