With
miles of Christmas Tree farms in the High Country, our area
has become a leader in agritourism. These farmers have decided
that having Choose and Cut festivals just after Thanksgiving
each year is a great way to involve the whole family in a
celebration and to sell Christmas trees. Choose and Cut, which
used to just involve the family walking out on the farm, choosing
their tree and having it cut and wrapped for them, has now
evolved into a hoedown! Many of the farms have bonfires, hayrides,
hot chocolate, bands, crafts and a full-fledged festival atmosphere.
Revolutionary/
Civil War Heritage of the High Country - The turning point
of the Revolutionary War, the Battle at Kings Mountain, was
fought by farmers and civilians who formed a collective known
as the Overmountain Men. Each year just off the Blue Ridge
Parkway at the Mineral and Gem Museum, Milepost 331, part
of the Overmountain Trail, a celebration is held to commemorate
these events. During the Civil War, portions of Ashe County
were thought to have been stops on the Underground Railroad.
A reenactment of the Overmountain March which begins in Tennessee
and ends at Kings Mountain is held each year in September.
www.mitchell-county.com
Heritage
Festivals - Several counties/towns in the High Country
are hosts to festivals and special events devoted to mountain
heritage. You might find genealogy information, demonstrations
of crafts used in early mountain life, traditional mountain
music, antiques, Revolutionary or Civil War Reenactment groups,
and old-fashioned games for children. www.banner-elk.com (Avery
County) 910/838-8662 (Wilkes County) www.covecreek.net (Cove
Creek Preservation & Development)
Appalachian
Heritage Museum/The Daugherty House - A 1903 house, originally
built by the founding fathers of Appalachian State University,
that has been reconstructed to portray the lifestyle of middle
class mountain families from the late 1800's to the early
1900's..and The Native American Artifacts Museum - Housing
over 50,000 pieces of authentic Native American artifacts
representing almost every time period of American Indian history.
On display is one of the largest collections in North Carolina
of arrowheads, effigy pipes, bowls, celts and awls. Most were
collected by a single couple. 828/264-2792 (Mystery Hill)
General
Stores - Todd General Store, established in 1914 in Todd,
NC recaptures a time when life was simple and genuine. Browse
through memorabilia from an earlier time and learn about the "railroad days" when Todd was the largest town in Watauga
and Ashe Counties. On Friday nights, join the fun as old-time
musicians play and sing traditional bluegrass music in a "Jam
Session". 333/877-1067 Mast General Store- opened in 1883
in Valle Crucis with a reputation for carrying everything
from "cradles to caskets." Today you will find advertising
posters hung decades ago, an antique post office which is
still in operation, and possibly a checker game taking place
near the pot-bellied stove. Today there are four branches
of the Mast Store, all located in historic buildings throughout
Western North Carolina. www.mastgeneralstore.com
The
Blue Ridge High Country offers a wide variety of cultural
activities ranging from traditional mountain music and entertainment
to well-known, top-notch offerings such as the North Carolina
Symphony, Leahy, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Jellyeye, and Trinity
Irish Dance. The unanswered question is whether the variety
of offerings is responsible for bringing many of our residents
and visitors to the area, or is the wide variety of residents
and visitors responsible for attracting such outstanding performances? Performing
Arts Series at Appalachian State University, The Forum
Lecture Series, The Catherine J. Smith Gallery, An
Appalachian Summer - all programs sponsored by ASU's Office
of Cultural Affairs. www.oca.appstate.edu Performing
Arts at Lees-McRae College - This little liberal arts
college in the village of Banner Elk offers outstanding programs
throughout the year. You will find musical comedy, one-act
plays, dance performances, original drama, famous speakers,
full orchestras, and mountain story-tellers. During the summer
months folks line up hours before the doors open to obtain
seats in the Hayes Auditorium.
Ashe
Civic Center - a jewel of a facility in the little town
of West Jefferson. This center presents performances throughout
the year that range from the Ink Spots, to classical pianist
Aaron Price, to A Tribute to the Beatles, to George Hamilton
IV. The story here is how such a small community raised the
funds to build and support such an outstanding facility.
Mountain Music Jamboree - located in Glendale Springs.
every Saturday night throughout the summer and fall, try your
hand at square dancing, flat- footing, and clogging; or just
sit back and enjoy the finest in bluegrass and old-time mountain
music. This is an event that will take you back to an earlier
time when the entire family piled into the family wagon (pulled
by a horse) to take part in a community gathering such as
a barn-raising, harvest festival, or hoe-down.
Traditional mountain log cabins are being constructed throughout
the mountains by a variety of builders and individuals. Some
are tiny one or two-room cabins patterned after ones built
by early settlers. Others may be as large as 3 to 4 thousand
square feet, magnificent to behold. The chestnut buildings
found in the Linville area date back to the early part of
the last century. Most are private homes, but the Eseeola
Lodge and the Presbyterian Church are public buildings that
are excellent examples of this unique building material. Several
areas in the region have a concentration of Alpine-looking
buildings, which bring to mind Switzerland. Numerous buildings
of this type can be found in the "Highest incorporated town
in Eastern America, Beech Mountain". Little Switzerland in
Mitchell County also has many examples of both public and
private buildings showing the Alpine influence. Several of
the towns in the High Country have made an effort to preserve
their older buildings. Examples of these can be found in the
Old Wilkes Jail, the Avery County Jail and Courthouse, many
buildings on the campus of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk,
and most of the downtown areas of West Jefferson and Boone.
The
sky is the limit for the variety of special events that take
place in our six-county region. Ski events abound in the winter
months with pro-am races, a septuagenarian party on the slopes,
snowshoe tours, torchlight parades on New Year's Eve, professional
ice skating shows, and learn-to-ski programs for children
as young as 4 years of age. In the summer months, you can
load your mountain bike on a ski lift, ride to the top of
the mountain and then participate in sanctioned races, or
ride on the trails simply for pleasure.
There are well-known
events such as the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games,
Blowing Rock's outstanding Art In The Park, the Woolly
Worm Festival, Merle Fest in Wilkes County, the Mineral
and Gem Show in Spruce Pine, and Christmas In July in West Jefferson. But you are missing the boat if you don't
take time to discover the hidden gems such as the 4th of
July on the Riverwalk in Newland where the entire town
comes out to participate in a real old-fashioned event with
watermelon eating contests, an auction to benefit local charities,
the firemen creating a water slide for the kids, a tug 'o
war, crafts, a street dance, and fireworks from the top of
a mountain; or perhaps the Old Time Fiddler's Convention in the Ashe County Park would be more to your liking. The
Apple Festival at the Hickory Ridge Homestead offers entertainment
on a late autumn Saturday; and Blowing Rock's Winterfest will liven up your post-holiday blues with a polar plunge;
chili cook-off, wine auction, sled-dog demonstration and numerous
other activities.
These are just some of the unusual events
that make people want to return again and again to the Blue
Ridge High Country of North Carolina.
