Franklin, NC Vacation

[Blud]

Has anyone ever vacationed there before? My wife and I are taking a week there and were looking for interesting things to do there.

We looked at the Chamber of Commerce web-site and have picked out things to do there, but was wondering if there were other things to do that are not listed there.

[Krendeli]

Look into doing some gem digging. My wife and I went down to NC last summer and my wife loved it. She's made 2 or 3 more trips down and has one coming up at the end of the month.

They've got a few mines around Franklin which you can find emeralds, rubies, amethysts, and other stuff.

[Revalos]

Yep, I second the gem digging. But don't be fooled. There are maybe two "real" mines that you can actually find local stones in (not ones trucked in from India and buried or put in buckets for you to find). I believe one is called Mason's Ruby & Sapphire Mine and it is located waaaaaaay out in Cowee Valley. The address is: 6945 Upper Burningtown Rd, Franklin, NC 28734

Last time I went there it was 10 bucks for a whole day of digging, but I came out with at least a 10 carat sapphire and it is fairly common for people to find bigger ones than that.

Other things in the area include the national park around Cherokee (avoid the city of Cherokee though), the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Asheville is a great place too.