Fall in Bryson City

Fall in the North Carolina mountains, in Bryson City, is my favorite time of year. The leaves have just started to change and the morning temperatures are dropping.

My brother and his family visited last weekend and we had a chance to show them around and visit all our favorite places. There are always events and festivals going on downtown and the first thing we did was walk downtown to the Fly Fishing Festival. Bryson City Outdoors had a tent there and Sienna and my nephew Cameron helped out for a bit. (There’s so much great new gear by the way…and BCO has a brand new online store I’d love for you to check out!)

We visited the Bryson City Outdoors store. I love the huge pumpkins that Brett and the team made out of ginormous electrical spools:

There are some crafty people in Bryson City! Check out one of the pumpkins I spotted downtown:

There were several train departures this weekend at the Bryson City train depot. Here’s the newly restored steam engine that just made it’s debut to take people to the Nantahala Gorge and back:

The kids love climbing all over the caboose that sits downtown:

And it’s the perfect photo op:

I hadn’t been to the Heritage Museum in a while so we walked down to the old courthouse where it’s located. They’ve really done an incredible job on it. It’s like stepping back in time and I love all the old photos. The kids had a great time  playing in the old cabin:

Darnell Farms is right down the road and it was full of activity. I love the old red Chevy:

So many different types of pumpkins and gourds to choose from:

The kids just loved playing in the corn crib:

When life gives you pumpkins:

Another cute, goofy pumpkin find:

The kid’s favorite part of the weekend was exploring the Fontana lake bed. The water level is low this time of year because the water has been released from the dam. You can actually walk where you’d be underwater the rest of the year:

It’s so cool to scavenge and look for little treasures:

The leaves are just starting to change. It will happen overnight!

We spotted some bear prints on the lake bed. The bears are scavenging for all the persimmons that are dropping from the trees above:

And nature left us some presents:

I found this piece of plastic on the lake bed…it’s a sign don’t you think?

We didn’t have time to make it to Deep Creek but I hope to do that this week. Here are the leaves starting to change last year:

Island Park is right downtown, although it’s a little hidden so most people don’t know about it. The kids loved playing in the river. We usually take our gold pans. My brother found gold…but it was about half the size of a piece of glitter. We watched a few people fly fish and a couple kayakers training in the rapids:

There’s something magical about this season. The colors, the smells, the sounds, even the lighting! We spent the entire weekend outside. My little nephew Carter helped me plant my fall garden:

Every time he heard the train whistle, which was all day long, he’d light up. He loved running to the edge of our hill to see the train come in. We ran into a lot of train enthusiasts this weekend and it’s no wonder…this old engine is beautiful:

Here’s what the whistle sounds like:

A video posted by Ashley Hackshaw (@lilblueboo) on Jul 25, 2016 at 6:28pm PDT

When the sun goes down it’s time for a campfire and roasting marshmallows. My sister visited with my niece and mother a few weeks ago. We had a chance to see little Leighton roast her first marshmallow:

I stayed up past my bedtime to visit the local brewery with my brother Swen and his wife Karen. It’s just a short walk down the hill and it was fun to switch things up for a change. We were able to get a tour of behind the scenes while we were there.

So much more I’m probably forget to mention…like the chickens?! Yes, the chickens are always a hit for the kids too: