Pineola, NC Rally – Trip days 2 & 3 - Blowing Rock

We awoke Sunday to a cool (42F), misty mountain morning and I could just imagine how nice it would be here on a hot July day at home.  Since the rally didn’t officially begin until 6pm today (three coaches had come in on Sat), we decided to just drive around the area a little before we had to cook our dish for this evening’s pot luck supper.  The trees are fully leafed out at home but they are several days behind here in high county.

But the highlight of the day was finally figuring out how we could at least watch the recoded TV on our DVR – oh what a relief it was.

The rally officially got underway with a supper of Ingles fried chicken and pot luck dishes provided by the club members. We decided that our “Twice Baked Potato Casserole” would go well with the chicken so we brought everything with us from home to make a batch.  The chicken was very good and the casserole got rave reviews and everyone requested the recipe - you can click on the link to get it.

One thought about the casserole - it was more then 30 minutes from the time we took it from the oven until we ate and the cheese cooled and set up on top and even though it was a hit, it just wasn't as good as piping hot from the oven so I won't use it for potluck any more.

After the meal several of the group went to sit around the fire but it was a little too cool for us.

Monday was planned to be Blowing Rock, NC day with a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) to get there and we got on the road about 9:30am.  As expected, the views from the BRP were impressive and the leaves had even further to go then in Pinola.  The first shot is the famous Grandfather Mountain.

This is our group at an overlook.

In 1901, like many others (think Biltmore House), textile industrialist Moses Cone built a summer home in the NC mountains just outside Blowing Rock as a place to beat the summer heat in the lowlands.  Cone was a leading supplier of Denim with Levi Strauss as one of his major customers for nearly 100 years.

Here is a web pic of his home, Flattop Manor, then some of my shots.  What a great spot to sit out on the porch, enjoying the fantastic view in the cool afternoons and sipping mint julips while your manufacturing plants churned out money.  Unfortunately, the manor was closed so we didn’t get to tour the it and visit the gift shop.

From there we headed into the touristy town of Blowing Rock for lunch at The Speckled Trout followed by shopping.

I ordered blackened trout with slaw and it was okay but tourist food –small portion of decent food for a pretty high price which was just as expected for a tourist town but plenty of food for this not-wanting-to-gain-weight guy.

After lunch, the four-legged guys and I headed back to the campground as I felt like I had been to therapy after walking up and down a bunch of steps at Flattop Manor plus walking around Blowing Rock a little.  I drove US-221 back from Blowing Rock and it was like a paved goat path with many, many places that required slowing down from the 35 MPH speed limit – it made the BRP seem like a super highway.

After shopping in Blowing Rock, the girls (now riding with our neighbors) headed over to nearby Boone, NC for a little more shopping prior to heading back to the campground.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

05/08- 9/22 event date