My First Five Days in the Mountains

 “Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us, God.” -- John Muir

I arrived in Flat Rock on Sunday and am now 1/2 way into my vacation. So far it has been relaxing, invigorating, and peaceful -- yes, all of those at once. I have done a lot of hiking with a total of 24 miles including over 127 floors. (I will specifically enumerate the trails and waterfalls on separate posts.) Here I will share about some of my excursions including some surprising finds. I always love the surprises that are part of my travels!

One of my big surprises was Jump Off Rock. I came upon it in a search of points of interest near Flat Rock. It was about a 20 minute drive from my lodgings. The drive itself was so enjoyable. The road meandered up a mountainside near Hendersonville in an area called Laurel Park. Along the way I got to see amazing homes set into pockets of the hillside, homes with gorgeous views. I also discovered a Bed & Breakfast which also serves lunch and dinner to non-residents; I am already planning to have a meal there in the second half of my trip. At the conclusion of my winding up the mountain was a view more than worth the lovely drive. Jump Off Rock is stupendous!!! You can drive right up to the walkway, park, and skip across the grass to a collection of stones. I cannot do justice to this spot with mere words, so here are the pictures. Even they don't show the real grandeur of the place. This is a must-see if you are in the Hendersonville- Flat Rock area. 

Another fun surprise was found when I took a longer roadtrip to Highlands, NC. I had lunch there after a slightly grueling trip up to see Rainbow Falls (see future post). I didn't choose to stop in the main part of town. It seemed to be mostly upper-end shops, hotels, and restaurants; made more obvious by my count of Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes Benz cars lined up in the parking spots. I did find a yummy Mexican restaurant in a strip-mall, then drove around some. I happened to pass a sign indicating a nature center. It took me a couple of passes to actually find the entrance but was well rewarded for my search. The nature center was a system of walkways around a pond and through some cool tree coverage. It was the kind of place I'd love to take a picnic lunch and a book to and stay a while. Enjoy the views below.

I have also visited Carl Sandburg's home which is just down the road from my room at Mill House Lodge. The buildings on site are all closed right now due to COVID, but the grounds are lovely, there are several trails. It was rainy when I was there, so I didn't stay too long.

One day I drove around through some mountainous areas, just driving from road to road, not following any directions at all. I knew that I couldn't get lost because of the wonder of GPS. After driving with no destination in mind, I next made my way to the Lake Lure area and a second visit to the Flowering Bridge. My first visit was last summer, and I couldn't resist another look.

On Monday I visited Brevard. There were several frustrating things about that visit. One was that many shops are closed on Monday, not unlike downtown Greensboro. Another frustration was that even with the closed stores, the streets were very crowded with traffic. Also the town seemed to be very tourist-minded. I kept comparing it in my mind to Southern Pines, and it just didn't measure up. I did really enjoy nearby Pisgah Forest which I will share about in future posts on trails and waterfalls.

Chicken raspberry wrap from Mayberry's in Brevard.

One of Brevard's famous white squirrels. (Look behind the statue.)

I have thoroughly enjoyed just driving around, hanging out, reading, crocheting, resting, soaking up the mountain sun, breezes, and daily rains. I can't wait to see what the next 5 days bring! 

Lunch at Flat Rock's Campfire Grill

Southern Pines -- My New Happy Place

 "The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." -- Henry Ward Beecher

Those common things that Beecher was referring to can definitely be found in Southern Pines. I extracted much happiness in my three visits there and look forward to future visits.

Southern Pines is a small town in south-central North Carolina, about 75 miles from Greensboro. The population is around 14,500. The old train depot is in the center of town, and Southern Pines is a stop on Amtrak's Savannah to NYC route. It is surrounded by lovely and famous horse farms and horse-show locations. 

 Nearby is Pinehurst, a community well known for its historic golf resort. Several U.S. Open and Amateur Championships have been held here. (Another interesting fact is that the central village of Pinehurst was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park/Biltmore fame.) 

