More autumn fun

We made it up to Seven Devils a couple of weekends ago with some good friends and their kids. The weather was perfect for some hiking, gem mining and more. Enjoy the photos!

Ah ... the mountains in autumn ...

We just finished up a wonderful weekend in Seven Devils. The leaves are *just* starting to change to their vibrant autumn magical colors ... the night air was crisp and cool ... and the animals were foraging for food for the winter.

We arrived just after 5 in the evening on Friday, settled into Our Mountain Place and had a lovely dinner with our friends. Saturday began with a trip to Linville Falls (the "Grand Canyon of the East"). Having had a bunch of rain in the days leading up meant some very powerful waterfalls. We had been there in June, and the difference was astonishing. On the way back, we saw an approximately 4-foot-long rattlesnake in the m

iddle of the Blue Ridge Parkway (not far from Roseboro Road), which was a "thrill" for parents and kids alike.

After Linville, we headed to the Foscoe Mining Company where the kids had a blast. They kept thinking they

were going to mine some diamonds and pearls, but the many other gems were more than enough to give them a thrill. We

then hit the always-popular Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, where we loaded up on candy.

More rain was in store Saturday night. It started around 8 p.m. and poured until about 7 a.m. on Sunday. However, we were blessed with a break in the rain; Sunday was GORGEOUS. We had planned to go to Moses Cone, but figuring it was to be a wee bit muddy, we instead just went into

Blowing Rock to shop (downtown and at Tanger outlets, shown), play on the playground and then have lunch at Canyons. My wife and I have probably been to BR a dozen times, and it was our first time at Canyons. The food was great, and they offered a nice jazz brunch on Sundays. After some ice cream at Kilwin's, we loaded up and headed back to Raleigh, dodging rain the whole way back.

We can't wait to get back to OMP. Unfortunately, it won't be until November when we bring more friends up. Hopefully they'll enjoy it as much as our other friends did.

Still plenty to do this autumn in the mountains!

Summer may be winding down, but the events are just heating up in the High Country.

Among the things coming up are The Time Jumpers, featuring Vince Gill, coming to Farthing Auditorium on September 16.

N.C. icon Bob Timberlake will be celebrating his 75th birthday September 23-25 at Blowing Rock's Chetola Lodge.

The Ghost Train will leave the station toward the end of the month at Tweetsie.

And there's always Appalachian State U. football!

Zip across the mountains

The Raleigh News & Observer has an article today about the ziplining offerings in the High Country. While the article focuses on Scream Time Zipline near Boone, it should be noted that Hawksnest in Seven Devils claims to be the longest zipline course on the East Coast.

"Slicing through trees and across a mountain valley hanging from a steel cable, it's hard not to feel like a 21st century Tarzan, with more clothes and less arm strength," writes Katelyn Ferral.

"Ziplining offers all the perks of being a tree-swinging jungle man, and one of the longest and most unusual ziplines in the country is in the Appalachian Mountains, three hours from the Triangle."

"... There are at least 15 zipline attractions throughout the state, mostly in the Piedmont and the mountains. They fall into two categories: standard zip line tours, where participants fly on cable connected to poles on the ground, and canopy tours, where the wire is suspended from aerial platforms in trees. ..."

Tons of performances coming up in the High Country

We always love to promote the great things going on in the High Country. This latest update is no different.

Here are a few of the great performers coming:

• K.D. Lang
• Dierks Bentley
• The Manhattan Transfer
• Chita Rivera & Ben Vereen

And those are just a few of the great things going on this summer "up there."

Seven Devils SafetyFest is July 2

We won't be able to make it, which is a shame: sounds like a nice time.

On Saturday, July 2, the town of Seven Devils will host its eighth annual SafetyFest Bar-B-Que Dinner, Raffle, Craft Show & Silent Auction, according to the Mountain Times.

All are invited to eat-in at town hall or stop by for a carry-out. Dinners include pork barbecue, roll, baked beans, cole slaw, drink and dessert. Adult dinners cost $7; children's (under 12) are $5. Meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The craft show will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there is still room for more crafters. Silent auction items will be on display at Seven Devils Town Hall, starting Monday, June 27. Bids close at 2:30 p.m. on July 2. Raffle winners will be announced every hour, with winnings including a 32-inch HD television, Kindle Reader and more. Raffle tickets are available at town hall.

Linville Falls, Pappy's, Art in the Park and more

The family spent a wonderfully-relaxing weekend at Our Mountain Place -- even though we had a few touch-ups and chores to do for the place. Still, we found ample time for fun stuff after marking the must-do things off our list on Friday night. That left plenty of time for the "want-tos."

On Friday, we went on a little hike around Seven Devils -- something we hadn't done before. We checked out some new roads, some new homes and even saw the resort and lake. We even saw some chipmunks!

We then went into Blowing Rock where we saw some great Art in the Park -- right before the rain got us. We managed to buy a terrific aluminum photo print from Jerald Winter. (Ironically, the print we got was for Our Beach Place. Go here and see if you can see it. It's photo 12 of 20.)

We left Art in the Park and did some shopping before heading over to Pappy's in Banner Elk for dinner. It was awesome. Charity and I both got pulled pork platters, with Texas toast. I got the beans (some of the best beans I've ever had) and fries. She got sweet potato fries and corn. The girls even loved it -- there's a bit waterwheel in the back to watch!

Sunday we got up and headed to Linville Falls (hopefully photos to come) to do some hiking. We were actually there for several hours which, with a 2- and 4-year-old, we were quite impressed. Linville Falls is as pretty as ever, and the weather was great. Once again, we got out just before some rain.

Anyway, we once again made a video to show some of the additions to the house, which we have dubbed "Honey Bear House." You can view it in the video below. Warning: the video quality is not great. And neither is the narrator. So sue me.