Boone, NC

[Ouch]

We are headed there next week for a little R&R. What says the brethren regarding food, drink and merriment?

I know the guys are playing golf on Friday, but not sure what else (if anything) is planned.

[jlinville]

Shelly's got some family not too far from there. I'll find some good places to eat. As far as site seeing, I have to recommend Linville Falls and Linville Caverns off the Blue Ridge Parkway! Pisgah National Forest is a good stop. And if y'all want to head down to Charlotte, I'd recommend the Billy Graham Library.

[geezer56]

Pretty good eats there. Craft brewing is big in the area. It is a college town and tourist destination so there is a lot to do. Grandfather Mountain is a nice stop. The Parkway is a neat drive for flatlanders. I live about 45 miles away from Boone.

[nchunter]

We are headed there next week for a little R&R. What says the brethren regarding food, drink and merriment?

I know the guys are playing golf on Friday, but not sure what else (if anything) is planned.

Pedalin Pig for some nc barbecue

[trophyhunter01]

Yep pork bbq with the vinager cole slaw and hush puppies.

[trophyhunter01]

Biltmore estate, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ashville has some micro brew houses

[Ouch]

Shelly's got some family not too far from there. I'll find some good places to eat. As far as site seeing, I have to recommend Linville Falls and Linville Caverns off the Blue Ridge Parkway! Pisgah National Forest is a good stop. And if y'all want to head down to Charlotte, I'd recommend the Billy Graham Library.

Those named after your people, Jeff?

To be clear, there will be limited travel from Boone proper... this is a vacation.

[Grayson]

Pretty good eats there. Craft brewing is big in the area. It is a college town and tourist destination so there is a lot to do. Grandfather Mountain is a nice stop. The Parkway is a neat drive for flatlanders. I live about 45 miles away from Boone.

Where do you live?

[.243 WSSM]

Look for gems at a local mine, hiking/fishing in Pisgah, checking out Smoky Mtn Nat Park and sizing up the elk heard, eating real BBQ pork and remembering what it tastes like when you have to return home. My folks had a cabin in Waynesville not far from Boone. Best time was experiecing a white Christmas which was somewhat normal for their geographic region. Whatever you end up doing you will enjoy. Beautiful country and nice people to be around

[pervis]

Cherokee is great, relax in the river and just hang out. Unto these hills is an excellent outdoor play out on by college students at an outdoor ampatheatre. It's in Cherokee. Def worth checking out. Gatlinburg is fun, it's a tourist trap, but we walk the streets and check out all the shops, pigeon gorge is fun. Eat at porky's! Memphis dry rub ribs. Look up sliding rock, it's in brevard. It's like a outdoor rock waterside, near sliding rock is looking glass falls. Clingmans dome is a good stop on the blue ridge parkway. Theres a ton of stuff to do up there. Go check out chimney rock, last of the mohican was filmed there. A friend from when I was a child is a chef at a place called the cellar. Food is supposed to be great. Smokey mountain knife works is up there too, and buds gun store. If u go thru Atlanta stop at stone mountain and see the laser show at night.

[jlinville]

Those named after your people, Jeff?

To be clear, there will be limited travel from Boone proper... this is a vacation.

Probably somewhere down the line. I have been there though.

[Phillip Fields]

Boone is a beautiful area.

Mast General Store in Valle Crucis is a good stop. It dates back to the 1880s. They have other locations but the one in Valle Crucis is the original.

The New River State Park is also nice. The New River is widely considered to be the second oldest river in the world. It is some what unique in that it flows Northward and westward through West Virginia where it forms the famous New River Gorge. There is some fantastic Smallmouth bass fishing in the river.

Stone Mountain, named for a gigantic exposed granite dome that rises 600 feet above the surrounding terrain. It has the best Rock climbing in NC and there are miles of trout streams in the park that have native brook trout in them.

The Blue Ridge Parkway passes near Boone and is worth spending some time on, even though the most scenic part is further south down past Grandfather mountain toward Asheville. The Causeway around Grandfather Mountain is an engineering marvel as the original owners of the mountain did not want the mountain cut and they had to suspend the road around the mountain.

[Ouch]

I'm back.

Absolutely beautiful area. Mast General Store was very cool. We floated a bit of New River somewhere outside of Boone... 20 minutes or so. It was swollen, muddy and cold, but a good time was had by those who braved the circumstances. We went to Blowing Rock (purty, and a swanky little touristy/artsy town), drove 20 or so miles of the Causeway (not around Grandfather, unfortunately), played an abbreviated (rain) round of golf at Boone Golf Club (excellent) and had some good grub.

All of that said, none of you prepared me for the fact that Boone is a stronghold for Subaru-driving field hockey players... not that there's anything wrong with that. I've never seen so many Subarus.