Our stay at Down By The River Campground near Newland, NC has been delightful. I visited this area many times when I was doing some property inspection work a few years ago, but had no time for exploring. Helen (adorable wife) and I made a vow to change that on this trip.
Helen, the activity coordinator extraordinaire, called a dear friend who has a home near Blowing Rock, NC for suggestions on what to see and do while here…good move. After the conversation, Helen came away with a list too long to complete on this trip, but would give us a great start and many reasons to come back.
Our first stop would be Linville Falls where we would get the opportunity to test our newly acquired body parts consisting of Helen’s two replaced knees and my new left hip, now seven weeks old. The hike to the Falls was moderate and we did very well. The pictures came from the upper portion of the waterfall. Our hike was 1.2 miles and, upon completion, we were quite proud of ourselves and felt great. We finished our day of sightseeing with a drive into the town of Linville, a charming resort community with a few shops and a lovely golf course.
Our next day started with a visit to the Linn Cove Viaduct, a bridge constructed over a great ravine in the Blue Ridge. The views were great, but there really was not much to see from underneath the bridge except for the flowers along the trail. (For an awesome view, drive over the viaduct and get out the cameras). We then moved on to explore the town of Blowing Rock and have lunch at the Village Cafe.
Blowing Rock, NC is a busy place. There are a lot of shops to browse and eateries to sample, and our plan was to do just that—if we could find a parking place. After driving around for an extended period, we decided to park in a church lot several blocks and a long hill away from town. While walking up that hill, Helen spotted two couples about to leave from a choice spot in front of the Village Cafe. She asked them if they would leave slowly then directed me to hustle back to the church and take their spot. I hustled my new hip down the hill. When I returned with Bert (our truck), Helen was having a grand time with her new friends who’d waited for me. There sure are some nice people in this world.
The Village Cafe was full of folks having great food amid a large amount of engaging conversation. We waited about forty five minutes for a table, but the wait paid off. Sarah waited on us and was a lot of fun. Everything on the menu was enticing, but we went for two different sautéed trout entrees. I chose the sandwich and Helen went straight up with broccoli and carrots on the side. Helen ordered a Peachy Vodka cocktail, and I, the driver, ordered an Arnold Palmer (tea and lemonade mixed). Both meals were excellent. We walked off our lunch by browsing the shops and paid a visit to the Prayer Tree, where visitors wrote notes asking for needed prayers. I left one for my stepfather who is in frail health at the moment. Blowing Rock is a town definitely worthy of a return trip.
The next morning we were ready for some more hiking. Our friend had suggested the trail up to Beacon Heights for a view of the Blue Ridge. This trail was another 1.2 mile trek and steeper than our previous hike. We were in a canopy of trees the entire trip but at the top, everything opened up to a magnificent view of the mountains. While there, Helen made friends with a couple from Germany who happened to be from Wurzburg where we lived in the early 1970’s. We also met a couple who had lived in Budapest for twenty years serving in a Christian Ministry. We made the hike back down without difficulty as evidenced by Helen’s big grin.
After our hike, we drove to the summit of Grandfather Mountain for a panoramic view of everything we had seen for the past two days. While there, we walked over the swinging bridge, suspended 80 feet in the air and a mile above sea level. From there, we were able to look over most of the area and we agreed that Grandfather had showed us around the mountains.
For the final full day of our stay here, we took our friend’s suggestion to drive to Valle Crucis, NC to shop in the original Mast General Store, constructed in the late 1800’s. This, too, was a busy place. When we arrived a quartet of Bluegrass musicians were playing away on the porch of the store. Nobody loves Bluegrass music more than I do. I captured a video of their session and will share it with Easin’ Along readers at some point in the future.
The old store was filled with much to look at, The candy section is laid out like the newer stores, but smaller. The store had several rooms of merchandise and we spent almost an hour browsing through them. In the end we walked out with four Melamine dinner plates in an RV theme for Gracey (our trailer) and a cookbook titled On the Road Again—RV Cooking Made Easy. Great souvenirs for a great trip.
It’s time to wrap up this portion of our trip. We have no Wi-Fi, internet, or cell service in our campground, so Helen and I will try to find a McDonald’s or someplace similar to get this post to everyone. Please know we’re doing well and looking forward to having you join us at Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, NC for the next leg of our journey. Until then, we’ll be Easin Along.
I feel like I have been there!!! Thank you
Hi, Luanne,
We’re glad you joined us! We’ve seen some great mountain views and had some fun short hikes. More to come.