Archive for November, 2009

Source: http://www.vallecrucis.com/fireside/index.html
The historic community of Valle Crucis invites you to warm up by their firesides on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. This tour meanders along country lanes to gift shops, galleries, bed and breakfast inns, restaurants, cabins, and churches where hosts will provide you with refreshments and hospitality throughout the afternoon.
This year’s stops include several bed and breakfast inns, churches, and other businesses in the Valle Crucis community.
Tickets are $10 each and are available from the Mast General Store beginning in early Fall. A limited number are available this year and ticket sales end at 4 p.m. on December 6th. All proceeds benefit the Valle Crucis Community Park. Those wishing to purchase tickets in advance may send a check made out to Valle Crucis Park in care of Sheri Moretz, Mast General Store, Highway 194, Valle Crucis, NC 28691. Please include 50¢ extra over the cost of the tickets for mailing.
Make a weekend of it…
There are many holiday and seasonal activities to participate in. You can choose and cut your own Christmas tree at many local farms – some offer hot chocolate and other treats for an added experience. They will be happy to bale your tree and help you tie it to your car or SUV.
Take in a Christmas concert. Mountain Home Music presents a plethora of popular performers coming together for a holiday tradition on December 5 at 8 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Boone. For tickets and more information, visit www.mountainhomemusic.com.
The Original Mast General Store will have live bluegrass and Appalachian music most weekends during December. Saturdays music is scheduled for 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and on Sundays from noon until 2 p.m. You can also visit with Santa Paws at the Little Red School House on Saturday, December 5th and Sunday, December 6th to have your pet’s picture taken with the jolly ol’ elf from the North Pole.
Take a trip down the hill at Appalachian Ski Mtn. as they turn back time to 1962! That’s right, lift tickets will be priced at 1962 prices. For more information, visit www.appskimtn.com.
This event is co-sponsored by ExploreBooneArea.com and the Watauga County TDA.
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.
BEGINS NOVEMBER 23rd!
11/23– 12/30
Tree Fest – Ashe County Arts Council
Decorated trees, ornaments, holiday crafts, gifts and miniature paintings
Opening Reception – 12/5 2pm – 4pm
11/27
Early Bird Shopping – Historic Downtown West Jefferson
Rudolph, Santa’s Elves & Mrs. Claus will be visiting with downtown shoppers 3:00pm til Santa Claus arrives on an antique fire truck
BackStreet Park 5:15 pm
Community Christmas Tree Lighting Hot Chocolate Candy Canes Caroling
11/28, 12/5 & 12/12
Mistletoe Market – Ashe County Farmer’s Market
Handmade gifts for Christmas… scarves, hats, jewelry, jellies, baked goods, wreaths, roping
11/28
Christmas in Lansing – Downtown Lansing
As darkness falls luminaries will decorate downtown and light the way to the live walk through nativity
For a full schedule, visit: http://www.visitwestjefferson.org/christmas-north-carolina-westjefferson.html
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.
The Broyhill Inn has teamed up with Circle C Tree Farms to provide a deal on a Christmas tree!
As a guest of the Broyhill Inn you can receive a voucher for a Christmas tree from Circle C Tree Farms!
This will only be available for a limited time, restrictions apply. One night and Two night packages available.
| One Night Package – double occupancy | $119.00 inclusive |
| One Night Package – 3 guests per room | $124.00 inclusive |
| One Night Package – 4 guests per room | $129.00 inclusive |
| Two Night Package – double occupancy | $182.00 inclusive |
| Two Night Package – 3 guests per room | $192.00 inclusive |
| Two Night Package – 4 guests per room | $202.00 inclusive |
For more information, visit http://broyhillinn.com/events/christmastree, or call: 800.951.6048
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.
![JimMalcolmBurns[1] JimMalcolmBurns[1]](http://highcountryhost.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/JimMalcolmBurns1-300x224.jpg)
His voice has been described by Dirty Linen magazine as “one of those pure warm Scottish voices one never tires of listening to”. He was the 2004 Scots Trad Music Awards Songwriter of the Year and a 2008 nominee for Scots Trad Music’s Singer of the Year. For seven years he was the front man for the legendary Scottish group the Old Blind Dogs. On Thursday November 19th, Jim Malcolm brings his witty style and one-man show to the intimate setting of River House Inn in Ashe County for a special concert and dinner.
Jim Malcolm will be stopping in for this special evening as part of a tour that started in Austin, TX and ends in Alexandria, VA, and will feature a tribute to the music of Robert Burns, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the poet’s birthday. With Jim’s sense of history and his lighthearted approach to the music, the evening will be a perfect blend of music, mirth and good food. Jim is hailed world-wide as one of Scotland’s best performers and is described as “utterly authentic yet completely modern and accessible.” Jim has been a featured artist in the past at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and appeals to a wide range of music enthusiast. To learn more about the artist visit www.jimmalcolm.com!
