Last Day

 April 25th

This morning we did some last minute site-seeing and checked out some of the local shops.  Later in the afternoon we packed and relaxed.  Tomorrow will be a long day in the car.

Before getting to our first destination we saw more elk.  This time they were all bulls of varying ages.

Don't worry, I wasn't the driver.
This is from the back seat.



We spent some time walking around a beautiful park on an island in Cherokee. 








There is a quest to find as many bear statues as you can in Cherokee.  I snapped some pictures going through, there are some I missed.



This painting is from a map dated 1838.









The Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Mountain Farm Museum were our next stop.  The visitor center had lots of history about the Smoky Mountains.  One neat thing I kind of learned was how apples could be dried.  Apparently they put cut apples in a basket in a bucket with a red hot ax.  As the ax cools, the apples dry.  Pretty neat.  There were park service people demonstrating broom making and black smithing at the farm museum. 






Hinges made from horseshoes.

Hogs

Top floor of barn.

Chickens 



Bird nests out of gourds?

Brooms




Other than shopping, the Mingus Mill was our last stop.  The inside of the building was closed, but we could walk around the outside.  Mills are another old thing that I find interesting.  This one could use some maintenance.  








Just the water flowing down to the mill.




☮

Continued to read: No Time Like the Past, by Jodi Taylor.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!


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