Historic Tapoco Lodge: Where Adventure and Sanctuary Meet, with Valerie Frapp

In 1930, as part of hydroelectric efforts in Graham and Swain counties of North Carolina, the aluminum company of America built the historic Topoka Lodge, which sits on the banks of the Chihuahua River. During the early years it served as the executive retreat for Alcoa executives, involved in the building of the Chihuahua Dam. For several decades, the lodge was used as a resort by Alcoa as it shifted its focus from a private retreat center to a place for friends and family to gather. As the late 1990s approached, the property fell into disrepair and was sold to private buyers, and in June of 1995, the historic Topoka Lodge was reopened to the public as a traditional mountain retreat for guests of all ages to enjoy. The property has changed ownership just a few times since 1995, and today it is part of the enthusiast hotel collection where each property is personally handpicked to represent a distinct and very unique experience. In this episode I sit down with Valerie Frapp, general manager of the historic Topoka Lodge. We talk about the lodge's rich history, design and craftsmanship, which has remained nearly unchanged since its building in 1930. Its spacious, cozy design was, and still is, inviting and warm. The evolution of the Topoka Lodge is quite intriguing. You'll be enthralled by the exquisite offering, including the Topoka Dining Room, the Laurel Lounge, whiskey Bar, the Grand Fireplace, the Library and Riverside Seating, complete with fire pits. Valerie shares an inside view of the 27 unique rooms, including rustic cabins and luxurious suites, and the 11 alluring hiking trails that adorn the property. But the enchantment doesn't stop there. The staff has invested a great deal of time and energy and to making the experience truly unforgettable. You'll be impressed by the lodge's commitment to using local products and their meals in the warm atmosphere during the holidays, and visitors will now get to experience the magic of Topoka Lodge all year long. No discussion about the historic Topoka Lodge would be complete without talking about some of the amazing places you can explore and visit nearby, like the famed Tale of the Dragon, one of North Carolina's most iconic roads, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, lake Santilla, joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, robbinsville and Bryson City, just to name a few. This episode promises an unforgettable journey into the heart and soul of this historic yet modern gem, and I'm excited to share this episode with you. The historic Topoka Lodge, where adventure and sanctuary meet. You're listening to Exploration Local, a podcast designed to explore and celebrate the people and places that make the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian Mountains special and unique. My name is Mike Andrus, the host of Exploration Local. Join us on our journey to explore these mountains and discover how they fuel a spirit of adventure. We encourage you to wander far, but explore local. Let's go Well. I'm excited to have Valerie Frapp here with me today. We are actually on site at the historic Topoka Lodge. We're going to unpack in this episode all the amazing things about the lodge things to do and we're going to spend a little bit of time today talking about the history and how this property has evolved over the years. But before we do that, valerie, I'd like to welcome you to the show. Thank you so much for hosting both myself and my wife Teresa last night. I'm excited to dive in and learn more about the historic Topoka Lodge.

Well, we are so glad you are here.

All right, let's talk a little bit about you. I like to find out a little bit about your background and kind of what brought you here, and you also have a very interesting background and ancestry and I love to kind of chat about that a little bit as we get started.

Okay, sounds good.

All right, so you are Native American.

I am a member of the citizen of Pottawanami Nation. Our tribe originated in the Chicago area, and then we were moved on the Trail of Death to Oklahoma, which was Indian Territory at the time.

So here we have the Trail of Tears and in Oklahoma you're explaining you have the Trail of Death, right? What is it like being a Native American? I know it's a different tribe in a different location, but we are so close to the Cherokee Nation, we're so close to Cherokee, North Carolina, the Great Smoky Mountains what does that feel like for you as a Native American?

That's a sense of pride. We are on the Chioah River. Robbinsville used to be named Chioah. It was all Cherokee members. Before it was Eastern Band. Western Band is what's in Oklahoma now. It was their biggest community. So we are very proud to be Native American and being here in Robbinsville, north Carolina, is like a dream come true. You can tell Native Americans were here and you can tell they're still here. We have been welcomed by the Cherokee community. Members of the tribe that still live here in Snowbird treat my daughters as though they grew up here their whole life and it is really awesome. My older sisters growing up never wanted anyone to know that they were Native American because they were scared how people would treat them. The world has changed and the acceptance is incredible and we honor our heritage. My father's last name was Frapp and we are very proud to have that name.

Oh, that's wonderful. So let's turn our focus to the lodge, where we are today. You're under new ownership. Now, in 2022, is when you became under new ownership. In 2017, there was new ownership as well.

