Craggy Mountain Line Trolley Ride

Yesterday we took a ride on the Craggy Mountain Trolley Line in Woodfin, NC. Earlier this summer, a fellow mom talked to me about this train ride as we were discussing our little boys' joy in trains. She had told me that this train exists, rides are only $10 and her little boy loved it. I wanted to sign up for a ride, but time escaped me and so the summer passed and we didn't get to go. I did, however, start following them on Facebook and in November, they posted about their "Jingle Bell Trolley Ride" that would take place each Saturday in December. I called and made reservations and we excitedly waited for the date to arrive for our ride.

When we got there parking was easy and there were all kinds of old trains around. Luke loved running on them and exploring. On the train, they had girls reading stories to the children. While we were looking around the trains, my dad talked to the owner of the trolleys and he shared some interesting information. The trolley line started in the 1880's and went from Weaverville into Asheville and was one of the longest trolley lines in the states. Now, all that's left is the one piece that exists in Woodfin. He told my dad that they've tried to get grants to refurbish the line, but grant writers want thousands of dollars to write the grants and there's no guarantee that the grant would come through. How great would it be if the trolley line could be restored from Weaverville to Asheville?

When it came time for our ride, they came around with a basket of jingle bells and all the little children rang their bells throughout the ride. During the ride, we saw pretty sights in the open air car (and PS, yesterday was the perfect day to ride with temps in the 60's!) and listened to Christmas carols along the way. The ride took about 20 minutes or so and at the end they dropped us off at the cars where Santa Claus was sitting.

He was inside one of the cars with Mrs. Claus and Luke got to visit with him for the 2nd time this year. Santa was impressed that Luke had only asked for one toy and said he felt that was an easy request that he could fulfill. Then we went down a few train cars and had cookies and hot chocolate. Luke downed his hot chocolate and talked about how much fun he was having.

I would highly recommend that if you live in the area that you support this great piece of history. If you'd like to read up on the history or find out how to ride on the line you can check out their site here: http://craggymountainline.com/. At $10 a pop it's a steal and a great way to spend your morning supporting a great piece of Asheville history!

This was on the lake yesterday morning... what a beautiful shot.

My aunt Christine came down this week and, unfortunately, we didn't all get to visit because we were at work & school. But, just like Santa Claus, she left all kinds of goodies! 

Pure excitement!

The train book was his favorite!