A Weekend in Hot Springs

My weekend in Hot Springs came about less by design than by chance, but I must be living right to have been awarded this beautiul fall weekend with little to do but relax, pamper myself, and let time slow down a bit, if only for the weekend.

Driving into Hot Springs is an event into itself. Coming from Asheville, the drive into Madison County is striking as you transit from the rolling hills near Weaverville to the steeper peaks of Marshall and Walnut Gap. Descending to cross the Laurel River we stopped for coffee and ice cream at the Steady Eddy, located where highway 25 intersects the Laurel River. After watching the beautiful rainbow trout swimming in the old mill wheel pond, we climbed back in the car for 10 more minutes, up and over Hot Springs Mountain and under the Appalachian Trail near Mill Creek. The trip down to cross the French Broad River seemed much quicker with gravity on our side, and before we knew it we had slowed to the posted 20 mph as we passed in front of the old golf course for the former Grand Hotel which sttod at the juncture of the French Broad River and Spring Creek in the 1800's.

Sadly the old hotel had long passed in a fire, and we needed a place to stay that night, so as we approached the 4 block main street we pulled in and parked and began to explore our options on foot. Clearly one heart of this small southern town appeared to be the Paddler's Pub, located on the West side of Bridges street, while directly across from it lies the 'general store' Bluff Mountain Outfitters. We started at Bluff Mountain Outfitters, and I'm here to tell you I could easily spend a thousand dollars in that place. The owners Wayne and Dan have done a fantastic job of combining healthy foods, trail items (after all, the Appalachian Trail runs on the sidewalk outside their front door), camping gear, clothes, daily essentials, and the best darn a.m. coffee in town (not that the competition is all that stiff). After picking up a couple forgotten essentials, and a t-shirt proclaiming I had hiked the entire width of the Appalachian Trail, we asked if they could recommend a place to stay. Quickly we had about a dozen recommendations, everything from swanky B&B's to rustic cabins and we left with half a dozen brochures in hand. Stepping out on to the sidewalk, I pulled out my cell phone to make a couple calls about availability of accommodations, only to find my cell phone had a message for me; "No Dice" it said where the bars should be.

We crossed the street and entered the Paddler's Pub, a restaurant with a long bar, a t.v. (I would soon learn to appreciate such amenitites) and a restaurant serving steaks, seafood, sandwiches, pizza, and all your basic bar fried appetizers. We were greeted by the owner, who's name is Patrick, and quickly made to feel at home. We entered into a conversation about places to stay, and it turns out that Patrick not only owns the Paddlers pub, but a small inn immediately behind it and a whitewater rafting company, Blue Ridge Rafting. When told we had not decided where to stay, he produced the keys to one of his rooms and asked us to take a look, quoting what seemed a prettty reasonable price of $69.00/night. He explained that it was reall not much more than a place to lock your things and lay your head, and on investigation we found this to be true and that while clean and neatly furnished, there was not even a television. When we returned and asked about this, Patrick explained that the local cable proprietor had died several years before. I suggested satellite and he went into a lont diatribe about the reseller licensing and how expensive it is. Well, whatever. No t.v. if we stay here. One at the pub right next door though. Hmmm...

Darkness was approaching and we ultimately decided that we could (probably) live without television for 48 hours. So we checked into room 6, at the Creekside Inn.

We had dinner at the pub, and sat and relaxed to the tunes from a local bluegrass band. Patrick suggested we call the Hot Springs Spa to reserve a hot tub there for a soak and even called for us and made a reservation for the next afternoon.

The next morning was an absolutely gorgeous spring mountain morning. Brisk but sunny, we crossed the deserted main street to Bluff Mountain Outfitters for morning coffee. Being a techno-junkie, I sat down at their computer for a moment to check my email. Then we sat outside for a while enjoying the morning and watching the collection of folks coming and going and doing the sasme thing we were. Several conversations were struck, and we ended up with several suggestions on places to go and things to see.

At mid-morning we set out for an aproximately 1 hour drive to Max Patch State Park, a local bald mountaintop. As the photo indicates, the view is spectacular. You are able to drive nearly to the summit, having to hike only the last half mile or so. We took a picnic and made a lunch out of it.

On our way back to Hot Springs we stopped and fished briefly in a couple spots of the Roaring Fork Creek. The water was up slightly from overnight rains and a little dingy, but we still produced several cute little brook trout on wooly buggers and muddler minnows.

We got back to Hot Springs in the afternoon, and after taking an hour or so to quench our parched throats at a table in front of the Pub, we walked over to spring creek and pulled out several decent smallmouth bass.

Then it was time to visit the Hot Springs Spa for an hour long soak in a natural mineral spring fed tub. The tubs are conventional fiberglass hot tubs, drained and refilled between each use, temperature regulated by the molten core of mother earth. The tubs are privately screened from each other, with views of either the French Broad River or of Spring Creek or (in the case of tub 5) both. I have to tell you I have never enjoyed an hour in a hot tub more than this one. Definitely a must-do if you visit Hot Springs NC.

Saturday night we tried dinner at the Bridge Street Cafe, and it was delightful, although pricey. We returned to the pub for some late night music and more conversation, by now being treated like regulars after about 28 hours in town. With not a lot of places to go in Hot Springs after 9:00, I guess we were regulars, and many of the faces we saw were familiar from the night before.

Our last day we fished the Laurel River about 5 miles from town early morning, in a delayed harvest section and caught trout after trout, including a few very nice 2-3# trout. It didn't seem to matter where we went or what we threw it was fly fishing heaven.

We returned to town, packed up our things, said goodbye to all our new friends, And headed back to the land of cell phones, and televisions, surprisingly refreshed from one of the most relaxing weekends I have ever spent. take a trip to Hot Springs, NC and get a feel for what 'Mountain Time' is all about! The best way to visit Hot Springs, NC is to visit the website ncvalley.com, their staff lives in Hot Springs and specilizes in trips and vacation packages. They have all the current lowdown on travel and events in the Madison County area.

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