North Carolina Day 3

Today we are leaving the camp site to explore downtown Waynesville. It wasn't that far of a drive and Wayne says he is beginning to understand the road system here. I am glad I'm not driving because we would be lost for sure. I am not finding the roads to be easy to learn. To get anywhere you have to take highways it seams. 

Waynesville is a charming town, not very large, but is very classy. The streets and store fronts take on a feeling of yesterday with old day charm. It felt clean and freshly painted. We were greeted everywhere we went. The town is dotted with various shops, cafes, art galleries, and restaurants. 

Here's a beautiful painting that's on the Downtown Waynesville website that just says it all:

We didn't have a lot of time to spend here, but we did manage to get into some of the shops. We went to a toy store called Fun Things Etc. and found some gifts for my niece to bring home with us. We picked up a stuffed cat and a harmonica. The store had so many toys it made me want to be a kid. 

After shopping we stopped for lunch on Main St at the Market Square Shops. Unfortunately we didn't have time to look through the shops here, but eating in this converted bank was a terrific experience. When you look up toward the ceiling, you could see the shops. They were on different balcony level as you can see in the picture. 

I mentioned before that this trip is exploratory to decide if it's a place my husband and I would like to relocate to in the future. In that pursuit we met with a real estate agent to get an idea of the market and what would be available for us to live in for our price range. She showed us a few properties and we also looked at some houses on our own. It looks like we would be able to find decent housing.

The only thing that worries me about moving to North Carolina at this point is the grocery shopping. I was not very happy about shopping at Ingles grocery. Everywhere we went to has the same type of grocery store. One alternative we discovered was a Fresh Market to get fruit, veggies and my specialty items. 

After our long day of travel, we settled on dinner at Bogart's Restaurant and Tavern. There was a crowd and we waited for a long time to be seated. The place had a rustic appearance like a cattle ranch. The food was great. The atmosphere was very relaxing. 

Wayne and I returned to cabin after dinner. We just enjoyed our surroundings and the fresh air by sitting outside for awhile before going to bed.