Blowing Rock and Grandfather Winery NC

Al drove us (Kathi, Marlon & Me)  to Blowing Rock Town and together we toured the town.  Lots of shops and places to eat.  After all the walking we have been doing its time to enjoy some lunch together.  Decided on stopping at the Six Pence PUb.  GREAT fish and chips, I had the pimento cheese sandwich and some Buffalo chicken soup.  OH my goodness this place has great food and atmosphere.

 

After we ate Al treated us to some ice cream.  Wow, this has been such a wonderful day filled with sunshine and friends.  We got the ice cream at a candy store that was filled with all that old-timey candy we used to get as kids.  Memories

 Next stop was Grandfather Mountain Winery......The first to produce wine in Watauga County. The scenery is beautiful no matter what direction you look. 

 Steve and Sally Tatum are the owners of the vineyard.  They purchased the property in 2000.  Steve toyed with the idea of planting Christmas Trees which is a popular endeavor in the area.  But, a love of wine led him to plant grape vines.

This property is located at an elevation of 3,300 feet overlooking the profile of Grandfather Mountain and nestled on a 58 "slope. They had the challenge of planting on a slope including the elevation. This property allows them to produce a high quality of wines.

 Loved hanging out on the front porch of the winery and listening to some bluegrass music.

The Watauga River flows through the property.  A nice seating area beside the river makes the setting spectacular.  A glass of wine and friends what else could be better?  

 Inside the winery, they were doing wine tastings and some people were just shopping.

 

 The grapes on the vines are looking close to be harvested.

 

Moses Cone Manor Tour in NC

 Moses and Bertha Cone built their home nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The home was donated and all the property was donated to NC.  It is now known as Moses H Cone Memorial Park.  The park preserves the country estate of the Cones, who was a prosperous textile entrepreneur, conservationist, and a philanthropist of the Gilded Age.  The big white mansion has 23 rooms and 13,000 sq ft of living space.  The home was built in 1901. 
The mansion is named "FLAT TOP" manor because of the nearness to Flat Top Mountain, which Moses and Bertha also purchased.  It is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mansion is built in Blowing Rock just at 4,500 feet on the mountain.

 My good friend Kathi and I loved the views and learning about Moses Cone. 

  Sitting on the front porch rocking and gazing at God's beauty.  Thanks to the Cones for leaving this property so we can learn the history of this location.

 Every room had windows to view the blue ridge mountains. When Moses died, Bertha had her sisters Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone come to stay with her.  The cone sisters stayed there during the summer and fall.

      The sisters loved art and purchased many paintings by Matisse and Picasso.
 The manor is now the home of the Parkway Craft Center which features crafts by hundreds of local artists.  Throughout the season there are demonstrations performed by some of the artists.  We are here and there is a pottery demonstration going on.  

Linville Falls Winery NC

Ended our first evening with a Wine tasting at Linville Winery

 We arrived at the winery, and wow what a view!!  Rolling hills of vineyards and a Christmas Tree Farm.  Surprised?  We were.  The story of the Christmas Tree Farm and winery are told in a thorough brochure available right when you walk in.  The story is amazing......  Jack Edge, aka Jack Wiseman, started a tree farm; went to California and learned wine.......  came back to NC and started a winery.

 We participated in a wine tasting.  I loved all their wines, whites and reds.  We did get a bottle of wine.

 After the wine tasting, we went outside to enjoy the view.  They do have music on the weekends which Kathi and Al have been to and said it was wonderful and they had a great evening.  The winery also has cheese and crackers to purchase while you sip your wine and listen to music. 

 Grapes are almost ready to harvest to make their wines.

 The most fabulous scenery......

  Hundreds of Christmas trees behind the barn to choose from.

 

Linville Fall NC National Park

When we arrived at Al and Kathi's condo on Sugar Mountain we got a van ride to the top of Sugar Mountain where their condo was.  We parked in lot C and a van was waiting for us as you cannot drive to the top because there is no parking lot.  This condo sits up on Sugar Mountain 51oo ft up this Mountain.  We unpacked and Al & Kathi took us to Linville Falls, SC.  The easy trail was muddy so we took the medium hiking trail.  This place is also a National Park :-)

To start the hike we walked across a bridge that had an awesome view of the river.

We are now going to trek up the hiking trail, A lady gave me her walking stick as I was looking for a dead stick to use.  She told me I could just have hers she was leaving the park.  This was a big help for me as my ability to walk downwards makes me unsteady.

The walking trail was not hard and ony had slight hills up and down the trails.

A sneek peek of what awaits us...........

Hubby and Al chatting and hiking up the trail.

Check out the roots of this huge tree.  I can't believe the tree is alive with most of its roots sticking out of the ground.

We are Almost to the falls, I can hear the beautiful sound the falls are making.

Pictures from Linville Falls National Park

Thanks, Al & Kathi for touring us around this beautiful place.

Leaves are starting to turn color already.  This place would awesome to visit in about another month when leaves are changing.😁

Time to take the trek back up and head to the car. 

 Al is parting these boulders so we can pass through them.  Wowza he's one strong guy.👀

On the way back down Linville Mountain we stopped at this bakery along the mountainside, but it was closed.  The owner was standing outside talking to a friend.  He told us about the business and how people had told him to not buy it because 2 other businesses had failed.  He bought it anyway and said the bakery has been doing great.  They also have a seating area outside where you can order small lunches and desserts.  The shop was filled with some antiques and craft items.  A nice quaint place to stop and relax and enjoy some country cooking.