Banner Elk

Banner Elk is beautiful. They had several inches of snow fall that night. It covers everything. Snow is on the ground, on cars, on roofs, rocks and tree tops. Icicles drip off rocks and roofs. We saw snow in 2004 standing in the mountains in Montana. There was so much snow there it was amazing but fresh fallen snow is pretty. It is so white and makes everything look magical. It’s like Christmas again but prettier. The people here are nice but not quite as nice as Alabamians.

We spent Monday settling into the condo and grocery shopping. The condo is great. It is very comfortable and has everything we need to set up house keeping. The best part of the condo is the large Jacuzzi bathtub in the master bedroom. I ran out of hot water trying to fill that thing up. The girls made several trips outside. They played around the lake then went over to the putt putt golf course and played in the snow for over an hour. They love it here.

Tuesday we went shopping, Beth needed boots. She was running around in her black and pink vans slipping and sliding all over the place. Fred could use a new pair too he is having some traction problems with the boots he has but at least they keep his feet warm and dry. We made a quick trip through town and up on Beech Mountain, the snow was pretty thick up there and it was still less then 20 degrees up there. We made a quick stop in Fred’s General store but they did not have any bargains so we headed towards Boone after a few minutes of playing in the snow. We made a detour to Valle Crucise to the Mast Annex. Sheila said they had every kind of candy you could imagine. Beth and Erin stocked up and candy they haven’t seen in a long time and their favorites. We left there and went a little further into town to the Mast General Store. They had everything plus some more. I found a good pair of Columbia boots for Elizabeth for less than $40.00. She loves them. We bought some socks they had on clearance and several grape Nehi’s and a moon pie for me. We could have spent much money in this store if we had it. Thankfully we left but Fred wants to go back on Wednesday.

By the time we finished there it was almost lunch time so we stopped at The Hamm Shoppe Deli and grabbed some sandwiches. It was a little pricey for just 4 sandwiches but they were very good. We finally made it into Boone after lunch and hit the J.C.Penny’s. Fred needed Thermals and they are hard to find in his size. They had them on sale so we bought him a set and Beth a set of leggings. Erin found scarves and hats on clearance that matched her jacket and some flannel sleep pants. They had sweaters on clearance and I could have seriously stocked up but Fred dragged me out of the store.
We did not stay too long in Boone. I think Fred and I both were getting sleepy so we headed back to the Condo. Fred ended up playing Putt Putt with the girls while I took a nap.

I could have slept all afternoon and I think they were going to let me but the girls were bored and we told them we would take them sledding and possibly ice skating. We headed back up to Beech Mountain to try and find the Skating Rink. We found the sled park first and spent the afternoon there freezing our butts off but the girls had a good time. I think Erin enjoyed more than Beth. Erin was up and down that hill more times than I can count Beth was a lot slower. We were frozen by the time we got back into the car and headed straight back to the condo for warm food and just thawed out and relaxed the rest of the night.

It started snowing about 8:30 Wednesday morning. We ate a big breakfast and then headed out to Grandfather Mountain. When we went in the clerk told us it was 15 degrees at the top with gusts of 60 mph but that did not bother us. We have gone through 3 hurricanes with wind gust 3 times that we were not afraid. We drove all the way to the top bundled up in 3 if not 4 layers of clothing including thermals and heavy snow jackets. Fred put on a face mask and the girls and I made sure our faces were covered. The hike up 3 flights of stairs winded us all but it was worth it. At first the girls did not want to cross but once Fred and I made it to the other side with no problems they walked over. It was exhilarating standing up on the top of the mountain a mile above sea level, the wind was whipping the snow around us and the bridge was humming. It sounded like it was singing. It changed pitch with the speed of the wind. Pretty cool……

We drove back down to the Wildlife Habitat but the only thing we saw was a cougar and some deer everyone else was inside there dens warm and cozy. The bears were hibernating. We actually thought about going into the Nature Museum but after the walk around the habitat we were all wore out and ready for some heat and lunch. Back at the condo we ate big bowls of tomato soup and sandwiches. After we defrosted a little, the girls went out and played putt putt again, Fred took a nap and I watched T.V. and just tried to stay warm by the fire. About 3 we went back up to Beech Mountain and let the girls sled. They are getting better at it and I even went down the hill against my better judgment. I survived the experience and if I were about 50lbs lighter I would have made an afternoon of it. I get winded so easily up here.

