Cheese and Clothes

The two Golden Age comics by Jack Kirby that I bought online haven't arrived. Still in transit, apparently. Hope they come on Monday.

In the meantime, Carole and I drove up to the mountains to visit West Jefferson and Boone to do some shopping. We wanted to buy some fresh cheese and butter from the Ashe County Dairy in downtown West Jefferson. Unfortunately, they are retooling the churns and so they had no butter for sale. That stuff is fantastically good, so we were really disappointed. We made up for it by purchasing some extra cheese varieties.

Then we drove over to Boone to shop on King Street. One of our favorite shops is the Mast General Store. We don't have one of those here in Charlotte, so we have to drive a fair distance to find one. The one on King Street in Boone is a really nice store.

I was hunting for a pair of Smartwool long underwear to replace my old set. They keep me warm when I go backpacking in the winter. But the prices have really gone up on those since the last time I bought a set! It's now almost $100 for bottoms, almost that much for long-sleeve shirt! I don't think we can fit those into the budget. Last time I bought a set the price was a little more than half that much. And it hasn't been that many years ago. Oh, well.

We finished up by taking a short excursion on the Blue Ridge Parkway before heading home. One reason we did this trip is because the weather was so horrible that I decided not to go backpacking in Linville Gorge. As things turned out, I made the right decision. It rained heavily all day in that area.

Arriving in downtown West Jefferson in the rain.

Carole makes a purchase in one of the nice crafts stores there.

Ashe County Cheese store! The best!

Part of their wine selection. We didn't buy any wine, but probably should have.

The old man in front of the dairy, across the street from the cheese shop.

Alas, it was rainy and cloudy and dreary even on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Small Towns

I cannot stand living in a big city. I'm not going to sit here and list the reasons, for they are legion. Every day it is a struggle for me to just tolerate living in an urban area. So, as soon as we are able, my wife and I plan to flee the city for a rural life.

Here are scenes from some of the small towns near the place we have staked out as our probable refuge once we can leave Charlotte behind for good.

I couldn't live without a bookstore. They have a good one in Sparta.

Downtown Sparta. All sorts of cool shops.

The nearby village of West Jefferson. I have to say...West Jefferson is about as cool as it gets for a small town.

Another view of West Jefferson.

They still have a downtown movie theater and a live theater.

Carole checks out part o the wine selection at the cheese shop.

Want to escape even the small town for the wilderness? You don't have far to go. And, yes, we're talking about real wild country. This spot is at Mount Jefferson (a state natural area) where I paused to look down on the charming town of West Jefferson.

Shatley Springs Inn

We may not have been able to go kayaking, but we did get to keep our reservation at one of our favorite places to eat in the high country:

Shatley Springs Inn.

I first ate at his great restaurant many years ago when Carole's dad took us there. Nothing much has changed about the Inn except that they have a new menu that includes a normal meal without the seven vegetables just in case you arrive less than ravenous.

While it was only about an 18-mile drive from our hotel room to Shatley Springs, we had a slow go of the route because of the continuing heavy downpours and the fact that the road we took (221) is one of the curviest roads I've ever driven. It rivals NC 80 in that respect.

One of the many signs you encounter to let you know that you're on the right track!

And here's the Inn. Basically, it's a restaurant these days rather than a full inn. They do have rustic cabins for rent at extremely reasonable prices. We almost reserved one but opted to stay in Sparta instead.

The dining room that greets you when you enter the Inn.

Our meal begins to arrive. You get seven different vegetable dishes with your meal. Also two meats, home made biscuits, ice water, vast amounts of excellent tea, and dessert.

Normally the place is packed. But the hideous rainfall was keeping people at home.

Dessert arrives! I had blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Rain Drenches All!

Carole and I drove up to the mountains for a canoe trip on the New River. However, the level of rainfall that the region has received over the past few weeks (and which it continues to receive) has pushed the New River beyond its banks. It just wasn't safe to go canoeing in that waterway. In addition, the downpours have transformed the relatively clear mountain river into a muddy morass. I frankly wouldn't want to canoe or kayak on the New River while it looks like a low country mudheap.

So we did a few other things in place of the canoe trip. I'll post some details later.

Even hiking was out of the question in the relentless rain. So we drove to some touristy spots, including the Moses Cone Mansion on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was his "vacation" home. Enormous. The house sat amid 3600 acres of high mountain land. But it's now all National Park property. When you go inside the building some ugly, officious skanks will tell you that you can take photos of the architecture, but not the "art" that is being sold inside (said "art" being lousy pottery, cheap jewelery, crummy walking staffs, and various other junk--none of which I'd buy). So I was taking photos of the inside of the house and they told me that I had to stop because I was getting the "art" in my photos. I'd have raised far more Hell than I did, but Carole didn't want to deal with the grief. But I continued to take photos.

At what I was told is North Carolina's only commercial cheese factory. We sampled cheese and bought cheese and butter to bring home.