I worked with two owners since I've been here on the property. The Bailey family had owned the property when they hired me and I started in 2019. Loved it. I was doing marketing and events and I get to see everyone on their happiest day. They're on vacation, they're loving life and I feed off of it. I walk around here with a smile on my face and it's contagious. You can tell I love what I do. Our staff are very happy and love what they do and it's just a great feeling. O'neill Koska bought the property in October of 2022. And I had been promoted to GM in April of 2022. We've added the spa and some auto detailing here on site. We want to keep the historic value as much as possible. He's not wanting to change stuff, just add to what we already have. We upgraded some of the bath product lines. That's in the all the room, so you'll find the mallee products there that have a rain forest smell and it's actually from Hawaii.

And some of my favorite products.

We also have them for sale in the gift shop. The enthusiast hotel collection became partnership with the Cornell lab and we will be adding bird watching as well as some of the other activities for enthusiasts to come here and to do at the property. It's very exciting because we have had the kayakers coming here for years. When you see them get together they're so excited talking about their day. We have the teller, the dragon, so you have so many sports bikes, motorbikes, cars You'll have Porsche, Porsche clubs or Lamborghinis and Corvette clubs, and when they park outside you never know what's in the parking lot. But you come in and it's. It's such a social event. Everyone is just sharing what they did. Today. They are so enthusiastic about their activities that they're choosing to do and we're getting to be a part of it. We get a feed off it. We get that energy. It's just them sharing. That's what we want to do. We want to share the experience that that enthusiast has had. We all feed off of it, we all learn from it. It makes everyone's experience better. I don't know how to explain it. Just come to the book lodge and find out, because it's amazing.

That's great. We touched on a couple of activities and we're gonna come back to those activities here in a minute because you really are in the middle of so much to see and do. And it's interesting because we talked about the Chihuahua River here. Paddlers are gonna know, our listeners are gonna know, that that's Class 45 Whitewater, certain release dates out of the year Literally comes right by the banks, like within feet of the outdoor sitting, the outdoor patio, and we're gonna talk about that a little bit as well. But before we do, let's kind of take a step back in time. And the reason for this lodge because today people are all these enthusiasts, are experiencing this lodge in their own way, like they come here, but they've been doing things either the tail of the dragon or whitewater, or birding, or going into town, whatever it may be, looking at the dam. But this place has a rich, rich history and, as I understand it, it was created in 1930. And the original reason for this lodge was because it was housing, I believe, for the workers who were working on the Chihuahua Dam. Is that right?

That is correct, Our location here. We had a lot of dams that were about to be built. We were working on the Chihuahua Dam, the Santila Dam, Calderwood Dam and Chahaui Dam. They all needed staff, sort of like we do now today. In modern days, everyone short staff. Well, they were short staff back then and there was over 2,000 people that lived here at Topoca. It was a town in, you know, not in Robbinsville, it was, Topoca was the name of the town here.

We did an episode our listeners are gonna remember, when we did the Mass General Store. We did an episode on that in the one of Valet Cruces and at the time I think that had its. It was its own town too because of the post office. So back then, I think if you had a postal zip code or if you had a post office, that was like the seat, that was the place that became the town. And so what you're saying is that Topoca back then was its own little town and I guess it was really not much around here, right? So, other than the dams that were being built back then, this would have been the place. This is where they, this is where they lived, this is where they worked out of, this is where they recreated and ate and everything.

Correct. When Topoca workers started coming here to work on the dams, there was no road. They had to buy a ticket on a railroad, come to stay on the property. They would come to the cabin. They had to have somewhere to eat. That's when the Chihuahua dining room was created, because that was their mess hall. The tin can was more for recreation. They had many dances and parties. They would have send off celebrations and goodbyes to people going to war. When people was coming home. That's where they did it. That was the tin can. They played movies in there to help pastime and just for basic entertainment. When the road 129 was actually paved and created, it opened up e-commerce for Western North Carolina straight into Tennessee. That was the first direct line to Tennessee for Graham County and a lot of Western North Carolina. There was the road to nowhere that was started to be built in Bryson City but that was never completed. If it wasn't for 129, you would have to go all the way through the Gorge and Murphy or all the way up through Cherokee to get to Tennessee. So it really made a huge difference. Not only did it open up e-commerce, it created a tourism here that we still feed off today.

And then I guess, after those dams were finished or completed, then this lodge in this area became somewhat of a recreation area or destination for people. Do I have that right?

