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There are so many great articles in the pages of The Laurel Magazine, sometimes you want to read them again. You won’t miss a thing. Use these helpful search parameters and find just what you’re looking for about Highlands, NC and Cashiers, NC.
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A Deep and Dazzling Darkness
You know the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau is the home to unique, not-to-be-missed natural wonders – the waterfalls springing from nearly every rocky feature, the astonishing botanical diversity, and, if we’re going to get granular, the variety of salamanders wriggling through the underbrush. But there’s one feature, nearly unparalleled in the Southeast, you’ll find here that’s ignored by way too many people. …
Differential Grasshopper
This grasshopper has distinguishing chevron stripes on its ‘thighs’. The black pattern is not unique to this species, but it is rare to see on other grasshoppers. Their back legs also have spines on them. They have short, horned antennae and produce a buzzing noise by rubbing their hind wings against their forewings. Their tan and black coloring helps them …
Summer Begins. So Does the Fun.
As the summer begins, so does the fun at the Highlands Biological Station. Stroll our Botanical Garden for a look at plants native to the Highlands Plateau, walk around the lake for a beautiful view and swing by the Nature Center to say hello to our turtles, snakes and frogs. No trip to Highlands is complete without a visit to …
June Peonies
Peonies are a lot like potato chips. It’s almost impossible to have just one. The Peony is from the genus Paeonia – the only genus from the Paeoniceae family, and there are over 30 known species. They grow upwards to three-and-a-half feet, and completely die back during the fall season. According to Greek Mythology, Asclepius as the Greek god of …
This Winged wonder Sings Arias
Sparrows are specialized seed-eaters that abound in the mountains of Western North Carolina, throughout the Western Hemisphere and worldwide. American Sparrows include scores of species, counting within the family several species of Towhee, Junco and the Lark Bunting. Yes, surprisingly, towhees are sparrows. The Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a year-rounder here in WNC, although some winter to the south …
Blue Linin’
Because of its geographic location, the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau is located on the southern edge of where trout can survive. Even though we sit high atop a mountain, our summers can still get pretty warm. Off the mountain, at lower elevations where most of the bigger rivers are, it is even warmer…sometimes by eight or 10 degrees. What does this mean …
Pickelsimer Falls
Picklesimer Falls is not as grand as the vistas from Whiteside Mountain or the three-tiered cascading Glenn Falls, but it has a charm of its own, nestled a half mile off the road in Blue Valley. Like many waterfalls in Western North Carolina, visitors can walk behind the falls while surrounded by a giant natural amphitheater of rock. The Falls …
Acorns’ Annual Trunk Shows
Highlands is known for the fun shops and cozy boutiques that line Main Street, each one with its own wide variety of clothing and gifts. The only drawback is the limited floor space. Shop owners have to be judicious and work with the space they have, which means they often can’t carry full lines of merchandise. What do you do …
A Journey of Faith
Colonel Mustard’s, the iconic condiment/gourmet shop, has become a Highlands Institution. That’s because it’s jammed chock-a-block with jams, jellies, nuts, hot sauces ranging from sweet and mild all the way to let’s-get-you-to-the-Emergency-Room-right-away, pickles and pickled products, barbecue sauces, sweets, mustards (of course), and gastronomic rarities that you just won’t find elsewhere. And honey in different varieties, from Acacia to Lavender. …
Lenz Gifts & Fine Linens
Just half a mile outside of Cashiers, on 64 West toward Highlands, is Lenz Gifts and Fine Linens. This little shop blends in so well with the mountain laurels that surround it that if you blink you’ll miss it, and you definitely don’t want to do that. Since 2007, Lenz Gifts has been pampering the Plateau with classical elegance. Lenz …
Town Square Shopping
There’s a lot to see and do in Highlands, but you can easily spend an entire afternoon in the Town Square. As my grandfather used to say, we don’t have a sweet tooth, all of our teeth are sweet. And the new owner’s of Kilwin’s Fudge Shop know that all too well. Landon and Ashley Clark took over the chocolate …
Buy a Stack. Give Something Back.
The Scaly Mountain Women’s Club is working to provide scholarships to local students. Their fundraisers are under way, with the first Pancake Breakfast of the season held in May when the ladies got out their big mixing bowls, spoons, and went to work to prepare pancakes, including their famous blueberry pancakes. The blueberries are picked by the members of the …
