Don Cason had his 125-year-old inn in the western North Carolina mountains booked solid for Veterans Day weekend, rooms full and restaurant reservations lined up, AP reported. Guests came to the Esmeralda Inn & Restaurant in Chimney Rock to see late fall colors in the crisp mountain air. They ended up evacuating in a smoky haze. That Friday, Cason looked back as he drove away. Flames and plumes of smoke dwarfed the inn from the mountainside behind. "I was looking at my inn, not knowing if I was telling it goodbye or we'd be back," said Cason, who owns the inn with his wife, Kim. "You've put blood, sweat and tears in for years, and to look back and go, 'Lord, I don't know if you've got me coming back or not' â€" that's not a good feeling." For about a week now, Chimney Rock, part of the Lake Lure area outside Asheville, has been virtually deserted in a smoky haze as dozens of wildfires burn an estimated 190 square miles across the Southeast. Stores and restaurants are closed and houses show no signs of life. The only visitors are firefighters from across the country. About 1,000 people were evacuated, and officials were allowing them to come back into the area Saturday afternoon. The shroud of smoke is making a dent in the tourism economy â€" which thrives during the fall season in much of the affected area â€" but Lake Lure could be taking the most concentrated hit. Elsewhere, several officials called the smoke annoying but say it hasn't been deterring all the visitors.
