Welcome to the 2012 installment of our weekly reports on fall foliage in the mountains of North Carolina! We focus on areas within an hour of the Inn on Mill Creek near Asheville and Black Mountain, including the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We’ve decided to do a 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on the blog, where we’ll talk about the kinds of birds you can expect to see at the Inn on Mill Creek (a site on the North Carolina Birding Trail) and in the surrounding areas of the North Carolina mountains. We’ve also taken lots of pictures over the years of the birds in our neck of the woods, and unless photo credit is attributed to someone else, all photos on the blog are ones that we’ve taken of our winged neighbors.
It goes without saying that Biltmore Estate is a pretty cool place. From Biltmore House that looks like a French chateau, the Winery with complimentary tastings, Antler Hill Village and the Farm, and amazing food in the restaurants, to the fabulous blooms and shrubs in the gardens… there’s a little something for everyone. There’s even something for your four-legged family members.
The Point Lookout Greenway is a 3.5-mile paved walking/biking trail near the Inn, in scenic McDowell County. The route used to be Highway 10, then Highway 70 {now called Old Highway 70}, and it was blocked off decades ago in this particular stretch from Ridgecrest to Old Fort. When it was the main highway, before the construction of Interstate 40, there was a gas station and restaurant, and a beautiful overlook.
| Photo Credit: Old Fort Chamber of Commerce |
Old Fort holds an annual small-town festival the first weekend in October to celebrate the coming of fall to this part of North Carolina. If you like small town festivals, this one’s for you! This family-friendly three-day event, sponsored by the Old Fort Chamber of Commerce, features scores of local arts and crafts vendors and local business booths, great food, kids’ activities and rides, a climbing wall, and live entertainment, plus the annual rubber duckie race along Mill Creek behind the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center.
| Photo Credit: Chimney Rock State Park |
Now here’s a great way to get outdoors and see some gorgeous fall color in our neck of the woods! Chimney Rock State Park, located 30 minutes south of the Inn on Mill Creek, is offering two “Off the Beaten Path” guided hikes in October:
As participants in microloans through Kiva, we have a goal to help fund loans for 45 entrepreneurs in developing countries by the end of the year.
The East of Asheville Studio Tour (EAST) is an event where artists based in East Asheville, Fairview, Swannanoa and Black Mountain invite you to their studios to see where they create their art, and where you can browse and buy several different types of art and craft, ranging from painting to sculpture, woodworking to jewelry, glass to pottery and everything in between.
