[piano intro] Next on North Carolina Weekend, join us from the mountains for a weekend in Transylvania County.

We'll explore waterfalls, luxury inns, fine dining, craft beer, and even look for a white squirrel.

Coming up next.

Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] ♪ Welcome to North Carolina Weekend, everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week, we are exploring Transylvania County and the charming mountain town of Brevard.

There's so much to see and do here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I can't wait to get started.

One gateway to this area is Gorgeous State Park, and this is their brand new visitor center.

Isn't it spectacular?

Let's check it out.

- It is a LEED certified gold building, which means it adheres to the strictest of sustainability standards, richness of design.

So its design, its floor plan, its flow was all very well considered with the user experience.

So it's a wonderful building for visitors to come and really get an experience of the park, and it's a great, great launch point to experience Gorgeous State Park.

- One of the highlights of Gorgeous State Park is the trail to Rainbow Falls.

- So although Rainbow Falls is in Pisgah National Forest, the only footpath and trail is from here inside Gorgeous State Park.

It is one of the most popular destinations for our visitors.

[upbeat music] - My first night in Transylvania County couldn't be more elegant.

This is the Greystone Inn, a gracious retreat nestled on the shore of Lake Toxaway, and the inn has a fascinating story.

- This was Miss Lucy's home.

She built it in 1915.

She was married to a wealthy industrialist from Savannah, Georgia.

Used to come to visit the Toxaway Inn, which was right across the water from us now, and really just fell in love with the area.

She wanted to build a home here.

After the home was built in 1917 completion, several notable friends of Miss Lucy's would come stay the summers here with her, and some of those were the Rockefellers, the Firestones, the Armstrongs, Fords.

So when the dam burst, the wealth left the area.

People really didn't want to stay to come to visit this area because it was so remote and you didn't have water.

Our guests come from all over the world to visit our area.

We are known as the land of the waterfalls, and there's over 219 waterfalls within an hour drive of the Greystone.

So the hotel offers 30 guest rooms total.

There's 16 located in the mansion, which is the historic part of the inn that we're sitting in now.

- And where am I gonna be staying?

- You're actually gonna be staying in the Hillmont, and you're gonna love it.

They're well-appointed rooms that have terraces overlooking the water.

And Deb, I believe you're actually scheduled to go out on the Miss Lucy this afternoon, which is our lovely mahogany handcrafted wooden boat.

- And I'm so looking forward to that.

One of the highlights of a stay at the Greystone Inn is a Miss Lucy boat ride on Lake Toxaway.

Come aboard.

Captain Deb gives a wonderful tour, a perfect afternoon on Lake Toxaway.

After my boat ride, I drove around the lake to the Grand Old Station.

Now, this used to be the old train depot on Lake Toxaway, but now it's a fun restaurant with lots of antiques and treasures inside.

Let's go learn more.

Owner John Nichols grew up here in Lake Toxaway, and he loves to collect memorabilia from the area.

Be sure to check out the caboose on site.

It's a real treasure chest.

- It was great because I've been collecting historical memorabilia of Toxaway, you know, probably for the past 30 years.

- Now, tell me about all of these animals in here.

- We do have a lot of taxidermy here, and my goal was, is I wanted to show people what lived in the woods, and to respect the animals.

And we have a panther over on that side, and we have Panthertown Valley, Panther Tail Mountain, and the Carolina Panthers, and that is an animal that people find hard to believe that is here.

- And the food at Grand Old Station is also a treasure.

- We want to be a place that everybody can come every day of the week if they want.

So, we still have all the steaks and the salmon and the trout and stuff, but we also have hamburgers and chicken sandwiches.

You know, this week, they made us the pork belly tacos that we tried tonight, which were unbelievable, and I've had those almost every time.

So, the kitchen does an amazing job of circulating, you know, homemade desserts with what they're doing, and every day, they're bringing something new out.

- The next morning, I had a delicious breakfast at the Greystone Inn before starting my busy day exploring Transylvania County.

(upbeat music) Right now, I'm in Rosman, a little community in Transylvania County, and what's really neat about Rosman is, this is the headwaters of the French Broad River.

It actually begins right there, and wherever you see a river running through the mountains, there have to be trout.

So, I'm taking a fishing lesson with the folks here at Headwaters Outfitters.

My guide, Lydia Dan, was so patient with an absolute beginner like me.

- And then you're gonna turn, angle that reel forward, and cast forward, upstream.

Good.

We have awesome fly fishing guides, and it's pretty cool to have customers come in, and they'll say, you know, "I'm fortunate enough to fish around the world," and, you know, you have the best fly fishing guides I've ever had, so that's pretty awesome to hear that.

