Blowing Rock, "I've never heard of it."

Blowing Rock, “I’ve Never Heard of it.”

When I told Terry Beaty, Regency Travel Agency owner, that Dennis and I were going to Blowing Rock, NC, for a week…he said he hadn’t heard of Blowing Rock. Well, Terry may not have heard of Blowing Rock, but perhaps he has heard of Mitford, yes, the Mitford that Jan Karon extols in her Mitford series books about a sweet, beautiful friendly town in the North Carolina Smokies. Mitford is Blowing Rock, NC.

August is cool and beautiful in the mountains of North Carolina. We know because our dear friends, Ed and DJ Meyer, invited us to join them during their annual month-long trek from Destin to Blowing Rock to escape the summer heat.

Flying directly to Charlotte from Memphis was an easy experience. Our rental car was waiting with the trunk up and as we drove to Blowing Rock from Charlotte to the Chetolah Lodge, we stopped along the way at a small Fatz restaurant in Lincolnton, for a light lunch. They served a great crispy green/chicken salad, but they don’t have Diet Cokes, just Diet Pepsi. So, when I told the young, friendly waitress I really preferred Diet Coke, the owner of the 3-generation family-owned restaurant came over and said he was sending a waiter over to the grocery store across the way to bring me a Diet Coke. Jan Karon ws right, this part of our magnificent country is very special.

As we pulled into Blowing Rock about 2 hours after arriving in Charlotte, our friends reached us on our cell phone and said they were standing on the corner waiting for us just ahead by the park on Main Street. What a warm welcome to Blowing Rock. They joined us in our car and took us to Chetola , so we wouldn’t have to look for the Lodge. Chetola, a family owned destination for loyal family vacations escaping the heat in the summers, sits on 23 acres of manicured lawns, landscaped with flowering shrubs and seasonal plantings. The main lodge overlooks a small lake where there is canoeing and paddleboating and fishing. Daily and nightly activities such as remote-controlled boat races, campfires sings with samores, guided nature walks, trips to raft the white waters and family buffets by the gazebo on the water make this a great family reunion spot.

Our one-bedroom condo was on ground level, Chardinal 203, in a group of 8 to l0 condos in one building. The furnishings, though adequate, were a tad dated with braided rug, some early American recliners, teddy bears and hearts in the kitchen. Linens were merely serviceable, not luxurious. But, this lodge is a moderately priced accommodation, family-style, not a luxurious, romantic hide-away.

A small town sweetness permeates the shops, local vendors, visitors and residents who love to people watch in Blowing Rock Park on Main Street. This is an unspoiled little gem of a village, population 1,500 (in the winter). But there are a lot of visitors in the summer, many from Miami. In fact, in the 50’s and 60’s there were so many judges and attorneys who came here from Miami that there were no courts held in the summers in Miami.

A local shopowner suggested that we visit St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church which is known to be Father Tim's Church in the Mitford Series. There is a painting of Mary of the Hills at the front of the church by a famous artist from Blowing Rock. The artist's daughter cast a beautiful bronze of Mary and her toddler, Jesus, for the walled courtyard on the south end of the church. It was a moving piece depicting a beautiful young mother caring for her son. The church is always open (until 9 PM) and evening prayers were being called by the lovely bells.

We learned that Bonnie was headed toward the panhandle of Florida, so our friends were worried about their home and condos there. Also, Hurricane Charley was close behind. Based on the destruction they wrought...those hurricanes should have been named Bonnie and Clyde.

Blowing Rock Methodist Church is a little brown church in the Vale and we attended Sunday service there, invited by our friends who have made this little church their summer worship house. It was a friendly, surprisingly dressing affair with one of only 4 baby baptisms held during the last l0 years, symns of praise led by an elder saintly woman in a wheelchair who has been leading singing there for 30 years or more.

After services, we drove through the campus of Appalachain State University. We were impressed with the beautiful modern buildings, exceptional athletic fields, stadium and arena. This is a very popular school and there is constant effort to accomodate the numbers of students who apply each year. We enjoyed the beautiful golf course, then stopped at the Conference Center for a buffet lunch. Lunch here was a place for a Sunday gathering of friends to feast, but also no vanilla ice cream for the home-made peach cobbler. Something was mumbled about "no delivery" this week.

Downtown Boone, NC, brought us a visit to the Mast General Store, the original historic site of several branches to gather candy from barrels. This experience reminded us of our childhood

favorites like banana flavored candy and little waxed bottles full of sweet juice, cherry sours and chocolate covered caramels.