Topoca Lodge was basically owned by Alcoa. After that, only its executive staff or its employees could come to Topoca. If you talk to locals, it was more of a country club. You couldn't come to Topoca if you didn't know somebody. After Alcoa started opening up to let more people in, it still wasn't open up to tourists, it was a members only. You couldn't just come and hang out. I talked to some ladies that grew up across the street and told me about riding their bicycle here and brought me an old cookbook from their mom when they were little girls and on the second to the last page there was a sheet of aluminum foil in there. That's how they promoted, that's how they were trying to advertise aluminum foil, to get it known that it was there. They were putting it in cookbooks. I think that is really cool. They talk about the smells of the food from Topoca and they couldn't wait to come here. And she was so excited that we were opening up. She was asking about some of the old recipes and if we were still using them and it was just a really cool experience.

So when was that? When did it transition from Alcoa's executive resort to opening it up to the community for other people to experience it? 1995., 1995, so, gosh, so not really so long ago. I mean in its past. I mean that's only a third of its lifetime here, now that it's really kind of been opened up for people to enjoy it as we're enjoying it today.

And that was by the Cody family, and I had the pleasure of working with some of their family members when I first started, because they were still employed here Cool, and that was really nice.

All right, so 1995, then we go through a series of years and then your first experience. We kind of pick up there, like in 2017, that's when you started to work here but really now 2019. 2019, so 2019 is when you started to work. So just a few years later, in 2022, you have this new ownership group and they are really making you all have been really making some amazing changes here, but the patio, though, came with the owners in 2017, correct?

Yes, they had bought the property in 2014 with another family it was the turners and the Baileys and they made significant improvements out here and put the patio. Mr Adrian Bailey went in detail on each black rel. If you haven't noticed, look at the black relic. It looks like a piece of wood. He wanted it to look like it was naturally here, even though it was made out of steel. They also added the fireplace in the lobby. Okay, Thanks for looking huge.

It's a focal point, it's like a center point. As soon as you walk in, yeah, yeah, it catches you and yeah, it's the very first thing. Coming through the doors, you can see the when the fireplaces on, you can see that shimmering. And then all of a sudden you walk in, it's like boom, yeah, much stayed there for like five minutes to take pictures before I walked anywhere else.

So when I, when I first got here, I thought that that had always been here. They kept it looking so historic and made it fit so well that you could not tell it was added. And that's the goal with everything at Topoka it is as historic as possible. If you make any changes, you need to add to the value, make it look historical as well.

It's evident that that is at the heart of what you all are doing and I think that's the impression that Trish and I had too is that it seemed like all of this was. I thought this was just sort of the way that it. You know that it was like that patio, for example, and I know you know the elements of it, the concrete and all the other elements, the metals. You know those things are more modern. But yeah, I had no idea until I went back and looked at some of the older pictures of the lodge that it has. Really, even those, those improvements are wonderful. It doesn't detract or take away from the historicity of this place like it still seems, like it's kind of meant to be, even though we're in 2023.

I agree and I hope we continue to keep it that way. We don't want it to ever feel different when anyone comes to Topoka.

Yeah, okay, so let's let's talk specifically about the property here. We are right now in one of the suites. We're sitting in one of the suites on the third floor, but we have this lodge and then there are other amenities around the property as well, and I'm wondering if you can kind of help paint a picture of what this property looks like as you're pulling across the bridge.

So, yes, you come in the lodge. The first thing you see when you pull in is the beautiful river, the brick building to the left, and you look straight ahead and you'll see, you'll always see an American flag flying there, and that is on top of our motorcycle shed and we call it motorcycle shed. You can put about 50 bikes in there. We have it all decorated right now for Christmas and you'll also see Santa on the Harley lit up, looking beautiful. And then, if you pull to the left, you'll see the gas station, where it still shows gas was 19 cents a gallon. Wouldn't that be amazing if it still?

was. Is that a real gas station?

back then it was a real gas station and you can see there it was a greyhound bus stop at one time too, because that original sign is still there. We keep a lot of historic stuff in there and maps and stuff from all over the property Old brochures, where you can see the old swimming pool. You can see cars from the 40s that was here. It was, I mean, it's just a pretty cool area. And then you look to the left and you see this beautiful lit up building and that is Topoka, the dining. You walk in you feel like you're in a gift shop. It's so pretty, it just welcome home.

Yeah.

