smoky mountains
 

We will be flying into Spartanburg-Greenville South Carolina next Thursday to pick up a car we bought. We live in Florida but would love to drive into the mountains to spend Friday afternoon and evening in a lodge before heading back the next day. If I'm not being overly optimistic, I'm thinking of up to a 3 or 4 hour drive to get there from s.c. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay? Would love to arrive and enjoy nature a few hours until sunset, just walking around and perhaps a bit the next morning before heading back home to the wonderful but flat state of Florida! Thanks for any suggestions you can give me!

Head about an hour and a half up the road to Asheville and enjoy the area around it. Be sure to have a drink in the lobby of the Grove Park Inn. You may even want to check to see if they have any specials for a Thursday night. They often have a midweek special. Check their website.

Thanks for your suggestion, will get on the internet and check out the specials!

Yes...definitely experience the Grove Park Inn...even if you stay somewhere else. Go there in the morning and have coffee sitting on the rocking chairs overlooking the golf course and mountains - soooooo relaxing!

If it isn't too late and you want a real lodge experience, drive over to Lake Rabun and stay at the old Lake Rabun Hotel just across from the lake. It's a wonderful old place that goes way back in time but have recently been refurbished by its new owners without losing any of its woodsy ambience. I'm sure you could find contact info by googling the name of the hotel.

Staying there was the highlight of a few of my trips through north Georgia. I hope you give it a try.

Lake Rabun looks like just the type of rustic, close-to-nature but comfortable hideaway we're looking for. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

Good call, Wayne. That's my neck of the woods and I didn't even think of it. Revisited it during the holiday tour of homes and celebrated New Years Eve there - and still didn't think of it.

You can eat/drink there, but fabulous pizza is just steps across the road at Louie's on the Lake. If you have time, check into renting a boat at Hall's Boathouse. If you want a short hike (more of a walk) to a wonderful waterfall ask for directions to Minnehaha Falls. It's just down the road a piece.

It won't be a bad drive from Greenville, and then it will be a straight shot down 441 to 365 to 85 to Atlanta en route to "home".

If you have more time than you think I have suggestions for shopping and eating in Clayton - just up the road.