Bigfoot, spelunking, and waterfalls…YES PLEASE! Fall is here (September 22nd technically) but that calls for day trip adventures and exploring the wonders of my home, North Carolina.
Recently I wrote an article on some 2018 Fall festivals (READ HERE) that North Carolina has decided to head to the mountains to attend the first annual Bigfoot Festival in Marion, NC. The festival which was centered around celebrating this wonderful mythical creature, was held across the town’s Main Street in downtown Marion and was located about 36 miles east of Asheville. We drove about an hour and thirty minutes from Charlotte, NC to the festival and decided to make a day out of exploring the area, which ended up being a smart idea.
Stop 1: The Bigfoot Festival
I won’t lie, this festival was a hot mess. The town certainly was not prepared for the large crowds and they sold out of about everything within forty-five minutes of the festival starting. It was a free event and we arrived exactly at midnight which started. Luckily we were able to get three Bigfoot-themed t-shirts before they were all gone but all the vendors didn’t have a lot to do with Bigfoot and the very few Bigfoot-themed items they did have were pretty much all gone by the time we got to them. (You Can See My Shirt HERE)
Stop 2: Linville Caverns
Only about twenty minutes away from Marion you can find the Linville Caverns. For centuries, the marvels of Linville Caverns were unknown to man until they were found in the early 1800s during a fishing expedition headed by Henry E. Colton. What’s interesting about this is, that the men were fishing and noticed the fish were swimming in and out of what appeared to be rather solid rock, which turned out to be the caverns!
Inside the caverns, it was 52 degrees and stays that way no matter the time of year. We took the thirty-minute tour and were able to see the wonders of nature and learn the history and ecological background of the caverns. After, we hit up the gift shop! We ended up leaving with geodes we could crack our own and finished limestone pieces carved into the shape of eggs and even one as a bunny! We ended up cracking the geodes when we got home with a hammer and I used them to decorate my apartment at the bottom of two mason jar candle holders I purchased from my local dollar store.
Stop 3: Tom’s Creek Falls
For our last stop, we ventured to Tom’s Creek Falls located between Marion and Little Switzerland. This beautiful 80-foot tall waterfall was an easy one-mile round-trip hike and made for a perfect way to end our day. There were only a few people there when we arrived and if you ever find yourself in the area, it is a perfect place to relax, enjoy a picnic, and just appreciate how beautiful our natural wonders are.
One cool thing about these falls is the sparkling rocks. I later found out with some research that this is mica that was once mined here. The plate-like crystals are really pretty to look at and they glisten in the sun.
With Love,
Lex Paige
