I have always fancied myself a true "beach person"--warm weather, sunny skies, a beautiful and refreshing ocean to dip into, and sand between my toes--I love it all. But I have discovered in recent years that the mountains have begun to lure me, and being in the mountains in the fall may be every bit as enjoyable as being at the beach in the summer. It is still a bit shocking for me that I have begun to feel this way. But I have.
Last weekend, we made a last-minute trip to Blowing Rock, North Carolina to see the fall foliage and to give my boys their first taste of the mountains. We learned that the leaves were becoming vibrantly red, orange, and gold, and we wanted to see them. Plus, we had never taken the boys to Tweetsie Railroad, so we wanted to take them there before it closes for the winter.
We left around 9 am last Sunday morning and arrived in Boone around noon for lunch. After lunch, we headed over to Tweetsie Railroad, a small theme park in the mountains at Blowing Rock that features a three mile ride on an historic steam engine. During the ride, the train pauses for shows put on by "cowboy and Indian" actors. Paul and I both enjoyed Tweetsie Railroad as children, so being back there again brought back such wonderful memories for us both.
The boys had so much fun at Tweetsie. They loved riding the trains (the steam engine and a smaller one), the ski lift, the airplanes and helicopter ride, the tilt-a-whirl, the Drop Zone, the Tornado, the ferris wheel, the go carts, and the kiddie boats. Bennett especially loved flying in his own airplane at least five different times, and Anderson rode the Drop Zone ride at least six times. They also loved playing in the arcade, visiting the Deer Park (a petting zoo with goats, deer, pigs, llamas, etc.), and visiting the gift shops.
After spending several hours at Tweetsie, we left to check into our hotel. Paul was very dear and booked us a room at The Chetola Resort (www.chetola.com) because he knows that a clean hotel with nice amenities makes his wife incredibly happy. The Chetola Resort is set on a mountainside with Chetola Lake below. Our room had a stunning view of this lake with a backdrop of trees and their rich golden leaves. We were a short walk from downtown Blowing Rock which may be have one of the most charming streets I have ever seen! I really want to return soon just to visit all of the shops there.
Monday morning we went to Grandfather Mountain (www.grandfather.com). Unfortunately for us, it rained the entire day, so when we ventured onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, our views were obscured by dense fog and steady rain. We still drove up to the entrance of Grandfather Mountain's park, and the drive there was very enjoyable (though a bit nauseating with all of the curves) because the golden leaves draped the narrow, winding roads.
After our trip up the mountain, we descended to a town called Valle Crucis that Paul and I had visited on a trip there years ago. There is a store there called Mast General Store (which now has several locations--www.mastgeneralstore.com). Since 1883, the Mast family ran this store until selling it a few decades ago. During its early years, the family tried to carry all of the items their neighbors might need - from plows to cloth and "Cradles to Caskets," which led to the popular saying, "If you can't buy it here, you don't need it." Today, the store is on the national register of historic places as an example of an old country store. It still offers a wide variety of products. The boys' favorite section of this store is the candy section. There are literally barrels and barrels and crates and boxes of various candies. Each person takes a basket and picks out the candy they like best. All four of us chose our candies, then we headed upstairs to the toys section. The toys are a real throw-back as you can find all of the toys our parents played with as kids--from paddles with the attached balls to pick-up sticks to old-fashioned cars and aiplanes. We then stopped by the old-fashioned coca cola cooler to pick out our own bottled sodas to enjoy.
I think I may have had tears in my eyes most of our time in the store because it made me miss my grandparents terribly. Everything there reminded me of them--from the soda bottles to the games they used to give us each Christmas to the candy selection. Even the way the old floors creaked evoked memories of Grandpa taking me to an old country store outside of Troy, NC where he would buy me a pack of M&M's and a bottled coke. And the chocolate stars in the candy bins reminded of the my Granddaddy who would buy me those treats at the Belk candy counter every time we went to North Hills Mall.
We left Mast General Store for Greensboro where we stopped and spent a few hours with Paul and Ava (Paul's parents, in case you didn't know) and to cut our trip in half. It was nice to relax there by the fire and eat some delicious Brunswick Stew and to rest up before we drove the last leg of our trip.
Ahhhh.....the mountains of North Carolina. I want to go back! And we will.....a ski trip this winter is in the works. Can't wait!!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
a trip to the outer banks
The more I travel and sight see, I grow in my appreciation of two things: One, I can't help but appreciate the beauty of God's creation. He is far and away the most masterful, creative, imaginative, thoughtful, brilliant Creator. Two, I become more convinced that I live in the most beautiful state in America. North Carolina's bookends are the majestic, alluring Appalachian mountains in the west whose color, in a few weeks, will be saturated with brilliant hues of gold, red, orange, yellow, green, amber, etc. and the mesmerizing, robust waters of the Atlantic in the east. And in between you find some of the most beautiful landscapes--sand hills, forests, pastures, farmland, plains, foothills--along with lakes, rivers, creeks, swamps and streams. I especially love to stumble upon the old farmhouses "in the middle of nowhere" with tin roofs, fencing in need of new paint, and woodsheds and wash houses out back. They take me back to my childhood on my grandparents' farm in the Uwharrie Mountains. But that is another blog for another day.