If you go to the left, you walk into the Chihuahua dining room and then there is the new door that was put in by the new owner and walk outside on the terrace and now you can enjoy a breakfast on the river as well. So that is new this year. And if you go to the right from the lobby, you'll see the bourbon bar. It's the Laurel Lounge. We're so proud of that. It is beautiful. And then to the next room you'll have the library where we have a computer and games for kids, if anyone needs anything. You'll see Kim's office. Kim was our old GM that passed away. It'll always be Kim's office. I know it. You can tell it was the old post office. If you look on the side of the wall, you'll see the post office box, one of which Ronnie Millsap told me during his visit last March. He had a PO box here. I was like what he was trying to show me. He was 22, 24. He was trying to feel at that time I didn't know that he had partial vision when he was younger. That was interesting to know. He was amazing, and one of his favorite things to say is 29. 29. And when he says it he just lights up and he smiles so big and it was so cool. I was like what's 29? And he just said say it, say 29. So I did. He said you feel good? I was like yeah, and later I kept thinking about it. We're on highway 129. Is that why he never explained anymore? but he was very sweet to us. And then that you have the executive suites on the right hand side, which now we have three lodge suites. We're in the road in room right now. We have a living area and a closed off bedroom to the left and a huge bathroom with the zetted tub and shower with the old vintage tile, the black and white that we keep in every room on property. Also, on this floor we also have the Laurel suite, which is also one of my favorites because of the pale blue walls and the rusty gold pipes that you can see. It has a huge restroom as well, with the tub and the separate shower. And on our second floor we have six lodge rooms three with river view, three with the parking lot area of you. You can see the cars and the mountain, the mountain side, and then, all right, we have a handicap room, which is the evergreen and it is on the first floor and actually has two separate bedrooms and you can look out over the lawn or the river. If you keep going downstairs farther, you'll get to the Topoka Tavern. That's our indoor restaurant. We do have the brick oven pizza and that we are known for. The outside bar is also there with amazing views. That was new and that was built as well in 2017. If you want to come back up and go out the lobby door, you'll walk out to the parking lot. You never know what's out there. We've had multiple Pagani's the cheapest one that, when we were doing research, sold in the United States for $2.1 million. We had a parking lot full of them. I was a little scared something was going to happen, but you never know what's outside. We had some Jaguar F-type. Never heard of that. We have a lot of vintage cars and Nissan's and Honda's and Porsche's. I mean we have everything here. You never know what you're going to see. You'll see the cabins on the left hand side of the road. As you pull up About a quarter of a mile, you'll see the Big Ten Can building. If you keep going past there, you'll see two tennis courts. That's basically the opening to all the trails on property. We'll have 11 hiking trails on property. Once you're on that road, you need to realize that you are on the BMK hiking trail. He's the one that did the Appalachian Trail.

He's the founder, so he's the same one that started developing the Appalachian Trail. You also have cabins.

We have seven cabins on property. We have 27 total rooms, that is, with nine in the lodge and 18 cabin rooms. Now. Some of our cabin rooms are larger Alcoa and Chahawi. Both sides sleep six people. So Alcoa one, alcoa two you could have a joining door in the middle and have up to 12 people there. White Oak Cabin One is our newest, most remodeled cabin that we have and it has a four person jacuzzi on the porch as a private fire area. It has a little private area in the back it's like your own backyard has huge glass windows, has a big moose head in the living room, has a full kitchen, a full you know dining room. It is a beautiful more for entertaining. If you have people coming with you and you're wanting to have some private spot, you could come hang out in your living room in White Oak.

Cool, very cool. So one thing I think would be really cool to touch on at this point, and then we can kind of unpack it here in a minute but you all are a part of a very special hotel collection and you have new ownership right now too. I'd love to talk about those two things. And then I want to kind of blend in you into this mix, because one of the things that I've heard you say is that you lead from the heart at Topoka Lodge and maybe we can talk a little bit about this new collection of hotel that you all are under and with.

Yeah, that's the enthusiast hotel collection. There are properties in Mendocino, california, and I went and visited the general manager there, sarah. She is so nice. I can't explain how beautiful it was when I opened up the window in my room and there is the Pacific Coast, like I could see the waves coming in. It was a total different experience for California for me because I had always been to Southern California but it was beautiful. They have a chef on site. His name was Steve. Amazing food. It's the experiences. That is what the enthusiast hotel collection is all about. That experience. You see, when you see the redwood trees, you can go to Camden, maine, heartstone. You know these old mansions with an amazing restaurant right there on property. You can go down to the Keys. There's so many experiences and that's what the enthusiast hotel collection is about. It is about enthusiasts coming together for all the different properties, all the different areas and finding something to enjoy and to share together. If you could see me right now, you'd see I got a big smile on my face. And that's just how I talk. I get so excited because I get enthusiastic about this collection coming together and what it's going to do for people in the community, people around, anybody that stops. Now they are actually becoming part of this family. They're going to get to experience these other places with someone that shares what they're enjoying, to do what I've been saying for a long time with my daughters. I have noticed I am from a generation that likes things. Me and my family are learning that it's about that experience. Let's share that experience together. It doesn't matter what shoes you have on, unless you're hiking. Let's take that back. But it doesn't matter what type of bag you're carrying or what car you're driving when you're together and your experience in that. My daughters are younger and they love that experience. They would rather go take a trip that is photo worthy rather than going somewhere. They could take back something. So I really would like to make sure that everyone knows how amazing Tupac is and it's that experience that you have when you come here. We try to keep every inch of Tupac photo worthy at all times. We work really hard on that.

