2009/07/24 Through 2009/07/26 Mountain Fun

Don asked me a day or two ago if I wanted to go to Boone again this year to see Horn in the West and eat at Daniel Boone Inn and so all the things we did the year before on a similar trip with Julie and the children. Of course I did want to. Last year, I evidently had a really great time on the trip we took to Boone to Horn in the West and etc. The only problem is I somehow lost it entirely from my memory after my surgery in October. I can only get occasional glimpses of it in my mind but all details are wiped out. So this year, I am determined to document the trip in writing and in pictures while my memory holds of it. I had another great time and want to remember the peace and joy of it all. Here is my description of what happened on the 2009 trip.

Friday, July 24, 2009: First Don and I went by way of Lexington and ate at Lexington Barbeque prior to going on to Winston-Salem and then Boone. We got to the Barbeque place around 11 or a little after and ordered a meal. We love the place so it was a good beginning to a great weekend. We eat there often enough during football season on our way to Chapel Hill to the games but I like to go during "off season" as well and sometimes combine it with a trip to Bob Timberlake's Gallery on the other side of town. After we ate, we headed for Winston-Salem which was an amazingly short distance from Lexington. We were there before we knew it and plenty early for the girl's dance recital from School of the Arts.

We toured the campus and I was amazed it is part of the UNC system. It has a street named Kenan Drive and Carolina blue signs up all over. It is a really pretty campus with beautifully kept grounds and "Private" on every street sign. I think they want to keep sightseers to a minimum, but we felt we had some business there in that the twins are in attendance.

Then, Don and I went to park the car downtown near the theatre where the recital was to take place. We were going there to meet Julie and Gabe and Christopher to see the twins dance recital upon their completion of the summer session in dance at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. Don and I got there first and went to the lobby of the theatre where the recital was to be held. Soon, we saw Gabe coming with roses in hand for his daughters. Julie had called and said she would be with us momentarily. She arrived but needed to move her car, a newer model(shiny) black Jaguar, just purchased and beautiful. Gabe went with her to help her find a deck to park in and a spot to park. We learned that each student gets 2 free tickets to the recital and that left us needing to buy only one ticket. Wow, a big savings already.

The rest of us went on up an elevator to get to the seating for the recital and soon Julie and Gabe joined us. We kept the flowers under a seat near Gabe as the girls would get them at the end of the recital. Julie went backstage to give a knee brace to one of the twins who had pulled a muscle the day before at practice. Not to worry she said, the costume was some rather baggy pants so the brace would not show during the recital. Two people appeared on stage to introduce the recital and just before they turned to exit the stage, they announced the rehearsals had proven the show to be approximately 1 and 1/2 hours long. With a 15 minute intermission, we would see the whole thing and be out within a 2 hour framework. Everyone in the show did a fine job and there was lovely costuming and choreography to go along with the well-rehearsed and talented students. It was more like going to a program at the Blumenthal than being at a recital for school children. The School of the Arts chooses students well and then trains them well. We all thoroughly enjoyed the entire presentation. The twins did great and we did pick them out of the groups they were in. We tried to take pictures but with no flash allowed in a darkened room, the pictures are a bit fuzzy but we are keeping them anyway. Once the show was over, we awaited the girls coming out to meet us. They cried when they saw their family and the flowers. They are really pretty young ladies. Once we had all told them how beautifully they had done, we discussed whether they needed help finishing up with the packing of their dorm room. They had already done their packing so we all left to help load the car and get them checked out. There were parking problems around all the dorms as every parent was there at one time trying to check their children out of the school's housing. We parked up at a Welcome Center sort of place which was across the street from the dorms and walked over. By the time we got there, Gabe said he had his car all packed and Julie was trying to help them get checked out. Evidently, they inspect the room before you leave to tell whether or not damage had been done to anything. Don and I waited in the "Welcome Center" and Christopher joined us. I saw a "lifesize" poster of what looked to me like a giant green peanut but Christopher said it was a pickle which is evidently a mascot for School of the Arts. I took pictures of him and later of the girls with the Pickle. Julie asked if we preferredt to eat in Winston or wait until we got to Boone. Both Don and I were still full from the Lexington Barbeque earlier in the day so our vote was to wait for Boone. Soon the girls were telling us that eating at a Japanese streakhouse in Winston-Salem was tradition for all the family who had attended School of the Arts (Julie went there for high school). Julie somehow convinced them that a Japanese steakhouse in Boone would do just as well so Julie and the girls and me and Don started for Boone. The trip took longer than I thought it would but we made it just fine. We checked into 3 rooms, one for Julie and the girls, one for me, and one for Don. Julie found the address for a Japanese steakhouse and we started out for it. After getting a little lost, we found it pretty late, maybe 9 or 9:30 p.m. I ordered steak without a combination meat and I think Julie and the girls ordered steak and scallops. Don got steak and chicken. It was way more than Don or I could eat so next time, we need to pay the $3 extra to share a meal. We took our leftovers as the rooms had refrigerators and that steak was good for 2 more meals for me once we got home.