In the back of the General Store, just outside, is a small ice cream candy store. This little stop with a covered porch furnished appropriately with green plastic textured andriondack chairs was a perfect spot for ice cream or cotton candy. A small creek runs by the store, but is seems the creek is eroding the banks of this historic site. We witnessed our federal tax dollars at work to insure nothing happens to those candy barrels, ice cream and cotton candy, as the stream is being re-channeled to prevent erosion.

Two of the largest honeybee (yellow and black) front-end dirt movers were riding the middle of the creek, dredging the center of the creek, lifting boulders the size of large baby black bears and placing them strategically on the banks smack dab in the middle of the creek. We asked two handsome engineers who were surveying and supervising the work to tell us about the project. They told us that Federal laws protect historic sites from natural or man-made disasters. So, the stones in the middle of the creek were to create "steps" in the creek to slow down the flow of water and to create edys or holes where fish will father. That is a little fisherman's bonus provided by the project. And they were reinforcing the banks to eliminate danger to historic property. We also learned that the TDOT, TN Department of Transportion, is about to embark on restoration of wetlands and natural habitats which have been compromised by bridge building and other developments in TN.

This serendipitous experience was fascinating. We stayed an hour, chatting with the engineers, eating ice cream and enjoying this out of character happening in Boone. We could stay because, "What else do we have to do?"

We visited one of 6 Doncaster outlets for glorious fine clothing bargains for women sold normally only through stylish lady home reps. Doncaster is a division of Tanner, so this find is at the Tanner Outlet. $150 shells for $19 made my lucky day.

We visited Moses Cone Mansion off the Blue Ridge Parkway which was originally owned by a single family. The estate includes a beautiful mountain and numerous scenic trails developed over the years by the family. The family still oversees the property by sitting on the foundation board responsible for its care. The Artists Guild is housed there and we saw a collection of beautiful art, including jewelry, watercolors, oils, pottery, dolls, decorative glass and everything else you can imagine. All the works were of very high quality. This was a highlight of our trip where we found the fishing lure and our one piece of beautiful pottery. Dennis discovered a hand-carved, hand-painted fishing lure with spinners crafted by a local artist. It was just right for a 13 inch trout from the lake at Chetola.

DJ and Ed have made a hobby of tasting and rating the down-home eating venues in this area. They say that Crippen, Twigs and Best Cellar are worth a try for dinner. We didn't have time to sample all the restaurants they haunt, but we made at run at it. kThe Chetola Lodge provided a very good lunch experience while seated by a window overlooking the lake. Historic items grace the menu, like Waldorf Salad and Derby Pie, with full descriptions of how they came to be on the menu, a nice touch.

Storie Street Grill is operated by a man/wife team and serves fresh deliciously prepared items. This is a special place and rereturned a second time which proved to be just as rewarding as the first. The owner told us Jan Karon's books were entirely too sweet, the orange marmalade cake in her writings were really a plum cake which he always bought at the local fair, and that Jan's books had brought a few minor troubles to Blowing Rock. It seems "Father Tim" who is entirely fictional is sought out by visitors and the local priest is haunted by the papparattzi on his way to services. And, everyone looks to buy the Orange Marmalade Cake, but alas it isn't in Blowing Rock at all. Jan Karon was a resident writer for Victoria Magazine in Blowing Rock, when she wrote about the Orange Marmalade Cake and many people asked the magazine for the recipe. The magazine's inventive kitchen gurus invented a recipe that this non-existent cake. How funny is that!@

The Village Antiques was a pleasant visit to enjoy small Tiffany silver pieces and a huge collection of fine silver. They will be closing, though, in a few months and will likely auction their huge inventory. No, I didn't try to buy it.

Gattles for fine linens 1 888 287 7556 was such a pleasurable stop for a purchase of a wedding gift, wrapped and sent. Every bride, I decided, needs satin nested pillows with blue French ribbons holding them carefully in place, fit for a princess.

Every morning before we set out to explore the shops, scenery and eating, we took a water aerobics class in the Chetola Recreation Center or walked the treadmill and used the machines and weights. It is well equipped. The locker facilities and spa treatment rooms need an uplift and the limit of one little blue towel per person is inadequate. So, it is best to work out, swim and skip the "spa".

I would recommend Blowing Rock for its genuine homeyness, friendly spirit, small-town unspoiled attitude, delightful food, cool summer weather and beautiful mountain scenery.

Happy travels. Patty