Sylva, NC
Here's an interesting daytrip from Asheville, about a
50-minute drive through the Smokies. Sylva, a town
of 2,500, is a pleasant blend of small-town
mountain charm - as distinguished from your
flatland, Mayberry charm, in that while up here
folks are no less disposed to engage you, they're
less chatty, more direct - and
college-town/thrift-shop funkiness. (Technically,
Sylva isn't a college town: Western Carolina
University is seven miles down the road in
Cullowhee, but once you've visited the "town" of
Cullowhee you'll understand that Sylva earns said
designation by default.)
Sylva has a Main Street of the traditional
variety. It's called Main Street, and it's
presided over at one end by the Jackson County
Courthouse, up there on the top of a very steep
hill, right smack in the middle of town - a
courthouse the locals will tell you is the most
photographed courthouse in the country. (That is
to say, point a camera at that courthouse and you
can bet that someone will stop their car or amble
on over to tell you that that courthouse there is
the most photographed courthouse in the country.)
And it just well may be - though I've not the
slightest idea of who keeps tabs on such things.
At any rate, it's a darned fine courthouse, and
for a night in jail you could do a whole lot
worse.
There are, however, alternate choices for
accommodations (and, truth be told, the courthouse
is no longer functioning as such; plans are to
turn it into a museum) - there are, for example, a
couple bed & breakfasts: the
Freeze
House
up on Freeze
Hill and the
River
Lodge
beside the
Tuckasegee River in Cullowhee - but this is a
daytrip, right, and if you're not staying in
[Asheville] you're probably sleeping beneath the
stars, which is exactly what you should be doing
on such a fine evening as this, regardless of the
season. For first-rate whitewater rafting,
the
Nantahala
River
is less than an
hour away. The
Great Smoky
Mountains National Park
is just up the
road. And you crossed right under the
Blue Ridge
Parkway
on your way in
from Asheville on U.S. 23, just this side of
Waynesville, at Balsam Gap.
But back to Sylva. There's plenty of outdoor
activity here as well. The town boasts of a
"state-of-the-art playground designed by our
children and built by the community," though I
haven't yet personally experienced it. There are a
number of hiking trails in the immediate vicinity
and some very lovely vistas.
There are also several fine little spots in which
to have a bite to eat, right on Main
Street.
Nick &
Nate's
is nice - a family kind of place with a good
selection of hand-crafted beers on pour, and, if
you have kids, you just can't beat a combination
such as that. I haven't tried their pizza, but
they make a couple of varieties of very tasty
chicken sandwiches.
One block above Main Street (once you're there,
which direction "above" is will be evident)
is
City Lights
Books
, named, presumably, in homage to City Light's in
San Francisco, and, if so, to which it does honor.
This is not a bookstore you'd expect to find stuck
way up in the mountains in a little town such as
Sylva - an impressive selection of new and used
books, a very knowledgeable staff and
readings/signings by local and touring writers on
a regular basis. City Lights is also a good place
to stop in for just about any piece of information
relating to the local area you may require - from
some tidbit of mountain lore to where to get a
tire plugged. Downstairs is the
Spring
Street
Café,
featuring vegetarian fare and more. And in the
very immediate vicinity is
Lulu's
, for a more upscale dining experience. And
Guadalupe's
Café
as well. On
down the road a bit toward Cullowhee is the
Soul
Infusion
Teahouse
. My how times have changed.
Speaking of beer (weren't we?), there's a new
microbrewery,
Heinzelmannchen
Brewery
, a block off Main on Mill Street, with a tasting
room and growlers to go.
And I certainly must mention the
Jarrett
House
, which though actually located in Dillsboro, is
just a mile down the road, just off US 441, and as
good as in Sylva proper. The Jarrett House has
been serving up a home-style dining experience
since 1884 - and by home-style, I mean home-style,
as in "pass the potatoes,
please
." Chicken, biscuits, gravy, vinegar pies -
gooood
Southern eatin'
- as Andy Taylor would say, "some kinda
extry
good" - heavy
on the hospitality, but closed through the
winter.