Blue Ridge Parkway To Blowing Rock & Moses Cone House

                    Friday 4/18/2014

The week was slipping by, and we had not had a chance to see everything we wanted to see in the Wilkesboro area. We had had cold, cloudy and rainy weather. On this day it wasn't raining, and the sun was out, so we decided to go site seeing. We drove back toward Boone, and jumped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A lot of the views to the west were rolling hills and farm land, and distant mountains ranges.

This is such beautiful country.

Joe is asked to be a photographer for a family.

After the family leaves, we enjoy one of the many overlooks.

Down the road we see this sign telling us that Daniel Boone used this route to the west. The town of Boone, NC that I recently blogged about, is named after Daniel Boone.

This is the highest overlook elevation that we saw on our drive this day on the parkway.

This part of the parkway was much more comfortable for me, compared to it further south near Marion, NC.

Looking south.

With the zoom lens I am able to see homes below in the foothills.

The mountain layers of the Appalachian.

Zooming and spying on homes below again.

We get off the parkway at the junction of Hwy 321.

The town of Blowing Rock is a very popular mountain town south of Boone, NC and a mile off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

At first we just drove around trying to find a park to eat our sack lunch at. We  had stopped at the Visitor Center and got some maps. The map said there was a park in this area. But it was a housing area, called Laural Park.

We drove down this street and found it was a dead end.The street was a new housing district.

You can buy a lot with great views. I just don't know where you put the house, as there is about 3 feet from the road and then it goes straight down.

"Best Views" lot for sale.

Another lot and it's view. I like great views, but I don't want to live on the edge of a cliff.

I would rather live down there on top of a mountain or hill with land around me and views. But who knows, maybe that house is on a cliff too!

I walked back down the road, while Joe drove back. I really didn't want to even be in the car next to the drop off. I seem to have developed more then usual anxiety of cliffs and drop offs in the car these days!

There was a city park in the down town shopping area, but it was really cold this day, so we just ate our lunch in the car. I had Mallery sit on the floor of the car, so I could balance my salad bowl in my lap. We usually put her in the back seat, but she always manages to jumb back to the front and in my lap again.

Because it was so cold out, I really didn't want to stroll the shopping area with Mallery in her stroller, so we continued to our next stop.

As we left the little town of Blowing Rock, I took this picture of one of the cabins you can rent just blocks from the shopping area. The business is the Mountainair Inn & Cabins. It looked like a really nice place to stay.

One mile from Blowing Rock on the parkway we came the Moses Cone Manor House.

Moses Cone was a textile magnate, who's hobbies including road construction and apple tree cultivation. He had over 75 varieties on his estate.

Today it serves as a gift and craft shop of local artist.

Joe tells me as we look out on the views that he could be talked into doing some updating and work if he had this place. OK, I think we have enough money for that!

In the inside porch, there were local artist demonstrating their talents.

This artist weaves yarns to recreate the scene's in a picture.

Back view from the parking lot showing the upper back and side porches.

I thought we had to go through Blowing Rock to get to Boone, but I realized my mistake after we got there. We needed to go north not south. Oh well it gave me an opportunity to tell you that there is a Tanger Outlet in Blowing Rock.

In Boone we stopped at the Earth Fare store. We had just enough time for shopping at Blowing Rock's down town area or Tanger, or Earth Fare in Boone. Earth Fare is like a Whole Foods, which I love to shop at, so it won our time before we headed back down the mountain to Moravian Falls/ Wilkesboro area.