After checking in with Skye, we agreed to meet for dinner at Woodland's in Blowing Rock, a great barbecue restaurant. The food was so good, as always:)
Meanwhile Skye's boyfriend Ben (from Elizabethton, Tenn.) called to let her know he was off work the next 24 hours, if she could meet him. We discussed riding to Elizabethton Sat., but decided not to commit to it.
The next morning, after checking out the motel's Continental breakfast (fair fare), we headed to Skye's apt. to pick her up. The plan was to ride to the Lynn Cove Viaduct (part of the Blue Ridge Parkway) for a short hike, then on to the Roan Mt. area, which was the location of the book I had just finished, "Stand Up That Mt.". Pictured below is a view from the hiking path underneath the Viaduct.
After traveling over (& under) Lynn Cove Viaduct, we turned toward Roan Mountain & the Belview community. Jay Erskine Leutze, author of Stand Up That Mt., "the true story of a N.C. (UNC law graduate) outdoorsman who teams up with his Appalachian "mountain people neighbors,....wrote the gripping tale of the long journey of saving a mt."
We had no address, just landmarks mentioned in the book, & Route 19E. The scenery was lush & green, the roads curvy & windy, as you can imagine.
Skye had no phone connection for a time but as soon as she had service she checked in with Ben. By then we were so close to Tenn. & Elizabethton, she asked him to join us for lunch. We drove to his parents' home & visited briefly with them before picking up Ben & heading downtown for a late lunch at Dino's Restaurant:)
Afterward we spent about an hour at Elizabethton's covered bridge. It spans the Doe River. On a warm day the bridge & park offered a bit of welcome shade:) Folks were feeding geese & wading in the water.
Ben had to be at work by 4pm, so we dropped him off at home & turned toward Boone. Our route followed along Watauga Lake for miles. It's huge! You can glimpse the lake in the photo below (the picture doesn't do it justice).
In Boone, we delivered Skye to her apt. & went straight to the motel for a nap! For supper we met up at the Foggy Rock Pub (photo below) across from the Cliff Dwellers, a new restaurant for us. The food was very good! As we were leaving we were surprised to run into Seth's friend, Choppy, & his girlfriend:)! Keith & I couldn't remember his name to save our lives--ugh! Choppy thoroughly enjoyed our dilemma, made it into a guessing game---& we were awful at it:( A good laugh in the end:)
Next, Killan's ice cream & a mini shopping detour at The Gap:) Then said goodnights to Skye.
Back at the motel Keith & I soaked in our big jacuzzi--a relaxing way to end the day:)
Sunday morning we slept in & took our time packing, finally checking out about 10am. Then drove to Skye's apt. to meet her for brunch:)
One of our favorite places for a Boone breakfast is Sunrise Grill so that's where we wanted to go:) Keith enjoyed his egg, cheese, ham bagel while I savored the special, cranberry french toast--yum, with bacon & coffee. Skye ordered chicken & waffles with coffee:)
With that great send-off we said good-bye to Skye & began our leisurely winding back roads route toward home. As I've said many times before, leaving the mts. is always sad for me, & especially when Skye's there too. Lord willing, we'll go back soon:)
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