Saturday, July 25, 2009: Julie and the girls wanted to go to the mall and shop and maybe get a manicure. Don and I wanted to go into the town of Blowing Rock and browse around the shops. Rather Linda wanted to browse around the shops in Blowing Rock and Don was willing. I think we both had bun. To me, it was pure heaven. The town is so picturesque and lovely, much different than the town I knew as a little girl when I visited. I have bought some really lovely things there and I looked pretty hard this time but all the lovely things had even lovelier prices so I was content to look. I did buy a few things, mostly books of postcards of the mountains and a really nice writing book. Almost everyone in my Monday night class has a really nice writing book for their notes so I thought that purchase appropriate. Then I got a couple of nice pens with periwinkle ink that I could share with Don as his "Carolina" surprises of the weekend. We went to a bookstore that had fewer books than coffee but of course I browed through all the Jan Karon and had fun doing it. No new books there yet. She is working on one though. I was getting tired and I went up to a nearby park to find a public bathroom and then Don joined me in the park and we just sat in the shade a while. What gorgeous, perfect weather. It was not too hot and it was breezy and peaceful. We sat there a while and just talked like we had all the time in the world. Finally, Don went to bring the car around and we went back to Boone. We saw Julie and the girls and decided eventually to go to the Daniel Boone Inn for dinner around 5:30.

When we got to the Inn, there was a bus out front and a line almost all the way around the building. Don went in and found a place for me to sit and wait while they were in line. Some of the "Horn in the West" actors came and sang for the patrons. They lined up right in front of where I was sitting and sang "Danny Boy." Later, I saw some of those same actors playing war in the play and it was an out-of-body experience - from Danny Boy to war in just an hour or two!!!

We ate well. They serve family style and they cook up a menu and that is what you get. We had chicken and country style steak the night we were there. Of course there were all kinds of vegetables and ham biscuits as well as plain biscuits. And, lo and behold, dessert. I had strawberry short cake. All of it was delicious.

The play was wonderful as usual. We looked for changes from previous viewings. Both Julie and Sally have been in the play in the past so Julie knew many of the actors and behind-the-scenes people. She stopped and talked to many of them while the girls shopped in the gift store. I got everyone programs and then we went to our seats. The play is fun to watch, even more so, the second and third times around. At the end of it, we went up and participated in the "Meet and Greet" that the actors hold at the end of each performance. I talked to Daniel Boone and a couple of British soldiers, the main Indian Princess character, and others including one Appalachian State student who is an advisor on authenticity of portrayal of the indians. He gives talks about Cherokee Indians at National Parks as his summer job. He was interesting and friendly. He says the play still has many inaccuracies, especially the fire dance before intermission but is improving over time. The program tells you that the fire dance is not authentic but it is highly dramatic and it would be a shame to lose it.

Sunday, July 26, 2009: Julie and the girls thought they would sleep in late before leaving for Raleigh. Don and I wanted to eat early and go to a church service at Blowing Rock Methodist Church at 10:30 a.m. Julie and the girls wound up meeting us for breakfast downstairs at the hotel. Julie talked to us about how she stays so trim, eating very few calories (and watching her calories) throughout the day until dinner and then eating what she wants. She watches sugared sweets, especially staying away from sodas such as Coke unless they are diet. She also believes in hard exercise every day even if she can only fit in 20 minutes sometime. She almost never skips and does not compromise her diet unless it is a very special occasion. The twins do much the same thing and all 3 are trim as can be. It was an inspiration to Don and I who have been trying hard all week to exercise (not piddly stuff but real work)and we bought some things at the grocery store to help us count those calories during the day. I am not doing as well with the diet drinks but am trying to use them every other time I want a drink (hopefully better than never drinking one as an alternative). So finally someone has inspired us to do better. We have worked out at the Y Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week and Don walked to church and back on Thursday. On Tuesday we both had physicals so we didn't do as much on that day for exercise.

After breakfast, Don and I went to Blowing Rock Methodist Church. It is a small church (room for about 150 in the sanctuary)and they put up a canopy tent in advance in anticipation of an overflow crowd. By the time we got there, we had to park way up a hill from the church and sit barely under the canopy. Then, to at least my surprise, they were singing 30 minutes worth of Christmas carols. The church doesn't hold services except during heavy tourist season (maybe May through September or June through September), so they have Christmas in July. They have not permanent members so people can become Affiliate Members. The church has no budget, it just sees what it collects and uses it the best it can. The sermon was about how the best things come in the smallest packages. We saw some people there from our church in Charlotte and some of them were listed as being on the governing board for the church. We want to go back again. Such a wonderful place. After the service, we waited (a long time) for the inside crowd to exit so we could go in and see the sanctuary. Very lovely. The church is made of rock on the exterior and it has a very reverent feel inside. After we did this little walk through, Don offered to get the car but that would have put us going out of town in the wrong direction so I walked up the hill with him and we made it just fine.

Next we went to Blowing Rock Park where the real Blowing Rock is. We went through their gift shop and Don offered to buy me as many mood rings as I wanted. I took him up on the $1.98 to $2.98 ring offers and wound up with 6. One of them is in the shape of a Carolina Tar Heel and was blue to start with but turned purple on my finger in a short time (purple means very happy according to the chart I was given). So I told him I guess East Carolina colors were the theme of the day. We ate a hot dog at a little snack shop in the park and took lots of pictures walking around and looking out at overlooks. I also got pictures of others climbing the rock. At one point you are directly under the rock and I got some guy climbing the rock from this vantage point. Kind of dramatic looking. Then we opted to go see a waterfall area rather than a garden as I was getting a little tired walking on gravel paths.

So I now have memory of a weekend in Boone/Blowing Rock that is happy in every detail as well as in the overall. The weather was just perfect - great temperatures, no rain and not much humidity. And we were inspired by Julie and the twins. And we will be up to go again anytime. Maybe next time, the twins will be part of the Horn in the West act. Who knows!! Wouldn't that be just a stellar event for us all.