- There was really nobody out there taking care of the French Broad, and when we started our business, we knew that was one of the negatives to it, 'cause we would offer these people just three hours of escape and eight miles of river, which is our staple trip, but we knew they would take back, "Oh, that's a great river, but it's got a lot of trash," so we reversed that a little bit, 'cause we had the boats now that we could bring people out, and we had volunteers that would come, so we started a river cleanup, and a lot of times, we'd do it twice a year.

Debra, you just wouldn't believe what a transformation that has made over the years.

It's just beautiful to see.

- After a morning fishing with Headwaters Outfitters, I worked up an appetite.

Perfect excuse to check out Downtown Brevard, which has lots of cute diversions.

My first stop, the popular Rocky's Grill and Soda Shop.

(upbeat music) - Rocky's originated from the Varner's Drugstore, 1941.

1994, Dee Dee and Jimmy Perkins purchased it and turned it into Rocky's.

Rocky's, since then, has become an institution for Brevard and travelers alike.

They come through annually just to eat at Rocky's.

- Is that right?

- Yes, so we are the third owner since 1941.

- So this is quite the destination in Downtown Brevard.

- It absolutely is the destination in Downtown Brevard.

- You've recommended Hot Dogs, why?

- Well, served on split-top brioche buns, grilled.

The Hot Dogs are all beef mayonnaise.

The toppings are made fresh daily.

It's just an experience by itself.

- We're here at one of Brevard's coolest shops, Opie Taylor's Toy Store, over 6,000 square feet of fun.

Let's go check it out.

- We're so glad you're at Opie Taylor's.

We hope you visit the upstairs while you're here.

It's amazing.

- For owner John Taylor, Opie's is more than fun and games.

(laughing) - I know, it's kind of weird.

It's this fire-breathing dragon in the bottom of Hogwarts Castle.

It's a toy store, old school toy store.

No batteries required, no screens, no things that you can only play with your thumbs.

We sell toys that stretch kids' imaginations and it goes up two floors.

It's pretty amazing.

You should see the whole place.

It's crazy.

- Brevard can be very proud of its Veterans History Museum located in the historic Brevard Courthouse.

What started as a simple heritage center has grown into the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas.

And as the daughter of an Air Force veteran, I knew I wanted to make this a stop on my trip.

- There are over 3,000 veterans in Transylvania County and several million in North Carolina and South Carolina.

So we wanted to expand our reach with our name.

- We've got everything from uniforms, of course some weapons.

We try to put something in here for everyone.

There's models in here for kids.

Kids can come in and we'll put a uniform.

They can try on a uniform and take a selfie with it, you know, and that sort of thing.

So we try to have something for everyone.

The veterans come in and it's like, you know, some of them, the memories, they just flow out of them.

And because most of our docents are veterans, you start, they start talking about stories and that sort of thing.

And you'll have a family member or, you know, like a son or a daughter lean over and goes, "I've never heard that story before."

So it really, you know, brings out their memories and that sort of thing.

And they're able to share it in a safe environment, in context and that sort of thing.

So yeah, it's been great.

It sure has.

- You may not realize this, but Brevard is known all over the world for its white squirrels.

There's even a white squirrel festival in May.

Now these critters can be hard to spot, but this guy certainly wasn't.

Tonight, I'm in the Lumberyard District, just a few minutes from downtown Brevard.

Here you'll find restaurants, eateries, even live music.

I'm down for it all.

But first I'm gonna take a line dancing lesson at 185 King Street.

- Go one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

- Well, my husband wanted to start the brewery.

He's a brewer and I've always been in the hospitality world.

So I wanted to have my shot at doing it my own way and creating the atmosphere and the culture of an area.

The line dancing, so we have a few different honky-tonk bands in the region and I've always loved honky-tonk.

And so Jenna, the instructor, was here one night when one of the bands was playing.

It was just like, man, I would love to start teaching dance.

I was like, okay, I hear you.

So I reached out to her and we've been doing them once a month now.

It's every second Thursday and it's just a fun, people come dressed to the nines and do their dancing and it's a fun vibe.

(upbeat music) (audience cheering) (upbeat music) - Good morning, everyone.

Today I decided to return to the Lumberyard District for breakfast.

It's called Morning Social and they are famous for their breakfast skillets.

Doesn't that look amazing?

I can't wait to dig in.

And I figured I needed to fuel up before my trip to the DuPont State Recreational Forest.

Can't wait.

(upbeat music) DuPont State Recreational Forest is a gem in Transylvania County.

With over 12,000 acres of land, it's a Mecca for hikers, mountain bikers and of course, waterfall lovers.

