92. Transylvania County -- Brevard -- 3/22/08

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania_County%2C_NC

"Tronn-sul-VON-ya!" I know what you're thinking. Dracula. No matter how much I look, I haven't been able to find him. But that's probably because Dracula isn't from NC. I know, bummer. He can't claim citizenship with the likes of Michael Jordan, Richard Petty, Andrew Johnson/Andrew Jackson/James K. Polk, Ava Gardner, Andy Griffith, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk or even Fantasia, Chris Daughtry or fellow courthouse chaser Kellie Pickler (see the Stanly County post). It would be really cool to have your own blood sucking vampire to keep those annoying friends away. You'll have to go to Romania to find the real Transylvanian Dracula. But he's probably not there, either (he's FAKE). Bats are cool, though.

Some of my best memories of nature in NC come from this seemingly out-of-the-way county in NC. It's known for having the most waterfalls in NC, including my and most everyone's favorite, Looking Glass Falls. I grew up coming to Black Mountain (Buncombe County) to visit my grandparents, and almost every time we came up, we would drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. The BRP is definitely one of my favorite places in NC (and yes, even in VA). The overlooks are amazing, the hiking is great, and the fact that every time I'm on it, I lose track of time. I still can't tell you how far time-wise it is from Black Mountain to the Pisgah Inn, and I've driven it a hundred times.

The BRP winds down and criss-crosses county lines for a while. In Transylvania County, after passing through 9 tunnels from Asheville, you come across the Pisgah Inn. In the dining room, you can eat and look out over the valley. It's awesome. You can also pick up the Mountains-to-Sea Trail nearby...one day I'm going to hike this (maybe).

Just past the Pisgah Inn, is Frying Pan Mountain, where you can hike up to the fire tower. I have great memories of doing this with my family and grandfather. This area is in the Pisgah National Forest. The Pisgah National Forest was land that the Vanderbilts sold to the state--$5/acre for 89,000 acres (now down to ~8,000 acres). The Vanderbilts built the Biltmore Estate near Asheville and created the first school of forestry in the US, which helped lead to the creation of the US Forest Service.

Then, after Frying Pan Mountain, you come across US 276. This is the road I tell everyone to drive. On it, you follow the Davidson River (tubing is popular here) past Sliding Rock (it's quite an adventure in cold water!) and Looking Glass Falls, as well as Pink Beds, and just crazy winding roads.

When you emerge from the forest, you end up in the county seat of Brevard.

When I did the western-most counties in NC with Brian and Benji, I asked Brian if we could grab Transylvania on the way back to the Triangle. He looked at me for a while, and just said, "No." If you find yourself in Brevard, you either purposely went there, or you're helplessly lost. It's definitely tucked into the mountains, but it's a beautiful town.

I saved this county specifically so that I could get a picture of a courthouse with my dad. My Mom's in the Buncombe County picture, and my brother's in the Alexander and Caldwell County pics. Somehow, my dad had gotten out of getting his picture taken. He didn't get out of it so easily this time! Our whole family packed into the car and we headed down the Parkway and 276 to our friend, Brevard, after stopping to see Looking Glass Falls.

I hadn't been to Brevard in a while. As an elementary schooler, my parents would drive down to Brevard Music Center and say, wouldn't it be great to come to music camp here when you learn how to play an instrument? I wasn't into band camp at 10, or camp at all. But then I ended up at ECU Band Camp when I go older. I mean, I play trombone and all, but I ain't all that. I've just heard Brevard Music kids are pretty darn good.

When we got to Brevard, my mom said, "Brevard and Brevard College are famous for its white squirrels." I thought she was joking. The moment we pulled up to the courthouse, what did we see? A white squirrel climbing all over my courthouse! I had seen an white squirrel once near Lake Norman, but an area "famous" for it? No way. Next to the courthouse was the White Squirrel Shoppe. On the other side of the courthouse is a gazebo with a white squirrel weather vane. Oh yes, they like their white squirrels here.

Not only that, but they apparently like animals in Brevard in general. The yard of the courthouse has a sculpture of a red wolf (across the street from the Red Wolf Gallery...hmmm...a connection?) and a moose. And a canon. Oh, canon's aren't animals. The Transylvania County Humane Society operates a thrift store on the main drag, and one store front had REAL doggies in the window (it wasn't a pet store), and another non-pet store had a REAL cat in the window (sorry, no link for a song about cats in the window). So, you may not be able to find the REAL Dracula in Brevard in Transylvania, but you can find REAL animals and (fake ones). I think I need to go put Dracula in there somewhere...hmm...