Enough about the background and demographics. Southern Pines is my ideal place of peace and old-fashioned small town southern charm. There is a park, aptly called Downtown Park, where children play, families picnic, young people gather to talk and play basketball, and everyone feels safe. I love to just sit on a bench here and soak in the normal-ness of it, to forget the anger, fear, and confusion of our country right now. It's like it doesn't exist in this park in this pleasant idyllic community. 

Moving from the park towards the central shopping area, there are sidewalks and crossings where pedestrians usually have the right-of-way. The old depot is definitely an attention-getter, sitting as it does alongside the tracks right in the center of town. On either side of the tracks and depot, the town spreads down Broad Street in both directions. 

On my last visit, with Kathryn, Natalie, and Celestine, we wandered in to several shops. My favorite (for all three visits) is the book store, called The Country Bookshop. This store has an awesome selection of classics, non-fiction, children's, and history books along with the usual fiction fare. It also has a small card collection and some neat collectible books. Not surprising confession: I have spent money there on all three visits!!

We also visited a nice gift shop, Mockingbird on Broad which was full of a variety of items. Against the Grain was a shop with mostly wooden objects but also some other items.There was a really nice outdoors store called River Jack Outdoor Trading. It was deceptively small from the outside but seemed to go on and on inside. They had an amazing supply of tennis shoes, t-shirts, and camping supplies. Some of the other stores were a toy store, a Christian bookstore (closed the day we were there), a restyle store, and several clothing stores. 

A trip is not complete without food, and Southern Pines did not disappoint there either. We ate a sandwich cafe called Sweet Basil. Kathryn got a quesadilla, Natalie got the hot vegetarian, and I ordered roast beef and brie. You can see my side salad in the pic below. It was huge, and the homemade dressing was delicious. The sandwich had a hard time living up to the salad. I would definitely recommend this spot. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays. 

Later in the day we sampled ice-cream from The Ice Cream Parlor Restaurant and kombucha from Southern Salt Room. (If you know me, you know that the kombucha sampling was not done by me but the ice cream was.) Natalie does say the kombucha is excellent; this was her second visit to this shop, and she got her "growler" refilled while we were there. We also bought cupcakes to take home from Cups to take home. Everyone was happy with the day's food selections!

Wrapping it up, Southern Pines is a place I would DEFINITELY recommend making a visit to. It would be a perfect day-trip destination or even a worthy detour when heading to or returning from the beach. You might even see me there, as I plan on making several return trips. After all, there are more books in the bookstore and several restaurants I haven't sampled...

Links:

Sweet Basil Menu

The Country Bookshop

River Jack Outdoor Trading Company

Cups Cakery

Southern Salt Room

Southern Pines Info.

The Third Puff

 "The world is shaped by two things -- stories told and the memories they leave behind."  -- Vera Nazarian from Dreams of the Compass Rose

                                            

                                         

    One summer day while visiting in Mississippi, we went shopping at  a Murphy's store. Murphy's was like  Walgreens without a pharmacy; they had aisles and aisles of everything. Back in those days, kids could wander through stores to their hearts' content without fear, so as our mom cruised the aisles picking up what she needed, we three kids were free to roam. 

    I headed for the suntan lotion display. I have always loved the smell of suntan lotion, which seems to transport me to beaches and eternal summer. I flipped the lid on one bottle and squeezed gently. A puff of Hawaii-scented air filled my senses. Mmmmm! My brother approached and asked for a smell. I gave him a puff. It didn't seem to have the same transporting effect on him that it did on me, and he wandered off, unimpressed.

    Next, my little sister wanted a turn. I gave the bottle another of the same gentle squeezes, no different from the previous two. Unfortunately that third squeeze was too much for the lotion, rising unheeded in the dark plastic container. As I squeezed, a flood of white, creamy, Hawaii-scented lotion shot out of the bottle in an exploding squirt, straight up into my sister's nose! It also ran down into her mouth and dripped oozingly from her chin. What a mess! She began to cry instantly. The lotion, mixing with the tears, became an even bigger mess. I, knowing the inevitable outcome of her shrieking tears, tried to shush her. No chance! My mother, hearing the distressing cries of her youngest, rushed to the scene. 

