2022 Fall Trip - Day 31/37 - 9/24/2022

Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 - It is "all North from Here" - Art in Georgia and South Carolina, waterfalls in North Carolina, and a Scenic Byway in North Carolina:

Pretty Impressive Post Office in Madison, Georgia 30650:

My first stop today is the Georgia Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, which opens at 10 AM. One of those "other considerations" that I mentioned yesterday is - CHECK FOR HOME-DAY FOOTBALL GAMES if you are visiting a Universtity Art Collection on a Saturday!!!! I started seeing the cars on my way into Athens:

Actually, even if I had checked, I would have been long-gone by noon kickoff. But this is "Georgia Football"!

I had visited here in 2015, and I really like their museum:

Homer Dodge Martin - "The Old Mill", 1860 oil:

William Sonntag - The Blue Ridge Mountains", n.d. oil:

Thomas Doughty - "Echo Lake, New Hampshire", 1836 oil:

John Linton Chapman - "Via Appia", 1867 oil:

Ralph A. Blakelock - "Golden Autumn, Rangeley Lake, Maine", ca. 1875 oil:

Yes, "that Blakelock".

It's nice heading north in Georgia:

I crossed into South Carolina at 11:40

and hit the Greenville County Museum of Art an hour later:

Of their art, they only had a painting by Robert Scott Duncanson on display. Having said that, they had a wonderful Andrew Wyeth exhibition - "Two States" (which refers to his "Two States" of Pennsylvania and Maine):

"Tree House", 1982 watercolor, private collection:

"Robin Redbreast", 1986 watercolor, private collection:

"Around the Corner", 1992 watercolor, private collection:

"The Liberal", 1993 watercolor, GCMA collection:

At 2:20 I discovered I was on one of South Carolina's "State Scenic Byways" - the Falling Waters Scenic Byway:

5 minutes later I was entering North Carolina, and the "Nantahala National Forest":

Plenty of space at the "Whitewater Falls" parking area:

and it is a nice 1/2 mile walk up to see THE FALLS:

Although you can see The Falls from the top of the trail, you need to go down the stairs to get the BEST VIEW:

Leaving the area, I drove down a "Scenic Drive" which wound up at a great view:

I'm jig-jagging back from NC to SC to NC, and made my way over to Highlands, North Carolina. Highlands seems to be a very nice community (Sotheby's Real Estate signs), and is the start of a Scenic Highway & Byway: "Cullasaja River Gorge", which runs for 18 miles from Highlands to Franklin on US-64:

It is wonderful driving by "Bridal Veil Falls":

The drive goes along the Cullasaja River, which is lovely:

I eventually made my way up to I-40:

and reached the Asheville Art Museum at 6:02 (yes, they close at 6):

Don't worry - I couldn't find a place to park, anyway. This town IS PACKED on a beautiful Saturday evening in September (street fairs, EVERYBODY hanging out, etc).

I made my way south to the Airport Area (which is actually in Fletcher, North Carolina) for my 2-night-stay at the Super 8 there - 6:26 PM - 320 miles in 9 hours:

Thank You GOD for this wonderful "Art and Nature adventures" Day!

Music for today:

I have to listen to the best band to come out of Athens, Georgia - R.E.M. - Murmur, 1983 debut album:

and then 4 songs from another band from Athens - The B-52's:

"Private Idaho" from "Slam Jams, Vol. 1"
"Roam" from "18 New Wave Classics: Vol. 2"
"Roam (12")" from "Lost Mixes"
"Rock Lobster" from "18 New Wave Vlassics, Vol. 1"

By this time, I'm in South Carolina - The Marshall Tucker Band - Anthology: The First 30 Years (2 cds), released 2005:

Michael Franks - Dragonfly Summer, 1993:

Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard, 2010 second album:

kind of like "New Order"

Nicholas Dodd - Casino Royale, 2006:

quiet, bombastic, quiet, bombastic - delete

except for the final track: "The Name's Bond … James Bond"

The Samples - The Samples, 1989 debut album:

ok, but delete