Blowing Rock - Boone and Banner Elk
This was our 5 day vacation getaway that we’ve been planning for the past year since we stayed at the AirBnB Cozy Cabin a year ago. We’ve been going to Blowing Rock together for the past 40 years. It has always held a romantic aura and mystique about it since those early days of discovery. The one memory we share the most is when we discovered Blowing Rock off the Blue Ridge Parkway on our way home from New Jersey. We ate dinner at a neat little Mexican Restaurant on the Main Street in town and when we were leaving we walked out into the most beautiful, pristine and serine gently falling snow. The white puffy flakes shown against the black of the night sky. It was peaceful and quiet like there was no one else around, like finding ourselves in the landscape of a Christmas snow globe.
Tess and I seemed to float down the middle of the abandoned street. We found our way back to our car and continued our drive home to Spartanburg. My only real memories are those of the feelings I had of discovery. The cold and dark of night broken only by the glow of snowflakes illuminated by the street lamp. It all seemed almost magical in that moment and as I think back it still remains wrapped in mystery.
This trip was all planned out to the nines. All that is except our somewhat comprised physical strength. Because of my persistent recent bike injury or our advancing age or both, we did not possess the energies of youth that we once took so much for granted. Despite hobbling around on a cane I was determined to try the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster that Tess had found on line. We also did Mellow Mushroom, Appalachian Mountain Brewery and the best Greek Restaurant in America, The High Country Greek. That Mexican restaurant was now the Town Tavern and by virtue of beautiful weather we were seated outside. We did, however, take a seat at the bar where we had a drink before our table was called. I grabbed both drinks and offered my arm in assistance to Tess. We ambled towards our table following our waitress but… this time I took a tumble trying to get down the steps to the patio. It became one of those slow-mo scenarios where you see it all happening but can’t do anything about it. Once safely on the ground a couple of denim jacketed bearded guys came to our rescue. They quickly and easily picked me up and Tess setting us back on our feet. We thanked them and proceeded to our table. Once settled I was determined to go back inside where I found the man who had lifted us and thanked him again. No thanks necessary, is what he said, this is what gentleman do! We were blessed by the kindness of strangers. What was a very humbling experience for me but was not humiliating because people were kind and courteous. They did not over react or patronize. Someone said No Problem, we all fall down while another offered to buy us a drink.
The food, fried fish and Tess’s shrimp salad was delicious. We relaxed and ate our dinners to capacity taking most of it home and drove back home to our AirBnB Cozy Cabin without further incident. The difference however, in our hearts and minds as I confess in this blog post, is that we are different. I feel that our love for each other is sweeter and deeper, if at all possible, than it was 40 some years ago but… as I’ve talked about First Times and Last Times… I don’t know and won’t say but this might have been our last time in Blowing Rock. It was different from our first but still beautiful and rather magical in its own way.
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