NC Mountains Fall Color Report October 22, 2013
Reply
Loaning with Kiva to Kosovo
As our blog readers know, we participate in pooling our money with other lenders around the world to fund microloans through Kiva to small business owners. Typically, these small business owners live in underprivileged areas but are trying to make a go at their businesses and lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.
David Holt Performs in Old Fort on October 26, 2013
Exciting news: Four-time Grammy award winner David Holt will be performing in a special live concert, along with Will McIntyre, on Saturday, October 26, 2013, in Old Fort, NC, at the Old Fort Elementary School. Tickets are just $10, with proceeds benefiting the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center.
NC Mountains Fall Color Report October 15, 2013
| The road past the south lawn at the Inn on Mill Creek B&B |
It’s week three of our fall color reports for the North Carolina mountains and fall’s colors are starting to reach our elevation at 2,300 feet near Black Mountain and Asheville! As color descends from elevations above 4,000 feet, this is the week for yellow hues, as birch, beech, hickory, some sassafras, white ash and more start lighting up the ridges near the Inn. In addition to the golds, the reds of sourwoods, dogwoods and sweetgums provide a nice accent.
Folk Art Center and Pisgah Inn Reopen
| The Folk Art Center off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville |
The Asheville, North Carolina, area was hit with some hard news earlier this month when the Folk Art Center and the Pisgah Inn and Restaurant both closed as a result of the federal government shutdown. Both are located along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and are popular places for our guests and other visitors to see, especially during the beautiful fall season. The Pisgah Inn’s restaurant serves a fantastic lunch and dinner and is the perfect stop when traveling south on the Parkway to see fall foliage and hike at Mt. Pisgah and Graveyard Fields, while the Folk Art Center is a great destination for viewing regional art and craftwork while traveling the Parkway north toward the fall colors and hiking trails around Craggy Gardens and Mt. Mitchell State Park.
NC Mountains Fall Color Report October 8, 2013
It’s Week 2 of our fall color reports for the North Carolina mountains around the Inn on Mill Creek Bed & Breakfast. While Black Mountain, Asheville and our neck of the woods at 2,300 feet above sea level are starting to show signs of color, the peaks above 4,000 feet are decked out in velvety golds, oranges and reds as beech, birch, maple, sassafras, sweetgum, dogwood and more light up with color.
NC Mountains Fall Color Report October 1, 2013
Welcome to the beginning of our fall color reports for 2013! Each Tuesday for the next six weeks, we’ll be sharing updates on fall foliage in the North Carolina mountains, namely, what trees are changing and where you can see fall color each week. Sometimes the fall color season stretches to the second week of November, and if it does this year, we’ll do a bonus Week 7.
North Carolina Mountain Birds: Black-Throated Blue Warbler
| Black-throated Blue Warbler [Photo Credit: Joe Kegley] |
Heading through our “neighborhood” of Pisgah National Forest in the North Carolina mountains on its way to its winter abode in the Caribbean, the Black-throated Blue Warbler is a fairly common visitor to the Inn on Mill Creek B&B in the early fall. Thus, this beautiful songbird earns the September spot in our 2013 Birding at the Inn series on the blog.
Fall Tailgate Farmers Markets in Western NC
| Locally-made flatbread crackers at the Black Mountain Tailgate Market |
From spring through fall (and even sometimes in the winter), a trip to the western North Carolina mountains is not complete without a stop at a local tailgate or farmers market, or a roadside produce stand. If you’ll be in our neck of the woods this fall season, here is a list of tailgate and farmers markets in western NC that are not far from the Inn on Mill Creek B&B:
Black Mountain Painted Rocking Chair Auction
| People enjoying the rocking chairs in front of Black Mountain shops [Photo Credit: Ray Mata of Blue Ridge Pictures] |
Black Mountain, a ridiculously adorable small town just east of Asheville that’s chock full of locally-owned shops and restaurants, is currently raising funds for renovations to its Town Square. The Black Mountain Town Square is located right in the heart of downtown Black Mountain and plans are to transform it into a gathering place for the community and visitors, with an open lawn for outdoor concerts and other outdoor events, extra parking (always nice in a small town that welcomes a lot of visitors each year), and space for farmers’ markets and special events.