Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2020 - 38

LUXE LOVER
If you're going to spend the time and energy to take a trip, it might as well be nice. Really nice. If you're nodding your head, read on for our
recommendations for luxurious excursions across the Blue Ridge region. Below you'll find a healthy mixture of world-famous rural resorts
and small, family-owned operations dedicated to providing the best service money can buy.

Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers,
North Carolina, is renowned as one of the
world's best mountain golf courses. A mainstay
on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest
Courses, the course embraces its mountain
setting while remaining playable and easy to
maneuver. Wade Hampton is a private club, so
begin planning well in advance.

S PHOTOGRAP

BEALL + THOMA

Where to Stay?

Primland Resort in Meadows of Dan, Virginia,
is absurdly luxurious. Situated on 12,000
acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Primland
offers a spa, fly fishing, golf, horseback riding, wingshooting and sporting clays. Gaze at
the night sky through the telescope in the
lodge's distinctive, silo-shaped observatory.
Or just go for a walk on the grounds and look
up-the resort is a high-end pocket of peaceful seclusion.

PRIMLAND RESORT

ABOVE: Primland Resort offers great views
from the Patrim Lodge.
IMAGE AT TOP: The dining is sumptuous at
The Barn at Blackberry Farm.

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

What to do?

See the western reaches of the Blue Ridge
region in a way few others do. Rock Creek
Aviation, based in Rising Fawn, Georgia, offers
helicopter tours of Chattanooga, local waterfalls, and the stunning Tennessee River Gorge.
Or give father-daughter team Michael and
Michelle a call to customize your own siteseeing ride.
Taste some truly exemplary wines at Barboursville Vineyards in Barboursville, Virginia. The winery's Library 1821 has been
collecting and preserving important vintages for three decades. The Library maintains
a rotating tasting list for guests wishing to
sample from the collection. Contact the winery to find out which vintages are currently
available.

Three more stays:

Old Edwards Inn and Spa, Highlands, North
Carolina. Plan to be surprised by how much
time you spend in the heated mineral pool.
Blackberry Mountain, Walland, Tennessee.
This new resort (just down the road from its
legendary sister resort, Blackberry Farm) offers guided trail runs and access to a fleet of
off-road Lexuses.
Under Canvas, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
It's time to see what glamping (glamorous
camping) is all about. Set aside at least one
morning to wake at dawn and watch the
smoky clouds lift off the mountains.

Where to Eat?

At The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland,
Tennessee, chef Cassidee Dabney draws fresh
inspiration each season as fresh local ingredients become available. The James Beard
Award-winning restaurant is open to guests
of Blackberry Farm Resort and to anyone
with a reservation. The restaurant's wine cellar counts 9,000 carefully chosen selections,
making it one of the best in the country.
Try the prix fixe menu at Cucina 24 in
Asheville, North Carolina, to taste how chef
Brian Canipelli balances Italian culinary tradition with the ingredients available in the
Blue Ridge Region's farms and forests. A recent semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundations' best chef in the South, Canipelli's
restaurant shows what a new generation of
globally inspired, locally minded chefs are
bringing to mountain cooking.

http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2020

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