Experience the finest among North Carolina Vacation Rentals in Highlands NC at The Lakehouse on Lake Glenville in Cashiers

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, a local tradition since 1948, showcases the work of the best of the best craftspeople in the Appalachian region. Craft Guild members are artists living in the mountain counties of 9 states from Maryland to Alabama. Their work is diverse: crafts rooted in Appalachian traditions are displayed along with the work of contemporary artists.

In addition to showing the work of over 200 craftspeople, the Fair also features craft demonstrations and local musicians performing traditional mountain music. This year’s event takes place July 21 – 24th at the Asheville Civic Center, 87 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC, nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains and long recognized as an arts and crafts destination, provides a perfect backdrop for the Craft Fair and is a picturesque 90-minute drive from Lake Glenville and Cashiers.

                                                         The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design in nearby Hendersonville, just a short distance from the Lakehouse at Katie Camp, has a woolen installation, a part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, recently displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Australian mathematician sisters, Margaret and Christine Wertheim, applied mutated algorithms to the art of crochet to create the lifelike coral reef to raise awareness about the decline of the world’s living coral. Crafters from around the world, including crochet groups in Western North Carolina, have joined the Wertheim sisters’ project to create satellite reefs. The Asheville Reef, created by Western North Carolina crafters is on display through August 12.

More than just a hike, this easy two-mile trek is a journey back to a time when vast forests were untouched by human hands. Located in the largest tract of virgin hardwoods east of the Mississippi, it inspired soldier-poet Joyce Kilmer to pen “Trees” – “I think I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree…”

The trail features two loops – the 1.25 -mile lower loop and the .75-mile upper loop, which showcases the largest trees in the forest. Both loops converge at the Jouyce Kilmer Memorial. Allow 1-2 hours for the hike at a casual pace. For more aggressive hikers, it should take an hour. This hike is highly recommended for novices or families with young children. Weekdays are a good choice as weekends can be crowded.

Joyce Kilmer National Recreation Trail outside of Robbvinsville, NC is about a 2-hour drive from the Lakehouse at Katie Camp. So pack a picnic lunch and lots of cold drinks and find a picnic spot along the way!

No need to travel to the tropics to fly through a rain forest. The first Canopy Tour in the North Carolina Smokies is now as close as the Nantahala Gorge. The three-hour “glide and slide” experience that simulates flying is fueled by gravity and a gradual elevation change. More than just a zip-line ride (as if that weren’t enough), it takes you through multiple ecosystems, over hemlocks and into hardwood treetops. The route takes you above the forest floor which is blanketed with mountain laurel, dogwood, fern, rhododendron, flame azalea, wild magnolia and many other native plants. Reservations are through Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours.

Complete your “tropical travel” day when you return to the Lakehouse at Katie Camp with a healthy and delicious dinner featuring Tropical Grilled Sea Bass. (Fresh seafood and produce is available daily from the Produce Stand at the crossroads in Cashiers.

Recipe: Tropical Grilled Sea Bass    Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 cup 1/4-inch pieces peeled, cored pineapple
3/4 cup 1/4-inch pieces peeled, pitted mango
2/3 cup 1/4-inch pieces red bell pepper
1/2 cup 1/4-inch pieces seeded tomato
1/3 cup 1/4-inch pieces seeded English hothouse cucumber
1/3 cup 1/4-inch pieces red onion
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeño chili
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6 6-ounce sea bass fillets
Olive oil

Preparation:
Combine first 10 ingredients in medium bowl; toss to blend. Season salsa with salt. Chill to blend flavors at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours, tossing occasionally.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush fish with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates. Top with salsa and serve.

The Brevard Music Center celebrates its 75th music festival season this year with 18 orchestra programs, 5 opera productions and dozens of chamber music and solo recitals in a casual, accessible setting. The long list of globally recognized musical guests range from cellist to Yo-Yo Ma to Swiss conductor Matthias Bamert to renowned American Songbook singer Michael Feinstein.

This year’s six-week festival schedule (June 4 – August 7), is perhaps the Center’s most ambitious yet, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, requiring a woman’s chorus, children’s chorus and a vast array of wind, percussion and brass instruments all under the direction of Keith Lockhart who is also conductor of the Boston Pops and back for his fourth season as artistic director of the BMC.

Among the season’s favorite returning programs is the Patriotic Pops concert July 3, and for a fundraiser on August 1, the schedule reaches into American popular song with celebrated singer Michael Feinstein performing “The Sinatra Project”.

