Fall Foliage & Fun

by:  Amber Deen

It’s hard to believe that October, my favorite month, is here.  The 6am temperatures on my front porch have been in the 50s for a week, good sleeping weather!  And, except for a few rainy days in the last two weeks, daytimes have been in the 70s, sunny with a slight breeze so that even in the sun, it’s not hot.  Beautiful!  And very shortly, when the mountains are covered in fall jewel tones, it will be spectacular.

Ten years ago, I worked and lived in Mt. Mitchell State Park from late May to November.  As I was driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway on November 1^st, heading back to Florida, enveloped in the breathtaking beauty of the fall foliage, the clean crisp air, and the utter peace and quiet of the natural world where I felt so at home, the thought of having to give that up for the exact opposite environment made me cry.

Thankfully I returned to these magnificent mountains a year later.  And I’m looking forward to being enveloped in Nature’s Fall Wonder once again - hiking to our many spectacular waterfalls with our local hiking group, taking the dogs (4) for a romp in the crinkly leaves on a high country trail, or just relaxing on my front porch in the rocker with a hot mug of spicy tea, breathing the scent of freshly mowed hay, admiring the crystal clear cobalt blue of the sky, listening to the birds, and watching the leaves fall from my weeping willow.  That, my friends, is Heaven on earth.

And thanks to our high mountain peaks, our lush Blue Ridge Mountain range puts on one of the longest-running autumn leaf color displays in the country.

  

The number one question for people wanting to plan to come share our unique bounty for a little while is:  “When is the peak color?”  Well, elevation and weather are the biggest factors in the color show.  Leaves begin their color change on the highest peaks, around October 4-10, and gradually work down to the lowest elevations. 

Sow Rock - The Cove at Celo Mountain

Our own Yancey County is called “the home of Mt. Mitchell,” which has the highest elevation east of the Mississippi.  The color show starts there at Mt. Mitchell State Park, my home for half a year, on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a short drive from Burnsville on our official Scenic Highway. 

During this world-class fall color spectacular, there are so many events and places to see and go, that now through early November is the best time of year to visit.  Since people come from all over the world to witness the fall majesty on the Blue Ridge Parkway with its glorious waterfalls and many trails, and to stay and shop in the nearby towns and have fun at the fall events, now is also the time to make lodging reservations.

As a matter of fact, fall colors will be stunning at The Cove at Celo Mountain because the peak above it is not far from Mt. Mitchell where the leaves start the show.  The Cove offers "Discovery Packages – two nights at a nearby bed and breakfast or a mountain resort. We’d love to take you on a tour of the Cove in all its glory.  Phone 866 378-4769 to reserve your package, or go to Celo Living

The Orchard

One of the most popular destinations this time of year is The Historic Orchard at Altapass on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Orchard at Altapass).  Altapass means high pass.  The 104 year old apple orchard is also an Appalachian Cultural Center that celebrates the people, music, art, and natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“Apple Trail,” by Yancey resident
 David McRary,

Built by the Clinchfield Railroad in 1908, the Orchard has some of the most amazing scenery on the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as “family fun by the bushels!” Families come to pick their own apples, listen and dance to authentic mountain music, watch the entire lifecycle of Monarch butterflies at the Butterfly Conservation Center, take a look at the local mountain crafts for sale – including homemade ice cream and fudge – and take a hayride history tour where they gaze out at the picture-perfect views while listening to the stories that have shaped our area for centuries.

Owners Bill and Judy Carson are always developing new interpretive programs for the public to highlight the Orchard’s birds, wildflowers, butterflies, and more.  And educational programs focused on apples and pollinators are in the works for K-12 school children.

In addition to the bluegrass music, apple picking, and hayrides, folks can take a healthy hike, stroll, or jog throughout the property and uncover its cultural, historical, and natural riches.

The Orchard is open May through August, six days a week, 10:30-5:30, closed on Tuesdays.  It is open daily September and October.  There’s a lunch wagon open Fridays-Sundays, 11:30-4:30, May-October and available for tour groups and special events upon request.  While The Orchard is closed November – April, Orchard products are available throughout the year at the website, Orchard at Altapass.

The website calendar lists all the musical groups and special events (there was a chili cook-off a week or two ago) through the season’s final weekend October 28/29. 

This coming weekend has two special events in addition to the live music and dancing: 

A barbecue dinner Friday, September 28 at 6pm will honor the Overmountain Reeanactors – those who annually reenact the September 29, 1780 trek of settler militia, known as “Overmountain Men,” through the location that is now the Orchard, to defeat the British at King’s Mountain and change the course of the war.  The public is invited to the dinner in honor of the reenactors.  Tickets are $10, available at the door.  Those in 1780 period dress are free.  A program will be presented by the reenactors…always a fun evening.

