It has been months since the car club was able to go for a drive, so little wonder that the one on a warm Saturday in March was such a hit. The warmer weather of the past few weeks has made everyone antsy to get back on the road. So, a drive was planned, and we hoped for a nice day. We met at 10:30 on Saturday morning for the first drive of the season with more than a dozen cars.
Rain came down overnight, and the parking area had some puddles, but we came out hoping for a nice morning.
We were off to a nice drive through east Henderson county. Sometimes a stray car got in line, but mostly we had the roads to ourselves. This time of year is preseason for tourists, and most of the Florida folks haven’t returned for the summer.
Some of the sheltered valley areas are greening up. We passed by several apple orchards, and I was happy to see that they were still dormant, no blooms yet. Which means the hard freeze last week might not have done much damage.
Arriving at the restaurant in Lake Lure called Larkins on the Lake, we mostly parked together, with a few on the other side of the restaurant.
The food here was really good. I had a Salmon BLT, which was a lovely grilled salmon filet sandwich with applewood smoked bacon, fresh lettuce and tomato, and a spicy aoli. Yum! Looking out the window on the porch where we were having our lunch was a beautiful lake view.
Our next stop of the day, after another nice drive on some back country roads, was Tryon. We stopped here for dessert. Tryon has a charming, small downtown area of shops and parks. There is an ice cream and coffee bar here that is fun. While some of the club stopped there, I went next door to the handmade chocolate shop for a dark chocolate truffle.
There were little beds of daffodils in bloom all down the main street.
The Tryon Toy Horse is a sight to see, a symbol for the town. Tryon is also the home of FENCE, the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center. They do horse riding events several times a year. We have been there in the past for a dressage competition that a friend was in.
Back on the road after a stroll through Tryon, we went back another route through the southwestern part of Polk and Henderson counties, more mountains to go around. The orange-rusty color you see in the trees in this picture are actually maple tree flowers.
But higher up, the trees are still in winter mode.
We’ll see how the flowers do in the coming weeks. Soon, everything will begin to green up and the azaleas should begin their show.
But any day driving in the mountains is a good day! What did you do over the weekend?
Sharing
From My Carolina Home 
looks like fun and such a pretty area – you can tell how beautiful it will be in just a few short weeks when all starts to bloom
Yesterday was a very nice day. What a nice drive. I am glad you enjoyed it
What a beautiful area to drive through! Love the Tryon horse!! Truffles made the trip fun I bet! My day was full of morning sewing and afternoon and evening play with a grandchild!
Once again some great photo’s to look at and what a nice area you live in. I’m busy sewing taggies for a charity stall nice month.
I’ve never been to Tryon and have only passed Lake Lure while driving. The Carolinas have beautiful scenery. I live in York, SC and visit NC regularly.
I enjoyed the virtual drive thru your pics. Yes, there are some much needed signs of spring if you look closely. I had some out of town family over for dinner last night, so yesterday was cooking, today, sewing. I had a baked potato bar with a million toppings, plus chili, coleslaw etc. Tasty!!
Such a beautiful area to live and drive in. Living in the flatlands give us an appreciation for the beauty of the mountains that may be a bit different than others.
Lovely open roads and even bare trees have their own beauty. What a wonderful outing, meal at one place, desert at another, looks like you all had such a great fine day.
Thank you for another great touring day and photos! It showered yet again all day yesterday and more today, so I’ve been stitching up pet crate liners for our local humane society from leftover scraps. Made a big dent in that pile! :o)
What a fun drive and exquisite scenery!! We do that here in NW Arkansas on back roads (dirt) with our side by side ATVs and 4 wheelers. Two weeks ago, we did a “ride” with 15 people and 8 vehicles to Oark AR to a general store/cafe that has been in continuous operation for over a hundred years. Wonderful huge hamburgers, too. America is full of sites and fun places to visit. Doesn’t it make you proud to be an American??!!!!!
I enjoyed your scenic ride. We drove through the gorge today on I-40, for once not going anywhere. John noticed lots of waterfalls when he came through yesterday, so he drove me just over the Tennessee border and back to see them. We never noticed them before, either because we were hurrying to NY and returning or because it rained hard yesterday.
Holy cow! What terrific cars! My husband will drool all over my keyboard. Do you belong to a car club? Too much snow and slush in Buffalo to see any terrific cars out. My husband’s dream is to visit the Lane Auto Museum in Nashville and drive a car. We love old quirky cars and had a number of them in the past. I still drive a standard.
I looked up Lake Lure and saw it is near Asheville. My sister lives in Inman, SC which doesn’t look too far. It has been a lot of years since I visited her as it is a long drive. We were hoping to drive down in May. Just a gorgeous area from your photos.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful day out. We often see classic cars drive past our house here. Very nice to see the winter slowly easing over your way.
Thanks for letting us share your day – it was a lot of vicarious fun! I enjoyed seeing some of the things you saw and the towns are charming and the scenery lovely – especially enjoyed the toy horse and history of it. Around here, there’s always wash and ironing on the weekend when my husband comes home, plus making chicken soup from last Sunday’s roast chicken, but I did cut some potholders out of a remnant of prequilted fabric so felt like I was moving the needle on my backlog of projects a tiny little bit…
I didn’t do anything that relaxing or exciting. I need to plan an outing before long. I need to just get away for the day. Thank you for sharing the wonderful pictures. Tryon looks like a town to check out!
Looks like fun! I need to get up to Tryon soon. Our azaleas had started blooming and then the flowers got hit by the frost 😦
Thank you for sharing the lovely outing.went for walk around neighborhood and saw crocus,daffodils and early ( tiny ) tulips. Shared blogg with husband …first thing he said was ” a SunbeamTiger! “. Then he preceded to tell me how he almost bought one with a Chrysler motor back in mid 60’s. He was curious on what you were driving/ riding in??
Looks like a fun day out. Great cars, lovely views, lots of friends and yummy food. What could be better.
Oh what fun – and what a pretty area! Lake Lure sounded familiar to me because I think HGTV had a dream house there! Thanks for sharing your day with us at this months’ Take Me Away Party! Enjoy your weekend!
Shelley
Looks like a perfect day.My question, “only one chocolate truffle?”
Impossible for me. Keep up the lovely stories & pictures.
Mary Sloan