Of course whenever there is an event at River House you know it will be something special. When you combine River House’s top quality food and hospitality with an international recording artist, you know it will be an evening that you don’t want to miss. Cost of the dinner (including gratuity) and concert is $50 per person and a cash bar will be provided. The evening starts at 6pm with a set by Jim, followed by dinner and then Jim’s tribute to Robert Burns. River House will also be featuring their “Wine Down Thursday” special. For more information and to make a reservation contact River House by calling 336-982-2109 or visit the web site, www.riverhousenc.com. Reservations are required and seating is limited. This special evening is being presented in association with Celtic Force Enterprises.
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

Visit: http://www.blowingrock.com
Located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock offers an abundant array of adventure. From golf to horseback riding, whitewater rafting to canoeing, hiking, biking, rock climbing and fishing, there is something for every avid outdoor enthusiast.
Blowing Rock is also home to Appalachian Ski Mtn., a premiere ski resort in North Carolina, and to many popular spots on the Blue Ridge Parkway including Price Lake, Moses Cone Manor and more.
The History of Blowing Rock, NC
Before 1752, when Moravian Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg visited the Blowing Rock area, the windy cliffs of the area were home to the Cherokee and the Catawba Indian tribes, hostile to each other, and the basis for the story of “The “Blowing Rock”. Two star-crossed lovers, one from each tribe, were walking near The Rock when the reddening sky signaled to the brave that he must return to his tribal duty, and the maiden urged him to stay with her. His desperation in choosing between duty and love caused him to leap from the edge of the gorge toward the rocks below, while the maiden beseeched the Great Spirit to bring him back to her. The famous winds of the John’s River Gorge blew her lover back into her arms, and this legend about The Blowing Rock is still told today.
After the mid-eighteenth century, when the Scotch-Irish began to settle close to this area, the passes from southern Virginia into Kentucky attracted many colonists, farmers, hunters, and trappers who continued south to the mountains of North Carolina. The first family to settle in Blowing Rock were the Greenes who were established by the mid-1800’s on a site that would become the Green Park Hotel property. Other early settlers in Blowing Rock included the Hayes, Coffey, Bolick, Estes and Storie families. About this time, summer residents began to come up from Lenoir to enjoy the cool fresh air, magnificent mountain views and the wonders of nature.
As word traveled to other parts of the South about the merits of Blowing Rock, more visitors began to arrive, first camping out, and later taking rooms at boarding houses like the Hayes and Martin Houses on Main Street. When the space to accommodate guests proved too little, many homes turned into hotels, and the Watauga Hotel, built in 1884, added cottages in 1888; the Green Park Hotel opened in 1891 and was followed eight years later by the Blowing Rock Hotel. Walter Alexander touted the clean air and healthy environment of Blowing Rock, as he developed the Mayview area, opening the grand hotel, Mayview Manor in 1922.
READ MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BLOWING ROCK
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.
Tourists interested in the North Carolina High Country have a dynamic new resource for visitor info thanks to a redesign and upgrade of High Country Host’s website, www.MountainsofNC.com.
The new site contains information on lodging, attractions, festivals, shopping, restaurants, heritage events and outdoors activities. There is also a blog, calendar of events, a section for specials & deals, High Country maps and a downloadable vacation planner.
“This new site pulls together all the key information visitors need to plan a trip to the High Country,” says Millie Barbee, executive director of High Country Host. “And, it is user-friendly. There are multiple ways to navigate the site to quickly find what you’re looking for.”
This new site was created by Big Boom Design of Asheville, using a Joomla platform. It incorporates the latest in website technology, including advanced search engine optimization.
“Our desire was to build a site that’s easy to navigate and brings as much information above the fold and to the surface as possible,” said Boomer Sassmann of Big Boom Design. “It’s a well organized second-generation website that also incorporates social media aspects such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.”
The look and feel of the website will change quarterly to match the four distinct seasons that draw visitors to the High Country.
“If this were a traditionally built website, we wouldn’t be able to do that,” Sassmann says, “but because of this Joomla content management system, it is easy to change the look without altering the content.”
To view the new site, go online to www.MountainsofNC.com.
Don’t just take our word for it. Hear what others are saying about the benefits of joining The High Country Host…
“High Country Host does an excellent job of attracting visitors to our area through its marketing. Just as importantly, they do a great job of helping our visitors find lodging, shops, places to eat, and things to do to make their visit a success. Happy customers come back and they also tell their friends to come. All types of businesses need to be part of HCH’s marketing and service efforts.”
-Harris Prevost
Grandfather Mountain
“High Country Host’s ongoing efforts to attract visitors to our area has been remarkable. Through the creation and distribution of a resourceful guidebook, to the development of and continued achievements in the High Country Host website, to co-op advertising and joint marketing opportunities, Chetola enjoys the continued benefits of our marketing partnership with High Country Host.”
-Kent Tarbutton, Proprietor
Marcia Field, Marketing Director
Chetola Mountain Resort
“We are thoroughly satisfied members of High Country Host. Your organization far outshines any other similar service in Boone in promoting our bed & breakfast to visitors. As far as we’re concerned, we cannot afford NOT to be members! Thank you and your excellent staff for serving us since 1997.”
The Baird House
-Tom & Deede Hinson
For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.





