Great fun it is to actually stop in little places you1ve passed by over the years thinking you needed to be in a hurry to get somewhere else. In fact, that might be a nifty approach to travel in the first place.

Just stop. Get off the path. Explore. We tried that in July in North Carolina. Instead of heading to Waynesville, Hendersonville and Asheville which have long been primary destinations, or the Blue Ridge Parkway, we pulled over in little Dillsboro for dinner and the night.

We held on to that relaxed mode the next day and eased into Sylva for a visit and Balsam for two more nights. Good choices and surprising discoveries. Experiencing different lodging is often fun and our change was, but moving around is not necessary. You could make any of these three spots your base camp and easily reach the others.

This is mountain country but we added water to our first night, electing to stay on the gently flowing Tuckaseegee River in a Best Western instead of choosing an historic inn on the main street in downtown Dillsboro.

What a treat to have a river to play in right outside your back door. Fly fishing and family floating was the scene all afternoon and plenty of people were taking advantage of the easy access from the hotel.

My traveling partner G. W. Tibbetts keeps his fishing gear in the car, a good idea for anybody heading this way.

We traded the river for the rails and booked a Saturday night gourmet dinner ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad; go on select Fridays and test your who-done-it skills on the mystery theater dinner train.

Three courses on theater night; four on the gourmet train. That1s no small feat in such a small kitchenÐor are they called galleys on trains?

Executive Chef Paul Swofford surpassed our expectations, and those of the people dining around us. The train seats 110 for dinner at tables for two and four, all with white linen cloths.

Baked brie stuffed with strawberry and almond jam, apple blue cheese salad and tiramisu served to everyone were all superb. Three entrées were offered. My trout almandine was very fine and beef-eating GW praised the filet mignon with its roasted garlic demi glace. Surprising on a train.

A wine list is available and recommendations included. We1re not up to a whole bottle with every course, and the suggested wines aren1t available by the glass, so to get the true gourmet experience, better take a crowd with you or team up with the tables across the aisle to share some bottles.

About that aisle: kind of tricky to navigate as the train rumbles from Dillsboro to Whittier and back again. Our skilled server Caleb Mayfield suggests keeping your eyes straight ahead, not watching your feet as you explore the Silver Meteor and Dixie Flyer 1940s era train cars.

Exploring downtown Dillsboro takes you in a square more than a straight line. The 1884 Jarrett House anchors one corner and the train station holds down the other.

In between, check out original regional art in Dogwood Crafters, grind beans for great coffees at the Chocolate Factory with ample space to watch the chocolate maker, power up your laptop or steep a cup of tea, discover Tree House where the potters make vessels every day and fire up the kiln on Saturdays, or stroll the few blocks for more discoveries.

Mayor Jean Hartbarger, who runs the friendly Jarrett Inn with her husband, sons and daughters-in-law, says a steep-slope ordinance is in the works to hold on to the mountain views.

“We1re to capacity in town,” she says, “so our goal is to keep Dillsboro as it is.” She1s done that at the Jarrett Inn with 16 charming rooms outfitted in period furnishings, which also means no television, elevator or charge cards, and with the fried chicken, pot roast or chicken and dumplings in the dining room.

I walked an extra block up a steep hill to Craft Circle with half a dozen interesting shops and galleries; half way up is an access to the Tuckaseegee River where outfitters were dropping off tourists, and local people were unloading their own canoes and kayaks.

Next time I go to Dillsboro, I1m looking for artists creating new works at the landfill. Really.

An amazing project called the Green Energy Park is capturing methane gas from the old landfill to use as fuel. Six pottery and two glass-blowing studios plus six greenhouses are part of the plans. A Blacksmithing Village is already offering three studio spaces.

With walking trails, landscaping, 25 new jobs anticipated, more arts festivals and an incredible example of one way a community can turn refuse into beauty and economic gain, the Green Energy Park is already open for tours by appointment.

We played back to the future leaving this cutting edge development to stay at the charming 100-year-old Balsam Inn.

Many things are good to try there, including two porches of rocking chairs, delightful mountain views, an exceptional restaurant, a serious hiking trail with four different routes and the extraordinary opportunity to just be.

For 100 years the three-story Balsam Inn has perfected the art of relaxing and refreshing and they1ll celebrate their centennial next year, officially in April but in numerous ways throughout the year, in this National Register of Historic Places inn and on the tree-filled grounds.

Balsam calmness is catching; in 100 years the Inn has had only four different owners! One employee has worked here 46 years. And the Balsam fir in the front yard stands so tall I looked up toward the top while rocking and reading on the second floor porch.

They leave the doors to the 50 guest rooms open so you can take a look at the vintage furnishings in each one. As innkeeper Sharon Shailer says, “It1s our home and open doors simply feel homier.” Guests generally lock up.

This home has 10-foot hallways which accommodated the steamer trunks of guests arriving by train in the early 1900s, and staying a while. Today, displays of quilts, wood-turned bowls, paintings and groupings of period furniture add interest to an already interesting place.

“We1re a hold-out to another era,” Shailer and her husband, Kim, say. “We don1t hesitate to tell people this place may not be for them with no televisions and no telephones.”

Balsam Inn is a place for cool, crisp air at elevation 3,500, for fine dining and for wide open spaces.

Calm down, stay put, enjoy. If you must leave, interesting jaunts are within reach.

The Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee is worth the few miles down Highway 107 if you care that you1re in the Appalachians and want to know more about the people and how they got there.

The exhibit about William Bartram and his explorations of this region from 1773 1776 thrilled me. Now I want to hike the Bartram Trail in the Nantahala National Forest.

Sylva, population 2,500, is just a few minutes away. The lovely courthouse high on the hill has beckoned me for years as I sped past thinking I needed to hurry to Waynesville.

This time I climbed the 105 steps to the top, counting each one up and back because legend says there are 107 since the courthouse is situated on Highway 107.

You can walk on level ground to visit the shops and restaurants, or climb one flight to Gallery 1 where artist in residence Tim Lewis guides you through the changing exhibits and discusses his interesting photography work with digital imaging.

When a little town has two bustling bookstores like Sylva does, I tend to find interesting people at work and play.

Many of them of all ages join the tourists floating in the Tuckaseegee River because it1s smooth and easy. Class I and II waters meander here, not the white-knuckle fast-moving kind you find most of the time.

Julie Spiro, at work in the 1905 Hooper House near the courthouse, told me she tied tubes together recently and floated with her 3-year-old child and 86-year-old father-in-law.

Visitors and locals also meet up one block off Main Street at Heinzelmannchen Brewery. Braumeister Dieter Kuhn and his wife Sheryl Rudd brew seven ales, winter, spring and autumn specials, and root beer and birch beer.

Dieter says Sylva reminds him of his hometown – Heidelsheim near Germany1s Black Forest, but the beers didn1t seem as fresh or hearty. That1s why he started brewing, with grains and fresh hops but no preservatives. Organic sugar shapes the root beer, and local products are used whenever possible.

Ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Oct. 6 and Dieter and Sheryl will be filling pints for an Oktoberfest dinner trip. The seasonal special along with the regular brews that night they say will be a deep amber ale, sweet with a malty flavor.

Order up a Heinzelmannchen at the Sylva brewery, or several restaurants in the area. I tried mine at the historic Balsam Inn.

There is much to try in these pleasant little towns.