Yeah, well, that is so evident and I have to tell you this is one of those places, some places you can see pictures and you're just drawn to it and you know that you wanna visit it or that place, and that is very much what this place has been like for me for probably for about a year, since I've been following it on social media and I have some friends who have also come here and they're like Mike, you've got to get on this Tupac Allodge on the podcast. People will love hearing the story about it. But I will tell you, the first thing I told Teresa yesterday is this has actually exceeded my expectations. Actually being here Like this is one of those places you have to come walk experience and you're so right within the first 30 minutes of being here. Every angle that you looked at it was another beautiful photo, right, but it also started from the very front desk when we walked in and it was the experience and it was just when we first walked in. We didn't walk right to the desk, we just walked in and we sat by the fireplace and we took some pictures and we just literally just took it in Valerie, so we listened to people communicating, talking. I knew a group was coming off from a trail. They were getting ready to eat pizza down by the river, you know there were all of these things, so we were just kind of taking it in. And it was also. The person at the front desk said that this was. They talked about the Christmas tree lighting that was getting ready to happen, which was amazing last night, and then the way that she described it. It was gonna be like a Hallmark Christmas movie and that is the feeling that we have had, teresa and I have had ever since we've been on property. It just feels like we are going to a place that is just not of this world, like it doesn't seem real, and yet it is very, very real.

That's exactly what we're going for. Our mission statement here at Spook-a-Lodge is we create our engaging experiences of adventure and sanctuary to wow each and every guest. You feel like you're coming back in time. Everyone is to feel welcome. That's the goal is making you feel like you're at home and just looking around like, oh I wonder what's over there. This is so cool, like those are those experiences, that feeling. You can't explain it with pictures. Once you get here, the way it feels is just an amazing. It's like at peace, I swear. When you get through the gate you can feel like you can just breathe, like just breathe and take it in, and it's much needed relaxation for guests.

Yeah, wow. I can't tell you how much that hits home, because us getting here yesterday it felt like we went through a lot of obstacles to get here yesterday and then we were leaving far later than we wanted to get here. And I know that, even just internally, you know I'm driving over to this experience and I know it's gonna be amazing and I'm just I can feel frustration. And then, yeah, even when we started to get through Robbinsville, you know, I felt like my sense of peace started happening kind of through there.

Your blood pressure drops a little bit, right 100%.

My heart rate was going up, but my blood pressure was definitely dropping, but it was, I mean, coming through the lakes and seeing them. It was the time of the day, it was the golden hour, you know, and you're just no cell phone service. Yes, yes, yes. So yeah, if you are coming here, make sure that you don't turn off your GPS because you might not get it back. So yeah, but, and then you pull into the property and, like I said, I mean the moment that I pulled around that last curve, I mean, and it came into view. I mean I'm not like my family makes fun of me because we're up on the parkway or we're seeing new places for the first time. It's always like wow, wow, wow. You know, and I can't stop saying it, and that's what I felt like internally when we pulled up into this place. So it definitely makes you just chill, get into the moment, get into the experience, and then it just carried through and has carried through literally every minute that we've been here, from the food, from the interaction with people. Valerie, we must have seen last night I don't know how many different groups here. There's a wedding that's going on. The wedding party that was here. There were people that were coming in from the community. You had the Christmas tree lighting. That happened last night, which was so very special.

That was the first time ever and I really did not know what to expect. I did not expect so many people to show up. We had I mean, we're trying to get the cookies refilled the hot chocolate, the Christmas music, when it was playing and kids are dancing in front of the tree. It was magical.

Magical.