Annual program on the life cycle and migration of Monarch butterflies by Elizabeth Hunter.  Children will be invited to help tag and release Monarchs for their historic trip to the mountains of Mexico.

There is so much to see and do in these mountains, so many ways to take advantage of the fall leaf color show.  Don’t let the brief season of perfection get away without taking part in it.  Make lodging reservations now for a getaway in our fall leaf color show.   

Visit the Yancey Chamber of Commerce website for a complete listing

of events.

Quality Medical Care & Super Flea

By Amber Deen

A recent letter to the editor (quoted below) in our wonderful weekly county newspaper, The Yancey Times-Journal, written by a senior friend, reminded me how important is access to emergency health care for many people, especially retirees, considering buying a home in our mountain area, far (they feel) from a big city hospital.

“On the Saturday of Craft Fair 2012, my granddaughter spent too much time in the sun.  When we got home, she became incoherent, unresponsive and had shaking chills.  We called 911.

“Yancey EMS and Yancey Rescue Squad responded immediately.  Ems took her to Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine where she recovered rapidly with IV fluids.  The quality of care she received from everyone was second to none, EMS personnel were very friendly and very competent, and the hospital’s emergency department was likewise.

“We all try to avoid such problems, but it is really heartening to know that such people are in our community when we need them.  They are a big part of what makes Burnsville and Yancey County a very special place to live.  Thank you, EMS and Rescue Squad for your help when we needed you.”  It was signed by Peter Stephens and family.

Last week’s blog was about a couple of Burnsville Bests. 

I want anyone who might be entertaining the thought of having a home in the mountains to know that our Mission Hospital in Asheville is another important best.  It has the awards and the legion of lives saved to prove it.  Mission, by the way, owns Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine to which Peter Stephens’ granddaughter was taken. 

 “Mission Health’s” website (www.mission-health.org) lists, under Centers of Excellence:  Children’s Hospital, Women’s Health, Cancer Services, Heart Services, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, and Trauma Center.

 It’s important to know that Mission’s stroke program just recently received the Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) for the third consecutive year.  The hospital is consistently ranked by consumers as one of the best hospitals in the country. 

So the world class health care is here.  Let’s talk about distances to access it.

When I first started driving the 8.5 miles from Burnsville to my little country cottage nine years ago, I thought, “What have I done buying a place so far out in the country!”   The 15 minute drive seemed interminable.  But at some point during the next couple of months, I stopped noticing.  I think I’ve figured out why.

For the same reason driving someplace new to us seems so much longer than driving back, we notice each element in the landscape that we’ve not seen before - each antique farmhouse and barn and scenic wonder.  Once they become familiar to us, however, they no longer register on a conscious level.  With our thoughts on other things then, we’re not aware of time.  So before we know it, we’re there! 

Visitors experience that when they first drive around the countryside.  At home, they may drive 50 minutes to work each day, but are never aware of the time it takes.  Yet when they visit here without the familiar environment of people, buildings, and traffic (and noise and dirty air) that are all tuned out of their awareness back home, a distance that’s a fraction of what they drive daily seems so far.

So when you come to visit, compare distances and travel times here with your daily routine at home.  You might be delightfully surprised to find how close we really are to Asheville, Boone, Blowing Rock, and medical care!  And you can rest as easy as all the other people who made the decision to move to the mountains, knowing that some of the best medical care in the country is close at hand.

Super Flea – Another Best

The Yancey Humane Society Big Fall Flea, the main fundraiser for our wonderful animal shelter, is 20-something years old, and Laurie Bohn has been the major domo behind it for the last 10.

She has tried to retire from doing the flea, but nobody has stepped in to fill her shoes.  After all, it takes an enormous amount of time planning, soliciting donations, collecting, sorting, transporting, setting up tables and shelving for 12 departments, pricing, displaying the goods, scheduling, organizing, and troubleshooting through the entire operation.  It could easily be compared to starting a business  – a small department store with 50-100 volunteers in this  case - running it for four months, then closing it down and cleaning up the space.  

While most retirees who come from Florida to summer in the mountains come to relax and play, Laurie and many of her army of volunteers spend their mountain “vacations” working tirelessly producing the flea. 