For the Brewers, the end of September and the beginning of October was spent in the Outer Banks. This was my children's first trip to "OBX", and I must say that this historic, well-known part of our state never disappoints. This part of our coast is rich in history, from being the home of the country's very first British colony, to a safe haven for slaves after the Civil War, to the infamous "Graveyard of the Atlantic", to the place where German submarines stalked American shores during World War II, to the place where the first airplane actually flew. The history alone is enough to lure you there.
But the Outer Banks have so much more to offer. The landscape is breathtaking. Watching the sunset at Jockey's Ridge (the largest Sand dunes on the East Coast), driving along miles of untouched beaches, visiting lighthouses that stand proudly along the shores, climbing the steps of the tallest brick lighthouse in America (Cape Hatteras Light House), driving across the Pamlico and Roanoke Sounds and the Alligator River, walking through the beautiful forests where the "Lost Colony" was once established, and watching ocean creatures swim under the pier off of our hotel were only highlights of the beauty we enjoyed on this trip.
This was truly one of our all time favorite family trips. Each of us loved the Outer Banks for different reasons.
For Paul, his favorite part of the trip was probably visiting The Wright Brothers Museum. Even though we had both been there before, we both had goosebumps as we re-read the history of the first flight and walked the trail that they blazed with that first flight. Our favorite quote was from one of the brothers who said, "Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!" It reminded me of the Scripture from Daniel, "For there is a God who reveals secrets" and from a quote in the Shack when Sarayu tells Mac that God has hidden things from us because he knows the joy we experience in seeking and discovering.
As soon as we arrived at the Wright Brothers Memorial, we were able to fly handmade kites with the park rangers. About twenty families joined us and the rangers as we spread across the grass that now covers that famous landmark and released those trash bag kites into the wind! Even though the kites were made of brown trash bags, it was a beautiful site! Then, private planes began to land at the landing strip next to us, and it really brought home to us the evolution of flight--from kites to planes. What an amazing invention God allowed those Wright boys to discover!
Anderson's favorite part of the trip was the evening that he and his dad went fishing on Kitty Hawk Pier. Unbeknownst to them, the blues were running, and Anderson and Paul, along with their fellow fishermen, began to reel in fish after fish after fish. It was truly an exciting and unexpected experience. I feel like God just directed the fish under the pier that evening just for my little boy, like he did for his disciples when he told them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat and they almost caught more fish than they could handle. Anderson and Paul ended up giving their fish to some of their new fishing buddies on the pier who were happy to take them home to eat.
Bennett probably loved almost everything about the trip. He was all smiles running up and down the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge. He was deliriously happy just riding the elevator (which he calls a "yemenator", a combination of his word for lemonade and elevator). He also loved frolicking with his brother and dad at Bodie Island Lighthouse, playing in the arcade at a restaurant we visited near Cape Hatteras Light House, and eating cookies each night that were free in our hotel lobby.
I loved everything about our trip, but each moment really does have a special significance to me. When Anderson and I walked the stairs to the top of Cape Hatteras Light House, I was a bit teary eyed because the first time I had made that climb all I could think about was how much I wished he and Paul could be with me (this was P.B.--pre-Bennett). Anderson has acquired a fear of heights, so he was happy to keep his back against the lighthouse and preferred not to move towards the railings, but that was fine by me. We still stood there and took in the view. There really are not adequate words in the English language to describe that view.
Other highlights for me were just driving down that beautiful stretch of the Croatan Highway from Kitty Hawk to Hatteras, watching my boys play video games in the arcade at a mom-and-pop pizza joint near the lighthouse, running by myself in the morning down the streets of Kitty Hawk, grabbing Starbucks and breakfast for the boys after my run, seeing my first giant stingray in the wild floating gingerly under the pier (which, incidently, inspired Anderson to do his ocean animal report on stingrays), snuggling Bennett while Anderson and Paul fished that night, eating Duck Donuts, sitting beside the Wright Brothers Memorial and taking in the view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Roanoke Sound, going to Fort Raleigh and walking on the same soil as the members of the Lost Colony, going backstage where the play "The Lost Colony" is performed, going to the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke and watching the boys play with stingrays and gawk at the sharks, and even doing school work with Anderson in the hotel lobby while Bennett napped in the room.
