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):
| 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!}
We spent an afternoon this week at Mt. Mitchell State Park, which is where one can escape the summer heat {OK so it was 87 degrees at the Inn, but don’t laugh, that’s hot for us} and head to cooler temps and the highest peak in the eastern United States.
We got great news last week from our friends at Chimney Rock Park, a beautiful state park in the Hickory Nut Gorge area about 30 minutes south of the Inn on Mill Creek. The park is named for a huge granite monolith called the Chimney, on which you can stand and see awesome views that span for miles. Here’s a photo we took looking up at the Chimney in 2009:
We’ve had some amazing weather the past two weeks…amazing in that we’ve had all four seasons wrapped into one! Small flurries, thunderstorms, warm sunny days, you name it. So, it’s nice to see that Mother Nature is being consistent with the gorgeous flowers and flowering trees now in bloom around Asheville, Black Mountain and Old Fort — our beautiful neck of the woods. Yep, Spring is still our favorite season.
Santa’s going to be coming down the chimney soon — at Chimney Rock Park, a beautiful state park just 30 minutes south of the Inn on Mill Creek. Before Santa makes his way down the chimneys at the houses of all the good boys and girls around the world, he’ll be doing a dry run by rappelling down the Chimney Rock, a 315-foot monolith.