We drove to Ski Beech and to let the girls’ ice skate only to find out Ice Skating was from 7pm to 9pm. We arrived at 430pm at the end of the afternoon ski session so we went back to the condo and hung out until 630. Back over the mountain to Ski Beech we got the girls in their ice skates and out on the rink. They did very well actually. By the end of the 2 hour session they were skating on their own in the middle of the rink. Erin kept trying to do circles and even did a figure 8 a very unsteady one. It started snowing about 8pm. It was coming down pretty good heavier than the morning flurries we saw. The snow was like sand it would settle on you and you could just brush it away. It was nice but very cold. As we drove back into Banner Elk the snow stopped I was a little disappointed but the weatherman was promising snow overnight approximately 1-2 inches. We finally made it back to the condo sometime after 9. We had a late dinner and the girls worked on their homework until 11pm then off to bed.

I woke up early Thursday morning to about an inch of snow. It covered everything. Our car is solid white and snow was still falling. The snow flakes are so large and numerous not like Wednesdays flurries. It makes everything look so clean and pristine looking. We started out towards Biltmore Castle in Asheville, we had a few detours. Fred wanted to take some photographs and he got several nice shots of the area and some really good barn shots. We drove over to Valle Crucise and bought Erin a case of grape Nehi’s. We made it to Biltmore around 1pm. It was pretty cold after a good lunch we toured the castle. Fred was not happy they do not allow cameras inside. It was very beautiful and very large. I could not imagine living in such a huge home. We left there and headed to the winery where Fred did a Wine tasting. I looked for Mead but no luck. We finally made it back sometime after 7pm, I was in bed by 9:30 I don’t remember when I dozed off. Erin and I were lying in bed watching T.V. so who knows…..

Friday, I was up at 6am and I woke the girls up at 6:45am. Today we take them up to Sugar and let them take Snowboard lessons. We left early which is a good thing because we got lost. We arrived at the Sugar Mountain Ski Lodge just before the rush quickly signed up the girls for their lessons then went back to the condo. We grabbed our computers and went to the office for high speed wireless internet connection. We checked up on our emails, local news and played a little WOW. We were good and only played for about an hour. We then went shopping had lunch then went back to the condo and just relaxed. We had thought about going tubing but we were just too lazy to get up off the couch. About 2:30 we got a call from the Ski Lodge that Beth had hurt her back and was too tired to snowboard anymore so we pried ourselves off the couch and went to pick her up. We got there and Beth was ready to go but Erin was still determined to have one more trip down the slope. Beth was done her back was hurting and she was just plain tired. By the time Erin made it back down the slope she was wiped and also ready to go, she had a few tumbles on her way down and was happy to put her board away, go home, get warm and eat. We made dinner and the girls caught up on their home work.

Saturday morning came too early; we were up by 6am. It had started snowing a little after 11pm and it snowed all night. There was about 2 inches or more of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. I have been in the snow all week but I am still awed by the sight of freshly fallen snow. It is exquisite. I will not miss having to get dressed in layers and boots, I will always be a t-shirt and flip flop girl but I will miss waking up to a blanket of snow on the ground. We had packed the night before so it was just a matter of eating breakfast, cleaning up and loading up the car. It was snowing pretty heavily when we left about 9:30am and snowed almost all the way to Charlotte and then it turned into sleet then rain. It was still raining when we made it to Savannah. We have checked in and grabbed a bite to eat. I have internet access so I figured I would go ahead and post while I could. Tomorrow we plan to walk around Savannah; Fred wants to take pictures of the old buildings in the historic district.