It was really hard finding a spot to rest the camera to take a group shot. If you haven't noticed, over the course of the last bunch-or-so pictures, I've found it best to set the camera's timer and take a picture that way. So here, I had to settle for a road cone that was sitting in front of a store front door. It got a pretty artsy dark-person-bright-courthouse shot (except my mom, who can be seen in the sunlight). Hey, it counts...it's me in front of the courthouse!

The courthouse is the only one I've seen so far that is kinda similar to the one in Martin County. This courthouse has been through some renovations over the years, and looks pretty good, with nice landscaping. According to a plaque, the town helped to buy the clock on the belltower in 1984. There's even a time capsule buried on the properties. Towns get bonus points for having time capsules, and even MORE bonus points if they'll be opened in my lifetime. This one will be opened in 2076, which may be opened in my lifetime if I can almost be a centenarian.

The funniest thing about the courthouse is around back. There's a park in the small back parking lot that is very pretty and also small. It servess more like a quaint garden of the courthouse than a "park". Nonetheless, it's named Walker Park. As you enter the park from the courthouse, mind you, there's a sign that says, "Registered Sex Offenders are not allowed to enter into or on any public park, recreation facility, or child care facility owned by Transylvania County. Violators are subject to a fine of not less than $500 per offense and/or 30 days in jail." Sounds simple enough, and makes sense. However, if you walk back over to the courthouse, there's an area where people must be inclined to take smoke breaks. There's a sign there that reads, "No smoking in this area. Designated smoking area is WALKER PARK." So, in other words, if you are a registered sex offender, you're not allowed to smoke on the grounds of the courthouse at all. It sounds like there's an idea on how to cease the general public from smoking in public area somewhere in that paradox.

Another interesting tidbit about the courthouse is that there's a war monument. Charles, there's a war monument everywhere. You're right, intelligent one. But upon closer examination, there's a new section on it. Do you know what it is? No? Lemme tell you. We're used to seeing Vietnam, WWI, WWII, Korea, etc. Charlie Lane Bagwell was a Transylvania County resident who perished during the "Global War On Terror." I am very thankful for his service to our country, and I'm very sorry to hear of his loss. It's very humbling to know the reason for his death. The Civil War has many names, like The War Between the States and the War of Northern Aggression. What will we end up calling this current conflict the US is involved in? It'll be interesting to find out. WWI was known as the The Great War until WWII broke out. Hmm...

Downtown Brevard probably uses downtown buildings with window fronts better than any town in NC I've seen. Besides putting random animals in the windows, many places advertise well in them, and some even had TVs showing sporting events and stuff. It's really well done.

My dad used to stay with his grandmother on the main street with the courthouse growing up. That house used to sit where the Water Oak Suites now sits. He remembers looking through the blinds at the lights at the filling station across the street when he was in bed at night. The filling station is still there, but now it's being renovated into an adapted reuse building for something. My dad said he and my uncle would shoot rocks at bats with slingshots. He said he didn't hit any, but the bats would go after the rocks. Maybe my dad scared Dracula off? Crazy.

On the way to grab some dinner, we drove through Brevard College. It has a pretty cool stone wall around it. On one side of the driveway, I saw a bunch of white squirrels. On the other, a bunch of grey squirrels. I said, hey, we can't have discrimination in the squirrel world. But then I noticed that in fact, there were a good mix of squirrels on either side of the road. I like harmony.

We were all hungry for some Chinese food. So, we stopped at Twin Dragons. In Asheville, there's the Asiana Restaurant similar to this one. These Chinese places are ENORMOUS. They have Mongolian grills, sushi bars, and a HUGE bunch of dining rooms. It's Chinese food chaos. But I love it.

Here I am, in a Twin Dragons restaurant in the outskirts of Brevard, and I'm walking to the bathroom to wash my hands. All of a sudden, I hear, CHARLES?!?! I stopped to look, and I'll be darned if it's not two friends of mine from high school in Fayetteville that I haven't seen since 2001. Earlier in the day, my brother and I were playing disc golf in Black Mountain, and the person in front of Kirk and me happened to be one of Kirk's friends from NC State he hadn't seen in a few years. It was definitely crazy. Back to Nancy and Monica, they both have always been fun people, and we caught up. It was pretty awesome. This is why I love courthouse chasing.

After that, we headed back to Buncombe County to watch UNC beat Mount St. Mary's in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Tivo. It rocked.