Quaint downtown or tourist trap?

[67walkon]

Waynesville is my favorite of those small towns. Hendersonville is at least second, if not close to first. People do keep coming in and changing things for the tourist trade, but many of the towns retain their local charm.

I used to love Blowing Rock. But, even 20 or 25 years ago, the only "local" folks around were old rich people. At least in some of these other towns, the normal local people still come there on occasion.

But right now, we just love Waynesville. If not for the small task of having to make a living, we would be there right now. Soon, though, we will be there.

[loveswnc]

Downtown Sylva is still a nice place to shop. I love City Lights. Franklin has the big box stores, but also has lots of small locally owned places to shop. They even have a website dedicated to retail Shop Franklin, North Carolina First! . I live between the two and only go to Asheville to see my daughter.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by loveswnc

Downtown Sylva is still a nice place to shop. I love City Lights. Franklin has the big box stores, but also has lots of small locally owned places to shop. They even have a website dedicated to retail Shop Franklin, North Carolina First! . I live between the two and only go to Asheville to see my daughter.

I never liked Franklin much , it was hot in the summer , but there were a couple of good eating places. was the county seat of Macon County. Lots of rock hounds showed up in the summer to pan for gems. The living costs were less there, compared to Highlands. Lots of the workers lived in Franklin , and drove the mountain roads to Highlands every day to work. Once a builder from Franklin said to a friend of mine , when doing some work on my house , " This is a rich mans home". I took that as an insult, as I was far from rich, but , that was the way it went with some of the locals.