July
1-4th Weekend in Asheville, NC, July 2000
This year for my (Bill) birthday on July 1 and the July 4th
holiday, we went to Asheville, NC, where Annette
and Larry have
Harvey
the RV parked for a couple of
months. Besides the beautiful Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains, I
wanted to visit the Yadkin River Valley of Rowan/Davie County in NC,
the home of a major Kinnick family branch from 1795 to about 1850.
They moved into the same area where Daniel Boone had lived before he
moved his family to Kentucky in about 1780. Bill
Our third day of travels was primarily on the Blue Ridge Parkway,
headed north and east, as far as Blowing Rock and Boone where the
girls wanted to do some shopping.
Our first stop was at the Folk Art
Center, just outside Asheville. Didn't take a picture myself, but, a
brochure should do the trick:
We drove on up the Parkway, just enjoying
the quiet drive, isolated from the hustle and bustle just a few feet,
or usually miles, away beyond the trees and the Rhodedendrum
bushes.
We stopped in a roadside park to have a
picnic lunch - a requirement on a day like this,
right!
Another interesting stop along the way
was the North Carolina Minerals Museum, right along the Blue Ridge
Parkway. We stopped to check it out.
In addition to displays about the many
minerals of the area, it also had some interesting displays and books
on the Overmountain Men. These were the frontiersmen who pushed on
across the Appalachian Mountains after the American Revolution. Some
were involved with the prospective state of Franklin, many were
involved with the battles with the Cherokees Indian Tribes. I'd read
bits and pieces of these, but had not previously seen a comprehensive
story. Bought a book, and took a picture of one
display:
Here you can also see the mineral
displays, on the left, the Overmountain Man garb and equipment on the
right. We saw the movie, The Patriot, a few days earlier (all filmed
in South Carolina, just a few miles south), so, any stories of the
revolutionary period really caught our eye!
When we got to Blowing Rock, we found a
genuine tourist town - with lots and lots of tourists - just like us,
I suppose! Again, forgot to take a picture - too busy eating my ice
cream cone, I suppose - but, did remember to pick up a card where we
spent the most money:
Really nice place - we all picked up some
Christmas presents, and a few things for the present, including my
Raccoon Crossing sign, which now graces my home office raccoon
collection wall:
Had one picture left on the camera when I
got home. Didn't realize at the time it would fit in the story so
well about here! While I really only collect pictures and stuffed and
carved and etc. raccoons (generally under $15), Annette sent
some
interesting pictures they
took, the day after we left the campground.
My Bandit 
was thrilled to see his young cousins, out there making life
interesting for Annette and Larry and all their
neighbors!
After "shopping 'til we dropped" at
Blowing Rock, we moved on to Boone. I was pleasantly surprised to the
Appalachian State University campus was there:
I'd seen lots of adds for school, had
never been there. I love small college campuses. Now I've been to
another one!
Annette wanted to visit the Mast General
Store, so we spent some time there. Then, since we'd seen the ads in
the store for their "Original Mast Store" in Historic Valle Crucis,
and it was on our way home, we also stopped there:
Right in the middle of blue ridges, old
and winding roads..... you can see Nancy and Larry ambling over...
Annette is way ahead, already in the store. I'm taking the picture,
but, I caught up to them ok.
background
credit
Page created 5 Jul 2000, last updated 15
Jul 2000.
Direct questions and comments to Bill
or Nancy.