I am so thankful that we have chosen to keep Anderson home with us this year and that we are enjoying so many adventures with both of our boys as a result. I am more aware now of this truth than I ever have been: Time is always moving. No force of man can stop it. The only power we have is the power of choice--we can choose to seize each moment we are given and not allow time to steal any more from us than necessary. I thank God that He has given us both the opportunity and the wisdom to seize these moments.
For the Brewers, the end of September and the beginning of October was spent in the Outer Banks. This was my children's first trip to "OBX", and I must say that this historic, well-known part of our state never disappoints. This part of our coast is rich in history, from being the home of the country's very first British colony, to a safe haven for slaves after the Civil War, to the infamous "Graveyard of the Atlantic", to the place where German submarines stalked American shores during World War II, to the place where the first airplane actually flew. The history alone is enough to lure you there.
But the Outer Banks have so much more to offer. The landscape is breathtaking. Watching the sunset at Jockey's Ridge (the largest Sand dunes on the East Coast), driving along miles of untouched beaches, visiting lighthouses that stand proudly along the shores, climbing the steps of the tallest brick lighthouse in America (Cape Hatteras Light House), driving across the Pamlico and Roanoke Sounds and the Alligator River, walking through the beautiful forests where the "Lost Colony" was once established, and watching ocean creatures swim under the pier off of our hotel were only highlights of the beauty we enjoyed on this trip.
This was truly one of our all time favorite family trips. Each of us loved the Outer Banks for different reasons.
For Paul, his favorite part of the trip was probably visiting The Wright Brothers Museum. Even though we had both been there before, we both had goosebumps as we re-read the history of the first flight and walked the trail that they blazed with that first flight. Our favorite quote was from one of the brothers who said, "Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!" It reminded me of the Scripture from Daniel, "For there is a God who reveals secrets" and from a quote in the Shack when Sarayu tells Mac that God has hidden things from us because he knows the joy we experience in seeking and discovering.
As soon as we arrived at the Wright Brothers Memorial, we were able to fly handmade kites with the park rangers. About twenty families joined us and the rangers as we spread across the grass that now covers that famous landmark and released those trash bag kites into the wind! Even though the kites were made of brown trash bags, it was a beautiful site! Then, private planes began to land at the landing strip next to us, and it really brought home to us the evolution of flight--from kites to planes. What an amazing invention God allowed those Wright boys to discover!
Anderson's favorite part of the trip was the evening that he and his dad went fishing on Kitty Hawk Pier. Unbeknownst to them, the blues were running, and Anderson and Paul, along with their fellow fishermen, began to reel in fish after fish after fish. It was truly an exciting and unexpected experience. I feel like God just directed the fish under the pier that evening just for my little boy, like he did for his disciples when he told them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat and they almost caught more fish than they could handle. Anderson and Paul ended up giving their fish to some of their new fishing buddies on the pier who were happy to take them home to eat.
Bennett probably loved almost everything about the trip. He was all smiles running up and down the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge. He was deliriously happy just riding the elevator (which he calls a "yemenator", a combination of his word for lemonade and elevator). He also loved frolicking with his brother and dad at Bodie Island Lighthouse, playing in the arcade at a restaurant we visited near Cape Hatteras Light House, and eating cookies each night that were free in our hotel lobby.
I loved everything about our trip, but each moment really does have a special significance to me. When Anderson and I walked the stairs to the top of Cape Hatteras Light House, I was a bit teary eyed because the first time I had made that climb all I could think about was how much I wished he and Paul could be with me (this was P.B.--pre-Bennett). Anderson has acquired a fear of heights, so he was happy to keep his back against the lighthouse and preferred not to move towards the railings, but that was fine by me. We still stood there and took in the view. There really are not adequate words in the English language to describe that view.
Other highlights for me were just driving down that beautiful stretch of the Croatan Highway from Kitty Hawk to Hatteras, watching my boys play video games in the arcade at a mom-and-pop pizza joint near the lighthouse, running by myself in the morning down the streets of Kitty Hawk, grabbing Starbucks and breakfast for the boys after my run, seeing my first giant stingray in the wild floating gingerly under the pier (which, incidently, inspired Anderson to do his ocean animal report on stingrays), snuggling Bennett while Anderson and Paul fished that night, eating Duck Donuts, sitting beside the Wright Brothers Memorial and taking in the view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Roanoke Sound, going to Fort Raleigh and walking on the same soil as the members of the Lost Colony, going backstage where the play "The Lost Colony" is performed, going to the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke and watching the boys play with stingrays and gawk at the sharks, and even doing school work with Anderson in the hotel lobby while Bennett napped in the room.
I am so thankful that we have chosen to keep Anderson home with us this year and that we are enjoying so many adventures with both of our boys as a result. I am more aware now of this truth than I ever have been: Time is always moving. No force of man can stop it. The only power we have is the power of choice--we can choose to seize each moment we are given and not allow time to steal any more from us than necessary. I thank God that He has given us both the opportunity and the wisdom to seize these moments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)