High Country Weekend Trip

 

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend! Today, I'm sharing a recap from our weekend trip to the High Country in the North Carolina mountains. We've been to this area many times and I recapped another weekend trip in this post. The beach is my favorite place to go but I do love to visit the mountains at least once or twice a year, especially during the fall. We typically make a trip to the High Country for my birthday and this past birthday was no exception.

We always begin our High Country weekend in Boone. The day we arrived it was super rainy so it was a great day to find a good meal and do some thrift shopping. Boone had several great thrift stores and we found so many treasures! We had lunch at The Cardinal, a restaurant that we traditionally go to. The food is always so good!

We stayed in downtown Blowing Rock and I highly recommend one of the cute *small* motels in the area. Like I said, they are small but the ability to walk to eat, to go to the park, or to shop is great. There are so many wonderful restaurants + coffee shops within walking distance, a fun park for the kids to play at, and there is a great variety of shopping options. This time we stayed at Mountainaire Inn & Log Cabins and we really enjoyed our stay! Our room was cozy and comfortable.

Our motel was across the street from a Mexican restaurant called El Rincon. They serve the most delicious breakfast and if you stay at the Mountainaire Inn, you get a discount on your meal. I would highly recommend the huevos rancheros!

After breakfast and some park playtime, we headed to to Grandfather Vineyard and Winery in Banner Elk. It's a short drive from Blowing Rock and it's my all-time favorite vineyard! Their sparkling wines are delicious and the views are amazing. Pro-tip: get there early! On the weekends, it gets packed early. They open up at noon on Saturdays and there is a line to park at least 15 minutes before they open up. You will want to get there early for good parking and a good spot. Our favorite place to set up on a nice day is right by the river. It's so pretty! We bring a blanket and lots of snacks.

Back in Blowing Rock, you have to also visit Blue Deer Cookies. I don't have any photos of our cookies from this trip because we ate them so fast! They even have a gluten free cookie. I would suggest an ice cream cookie sandwich. Delicious! Blue Deer Cookies is right next to Mellow Mushroom that we always go to as well. It was just a super short walk away from where we stayed! We also love grabbing drinks and apps from Blowing Rock Ale House and the Town Tavern.

Before we headed home, we did a short hike at Glen Burney Falls in Blowing Rock. The temperature was all over the place during our trip. We started with rainy, mild weather and woke up to snow on our last day there! Our hike was super cold but it was the perfect length and so pretty out there. We were definitely ready to warm up with some coffee from Camp Coffee Roasters afterwards!

LET'S SHOP