Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Maggie Valley is a lovely little piece of the world located about 45 miles from Asheville, NC. Stretched out along US 19, between I 40 and a bit west of Cherokee, and an easy entry to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Named for a pretty 14 year old mountain girl with long blond hair. Maggie May Setzer Pylant was born in 1890 to the local postmaster, Jack Setzer. During Jack’s post office application process, he found that the names he was submitting had already been taken, so he submitted the names of his three daughters, Cora, Mettie, and Maggie. In 1904, Maggies name was selected, and when told, she burst into tears and ran up the mountain. She married and moved to Texas, where she died in 1979, leaving her name forever in the North Carolina mountains.

Over the years we have visited this area of the Smoky Mountains several times, and have always found it to be extraordinary. The hardwood covered mountains are awesome, and will be a heart stopping sight to see in the fall. We’re established in site F7 at Cross Creek RV Park, a casual, adults only park in Maggie Valley, that is a bit tight to get through, but is very comfortable.

There are no amenities at this park, no bathrooms or showers or woodworking classes, but as we talked to residents, we found that this park is a summer refuge for Floridians escaping the heat, and midwesterners escaping humidity. Maggie Valley is an aging tourist destination and this park is on par with this scenario. The main street through town is lined with 50’s style motels, but strangely, not as many nice restaurants as we would expect, and only one golf course. It’s all a bit dated, but Cross Creek is a very nice rv park. Most residents have been spending time here for years.

We couldn’t resist taking a daytrip over the Smoky Mountain Parkway to Gatlinburg, TN, to catch a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The views just keep on coming!

A couple of thunderstorms kept us on our driving toes…

Gatlinburg has changed a bit since we were last here. More people, more fudge shops, more moonshine distilleries, more people…did I say that already? We had planned to have lunch in G’Burg, but parking was impossible and the restaurants had waiting lines. Not our cup of tea.

We elected to stop on the return trip at a quiet picnic ground. Much more relaxing!

We were fortunate to see some wildlife on our trip.

Back home, we enjoyed the evening while watching storm clouds build over the nearby mountains.

A few minutes later….gone!

Thunderstorms are expected every day this week. We’ll see how that goes.

A quick visit to Uncle Bill’s,

Netted us some tasty jam as well as several homemade cakes and, ok….fudge.

We took a daytrip to Highlands, NC, about 60 miles southwest, to visit with old friends from the West Coast. They were among the first to leave Calipers years ago, and haven’t looked back! It was good to see them and enjoy a nice lunch at the Ugly Dog Tavern.

All in all, we’ve enjoyed our visit to Maggie Valley. It may not be a destination resort, but is certainly a beautifull area and is much cooler that places south. Next stop just down the road in Asheville, North Carolina.