Triple Falls is an easy hike from the trail.

The largest waterfall in DuPont Forest, High Falls, tumbles 120 feet down a granite wall.

A trip to Transylvania County just isn't complete without a visit to DuPont State Recreational Forest.

I'm having lunch and a beer today at Oscar Blues, an iconic craft brewery in the Brevard area.

- We're best known for our beer, Dale's Pale Ale, which we call the original craft beer in a can.

It was first canned in 2002 back in Colorado where Oscar Blues came from.

But in 2012, we moved to Brevard and immediately fell in love with the area.

We got arts and culture.

The music scene here is so underrated.

And then obviously the gateway to the National Forest and DuPont State Park and all the waterfalls and hiking and biking trails and camping and fly fishing and tubing and the river.

It's just, there's so much to do and you're right here in the middle of it.

- Summer camps in Transylvania County are a tradition going back over a century.

It's one of the reasons this area is so beloved by generations.

And another thing beloved by all generations is ice cream.

Dolly's Dairy Bar is a super popular ice cream stop.

And what's really neat about this place is every flavor of ice cream, or at least most of them, are named for a summer camp in the area.

- So we as Keystone Camp are one of the oldest private summer camps in the Southeast.

But so many camps in our area have been passed down from generation to generation.

And we are very lucky to have so many campers and families who have been coming for three, four, five generations as well.

(upbeat music) - So the true magic of summer camps is that sense of independence that we're able to give kids.

They get to choose their own activities and they get to learn a little bit more about themselves, a little bit more about how to be a resilient human being.

And they do that in a fun and safe environment, which you don't necessarily get everywhere else.

- This area is home to some of the best mountain biking on the East Coast.

At least that's what all the bikers at the hub told me.

I just made friends with Daniel Ennis, who is a national championship downhill racer.

It is so nice to meet you and just hear from you.

What do you think about the trails here in Brevard since you're a mountain biker?

- Well, I moved here for the trails in Brevard 20 years ago because it's the best place to ride, train, and race your mountain bike.

We have year round riding.

It's a great spot to try to progress as a bike racer and to just enjoy yourself.

- We're here at a place called The Hub.

How does The Hub help you with what you're doing as a biker?

- Oh, well, you know, you gotta recover.

And The Hub has the best liquid refreshments for recovery.

- Well, there you go.

Plus, a few pieces to help you with your biking.

- Everything else you could need, for sure.

No, The Hub is a great bike shop in town.

And now this is the watering hole, the bike shop, the gear stop for everyone in town.

It's a great spot.

- I've grown up here a lot through the summer camps and working here.

And so that brought me to this point of, you've got a lot of, I can't ever explain it.

I feel like you just got happier people in Brevard.

You see bikes on racks.

You see families riding around on bikes together.

You see people at The Hub, and it's not just a couple.

They're with their family.

And I think they're happier.

And so it just continues to grow on itself.

- Perhaps your idea of a perfect getaway is a cabin in the mountains.

Well, here at Pilot Cove, the cabins are pretty special.

They really look like modern deck houses and they're full of amenities.

And since they're just outside of both Pisgah and Brevard, they're in a perfect location.

- Pilot Cove's a forest lodging resort.

We offer 20 cabins and they all range from studios to one bedrooms and two bedrooms.

We're about 100 meters to the entrance of Pisgah National Forest.

We wanted to give our guests kind of a luxury experience with nicer amenities as far as the bedding and kitchenette and just have that close proximity to the national forest and all the fine restaurants and breweries and shops to downtown Brevard.

(gentle music) - I'm here in Brevard Social District at a restaurant called Wood & Vine.

Their signature feature is a wood-fired oven and a carefully curated list of wines.

- Wood & Vine is an extension of our home.

And we wanted to feel like you're coming to our home and you're welcomed and it's family-sized.

It's European style and it's open and it's relaxed and it's not overwhelming.

And we want you to come and sit and stay and enjoy wine and enjoy laughter and good food.

We work 100% with wood and it's a very old world technique and it's a homage that we pay to the old world European style of cooking.

You get less of a steamed experience, you get crisper edges.

So for pizza, for example, we crunch into the crust because it's got a nice dry bottom.

- And this is a wine bar.

So tell me a little bit about the wine menu.

- Okay, so it's a wine bar.

We have a wide variety of wines that we have chosen to compliment the foods that we offer while also accommodating everybody's desire for the varietals that they like.

- Now, I know that you said that you're from LA, but here you are in Brevard.

What do you love about Brevard?

- The community.

Yeah, this is a good community.

