mountain bound

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!!!