Our third day involved a visit to the adorable town of Sylva, NC. We had planned to go hiking that morning, but didn't feel comfortable at the hiking location with the kids, so we went to this little town instead, and we loved it! It had a great old courthouse at the top of a hill that looked down over Main Street. And the Main Street was great! Lots of little shops, restaurants and breweries. For how little the town was they had FOUR breweries! We could have spent all day there but had to get back to the cabin for the kids' nap.
After nap, we went for an easy hike on the Oconaluftee River Trail. There was a historic old farm at the entrance that was fun to walk through. This trail has a high chance of seeing elk and it didn't disappoint. We saw one laying down in the trees! This hike was super easy to do with the kids and I highly recommend it. Fritz was on the lookout for bears the whole time with his little monocular and would announce "No bears!" to us every couple of minutes while hiking. It was super sweet!
The fourth day we visited Ben's cousin and family. We toured his farm and tried some delicious food from their restaurant. If you're in North Carolina, make sure to stop by the Honey Hog in Falston for some great BBQ! You have to order some cheese curds with your meal and finish it off with some cheesecake!
Our last day was another hiking day. The trail we planned to go on was closed, so instead we ended up at the Kephart Prong Trail and I am so glad we did. The views of the river were amazing. This was another relatively easy hike that the kids enjoyed. We had a picnic in the grass once we got back to the car. After eating, we followed a little path that lead back down to the water and a little sandy area. Once we got down there, a bunch of little purple butterflies flew up in the area. It was magical and we named it Butterfly Beach. The kids loved it!
Then we got back in the car and the kids instantly fell asleep. We didn't have any plans so we decided to drive to Cade's Cove. The drive out there is very picturesque, but I'd say give yourself lots of time to spend in Cade's Cove. We were very rushed so I felt like we didn't get to enjoy it to the fullest. After that we drove into Gatlinburg since it is right by Cade's Cove. Ben had never been so I thought he might like to see it. The downtown area is very touristy and not really our jam though. We stopped at a donut shop for a pre-dinner snack and then headed back to the cabin. We caught some breathtaking sunsets on the way back to the cabin!
The next day we headed back home and got on the road pretty early. We had smooth sailing that day and stopped in Champaign, IL overnight. The second day was only a 5 hour drive but it felt like 25 hours. I swear it was the worst part of the whole trip. However, we did stop in Galesburg and got breakfast at THE BEST little bakery! It's called the Carriage House Bakery and it's in downtown Galesburg. We got almost everything and NOTHING disappointed. I bake a lot, so I am pretty judgmental of baked goods, but I'm telling you everything we ate would have gotten a Paul Hollywood handshake ;)
So that's that! We really loved our time in North Carolina and totally recommend for a fun family vacation!
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