Choo Choo Part 2

There was no sneak peek photo for part 2...

Part 2 of the Choo Choo was the actual train trip. It was nice. Nice enough that we upgraded our tickets to the annual pass before we left. It will get us one, maybe two more trips to check out the scenery before it expires. Well worth the little bit extra to upgrade!

So we booked the First Class Nantahala Gorge trip.

According to the website 

Super Value! These beautifully restored First Class Coaches depart from the historic mountain town of Bryson City. This 4 1/2 hour, 44 mile round-trip will take passengers along the Tuckasegee River, over the impressive Fontana Lake Trestle and into the Nantahala River Gorge with a 1 hour layover at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. First Class passegners receive an All Inclusive, delicious lunch served by your car's private attendant, a souviner tumbler with all you can drink soda or coffee, and an exclusive gift from GSMR!

And we booked the MacNeill car. Mainly because it was mid-October and who knew what the weather would be like. Mr. Paisley knows well enough that if the weather makes me miserable, i'm dragging him down with me.

MacNeill

The MacNeill was built as the Pohatan Arrow for the Norfolk & Western Railway (present day Norfolk-Southern) to run on their Premier Passenger Line.

 The train

 The fall color....and a scratched up plexi window (hence the crummy photos to follow)

 Draining the lakes for the coming snow melt

 Ticket please!

 Bees! Mr. Paisley is dying to be a bee keeper...

 Love this kind of shot....

 Cute church in the valley

 Be still my heart...

 LOTS of color to be seen in Western NC

 Thinking of blowing this one up and framing it.

 O.M.G. I WANT THIS HOUSE

 Gorgeous...the house boats have been there for years - they're generally kept in families and passed down. They cannot be moved. They cannot be lived in full time. They can be replaced, but  no new ones can be built or anchored in the lake. They sit in their permitted spots waiting for their weekend visits...would LOVE to have one of these!

 Old timey self portrait while on old timey train LOL

 Beautiful colors...

 This is the engines being moved to the other end of the train for the return trip

 This was lunch...at like 4pm - thought I would starve...when we signed up for "lunch" we were expecting it more at a reasonable LUNCH time...not dang near dinner! This happens to be the BBQ pulled pork sandwich, a little cup of slaw and a scoop of potato salad. The slaw was gross and I don't like potato salad, so needless to say, I was still starving and ended up grabbing a candy bar and a small bag of Cheetos at the mini-mart in Dillsboro when we stopped. Not exactly healthy, but well, there wasn't much to choose from...

Ahhh the train....that is actually the MacNeill car that we were in.

 I'm joining Outdoor Wednesday over at A Southern Daydreamer!