A Mountain Retreat

The view from the rock by Mile High Bridge on Grandfather Mountain.

There's nothing better than spending quality time with family. I had the chance to go to the North Carolina mountains with my parents, my brother and his wife, and my fiancé. We rented a beautiful cabin on Appalachian Ski mountain right between Boone and Blowing Rock. It could not have been a better time of year to see some colorful leaves and hike a few trails. It was in the 70's the entire time and it never rained. The trees were turning beautiful shades of orange and yellow and luckily our cabin had a perfect view of them.

This mini vacation was exactly what I needed after a tough midterm week. It was a chance to relax and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the mountains. The first day we stopped in the town of Blowing Rock to eat at a local restaurant. We settled on the Town Tavern. There were tons of people at this restaurant watching the football game, playing corn hole, and drinking some beer. It was clearly a favorite among the locals, which is why we ended up waiting an hour to be seated. Instead of standing around, we all decided to explore the town.

A great view at Grandfather mountain.

After a short walk, a few stores looked promising. My sister-in-law loves to knit and a unique yarn store caught her attention. We all headed inside. This store was full of fancy yarn and knitting products for the ultimate yarn lover. Apparently, the store had a special visitor who came in all the time. He is a little dachshund. How cool is that? If you know me, you know that my family has two mini, long-haired dachshunds. We're obviously a little partial to this adorable breed. Unfortunately, he didn't show up that day.

The town of Blowing Rock has plenty of local stores and fun restaurants. There was a shop selling North Carolina mountain apples and berry adorned branches. There was also a Kilwin's selling ice cream and candied apples with a line outside the door. There were tons of places to wander in and even a little park with some play areas for younger children. After dinner, we headed up to our cabin.

NC Mountain Apples for sale.

We made the trek up some curvy, dirt roads and found our cabin hidden away in the woods. It was a beautiful three-story house with a large deck on the second floor looking out over the mountain. There was a hot tub and grill on the deck, as well as four wooden rocking chairs. After getting the key from the lockbox, we walked into the extra living room on the bottom floor. There were two bedrooms connected by a bathroom, as well as some games like air hockey and scrabble. We made our way up to the main floor and saw the huge windows facing the mountain. A living room, kitchen, and master bedroom sat on this floor. This is also where you could access the outside deck. The last floor simply had two more bedrooms connected by a bathroom.

The view from our cabin deck.

We all settled in and relaxed in the cabin for the remainder of the night. The next day we went to Moses Cone National Park. There was an old house that belonged to the Moses Cone family that had been converted into a unique gift shop. From this area, you could see the most beautiful arrangement of red and yellow trees in the distance. There was also a carriage house and plenty of trails to hike on. After walking a short trail in the woods, we headed to Boone. There was a little restaurant called the Red Onion and we decided to stop there for dinner.

In the evening, we enjoyed the cabin by either playing board games, corn hole or soaking in the hot tub. The next day was spent at Grandfather mountain climbing rocks, eating fudge, viewing animal exhibits, and crossing the Mile High Bridge, which was terrifying. It was worth it for the view, though. My fiancé loved this day because he loves to hike and climb. We saw bears, eagles, otters, and plenty of chipmunks. Grandfather mountain also has a museum that shows off all the animals, plants, and geodes you can find on the mountain itself. There's also a little gift shop and lunch spot to check out.

Black and brown bears on Grandfather mountain.

This mountain trip was full of adventure and fun times. I'm so glad my parents decided to plan this trip for my fall break. We all enjoyed the beautiful scenery and relaxing for a few days. I hope we can do it again in the future and return to our awesome cabin in the