Saluda is a city in Polk and Henderson Counties in North Carolina. It is famous for sitting at the top of the Norfolk Southern Railways, Saluda Grade, which was the steepest main line standard-gauge railway in the USA until Norfold Southern ceased operations on the line in 2001.

Saluda is close to the South Carolina state line, between Asheville NC and Spartanburg, SC. Saluda's name came from the Cherokee word Tsaludiyi meaning "green corn place". The first name of the area by European settlers was "Pace's Ridge" from the Pace family who inhabited the area. Many of the original families were Scots-Irish who left Pennsylvania around the time of the Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s.

The main street of Saluda is a hub of newly formed restaurants and art galleries. There are many winding roads near Saluda that tourists and cyclist enjoy. The nearby Green River includes some of the most challenging whitewater in the eastern United States and is a host to the annual Green River Games kayak race the first weekend in November.

Below: Street flags for Saluda North Carolina and its sister city, Carunchio, Abruzzo.

Below: Lee Duquette found some really big lollipops to enjoy!

Karen Duquette at the Saluda railroad station

Below: The two RV Gypsies stopped to eat at Wakey Monkey Cafe. Then Lee bought some sausage from a nearby store. Both places were okay, but nothing special, in the opinion of the two RV Gypsies.

Below: Next to the Wakey Monkey Cafe, Karen Duquette noticed a tiny park, called Spring Park, a place for children to play. The entire park is shown in the picture below, so the two RV Gypsies wonder why children would play here when there is a regular playground just around the corner.

Below: The two RV Gypsies heard of a narrow tunnel that cars from each direction had to take turns going through because it is a one-lane tunnel. But it is short and drivers can see if another car is already in the tunnel. The two RV Gypsies wanted to drive through it because it reminded them of their Nada Tunnel experience in Kentucky. Of course they do not want that type of experience again, so they were relieved when they saw that this was a very short tunnel, not long and curvy like the Nada Tunnel. Karen Duquette took a few photos through their front window, but they did not turn out very clearly.

Below; As the two RV Gypsies exited the Saluda Tunnel, they saw much of the same graffiti that was inside the tunnel. But when Karen noticed the hole straight through the side of the tunnel, she rolled down her window to get a better photo.

Below: Travel photos, leaving Saluda, NC

From the highway, the two RV Gypsies noticed part of a big globe off to the side. So they exited the highway to see what it was. The globe has a horse on each side of it because it is in front of a big Equestrian Center.

Below: As the two RV Gypsies drove along, Karen Duquette noticed a big blue heart in the sky.

Continue on in the order of travel to Pearson's Falls in Saluda (a combination of 2020 and 2021)