Like I didn't think I was already ready for Christmas and all of a sudden, now I'm feeling the magic. I'm feeling the spirit. Bring it on. Christmas has started and it is going to be a magical year. You can feel the warmth and everybody's hearts that were here last night at that lighting and it was special. It's something I'll never forget. I never thought about doing a countdown. Someone in the crowd mentioned it, so we just started doing a countdown. People were videoing. It was really touching, like it was so cool.

Touching is a really good way to put it, and I don't know how to describe it any better than just that, in terms of describing it like in a word, it was very touching, but it gave me hope. To be honest with you, like there's so much divisiveness in the world, there's people that argue over the craziest things and boy I tell you to know the fact that y'all celebrate Christmas the way that you did. You want people to have the experience that's coming here to the lodge. It was like a throwback to my early days, when you got excited about it and Trish and I said the same thing. I'm like we're in full mode. We talked about it this morning. I mean, we're in full Christmas mode at this moment.

How you just said, made you feel like throwback. And I was waiting for you to say a year. Go back to when, because I keep trying to figure out when, like was that what it was like in the 50s, 60s? I couldn't figure it out, but one of our servers last night sent me a picture and I was in front of the Christmas tree with the two little girls and she videoed us dancing. That's what it was. It was a throwback to my childhood, out there with those little girls dancing in front of that lit Christmas tree. That was the feeling and that's how it hit me. When you, I was really waiting for you to say a throwback to win. I wanted to hear the year, but that was it. It was my childhood and when I saw I mean we had all ages we had, you know, from six months you're a six month old newborns out here and car seats to people in their 80s dancing around the. You know, everyone was there. The dad was so proud holding his baby up and for the picture in front of the tree, and then grandma and grandpa over here taking pictures like it was a really heartfelt moment. And I'm glad you got to experience it here with your wife, with us at Topoca.

Yeah, I am too, because it was this morning as we were talking, before we started recording with it. You said that you want to lead Topoca from the heart, and it comes through in everything that we've experienced so far and last night yes, the multi-generational. It was amazing. I mean, the moment that the lights went on and, like I said earlier, I found myself just smiling. I'm taking video, too, and I'm just smiling the whole time until I caught myself smiling, you know, and you have the older couple. We saw him at breakfast this morning and he almost looked like a short bearded Santa himself. You know, I agreed, yeah and yeah. So, yeah, kudos to you all. You pulled it off and I know you said it was your first one like that, but I think that that will probably be one of the things that y'all will continue to do, because you had people, not only that we're staying here, people from the wedding party, but people that were coming off the tail of the dragon, people that you invited from the community. You invited people say, hey, come and be a part of what we're doing over here at Topoca Lodge.

And they showed up.

They showed up. It was so cool, yeah, and they showed up, but it was cool because people were waiting. So we got dinner early, amazing dinner, by the way. I mean. You started talking about the meals. Oh my gosh, we had. I had the Evan Smashburger, my wife had the tacos, and then we started out with the specialty chips that you make here. Oh my gosh, with the ranch and the bacon and the cheese. I mean just unbelievable.

Sweet potato fries. We have it all. The trout nuggets are one of my favorite. I've never I grew up in Oklahoma Never been a big fan of fish. That's just me. We had a lot of catfish, so trout was different for me. Trout nuggets are amazing. Now I love trout. We're going to add some new trout cakes to the menu for this winter and just keep going with it. Everyone talks about our pizza. It's something special about that crust. It's honey, local honey from where Loom? We try to use Stony Hollow Farm products as much as we can there, a local farm that has fresh produce and fruits and veggies, and we try to use them in all the salads as much as we can get from them. And the local honey. There's actually a local lavender form too, and so we purchased lavender from there, even just for hints of smell when you're walking through different rooms on the property.

Very cool, had no idea. Just a small little touches that you don't pick up on, but definitely make an impact and our breakfast is new.

We've had a breakfast buffet before and Breakfast menu and you can get a flight of mimosas at breakfast. It's pretty cool. When I say it's new, I'm talking about the new dining experience. When you come in, because of that that big door, you can actually see the river and if it's warm enough outside, you can set outside and enjoy breakfast on the river.

That's so cool, so cool. All right, one of the things carrying on this theme of not only Christmas but just the, you kind of made mention to some things you want to kind of do all year. This will be the first year in 2023, moving into 2024, that you will extend your season here, as I understand it right.

Correct. So last year, with with our new ownership, o'neill Koska was like you want to have a New Year's Eve party. And we was like sure, we threw a New Year's Eve party and it was. It was more than could be expected. We had a balloon drop, we had Native American dancers come and do storytelling at the fire pits. We tried to make something new and special for the guest to experience every day. We hope to continue it this year. We'll be staying up. We'll be open Christmas Eve, christmas Day we won't be closing for the season. This year we are extending our season. We have Santa visits coming Three Saturdays in December. He is also going to be here to eat breakfast with us on Christmas Eve Before he starts his flight to go deliver presents all over the world to all the children.