Performances are held on the campus of Brevard College in a venue that combines concert hall acoustics with alfresco features such as lawn seating. It’s very informal, very casual. Nobody dresses up except for the musicians as you listen to music in fresh mountain air and under the stars. www.brevardmusic.org. 888-384-8682.

The drive to Brevard from the Lakehouse at Katie Camp winds east along Route 64 past waterfalls, golf courses and Lake Toxaway. Plan to stop along the way fora pre-concert dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Brown Trout Mountain Grille, situated in an old train depot. Call ahead for reservations. 828-877-3474.

The Cashiers Historical Society presents an exhibit featuring the work of renowned photographer Tim Barnwell a the Zachary-Tolbert House from 1 – 3 pm on Saturday, June 25th.

Tim Barnwell is a commercial and fine art photographer based in Asheville, North Carolina. His career has spanned over 25 years as both a professional photographer and a photography instructor, including eight years as executive director of the nationally recognized school, Appalachian Photographic Workshops (1980-1988).

His images have been widely published, appearing in dozens of magazines including Time, Newsweek, Southern Accents, House Beautiful, American Craft, Outdoor Photographer, Sky and Telescope, US Air, Blue Ridge Country, U.S. News and World Report, Billboard, Travel South, American Style, Black & White Magazine, LensWork and National Parks.

The Zachary-Tolbert House is located on Highway 107, 2 miles south of the Cashiers Crossroads (intersection of Highway 107 and 64), just a short drive from the Lakehouse at Katie Camp.

Ever wonder why some bicycles are made with as many as 27 gears? The answer can be summed up in two words – North Carolina.

With a huge variety of terrain, no matter what kind of cyclist you are, the state is a cyclist’s dream. A recently published ranking of the 10 best bike trails – from flat, serene and easy 10th gear to steep, perilous and possibly heart attack inducing 1st gear highlights, in 3rd gear, the Cashiers Tour.

This route is relatively short (10 miles), but packs a major thigh burning and visual wallop. To begin with, Cashiers happens to be perched atop a plateau which is encircled by the Nantahala National Forest, providing the area with awe-inspiring vistas at virtually every turn.

Judi Lawson Wallace, author of Short Bike Rides in North Carolina, describes the sights in the area this way: “Cashiers’ location on the Eastern Continental Divide at 3,487 feet, combined with the number of rivers flowing through the area, gives it many natural wonders at which to marvel…It has tall mountain peaks, deep valleys, many waterfalls, lush forests and mountain plants and a serene setting.”

Start your ride at Cashiers Commons on US 64, turn right when you get to NC 107 and get ready for heart-pounding climbs, hairpin turns and one of the most inspiring rides you will find anywhere. (Complete directions are found in Wallace’s book).

After completing your ride, relax with a cool beverage overlooking Lake Glenville at our vacation rental, the Lakehouse at Katie Camp.

Gather a group of friends or family and celebrate the New Year at the Lakehouse at Katie Camp.

Tips for serving champagne and sparkling wine:

• Smaller, more numerous bubbles usually indicate a better wine. Better wines also generally have bubbles that last longer.
• Champagne should be served totally chilled. An hour and a half in the refrigerator should do it. If you forget to chill the champagne, avoid placing it in the freezer; it can freeze in 15 minutes and explode. A better quick chill method is to put the bottle in a bucket of ice and water for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Champagne should be served in flutes or tulip-shaped glasses. The wine loses less of its bubbles when poured into these glasses.
• Champagne should be consumed as soon as it is purchased. It may be stored for up to three years in some cases, but will not improve with age.
• Champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. Domestic “champagne” is actually sparkling wine. 

The giving of gifts can be stressful, expensive and time-consuming for the giver – and too often the Christmas gifts are long forgotten once the holidays pass. Giving an experience, however, is a more thoughtful gift idea that will make lasting memories for friends and family. A stay at the Lakehouse at Katie Camp is one such gift that encourages the recipient to relax, spend more time with family or friends and really enjoy the natural surroundings, and is sure to provide memories for many years to come.

12/03, 12/04, 12/06, 12/11.  I love a parade and if you do too there are lots of opportunities to enjoy a traditional small town parade as many of the villages that surround Lake Glenville host their Christmas parades. These annual events are populated by local high school bands, home-made “floats” towed by farm tractors and riders large and small mounted on steeds of many varieties. Waynesville, Brevard, Hendersonville and Cashiers each have a parade.