Spring Break 2009 - Day 2

March 27th, 2009


Ah, the joys of sleeping in! Friday found us sleeping late and working on some school projects for several hours, while the puppies explored both the cabin and the countryside. After perusing the guidebooks in the house and inquiring at the Boone Visitors' Center, we decided to set off for the Cascade Falls trail. It was an interesting drive out on the Blue Ridge Parkway out of Bamboo Gap, as every other sign warned us of the impending closing of the road. Luckily it ended at the Cascade falls parking lot! (Despite the instructions of the Visitors' Center staff.)


It was EXTREMELY foggy and ours was the only car in the parking lot. We followed the path down a wooded trail with markers for various indigenous trees and plants. As we reached the top of the falls, it began to to rain gently. By the time we descended a steep set of stone steps to the main waterfall, it was simply pouring. Nevertheless, we took some interesting shots.



After returning to the cabin to dry off and warm up, we headed back out on the road to Banner Elk Winery, which we became familiar with during our last two visits to the Blue Ridge Wine Festival. The Garmin had a mind of its own and directed us along the most winding, roller coaster, switchback road we have ever seen...otherwise known as Route 194. Through Valle Crucis and west into Banner Elk, we were happy to finally arrive! So we drank some wine, bought some wine, crashed some random guy's 30th birthday, inquired of the locals how they survived in High Country year-round (specifically the winter?!?!) and general stuff that wine makes you do.



We stopped back at the cabin for a visit with the puppies and turned right back around again to go shopping at the outlets in Blowing Rock. The fog was so thick that when we arrived, we couldn't see the opposite end of the small shopping center from our car. Some serious damage done at J. Crew, we headed to Twigs for a casual dinner at the bar. Then off to sleep in the mountain air.

Spring Break - Boone, NC

March 26th, 2009

It's Spring Break 2009. We had planned to finally take a vacation up to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. The cabin was booked and W and I were ready to tackle a snowboard and possibly some skiis. Unfortunately Snowshoe decided to close a week early due to poor temperatures and rain in the forecast. Our kind cabin owner refunded the deposit but we were back to square one. Lucky for us, I work for a nice guy who, along with his wife & family, owns a cabin in Boone, NC!



So this morning we took off from Mebane on our way to the High Country. We decided to take a little detour due to a chance encounter in July of last year with the owner and brewmaster at Catawba Valley Brewery. We drove to Morganton, NC to pay Scott Pyatt and one of his employees, Tate, a little visit. Despite our visit occuring outside of normal serving hours, Scott met us at the brewery for a tour, tasting and some lunch! We left with three growlers, some pint glasses and full bellies! What a better way to celebrate being on vacation than having beers before noon. If you are ever driving to or from Asheville, it is worth the two mile detour off of the highway! It's an interesting old warehouse filled with art, a stage for live music and what else, beer!!! Favorite beers? Try the Whiskey River IPA, Farmer Ted's Cream Ale or the White Zombie Wheat.




A half an hour later, we took another detour in the Pisgah National Forest to view the Linville Falls. Guinness and Harper had the chance to stretch their legs (and get REALLY muddy) on our .8 mile walk down and back. Took some pictures and headed back down the trail. We dried them off as best as possible and hopped back into the car for our final, super winding, drive into Boone. We settled into the cabin and just relaxed.


The weather this weekend is forecasted to be rather dismal, with mostly cloud cover and some rain. But driving over to Boone for dinner, the clouds broke and gave us a great view of some farmland covered in fog.






For dinner we decided to try a local spot called Black Cat Burrito. Great food and beer, but no TV's, an unfortunate circumstance when it's the middle of March Madness! Despite a valient effort to find a non-smoking bar with a television, we wound up back at the cabin for some DVD watching and relaxing. (Not without a trip to the store first for hot-cross buns, oreos and a Magic Hat mixed case.)

First day of Spring Break? GREAT!!!