- We're here in massive Pisgah National Forest where you'll find all kinds of outdoor activities from hiking to rock climbing and everything in between.

But probably the most iconic is a trip down sliding rock.

(upbeat music) (water splashing) - We came here this morning 'cause about 40 years ago, I last did that.

And we were taking my son back to college this weekend and I said, "Hey, let's go try sliding rock."

So I wanted them to have their first experience running down that rock.

- I'm at Cedar Mountain Outpost right outside DuPont State Recreational Forest.

And this is a really convenient place to find a sandwich, something to drink, and they have a wonderful story about community coming together.

Cedar Mountain Outpost owner, Christy Blakely, recounted the desperate conditions after Hurricane Helene.

- What we didn't know, of course, was the extent of the flooding and how actually Cedar Mountain was gonna get closed off from the rest of the community, the rest of the county and the adjacent counties.

So we had roads completely washed out in every direction around Cedar Mountain.

So it was really a necessity that the community just take care of our own.

And so we have three food and beverage restaurants in Cedar Mountain that pulled together a lot of our food and beverage items to get them to the community center to cook for the community.

And other folks in the community who are trained and professional chefs who all went into that community kitchen and made three meals a day for over two weeks for this community.

And also to do the same at the fire department and to do that for our first responders.

It was a really like super special thing and an opportunity for people in these different businesses to work together.

And yeah, it's been a very special thing to reflect on after that time.

And it's just, my heart will always be grateful for them.

And it just changes us as a community of business owners to know that we have each other's back that way.

- Wow, I can tell it's still emotional for you.

- Absolutely.

- And it wasn't that long ago.

Thank you for what you did in the entire community.

- Of course.

(gentle music) - On my final night for this trip to Brevard, I'm visiting Wild Morrell, a farm to table restaurant with an inviting mountain cottage atmosphere.

- It's a lean, a little mountain chic cottage.

So it's a little upscale, but very casual.

So you can come in your hiking boots or your dinner attire, you know.

- I'm the chef in the kitchen.

So I run the back of the house.

Benita runs the bar program and the service staff in the front of the house.

So we make a pretty good team.

So we split up the responsibilities.

I like to use minimal ingredients and source the best that I can find and then kind of let them speak for themselves using classic techniques, especially with sauces and cooking methods.

But I try to source the best ingredients and let them shine.

- We call ourselves a classic food and wine destination.

So we have lovely wines from across the world.

We also have a classic cocktail bar.

So all the favorites, old fashions, martinis, Manhattans.

- So this is our roasted beet and goat cheese salad.

We do a citrus vinaigrette with some local fresh apples and salted Marcona almonds.

This dish is our New York strip steak.

So that's pan seared with some marble potatoes, chanterelle mushrooms and a Bordelaise sauce.

We also sampled their Tuscan wild boar ragu and a delicious blackened salmon with Southern sweet corn.

- Tonight we're going to the Brevard Music Center.

Have you ever visited?

- It is a lovely venue and you're gonna have a fabulous time.

World-class musicians and world-class sound.

It is spectacularly beautiful.

So you're gonna have a great night.

- For the grand finale to my weekend in Brevard, I have a ticket to the Brevard Music Center.

And tonight's performer is Grammy award-winning banjoist, Bela Fleck.

The Brevard Music Center sits on a 100 acre wooded campus.

And it serves both as a summer training program for young musicians, as well as a performance center for all genres of music.

- There's just something magical when you bring music and the mountains, the greenery, the beauty around us together to sit on our lawn or in the amphitheater and experience a concert, whether it's classical music or whether it's banjo and Bela Fleck like tonight, you hear the chirping of the cicadas and the frogs.

And it's really magical.

- Classical music and banjos, you bet.

Bela Fleck has been working with these young musicians for several days and is about to unveil a stunning performance of both Bach and other favorites.

Tell me about the kids that come in the camp and why you do it.

- Well, everybody here loves the banjo.

We're crazy about it.

The teachers love pushing the boundaries of the banjo and we love finding people that care about it the way we do.

(banjo music) And the kids, it's amazing.

There's a whole crop of people coming through the camp that are learning from us and taking it to the moon.

And in the beginning, we were better than the kids.

But they're starting to kick our butts.

- You must be some instructors.

- Well, or there's some kids.

(banjo music) (audience cheering) - Wow, what a performance.

Bela Fleck and all of the musicians, young and old, were just sensational.

What a special night.

That's it for tonight's show.

We have had a wonderful time in Transylvania County and in Brevard, enjoying all of the sites and the activities.

It's truly a wonderful place to visit.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org.

And you can find all of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by VisitNC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

(upbeat music)