Discover and Celebrate the Bliss of Western North Carolina's Blowing Rock

Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce
"... Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the North Carolina mountains, Blowing Rock is a storybook village filled with upscale shops, unique attractions, outdoor adventure that ranges from whitewater rafting to skiing, performing and visual arts, fine dining and family restaurants, and a range of accommodations from cabins to bed and breakfasts and hotels to resorts..."

Arts and Crafts

Parkway Craft Center
"... Visitors can enjoy a marriage of spectacular views, Georgian Revival architecture and stunning handmade crafts at the Manor House. Parkway Craft Center is one of the five shops of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and features work from over 300 Southern Appalachian craftspeople. Work on display includes objects of clay, glass, leather, fiber, jewelry, wood, natural materials, paper and metal...."

Click on each of the dozens of categories to the left to uncover what makes the Asheville area so vital, so intriguing and so, well, UTTERLY BLISSFUL!

From Rolf Potts' Vagabonding blog:

I've never been one of those uptight literary types who thinks that you have to have actually read a book in order to recommend it to others. So I feel no trepidation in suggesting Eric Weiner's new travelogue-slash-memoir The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World The premise of the book is simple but intriguing-- here is Amazon's description:

Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Singapore benefit psychologically by having their options limited by the government? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.

In the imaginary Netflix queue of books-that-I'm-planning-to-read, this one has just jumped to the top. By the way, why has no one started a Netflix for books? This question, and many more, I'll leave for another day.

The Blowing Rock
".... The Blowing Rock is an immense cliff 4,000 feet above sea level, overhanging Johns River Gorge 3,000 feet below. The phenomenon is so called because the rocky walls of the gorge form a flume through which the northwest wind sweeps with such force that it returns light objects cast over the void. The current of air flowing upward from The Rock prompted the Ripley's "Believe-It-Or-Not" cartoon about "the only place in the world where snow falls upside down." Visible from "The Rock" down the gorge to the southwest are Hawksbill Mountain and Table Rock. To the west are Grandfather Mountain (the highest peak in the Blue Ridge chain) and Mount Mitchell (the highest peak east of the Rockies)...."

Tweetsie Railroad
"... a unique attraction that allows children and families to explore their imaginations and a whole lot more. Be a cowboy, Indian or an engineer. And of course, every guest will want to take a ride on our historic steam locomotive, Number 12, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.... Ride the rails on the famous Tweetsie Train and share a car with the likes of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, or Billy the Kid. You never know what might happen among these Legends of the Old West.  Keep a sharp eye out for marauding renegades on the warpath.  Anything can happen on this train ride through history...."

Musical Offerings

Blowing Rock Jazz Society
"...The BRJS offers outstanding Jazz Concerts every 2nd Sunday of each month at the Meadowbrook Inn at 711 Main St. in Blowing Rock, NC. You may call 828.295.4300 for your reservations or plan to arrive early for good seats...."

Dining

The Gamekeeper
"... specializes in modern mountain comfort food. featuring fresh meats, fish, game and locally grown seasonal produce. Many dishes are grilled over a hickory wood fire and we always have vegetarian selections. The Gamekeeper has all ABC permits and an eclectic wine list. The restaurant is located in a rustic stone building with beautiful views, cozy fireplace and outdoor dining in season. We have a private party room perfect for rehearsal dinners and the whole restaurant is available for wedding receptions...."

"I've been fortunate enough to dine at The Gamekeeper. Trust me, it's worth maneuvering a few curves to get here." Katherine Touchstone Dickson, All About Women Magazine

"Over the past seven years, the restaurant has come to be known not only for it's game dishes - ostrich, buffalo, pheasant, venison - but also for an eclectic mix of traditional Southern and funky nouveau, with hints of Asian and a focus on locally and organically grown produce." Our State Magazine