We're returning from Marion, North Carolina where we've been experiencing the Lucky Strike Gold and Gem Mine (see http://www.luckystrikegoldandgem.com/). Our friends Curtis and Carolyn Smith are members of the Vein Mountain Recreational Miners Club, headquartered there. This photo shows the spot where everyone meets to talk, play cards, eat, pan for gold and gems, solve the world's problems, complain about fuel prices, make beaded jewelry, etc. It's a busy place. 
Next door is The Miners Diner, a take-out providing burgers, hot dogs, ice cream, coffee, the best un-sweet tea I've ever had, and other delights. They also contributed substantially to a potluck dinner, held on Thursday night "around 7." Time here is an iffy thing. There are some great cooks present--the potluck rivaled those at our church with plenty of sweet stuff, my personal favorites.Our campsite can only be described as laid back. Folks pull in to all sorts of spots, most of which are two deep (causing some issues when the campers in back want to leave before the campers in front!)
. We had 30 amp electric through a regular household 3-prong outlet, but it worked just fine. There were two motorhomes in our area (the Smiths and ours) with a few trailers and lots of tents, some of which had satellite dishes! There's no such thing as quiet time and folks have campfires here and there. We were backed up to a creek which burbled delightfully in the night when I could hear it over the campfire groups and snoring from him whose name I shall not mention. But we slept well anyway after the daily activities.
. We had 30 amp electric through a regular household 3-prong outlet, but it worked just fine. There were two motorhomes in our area (the Smiths and ours) with a few trailers and lots of tents, some of which had satellite dishes! There's no such thing as quiet time and folks have campfires here and there. We were backed up to a creek which burbled delightfully in the night when I could hear it over the campfire groups and snoring from him whose name I shall not mention. But we slept well anyway after the daily activities. One can purchase a bucket of dirt, some with gold, some with gems, and a few with either emeralds or rubies and sapphires. Herb wen
t for the gold generally. Here he is, working at separating out small grains of gold from the sand and dirt. Curtis got us started, then there were lots of nice folk ready to show the technique and encourage us neophytes. They give you a very small bottle and a little eye dropper device called a sniffer to suck up the little particles. It's a slow but somewhat rewarding process. It can be pretty wet, too, depending on how many are panning at a time and how many children are involved! A busload of sixty grade-schoolers showed up on Friday, really making things interesting! I 
was more interested in the gemstones and managed to find these. You sieve them out of the dirt. The big thing is to have somebody check what you've got--I was sure I had an ugly piece of rock; the sherriff (more about him later) advised me it was a sapphire! The purple ones are amethyst and the ones that look like raisins are garnets. The sapphire is the black thing near the lower right. The tan ones are moonstone. It was so much fun to dip a scoopful of dirt into the water and come up with some of these!
t for the gold generally. Here he is, working at separating out small grains of gold from the sand and dirt. Curtis got us started, then there were lots of nice folk ready to show the technique and encourage us neophytes. They give you a very small bottle and a little eye dropper device called a sniffer to suck up the little particles. It's a slow but somewhat rewarding process. It can be pretty wet, too, depending on how many are panning at a time and how many children are involved! A busload of sixty grade-schoolers showed up on Friday, really making things interesting! I 
was more interested in the gemstones and managed to find these. You sieve them out of the dirt. The big thing is to have somebody check what you've got--I was sure I had an ugly piece of rock; the sherriff (more about him later) advised me it was a sapphire! The purple ones are amethyst and the ones that look like raisins are garnets. The sapphire is the black thing near the lower right. The tan ones are moonstone. It was so much fun to dip a scoopful of dirt into the water and come up with some of these! On Friday and Saturday there was a club dig. Herb participated as Curtis' guest. A backhoe scooped up loads
of dirt and put it into this contraption. Through various screens and processes (including a young lady pitching big rocks out of the mix), gold is extracted, along with sand and dirt. There were three shifts; two on Friday and one on Saturday. On Saturday evening there was a big potluck at the clubhouse with fried fish and everything else imaginable. We were entertained by a couple of fellows singing karaoke-style and a man playing the spoons and another playing the frog (too deep to explain). Foggy Mountain Breakdown was outstanding. The gold from the dig was doled out according to a drawing, along with some small nuggets which had been donated. A larger nugget was given out in a raffle.
of dirt and put it into this contraption. Through various screens and processes (including a young lady pitching big rocks out of the mix), gold is extracted, along with sand and dirt. There were three shifts; two on Friday and one on Saturday. On Saturday evening there was a big potluck at the clubhouse with fried fish and everything else imaginable. We were entertained by a couple of fellows singing karaoke-style and a man playing the spoons and another playing the frog (too deep to explain). Foggy Mountain Breakdown was outstanding. The gold from the dig was doled out according to a drawing, along with some small nuggets which had been donated. A larger nugget was given out in a raffle.At one point I was taken prisoner by the sherriff (the less said, the better), but generally it was a most enjoyable experience!
