We often say that it’s easy for us innkeepers to have “vacation brain” being in the mountains near Asheville and Black Mountain, North Carolina. The area just has a serene quality to it with an easygoing vibe, laid back people, wonderful restaurants and places to go, and stunningly beautiful scenery such as this view nearby, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway (summertime):
We had a blast during the 2011 Black Mountain B&B Visions of Sugarplums Christmas Cookie Tour! It was great meeting visitors to the Inn on Mill Creek and sharing our little neck of the woods — and our cookies! We had the awesome Jo Northup performing on hammered dulcimer and flute for guests. And the tour benefited a wonderful charity, the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry, which provides local residents and stranded travelers with basic and emergency assistance. The SVCM has a food pantry, coordinates the Meals on Wheels program, works with the local homeless shelter, helps those in need with critical financial assistance, and aids in finding job opportunities, job training and educational advancement. Their work is so important in our community and we’re extremely grateful to everyone who bought tickets to the Cookie Tour to help out this great group of volunteers.
In 2011, we were able to fund six entrepreneurs from developing countries through the microlending site Kiva, bringing our total number of loans to 32! Three of our 32 borrowers — Nelva, David and Reina — recently paid off their loans (although because of “currency exchange loss”, meaning the value of the dollar appreciated 20% or more against the currency of our borrower’s country during the loan payoff time, David’s loan was considered to be 99% paid off when all was said and done). Since we choose to relend our money once it becomes available again, we had enough to pick two more borrowers from opposite sides of the globe:
Who wants cookies? We are so very excited to be part of the first Visions of Sugar Plums Christmas Cookie Tour of Black Mountain area B&Bs! Nine inns and bed & breakfasts will be participating the weekend of December 10 & December 11 from noon to 4pm (our B&B will be on the tour on December 10). This means visitors will be able to get nine uniquely awesome cookie recipes and sample the cookies while checking out each Black Mountain area B&B decorated for the holidays.
This year, week 5 is peak fall foliage week here in our neck of the woods near Black Mountain and Asheville (we’re at 2,300 feet above sea level). The photo above is of Horse Ridge above our orchard.
We just took a quick glance at this weekend’s lineup of events and, well, there is a lot going on in the always-charming town of Black Mountain this weekend! Still lots of color on the trees and time to enjoy it…here’s what happening:
Week 4 was one of those weeks where you could step outside every morning and noticeably see color change from the day before. This has truly been one of the better fall foliage seasons in the mountains of Western North Carolina since we arrived almost five years ago. {wow, time flies!}
Getting gorgeous here! Oh, mountain autumn, how we love you so. We’re being treated to a brilliant fall this year thanks to Mother Nature. Sourwoods and dogwoods are in full color mode. And it seems like some trees in our neck of the woods are changing earlier than the past three years, including hickory, beeches and sassafras (one of Brigette’s favorites):
| Forsythia |
Our second week of fall foliage started off a bit chilly (highs in the 50s!) and a return to fireplaces and hot chocolate (yay!). Now we’re heading back into warmer temperatures and noticeably more color change at higher elevations, 4,000+ feet. {For example, check out this stunning photo from Grandfather Mountain taken by Helen Moss Davis…wow!}
| The beautiful work of EAST artist Rebecca King |
The East of Asheville Studio Tour is a great way to meet local artists as they invite you to the studios where their art is created. The free self-guided studio tour takes place twice a year, in Spring and Fall. You can visit as many of the studios as you like over a two-day period.