That is so cool. That is so cool. Well, one of the things that you said last night when we were just talking was that You're you're staying open all season. You know that, you know that you have an amazing staff and it was really kind of part of your heart and the new mission to keep this place open not only for the guests, but it was also a great place for your employees, who you wanted to retain and not just have the normal Cycling and cycle out of a seasonal worker. So I think that that really kind of spoke to the heart and y'all's mission as well.

It is. Think about it. If you don't hey, you got this job in December. You need to find another one. We hope you come back in March right. That's pretty tough, so I hope this helps with retaining staff. And I Know you heard me say it, everyone hears me say it Topoka is beautiful. It's something extraordinary. You want to. You feel like you're reading a book about and now you woke up and you're here. There's no way for me to describe it in words. It Especially when you can take a picture and the picture doesn't do it justice. I am not that good at describing stuff, but no matter how pretty it is, no matter how cool it is, no matter how many people are coming here, topoka staff is what makes Topoka feel like home.

Yeah, that's a great way to say it. Well, so we have talked a lot about Topoka Lodge and one of the things that's been really kind of top of mind for me and again, trees and I talked about this is that I could really stay here for, you know, several days and never leave the property. To be perfectly honest with you, with all the 120 acres that there are to explore, with sitting by the river, you know a beautiful stream even though the release isn't right now, they're still you can hear the white water and you can. You can hear the rush over the rocks and so forth.

We have rainbow trout in there too.

There you go.

I've had people bring me their fist to show me.

That's amazing. That's amazing. Let's talk real briefly before we sign off on all the other things there are to do around here, because I just have a short list and I'm just gonna kind of rip through this short list, but I know there's things that we can add. We're so close to the Great Smoky Mountains.

Yes, our property actually touches the Nana Hela National Forest as well.

There you go.

We are in the Great Smoky Mountains. One of my favorite activities to do was I walked up hiked up to the top of overlook dam At midnight for a full moon with my teenage daughters. It was beautiful. It the dam you could see the moon reflecting over Over the top and it looked like it was a mirror, with all the green trees on both sides of the dam. Wow it was really gorgeous. But we have a lot of activities new this year. We're doing ice cream socials. So on check-ins at Friday, it's just basically to get people interacting with other guests, come in, have some ice cream. It's been a big hit. The same guests that are eating ice cream later that day or the next day You'll see him at the fire pit hanging out drinking some wine, and so it's bringing people together. We have acts throwing we we have cornhole set up. We have movie nights in the tin can theater. The tin can theater can host 180 people. Set it seated for a dinner and it can be as elegant as you want or we get happy to tell it.

That's great. Well, you also have. I mean, you've got white water rafting nearby. We've already talked about the trail of dragon. I mean you're literally right here at it. You can hear the sound of the cars engines and the motorcycle engines, you know, just ripping up and down the road, which is really kind of cool to hear too.

And that's one thing that I want to one dimension, too, is because people say oh well, we didn't stop because you we thought you only catered to motorcycles, that we thought you only wanted sports cars. We want everyone to feel welcome right it doesn't matter what you're driving. Come and experience it.

Yeah, absolutely Well, you've already mentioned the Fontana dam, but then you've got Lake Santilla, you have Calderwood Lake, fontana Lake paddle boarding paddle board.

Kayaking the lake even if you don't want to go down there white water or raft rafting on the Chihuahua River the lakes are really fun. Chihuahua there's a Chihuahua beach on Lake Santilla and so you can go over and it's a really nice area for kids to swim and it's a safe area. June Alaska's gravesite is also in Robbinsville. He is the eastern band cherry key member that was sent to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears and he walked back and he died here, and His memorial site is downtown Robbinsville and so it just needs mention that that is here.

Wow yeah, absolutely yeah. Thank you for that.

I had no idea we now have the mountains spa and Tiffany Duke is our massage therapist. She has hot Chihuahua stones, she does massages, body Polishing and she's using all of our new rainforest products by Mali as well.

Cool.

Also have auto detailing by Noah. Perfect for before, after slaying the dragon those were his words. So we do full details cars, trucks inside out, bikes, everything. Our staff has really been taken advantage of Of Noah detailing. We've never had our cars look so amazing. He is doing a great job.

