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BLOWING ROCK, BOONE, AND BANNER ELK, NORTH CAROLINA: MOUNTAIN TOWNS AT THEIR FINEST
With so many places and
not enough time, it’s rare where we go back to a destination. It’s
got to be something extraordinary. And the three B’s of Blowing Rock,
Boone and Banner Elk in North Carolina’s High Country are just
that…..extraordinary.
Having stayed at the luxurious and elegant Chetola Resort on our last visit, we decided to check out their condominiums. With 3000 square feet and enough bedrooms to sleep a small army, our unit was certainly more than we needed, but a glorious and spacious home base for our stay. A gas fireplace, gourmet kitchen, DVD player, and mountain views from high-atop the property added to the enjoyment. Not to mention all of the wonderful amenities offered by the resort including their luxurious new spa (splurge with the couples massage/facial combo); an indoor pool; hiking; and boating on the lake.
Our last visit had us spending most of our time in Blowing Rock proper, so we decided to explore further afield this visit. And since we had done the requisite lunch at Storie Street Grill, a perusal of downtown Blowing Rock, and dinner at Crippen’s Country Inn (be sure to check out the Bittersweet Chocolate Infused Espresso Crusted Tenderloin) the day before, we headed for Boone to the home of Appalachian State University. Coffee houses, book stores, outdoor adventure shops, and other types of college fare mixed in with big box retailers to create a perfect harmony of charm, convenience, and academia. Throw in a Saturday morning farmers market that everyone from a three-county radius attends, a glorious and sun-filled walk through the adjacent Daniel Boone Native Gardens, and lunch at one of our favorite college sandwich joints (Macado’s), and we were off to a great start to a perfect weekend.
After lunch, a drive
to Banner Elk and Apple Hill Farm was our next stop. Owned by area foodie
and cookbook author Lee Rankin, Apple
Hill Farm is technically an alpaca farm but offers oh so much more. Horses,
donkeys, goats, alpacas, llamas, apple trees, resplendent gardens, walking
trails, bees, and a lovely gift shop where homemade honey or fruit jam is
often being sampled makes for a lovely 2-hour tour on Saturday afternoons.
Our leisurely drive back to Blowing Rock through the hills and dales of the
area was a great reminder of the power and the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway
(celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2010) and the surrounding area.
Dinner that night was a true treat and definitely off the beaten path. Located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway sits the Table at Crestwood, the full-service restaurant of the Inn at Crestwood. With floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining room overlooking spectacular views of the mountains, the food just narrowly beat out the ambiance. Chef Chuck Nelson uses an amazing combination of local ingredients to create a sensory sensation. What a perfect way to cap off a NC mountain weekend.