 

So once again their work is about to culminate in the biggest and best indoor flea market in at least Western NC when super flea opens both sets of doors September 21^st at 8am to the thousands of people who will come from near and far.  Thanks to them and the generosity of Yancey County residents, there will be the usual bargains of furniture, clothing, household goods, holiday decorations and gifts, books, music, electronics, appliances, outdoor equipment, sports equipment, toys, and everything imaginable.

And in the waning days of September, after the storefronts are turned back into empty spaces, and the animal shelter has been funded for another year, Laurie Bohn & Company can finally begin what’s left of their well-deserved summer vacations.

Weekend events

“Between the Tackles,” an original play – a comedy - by Burnsville’s Britt Kaufmann and Stephanie Poling, has its world premiere at our historic community theater, Parkway Playhouse, Sep. 22 and runs Thursday-Saturdays through Oct. 5.  There is a matinee Sunday Sep. 23 at 5pm.  Reserve at 818 682-4285 or at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.

“Glass in the Mountains,” a weekend long 50^th anniversary celebration of the Studio Glass Movement, will include studio tours and gallery exhibits of 50 of the world’s finest glass artists all residents of Yancey and Mitchell Counties.  See www.glassinthemountains.com for details.

“8^th Annual Bakersville Creek Walk Arts Festival” Sep. 22, www.creekwalkfestival.com

Watch for…

“Music in the Mountains Folk Festival” Sep. 29 at the Town Center, details at Toe River Arts Council (TRAC), 828 682-7215

“Old Timey Days and parade” Sep. 29 on Town Square

Come and enjoy the fun! 

Burnsville Bests

By Amber Deen

Weather

At an economic development meeting of Yancey County citizens a couple of years ago, one shop owner said, “It might increase visitors if we had something that no place else has.”

Another resident spoke up and said, “We do!”  She told about a meteorologist friend who, when he was ready to retire, examined all the historical weather maps of the US, and found that the best weather in the entire country - over all - is right here!

Now, whenever someone who has never lived here in the winter says how bitter cold it is in the mountains, I enjoy setting them straight. 

Since then, other “bests,” “firsts,” and “mosts” have come to mind, and I’ll write about them from time to time.  Of course, last week’s blog covered the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival which many would say is the best of its kind. 

Quilt Trails

The Quilt Trails project is another area best. 

Visitors frequently ask, “What are those pictures on the side of buildings for?”  The answer is, to give visitors a reason to come here for the day or the weekend, and to show off our mountain heritage. 

You see, those “pictures” are replicas of original antique quilt squares from times when quilt-making and other hand crafts were a part of everyday living in these mountains.  They are painted by volunteers onto wood blocks, made in four sections, by students in our local high school.  In essence, they are our heritage on display…on homes, barns, public buildings, and businesses. 

    Block on the Burnsville Gym

Barbara Webster, an artist and supreme organizer, gets the credit for launching the Quilt Trails project right here in Burnsville, and Mountain Lifestyles Communities (The Cove at Celo Mountain) for the financial support to keep it going. 

Thanks to them, there are now over 200 quilt blocks in six western NC counties, the highest concentration anywhere in the US!  Our county, Yancey, and neighboring Mitchell County have the most, and 10 individual driving route guides to direct visitors to them.  

For online guides, more information, and a profile called “Star Barns” in Carolina Country magazine, visit (www.quilttrailswnc.org). 

The Cove at Celo Mountain

The Cove’s welcoming quilt block

     A Cove resident’s block

The Cove stands out, some will tell you, as the best place to live in western North Carolina, perfect for those who want to have it all – to nurture their spirit in a beautiful natural setting, while having the amenities of life to which they are accustomed.

Think about getting away from the mundane for a weekend of “bests.”  Phone us at 866 378-4769 for details of our “Mountain Renewal” getaways.

Upcoming Events

(Check the calendar at www.yanceychamber.com for details)

·         Mountain Heritage Pow Wow at the Expo Center – Sep. 14-16

·         Tianguis – a Mexican open air market and festival on Town Square – Sep. 15

·         Public stargazing at EnergyXchange – Sep. 20

·         Glass in the Mountains, a weekend of events for glass lovers – Sep. 20-23

·         8^th Annual Bakersville Creek Walk Arts Festival – Sep. 22

·         Yancey Humane Society’s Big Fall Flea Market – Sep. 21-23

·         “Between Tackles,” an original play at the Parkway Playhouse – opens Sep. 22

·         The 27^th Annual Music in the Mountains Folk Festival at Town Center – Sep. 29

·         Old Timey Days Fall Festival on Town Square – Sep. 29