That's so cool. That is so cool. What about future plans? What about things that are coming down the line? And I know that you know you, you probably don't want to disclose everything that might be coming, but are there anything Events or Improvements or anything like that that's coming down the line? It looks like you are always trying to just keep Elevating the experience here.

That's the goal, 100%. We'll have a Valentine's Day dinner and we'll have a Valentine's Day dance. We did the dance last year for the first time and that was a totally new experience as well. We opened up the tin can and so after dinner you could take a moment and go up to the tin can and dance. So when I was first up there, I was trying to take pictures, making sure people knew that they could come up and hang out, and there was a couple that had been married for 65 years. They hadn't danced together since they were in middle school together. What? And they ate dinner and they? She was just giggling and giggling and she said we haven't went to a dance since we were middle school and that's where we met.

What a sweet story.

It was really sweet. So I encourage everyone to keep following us on Instagram and Facebook see what activities were Offering what special events will try to do more events this year in the future. We want to. We had a Super Bowl party. We had a st Patrick's Day. That's the goal is to use the tin can as a community Room for us to hang out as guests here, as locals. Trying to offer something more in the future.

That's so good. Well, thank you for everything that you all are doing, and I do want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this experience and and all of the things in the amenities. And one of the things I think it's important to say is that this is a place that you now can come to all four seasons, and so sometimes we just think about the beautiful fall and then the beautiful spring, when it's warmer, but this I've always kind of called this the secret season. I don't think I coined that phrase, but this is the secret season inside Western North Carolina, because even on that drive up from Robbinsville, with all the lakes, now you can see them. Now you have all these long-range views and you are able to experience this no less than you would in the spring or the fall. It's just a different season.

I think you experience it more because, if you've already Been here in the fall, it's like a total new experience. In the different season we are known as the hidden gem of the Smoky Mountains. That is for a reason. You are in the Smoky Mountains, you're driving and it's like wow, that's Topoka. There it is. Yeah now you see why everyone uses the word wow. Here we are the hidden gem, the secret side the secret side.

Yeah, this is the hidden gym and the secret season. I love it. Well, valerie, this has been wonderful. I cannot thank you enough for the experience, for everything that we've been able to experience here in the last you know, 24, 48 hours or so. But I really thank you for your heart too, the way that I've watched you Lead your staff and lead the events, lead last night's Christmas lighting. You have a servant's heart. It's very clear and it seems like it comes through in all the staff that we've had contact with, and we did not know until this morning that it was your daughter who was our server last night at dinner, who did a not only a phenomenal job serving but also just understanding the property, new specifics about our, our room, which I thought was really really neat, but it's a wonderful thing. I cannot wait to come back. We're going to come back when the Chihuahua is releasing, because we definitely want to see that.

I want to see you go down it.

Oh.

Me and Trace is going to be taking photos here on the terrace.

I better get down and start training, because I got a lot of work. So all of my paddling listeners out there, I need some safety builders around me. So anybody that wants to go run the Chihuahua with me, let's go.

Yes, why he's being an enthusiast on the river. We're going to be enthusiast in the crowd and take amazing photos.

Right on, Right on. Well, you have some amazing things going on here at Historic to Poca Lodge and I think every listener who is within a day, two day, three day drive it doesn't matter. You need to book your stay here at this lodge.

Well. Thank you for coming and sharing your experience with us and the world, as we are becoming an international destination. We are the Historic to Poca Lodge and Robinsville, North Carolina. Thank you.

The very basic core of a man's spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different. Son John Crackauer, the magic of to poke a lodge extends beyond its physical beauty. The staff's dedication to providing an unforgettable experience was evident from their commitment to making every guest feel at home, to the well appointed amenities and grounds that capture your heart and invite you to stay awhile. As we wrap up this episode, remember that Historic to Poca Lodge is not just a destination. It's a blend of adventure and sanctuary, a historic gem that continues to thrive in the modern era. I hope you've been as enchanted as I have by the tales and treasures of this extraordinary place. I'd like to extend a special thank you to Valerie and her entire staff for their hospitality and warm welcome. I'd also like to say thank you to Heather Noll, president and Founder of Chalkboard Communications, for making this entire experience and episode possible. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please consider leaving us a review. It truly does help us reach more people and if you know someone who also might enjoy the podcast. Be sure to share this episode with them. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram and keep those episode suggestions coming. You can email them to me at mike at explorationlocalcom. I get those messages about once a week and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy engaging with the listeners. Well, that's going to do it for this episode. Until next time, I encourage you to wander far, but explore local.