We made it to Spruce Pines, NC! This small town is nestled just off the Blue Ridge Parkway between Boone & Asheville, NC and it is the perfect place to pitch a tent! The weather is perfect and there are NO MOSQUITOS!!
Of course we had to stop on our way back through West Virginia for lunch at Gino's Pizza. We love the pepperoni rolls, pubwhiches and pizza. If you're ever in that neck of the woods I urge you to stop off. You won't be sorry! I recommend the cheese steak pubwich.
Okay- back to NC.
We are staying at a place called Bear Den Campgrounds. The grounds here are beautiful! They are high on top of one of the mountains in the area and are tucked away from civilization. That being said, there is still a walmart within 5 miles from here. It is the perfect balance between creature comforts and roughing it!
We originally set up camp at a space picked over the phone as we wouldn't make it into the park until after the office closed. We had about one hour of daylight to set up our space. We quickly got to work and equally as quickly
realized that the space was too small. We set up for the night, but relocated to our long term space the next day.
Kirkland found a really cool leaf and we knew we were home!
After shuffling our gear and getting our new spot set up we drove over to Boone to check out the town and grab some chow. Kyndale & Kirk tried to blend in with the natives.
At the Mast General Store, Landon perused the candy.
The kids sat down while Doc Watson picked one for the people.
We had dinner at The Daily Bread down town. It was really amazing despite their confused faces.
We set out for Asheville the next day to shop around and take in the views. We found this cool chalk board on which you write something you want to do before you die. Most of the spaces were filled up, and we found some that we liked.
Landon had two-
"Before I die I want to: do exactly what I'm doing."
"Before I die I want to: see the world"
"Before I die I want to: see my grand kids get married."
"Before I die I want to: make a difference."
"Before I die I want to: do something I love to do."
Kyndale wrote her own...twice. She didn't like the way she wrote the first one so she scratched it out and wrote it again.
"Before I die I want to: be rich."
I told them they should all "Be Love."
While walking around I ran into a student of mine from a few years ago. He is also in Maya's class at school and he agreed to take a picture with his old teacher. Cosmic sign that we were at the right place in the right time?
This is The Arcade in Asheville. According to Landon, it is the first indoor mall in the US.
There was a wedding shoot going on prior to my photo shoot and the kids decided to recreate it.
We saw several street performances, but particularly liked the bluegrass band pictured here. Kyndale gave them some cash!
More silly business.
We had dinner at a place called Scully's. Landon and I had wings and the kids had steak sandwiches. Thanks groupon & yelp for helping us find great food at a great price!
There is a distinct funky artist vibe in Asheville, which we all loved. Of course there were a few cases in which we were a little confused.
But by the end of the day, Landon and I had a few true hipsters on our hands who had embraced the Asheville scene and found there place amongst the locals.
Hopefully these hams learned something cool about life, man, and are walking away with a sense of inner peace.
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