Friday, August 10, 2012
D convinced me it would be a good idea to get away for our anniversary. We haven't traveled since Christmas. Well, since we found out that our plant was closing, anyway, but D thought it would do me good to get away. I let him take care of all the arrangements with my one caveat being that I didn't want to be in the car more than three hours. He decided on Blowing Rock, NC.
As I am not officially hired on at Sealed Air, I don't have any vacation time. They do allow us to take a few hours off and "make up" the time. I had worked over 30 minutes each day that week so that I could leave 2 hours early. Additionally, I worked from home so that I could pack during the 'quiet' part of the day. We managed to get away in the mid-afternoon. The mountains were really 'smoking' and it was rainy and wet.
Blowing Rock is a beautiful little town. There were flowers everywhere! The rain quit for a little while and we found our hotel. Our room didn't have a fireplace or a Jacuzzi as advertised on the sign. Well, actually it did have a Jacuzzi - that was the name-brand on the toilet. D and I had a good laugh over that. It was a nice little room. It had a fridge and a flat-screen TV with DVD-player. What was also nice is that the door locked with a real key, which you don't find much anymore. I like that.
After leaving our bags, we were off just a few blocks away to one of my most favorite places: Mellow Mushroom. The menu touted a local favorite - The Boone Goon. It's a pesto-based pizza with spinach, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese and teriyaki chicken. We decided to give it a try.
It was very fresh-tasting and very good and we couldn't finish it all.
After dinner our plan was to drive into Boone and see The Bourne Legacy. Unfortunately the next showing wasn't until 10PM, so we had an early night. Luckily, we're easily amused with cable TV. From hearing the rain pouring down outside, it's a good thing we didn't try to explore Blowing Rock. It was really coming down!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
We debated what to do about breakfast. Only one or two places in Blowing Rock serve the morning meal and they are known to have long lines. Or we could drive all the way into Boone and eat there. The problem was, we intended to see The Blowing Rock first thing and it didn't make sense to leave and come back right away. We chose option number three: Breakfast in bed - cold pizza.
On the drive out to The Rock, I started shrieking at D to pull the car over. The view of the Blue Ridge was just beyond gorgeous. We were in someone's side yard but I didn't care and it was only going to be for a moment. We were spellbound. A camera cannot do it justice.
On to see The Blowing Rock!
I knew it was just a tourist place but the whole town was named after it and, by gosh, I was going to see it! We were the first to get our tickets and down the path we went. We read about the legend and then we got up close and personal with The Rock. There was no howling gale. Not the even the faintest whisper of a breeze. It was completely and utterly calm. But still very pretty. Another couple came up and we did the whole we'll-take-your-picture-if-you'll-take-ours arrangement.
Then we were off for a drive on the historic Blue Ridge Parkway. The sun was starting to come out and it was a pretty drive.
We finally made our way to Linville Caverns. I was very excited about the caverns. It wasn't spelunking by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not physically fit enough for that anyway. I was hoping to see some nice formations and hopefully, some bats.
It was quite cool inside the caverns and very wet. Quite frequently water would drop down on our heads and shoulders. It was also quite dark. It was difficult to see anywhere that was not lit by stationary lights or by the guide's flashlight. He said the light caused the growth of algae so they tried to limit it as much as possible. He started by showing us the trout that were the first clue to the caverns' existence many years ago.
This formation is called The Alligator. It's my favorite.
At one point the guide had us look up. I thought we were finally going to see some bats. But no, he explained the bats were out on their summer holiday and would not return to the caverns until the outside temperatures dropped. I was beyond disappointed. Then he pointed out the fault line and I forgot all about the little bats. All I could think about was earthquakes and cave-ins, and being crushed to death or dying a slow gasping death due to lack of oxygen - which hadn't even crossed my mind before!
Later, we were herded into a hallway and the ground beneath us was metal instead of stone. The guide said he had something really neat to show us, flipped a switch and illuminated.... water. The lower "flooded" section of Linville caverns beneath our feet. Of course, he did not know of my drain/grate phobia. My heartbeat racheted up and I could not encourage D to move forward fast enough. I wanted terra firma beneath me, pronto!
On the way out we were reminded to stop at the White Nose Syndrome station and clean our shoes off so that we would not spread the disease further. They have found Linville bats with WNS but luckily it does not affect humans. I hope the bats appreciate the care we took to wash up. I hope they were out pollinating some cacao tree somewhere - I hear they do that.
The sun had really come out while we were underground. We headed back towards Blowing Rock and it was a beautiful afternoon for a drive. I, of course, got a little carsick but we spotted a waterfall and got out for a few minutes to take in some air.
Downtown Blowing Rock was hopping. D and I went into a few shoppes. I was looking for an angel ornament for our tree but wasn't finding anything. We had planned for a nice dinner so we didn't want anything large for lunch. We passed numerous folks with these fantastic looking ice cream cones. I asked one lady and she pointed the way. Of course, there was a line.
Blowing Rock Mud. Well, we had to try that. Yum.
We walked down to the park where there was an art festival underway.
We were
really impressed by the variety of artists there - not just photography
and painting, there were fiber arts and pottery and even glasswork and
musical instruments. It was a fantastic little show.
And there, beside the Best In Show ribbon were angel ornaments. Yay!
It began to rain again so D and I decided it would be an excellent time to drive into Boone for the movie. I enjoyed it but, as a rule, I like chase films. Afterwards we returned to Blowing Rock and ate at The Blowing Rock Grille. The place had been packed out every time we had driven by. In fact, they were so full we had to sit at the bar in order to eat dinner and we weren't the only ones. I was a little miffed at that, but I was hungry and at least no one was smoking nearby. The salmon salad was such a beautiful plate!
Then it was back to our lovely room to decompress. It had been a busy day! After our food had settled we opened a little box we had picked up while strolling downtown.
I had never been to a Cupcake bakery before. They only had about six cupcakes to choose from. Mine was Moulin Rouge (Red Velvet) and D's was Maple Bacon. Nothing I would drive all the way to Blowing Rock for - but a nice dessert.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
On our anniversary, one of my requirements was to sleep late. I can't remember the last Sunday we got to do that. Our only concrete plan for the day was the Jazz Brunch at Canyons. D was really excited about hearing some live jazz. Unfortunately the band took so long setting up that we were completely done eating before they began to play. I had the veggie omelet and potatoes - gave D my blueberry muffin for later. At least we had a nice view!
On our way out of town we stopped by Kilwins for some fudge to take home. Blowing Rock Mud, Double Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel. I thought about getting Peanut Butter but theirs wasn't anywhere near as good as Daddy's fudge was. I miss his fudge so much.
And then back to reality. Back to the treadmill! We ate ourselves silly for two days and I've been working it off ever since! It was so nice to get away but nice to come home too.