    As she tried to comfort my sister, my mom instructed me to purchase the half-empty bottle of lotion and a box of tissues to be used in cleaning up my sister. I was also persuaded to buy the injured party a toy of her choosing as a means of apology. That was definitely adding insult to injury -- mine! Years later, my sister and I still argued about whether I intentionally tried to injure her. I stand firm in my innocence. After all, it was just the third puff.

  

The Doll of My Memories

 "Nothing is really lost to us as long as we remember it." -- L. M. Montgomery, The Story Girl

    One of my earliest memories is when I was about five years old. My uncle, who would have been about 15 at the time, was babysitting me, my younger brother, and my baby sister one night. I owned the most precious doll which I had received the previous Christmas. This doll could walk when you held her hands, ride a trike, and ride a horse. She was magical! Her name was Tippee Toes. She wore and adorable pink and yellow knitted top that had pink pants to match. I could hold her hands and walk her around all over the house. I loved to place her on her bike or horse, turn her on, and watch her ride around, hopping up and down on her toes.

    Well, on that infamous night, my brother somehow got his hands on Tippee Toes and completely changed her doll-future. He decided to demonstrate that her head could be turned completely around. It couldn't! My poor uncle, while listening to screams and cries from me, tried his best to reattach Tippee Toes's head, but it was hopeless. She was ruined. No matter how much I loved her, I could not bring myself to play with a headless doll. I was crushed. I asked for a new Tippee Toes each Christmas after that for a few years, but she never reappeared under the tree. Years later, thanks to the Internet, I have seen her on vintage sites and could purchase her if I chose to. It would never be the same though. Tippee Toes will always remain the doll of my memories.   

Heading Into 2021

 "In every heart there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong, to heal the wounds from year just past, until a new one comes along." -- adapt. from Billy Joel, "And So it Goes"

I don't know why this song makes me think of this year and its ending, but so it goes... This has been the strangest, hardest year for most of us in this world. I have been focusing my thoughts on the new and good from 2020, and here's what I came up with for me:

• I read more books this year than in any year since college -- 65! 
• I did tons of puzzles.
• I spent a bunch of quality time with my daughter and son-in-law. It just so happens that I moved in with them 2 days before the big shutdown in March. We took lots of walks, sat outside, (Ok, I sat and watched while they built a fence, built a pergola, planted a garden, and laid a walkway, but we were outside together.) watched a bunch of movies together, and went on our trip to the mountains.
• I visited my parents and just hung out.
• I might not have gotten to take my usual big summer trip, but I visited several new places on some shorter jaunts and really enjoyed myself.
• I got Just Be's website going stronger.
• I delivered an unbelievable number of packages to Just Be's great family of customers. 
• I spent a greater amount of time in prayer than in recent years and a greater amount of time delving into the Word on my own, as well as under the direction of my pastor.
• I learned that there are so many new ways to teach, some I which I may not be crazy about, some of which I love, all of which have come in handy this year.

God has taught so many lessons this year, not the least of which is that He is in control. We may think or hope we've got this thing called life, but it's ALL in His hands. I, for one, am glad of that. Just knowing that I can shut my eyes at night with the full knowledge that He in charge of everything gives me peace. When Shel Silverstein's "What Ifs" crawl inside my ear, I just turn my heart to Him and receive the peace that passes understanding. This year has taught me that more than any with the exception of 2007. I trust that He is working things out in me and around me and through me. I will not fear plagues, civil unrest, political issues, poverty, homelessness; I would fear a life without Him, and thankfully that is not a fear I have to deal with. My prayer is that friends and family who do have that fear (whether they know it or not) would come to know and trust Him as a result of the events of 2020.

Heading into 2021

I do not know what 2021 will bring. I do know that God will still be in control. I will continue to live for Him, to trust Him, to praise Him. I will do my best to live a life that will lead others to Him. 

To end with a quote from my favorite, Anne, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it...yet."