Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 21
Weekends! Mountains!
Summer!
Summer in the mountains is made for overnights
and weekends built around fun, play, great dining
and quiet rest. Let's get started.
Story and photos by Joe Tennis
Let's hop on horses. Take a train. And
survive some stairs of a Georgia
gorge. We'll find the fried eggs of
Luray. And wait until the wee hours
to see the moonbow of Kentucky.
From Spartanburg, South
Carolina, to the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia, here's a multi-state tour
of wonderful weekends and overnight escapes.
NORTH CAROLINA
Blowing into Blowing Rock, my
wife, Mary, wonders about the origin of the North Carolina town's
name. "It's from a rock where snow
has fallen upside down," I say. "And
if you toss your hat in the gorge, it's
supposed to blow right back."
Here for an overnight getaway,
we encounter the legendary wind of
the Blowing Rock and the air-conditioned cool of its namesake town.
"People come up just to get out of
the heat," says Blowing Rock candlemaker Caroline Jensen. "Usually
we're in the 70s or low 80s."
Jensen's High Country Candles
can be found inside the Martin
House, a circa-1870 structure that
stands on Main Street within sight
of the Storie Street Grille. There, for
a leisurely late lunch, Mary and I
share an appetizer of Storie Street's
duck wings plus a plate of eggplant
napoleon, lightly fried and layered
with roasted red pepper goat cheese,
Roma tomatoes and fresh
mozzarella.
We stay overnight at The New
Public House & Hotel, a collection
of quaint quarters that originated
in the 1920s. Downstairs, the dining room serves both fried oysters
and mountain trout for dinner.
Then, for breakfast, we awake with
bacon and eggs.
Checking out, we go see what
makes this place so famous: the
actual "Blowing Rock," a natural
landmark that seemingly defies gravity. Winds from the gorge, below,
indeed make objects blow back.
Wrapping up the weekend, we
land at Canyons just in time to
hear jazz music during the Sunday
brunch. We feast on the restaurant's Appalachian Benedict - a
biscuit with home fries, topped
with buttermilk-sausage gravy,
poached eggs and local country
ham. We also find it impossible to
turn away from what's outside our
window: a perfection of pointy
Caroline Jensen' s specialty is scented candles.
peaks. Like a guide, the restaurant
manager, Steven Beck, stops to
note the names and locations of
the many mountains and says,
"You're getting over a 100-mile
view."
Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Blowing Rock Tourism: 828-2954636, blowingrock.com
Canyons Restaurant: 828-2957661, canyonsbr.com
New Public House & Hotel: 828295-3487, thenewpublichouse.com
Storie Street Grille: 828-2957075, storiestreetgrille.com
July/August 2015 21
http://www.blowingrock.com
http://www.canyonsbr.com
http://www.thenewpublichouse.com
http://www.storiestreetgrille.com
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015
Sweet Summer Weekends & Overnights in 7 States
The Great Divorce: Virginia-West Virginia
Swimming Holes for Summer: The Photoessay
Grand Hotel Comebacks of Western Virginia
SUP in the Mountains?
Northern Shenandoah Weekend
A Home in, on and from the Mountains
Far Beyond Sweet Tea: Great Restaurants of Upcountry South Carolina
From the Editor / Worth a Click
Mill Creek Stories
The Hike
Creature Feature
Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Festivals & Events
Country Roads
Mountian Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 6
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - From the Editor / Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Mill Creek Stories
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Sweet Summer Weekends & Overnights in 7 States
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 21
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - The Great Divorce: Virginia-West Virginia
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Swimming Holes for Summer: The Photoessay
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Grand Hotel Comebacks of Western Virginia
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - SUP in the Mountains?
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Northern Shenandoah Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - A Home in, on and from the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 52
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 54
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Far Beyond Sweet Tea: Great Restaurants of Upcountry South Carolina
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 60
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 62
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Mountian Garden
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover4
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