When my father retired to Sarasota, Florida in the late 1980s, he quickly grew tired of the summer weather there and began spending summers in North Carolina.  Beech Mountain is just across the Tennessee border, in the northwest corner of the state, off the Blue Ridge Parkway and nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountain range.  Every year, he’d rent a house or chalet and spend six or eight weeks relishing the milder summer weather.

Boone is 17 miles southeast of Beech Mountain

It turns out Beech Mountain is a day’s drive from Northern Virginia.  I would routinely spend a week visiting with my dad, taking my daughter at times, and we’d enjoy the food, the sights, the attractions and the free lodging!  Dad passed away in 2005.  I don’t recall how many years it had been since he’d made the trip, so it became just a memory.

Along comes COVID.  The cruises and airlines are shut down and after a year of working from home, I felt the need to get away.  Besides, I have so much vacation time built up, I need to burn some.  What could I do?  I’d been to Davis, WV just a year or so ago, so that didn’t appeal to me.  Then it hit me:  I could drive to Beech Mountain and do like dad.  I went online and found a nice small place that was available and rented it for a week.

My fortunes have been good:  Memorial Day is still a week away, so the summer tourist season hasn’t been in full swing, yet.  I spent a day exploring Grandfather Mountain, and another roaming around Boone and Blowing Rock.  The latter so named because of its interesting rock formation when the wind from below seems to blow upwards!

It’s kind of like Old Home Week.  Many of the places I knew are still there; the venerable Fred’s General Mercantile is still the center of town, and Fred Pfohl is still owner and proprietor.

South entrance to Fred’s

The Alpen Inn and the ski resort are still there, as is the Famous Brick Oven Pizza.

Still serving after 25 years

It’s been so long since I was last here, visits to Grandfather Mountain and Blowing Rock were like seeing them for the first time.  Both have seen major improvements.

View from near the pinnacle

Exactly one mile above sea level

It’s been a good week.  I stopped at the Edelweiss restaurant on the way and had a bountiful Schweinshaxe and then found the little condo I’d rented to be perfectly suited to my needs.  Comforts of home, with a view to match.

Perfect as a home base, and perfect as a “home away from home.”  I’m glad I made the trip!