Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:27 pm
Alright, I'm back from the High Country where I spent 3 days and 3 nights of fun.
I received three nights lodging at Cliff Dwellers Inn in Blowing Rock(Thursday-Saturday), but due to one person in our group, we were only able to take advantage for Friday and Saturday nights. Ed is the Innkeeper and he could not have been a nicer guy. The room was great and the hospitality was better. We pulled in Friday night and immediately went for a drink at Canyons in Blowing Rock. Great bar with great bartenders (Mattie and Jay). The band was nice playing some good The Band and Little Feat covers. I definetly recommend this bar if you ever travel up there.
We ended the night with hopes of hitting the slopes early, but we awoke to a bunch of rain which didn't end until about 4:00PM so we just went sight seeing.
Then the rain changed over to snow and we hit App mountain for some Ice skating. The snow didn't stopuntil late the next night. That night we also hit up the Boone Saloon to see Toubab Krewe, a great band out of Asheville. These guys are playing Bonnaroo this year and seem to be growing as the place was overflowing and people had to wait outside. Good times.
Okay so Sunday we finally get to hit the slopes of Beech Mountain. It was still snowing pretty heavy and there was actually some good powder and since I have been skiing only Colorado for the past eight years (1 as a kids instructor) that was a very pleasant surprise. Now the bad part; Beech Mountain had every snow gun on I couldn't see a damn thing the entire time. Between no visibility and being sprayed in the face with what felt like little rocks, I only got about 10 runs in the whole time before we just gave up. As bad as the mountain was, the lift operators and the Ski Patrol were even worse. The lift operators were either stoned or just not there mentally. The thing is is that you can't really complain too much about it when its free. You know what they say, "A bad day skiing is better than a good day at work."
That night we started to look for a place to stay for the night in Banner Elk and spoke with the most miserable human being I have encountered in a long time. The old bearded and pony-tailed guy that runs the AZALEA INN was so mad at his lot in life that he tried his hardest to pass his negativity on to our group, but luckily to no avail. I grew up in a tourist town myself (Helen, GA) and I understand that people can get a little irritated with tourists, but some people need to learn not to bite the hand that feeds them.
Sooo, we went back to Boone and got a nice cheap motel room and hit up The Library to watch the Super Bowl and had a great time.
Overall it was a great weekend and I want to thank Mike for the all the free stuff and Ed for being a great host at the Cliff Dwellers Inn and everyone else we met that made us want to come back to the High Country.
I have some pictures from the weekend, but I don't know how to post them so if anybody wants me to e-mail them to them to post, I'd be glad to. They aren't very good, but they're better than nothing.
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I received three nights lodging at Cliff Dwellers Inn in Blowing Rock(Thursday-Saturday), but due to one person in our group, we were only able to take advantage for Friday and Saturday nights. Ed is the Innkeeper and he could not have been a nicer guy. The room was great and the hospitality was better. We pulled in Friday night and immediately went for a drink at Canyons in Blowing Rock. Great bar with great bartenders (Mattie and Jay). The band was nice playing some good The Band and Little Feat covers. I definetly recommend this bar if you ever travel up there.
We ended the night with hopes of hitting the slopes early, but we awoke to a bunch of rain which didn't end until about 4:00PM so we just went sight seeing.
Then the rain changed over to snow and we hit App mountain for some Ice skating. The snow didn't stopuntil late the next night. That night we also hit up the Boone Saloon to see Toubab Krewe, a great band out of Asheville. These guys are playing Bonnaroo this year and seem to be growing as the place was overflowing and people had to wait outside. Good times.
Okay so Sunday we finally get to hit the slopes of Beech Mountain. It was still snowing pretty heavy and there was actually some good powder and since I have been skiing only Colorado for the past eight years (1 as a kids instructor) that was a very pleasant surprise. Now the bad part; Beech Mountain had every snow gun on I couldn't see a damn thing the entire time. Between no visibility and being sprayed in the face with what felt like little rocks, I only got about 10 runs in the whole time before we just gave up. As bad as the mountain was, the lift operators and the Ski Patrol were even worse. The lift operators were either stoned or just not there mentally. The thing is is that you can't really complain too much about it when its free. You know what they say, "A bad day skiing is better than a good day at work."
That night we started to look for a place to stay for the night in Banner Elk and spoke with the most miserable human being I have encountered in a long time. The old bearded and pony-tailed guy that runs the AZALEA INN was so mad at his lot in life that he tried his hardest to pass his negativity on to our group, but luckily to no avail. I grew up in a tourist town myself (Helen, GA) and I understand that people can get a little irritated with tourists, but some people need to learn not to bite the hand that feeds them.
Sooo, we went back to Boone and got a nice cheap motel room and hit up The Library to watch the Super Bowl and had a great time.
Overall it was a great weekend and I want to thank Mike for the all the free stuff and Ed for being a great host at the Cliff Dwellers Inn and everyone else we met that made us want to come back to the High Country.
I have some pictures from the weekend, but I don't know how to post them so if anybody wants me to e-mail them to them to post, I'd be glad to. They aren't very good, but they're better than nothing.
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