April 23, 1997 
Hiking, shopping, dining, oh my....A weekend getaway to wash away workaday cares
(CNN) -- Just north of the Georgia-North Carolina border, the Blue Ridge Mountains cradle a small community with the charm of a village and the panache of a major city. In Highlands, North Carolina, it's not what you do, but the simple pleasure of relaxation that makes a vacation fulfilling.
Take the plunge!
See Highlands' waterfalls:
1.2Mb/29 sec. QuickTime movie
Highlands' history as a vacation retreat began in the mid-1880s, when it was touted as a health resort. Residents believed the high altitude could cure sicknesses such as yellow fever and bronchitis.
In some ways, this oasis really does cure.
Unsuspecting city folk find their cluttered thoughts routinely interrupted by birds chirping, or the trickle of a brook running down moss-laden rock. This little town -- population 1,000 -- makes it easy to forget the pressures of the working world; the most strenuous commute in Highlands consists of navigating three stoplights on the four-block main thoroughfare.
As in the 1800s, families with the requisite time and money relocate to Highlands in the summer and fall to escape the oppressive heat of the southern lowlands. At 4,118 feet, it's the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi River. Temperatures often are more than 10 degrees cooler than a few hours' drive south.
"Highlands is like a tiny little island sitting up on the Blue Ridge Mountains... and it drops off two or three thousand feet in all directions," said biologist Robert Zahner. "This is the only rain forest in eastern North America. And, it's a rain forest because of the high rainfall and also its elevation and cool temperature."
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