Valle Crucis

The dear husband and I took an overnight adventure to Valle Crucis last week, located in the high country of Watauga County.  This is about a 2.5 hr drive from Hendersonville and there are four ways to approach this area.  One is easy and uncomplicated.  Did I select that "one"?  Of course not.  I, also, consulted mapquest for directions...again, not so bright. However, we were not in a hurry; the day was lovely and the scenery was incredible.

Our day started in Black Mountain, where we had lunch at The Black Bird Restaurant.  The food was yummy but the best part had to be the "shoestring fries".  Everyone knows I would rather eat french fries than any other food group. So when offered an opportunity to try different fries, I do not hesitate. OMG!!!  These are some of the best fries in WNC.  (Well worth the drive to Black Mountain.)  While seated with a window view of the street, parking and the mountains, we watched some entertaining driving and attempts at parking.  Most of the attempts were by elderly ladies trying to parallel park. (Now, I need to mention that there is no way on this earth that I would attempt to park the Cadillac in a parallel space unless I could drive right into it.  I have done that by jumping a curb and other methods that have sent the husband into fits of laughter.)  So while I laughed, I knew that could have been me.  One lady took ten minutes to drive over a curb;back up; get out to check; get back in and try again, again, again and again.  Finally, she moved and selected a "pull-in" space. Her friend, driving a rather battered car, just pulled into a parallel space and got out with her walker leaving the car almost in the lane of traffic. Black Mountain is a small town with interesting shops

We were spending the evening at The Mast Farm Inn...
http://www.mastfarminn.com 

Our room was the dormer room which was very spacious.

The inn's flower and herb garden

This inn is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been well maintained and updated.  Our room had a card addressed to us with information and a gift bag of magazines about the area.  We had planned to dine at the inn since the site mentioned exquisite meals.  Dinner was INCREDIBLE!!!  Place cards were on each table in the form of a story about the evening meal and other pertinent facts.  The chef is from a long line of French cooks and the daughter of the inn's owners. The entree' was baked trout with pasta (portabello mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, spinach, in a white wine sauce).  The featured wine for this meal was an outstanding Italian Soave.  Carrot soup (cinnamon,nutmeg, curry, orange, onion, white wine, olive oil & butter).  Salad (mixed greens just picked, local goat cheese, cranberries, walnuts with a balsamic & molasses drizzle)  Now after indulging in three courses, there was still dessert which I declined.  Our server,Velva, informed me that there was no way I would not be tasting the ice cream.  Velva is a professional and customer service is in her DNA.  Ice cream.  Think slow churned, soft serve consistency and real carmel gone all soft and creamy.  This was so good that we requested the ice cream for breakfast!

Next morning, I had tea for breakfast. Dear Husband was  able to "make room" for breakfast. The menu featured broiled grapefruit and Belgian waffles.  PLEZ!!!  We wanted to see The Original Mast Store, which was two miles from the inn.  Interesting, old building and too crowded with merchandise. 
http://www.mastgeneralstore.com/Communities/mast/index.cfm/original-mast-general-store/
I like the one in Hendersonville, just fine.  The Original was a working hardware store and post office.  Headed toward Boone, home of Applachian State University, and were astounded to see that Boone is a large, crowded town.  From childhood memories, Boone was small with few restaurants and mostly tourist trap shops. Did drive by Tweetise Railroad but it is only opened on weekends during the off season. 

Decided to take the Parkway to Little Switzerland where we would have a snack and check out the bookstore.  Taking the Parkway was a beautiful drive with few cars and the clearest day.  You could see forever.  We had two stops for construction and boy, is the Parkway in need of road work.
http://www.littleswitzerlandnc.com
Little Switzerland is tiny but the views will have you thinking..."Sound of Music".  There are 60 year 'round residents.

Home to the "girls" and a long, restful weekend.

Abbi

Lucy