The Glass Studio at Jackson County Green Energy Park

Once again we found ourselves hanging out with friends at the Jackson County Green Energy Park. Cole Johnson patiently assisted everyone in the group in a variety of glass pumpkins and paperweights. It is always a fun time and you get to keep a great piece of art. We will be back, of course!

Glass Blowing at Jackson County Green Energy Park

We had so much fun taking a class at the Jackson County Green Energy Park that we decided to do it again. We gathered up some friends and made arrangements with Cole Johnson to have him teach us to make glass blown pumpkins. Each pumpkin took a little over twenty minutes to make. We picked our colors and away we went.

Playing with Molten Glass at the Jackson County Green Energy Park

For something a bit different, we decided to take a private glass making class taught by our neighbor, Cole Johnson, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro, North Carolina. Cole patiently walked us through all the steps needed to produce our very own paperweights. We were able to choose our color combinations and used different techniques to create our on unique items. It was a fun experience and not very difficult since we had the help of a very talented teacher and glass artisan. Thanks, Cole!

Solar Eclipse Train on the GSMR

We purchased tickets from the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad (GSMR) to ride their "Solar Eclipse Train" from Bryson City, NC to Dillsboro, NC. Fearing traffic during the day of the solar eclipse, we arrived early. This gave us time to watch them prepare their Baldwin S160 class 2-8-0 steam locomotive #1702 for the day's run.