BLOWING ROCK, NC - NOV 9-11, 2007
Following a Saturday trip to see the Hokies play in Blacksburg, McLean and I headed to Blowing Rock, NC to catch what was left of the fall foliage. Blowing Rock is a sleepy little town nestled in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, and best known for quaint shops and nearby ski resorts.
Table Rock as seen from the forest road below.We arrived too late on the 9th to do anything but go to sleep, but we spent Saturday exploring "downtown" (all few blocks of it) by foot. Numerous antique, book, and craft shops line the main street and McLean enjoyed checking those out. Following the downtown shops, McLean was magnetically drawn to the outlet mall on the outskirts of town. Afterwards, we drove to nearby Boone and explored some of the shops in the historic district.
Note: As you can tell by now, Blowing Rock is about shopping. Next time I visit Blowing Rock I'll bring another couple with us so that the dudes can hang out in a pub while the ladies shop!
On Monday the 11th, we left the hotel early for Charlotte so that we could drive the Blue Ridge Parkway south and see some of the foliage. At the higher elevations most of the leaves had already fallen, but in lower spots there were still brilliant colors to be seen. We stopped in the Pisgah National Forest near Linville Gorge to hike up to Table Rock. The colors here were fantastic and the views from the top well worth the hike. All of the photos linked below were taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway or at Table Rock.
