Thursday, September 8, 2011

Vacation in Cashiers, N.C.

The secret is getting out about Cashiers, North Carolina. It is the perfect place to go for a vacation when you truly do want to get away from it all. It does not have the cheesy tourist shops that dot most popular vacation destinations. In Cashiers, it is all about the scenery, the mountains and the lake. Yes, there is shopping, but mostly in small “mom and pop” types of places that sell fresh produce, crafts, art work or things you might need while on vacation.

Cashiers is mostly a place to sit on the porch in a rocker or rest in a hot tub while viewing incredible scenes of lush greenery from the mountains and a still blueness from Lake Glenville.

For over a century, Cashiers has been a destination for wealthy and upper middle class vacationers and summer residents. Hidden from view, there are many magnificent homes throughout the Cashiers Valley. For most of the homeowners, Cashiers is the chance to set their own pace of life.

Cashiers is abundant with water sports, sunsets and nature walks. Each year, there are also many festivals, contests, and events that draw many to the area. Tour de Cashiers hosts serious cyclist from across the country. Whitewater rafting on the Chattooga River promises memories that will last a lifetime. Lake Glenville offers a great day of swimming and boating in a beautiful mountain setting as jet skis and boats with water skiers being pulled behind abound. A music festival brings in the fiddlers, singers, song writers, and more.

Cashiers is a “census-designated” area which means it exists, but is unincorporated. It has been that way for over a century and the permanent residents want to keep it that way. So, it remains as a village located in southern Jackson County, North Carolina with a population, as of the 2010 Census, of 157 folks. During the summer season (May to October), the population swells to 20,000 and is known as “the playground for the rich from Atlanta, Georgia and Northern Florida.”

Cashiers is pronounced locally as if it were spelled "cashers", and is made up of smaller, historic homes and newer vacation homes of the rich. You will see a few mobile homes and numerous cabins. The larger, newer homes are set on the sides of the mountains.

The town has one large grocery store, but is mostly filled with small shops and businesses along U.S. Highway 64 to Highlands on the west and Rosman on the east, and Highway N.C. 107 to Sylva on the north and Walhalla on the south via S.C. 107.

Five properties near Cashiers listed on the National Register of Historic Places are—Camp Merrie-Woode, the Church of the Good Shepherd, Fairfield Inn, High Hampton Inn Historic District and the Mordecai Zachary House.

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