Boone/Blowing Rock NC

I am anxious to see Fall! Last year it seemed to hit all of a sudden, and then it was gone too quick.  This year I intend to be there to catch it in action.  Mostly it gives us another excuse to travel and see more of our wonderful new home state.  So with fall in mind we headed up to the Appalachian mountains in Boone, NC. First up on the way there, we drove on the famous Blue Ridge Parkway, where we saw some of the season's best display of color - well so far.  We soon found we may have gone a bit too early; the leaves seemed to just be starting the change of color.  Oh well, that just means another trip!

Down in the town of Boone, we found it is home to Appalachian State University.  In the mountains, a small college town; it seemed a little like Flagstaff to us - it had that same feel.  We got sandwiches for lunch and then found the Daniel Boone Gardens.  After eating, we wandered the tiny gardens and enjoyed the beautiful mountain air.  It rained on us a little, but not for long,  thank goodness.

This was Daniel Boone's father's cabin, brought here from higher up the mountains

After lunch and the gardens we drove to Blowing Rock, and wandered around until it was too late to really do much of anything.  Last activity of the day, we went to Mystery Hill.  It is an unexplained phenomenon of gravity that pulls you downward on this hill.  It is very strange!

Here you can see the ball rolling up the hill

Chris is standing up straight!

Chris explains it is an optical illusion, this is the orientation of the ground outside in relation to the how the house is built on the hill - which he says explains the phenomenon.  But it makes you sea sick, and you get light-headed.  Chris had to leave because he was getting motion sick.  Weird!

We were hungry and were told there was a fun place to eat in Boone called Daniel Boone Inn.  The line was looooong! But we were there for the experience, so we waited over and hour for our seats.  It was an all you can eat, country home-style place, except they brought the food to you.  They had one menu, and they just bring all the food from the menu to the table, and you can ask for as much as you want.  That night the menu was fried chicken, country ham, country steak, corn, green beans, biscuits, stewed apples and of course dessert! It was yummy!

The menu in the hallway

Sights to see while we waited in line

It was dark when we were finished with dinner, so back home we went.  It was a fun day!