Friday Fun - Gem of a Day

So yesterday, Thursday, I was off work and needed to make a trip to Hendersonville, North Carolina. 

My 'Tomato Man' recently moved there and I needed/wanted to go pick up some seedlings. But more about that in Saturday's post. What really was wonderful was the ENTIRE day.

Texter and Lady K joined me, mainly to get out of the house for a few hours. The drive was about two hours in each direction and into Western North Carolina were it would get a bit 'hilly'. 

Despite all my decades in North Carolina, I haven't made it to the mountains before. Well, other than driving through them to go to/from somewhere else. And I have fallen in love with the area. 

Anyway...

The day was bright and beautiful, if a bit windy and cool. Still, a glorious day. And it got much better when we got to Hendersonville and passed...



This is Elijah Mountain Gem Mine!

And it was open! 

Well, actually it wasn't officially opening until today (Friday), but when we stopped they invited us to come on in.



A bit of an aside. Lady K is so into 'rocks'. In fact, we have to watch or she will pick up every rock she can find and come home with pockets full of rocks.

Once inside the building it was an enchanted cave of gems.

And there were a couple of special attractions.

And inside 'stream' filled with large goldfish and...

And right outside one door were the goats.

What was really special was the fact they had 'to-go' buckets you could purchase to take more and mine your own gems or fossils. Even better they had a bucket made up just for kids. Instead of raw gemstones, they include tumbled stones. And a TON of other things in the bucket. 

Once home, she immediately dug into her bucket.

Included in the bucket along with a bag of sand filled with tumbled stones, was a bug catcher, magnifying glass, bubbles, a laminated reference sheet and a few other things. Well worth the $20 for the bucket and the delight on her face as she unearthed her treasures.

Texter couldn't wait for me to come over next week and also dove into the bag of fossils and gemstones. The bags came with a plastic bucket also. And a certificate for $20 off when we come back with our buckets - all for $15 each! 

Needless to say, we will be back! Especially since we found out in June they will be having a butterfly event where you can feed and interact with butterflies. Hopefully, the weather and C-19 will cooperate and Lady K can actually use the sluice to 'mine' her gems. 

Well worth the drive to Hendersonville!