More of NC

We still had a lot of things left to do while in NC.  

On Wednesday we went shopping at the outlet mall near my daughter's place.  

We did a little damage.  

Our last night in Mebane we went out to dinner and a pub with my daughter and her boyfriend.  

Awe, aren't they adorable?

I guess we clean up alright too .

Thursday morning as we were packing up to head out, 

I thought I would snap a pic of one of the quilts I made for my daughter. 

 I was not fond of this color palette but she loved it!

This shows off the borders.

Bye-Bye Meband!

First stop on the way to the mountains was at a Grist mill that hubby knew.  

We stocked up on rolled oats and grits and a few other things.

I asked them if we could stop at the Village Fabric Shop and this place was so amazing. 

 It is located in a cute little village.  

We didn't have a lot of time to stop here but it was full of modern quilt fabrics!

Next stop was our cabin.  We went out for dinner and then settled in for the night.

It was fairly rustic, but clean.  This was our room.

Friday morning saw us heading to Linville Caverns. 

 This was the sign we saw as we entered the caverns!  We didn't see any bats though, bummer.

It was very wet but the rock formations were amazing!

The green color is from algae growing on the rocks.

This looked like hamburger!

There were fish that lived in the river inside the cave and they are blind.

Next up was a hike to Linville Falls.  

The total hike was only 1.5 miles but it seemed like it was all uphill!! 

These smaller falls were the first ones we saw.

Don't you love asking strangers to take your picture?

So pretty.

This shale was all over the place and very slippery to walk on!

This is the water 180 degrees turned around from the twin falls, rushing down to another waterfall.  To see the BIG waterfall we had to climb some more.

Here we are up higher after our climb and you can see the twin falls and the bigger fall.

DD wanted a photo of all of us together

 with the beautiful fall colors of the mountain in the background.  

It is probably one photo of myself that I don't outright dislike!

So beautiful!

This video shows all the falls from the spot we were at by the twin falls.

Thank goodness hubby was able to hold up that tree for us to get by!

After we left Linville, we headed out on the Blue Mountain Parkway.  What a beautiful scenic drive!

 We stopped at the NC Mineral Museum.  

Pretty sure the only one that enjoyed that was me!  

I am a HUGE rockhound.  

Wish we could have gone gem hunting. 

 (They all kind of made fun of me for that).  HAHA

Saturday DD and I headed to Carolina Form and Fabric in Black Mountain.  

The mountains were in the clouds all day! 

 It was the only day it rained while we were there.  

The guys went fishing and we were planning on shopping in Ashville, 

but ended up staying most of the day in Black Mountain.

Form and Fabric was a great quilt shop!  I bought a few things, but don't have photos! (yet)

DD scouted out a great little local lunch spot in an old house.  

The menu was great and the food even better.  

Ventura Cafe.  

If you are ever in Black Mountain, check them out!

 We shopped around the great little shops and when we went into the wine shop the owner told us to go to this coffee shop, the Dripolator. 

 He told us that this large window in the alley was called the "Viewing window".  

The shop used to be a funeral home.  

Just in case you didn't make it to view your loved one before they closed, 

they would put the person in the viewing window.  

So if you walked down the viewing alley, you would be able to see 

the deceased person through that window!

We had a coffee and sat at the viewing window.

Sunday morning we left the cabin and headed out to Ashville 

to meet up with the Bf's parents for brunch.  

It was so nice to meet his mom, dad and nana!  

Now I know why he is so nice.  

Just like his folks!

I hope you have enjoyed our trip around NC.

We certainly had a lot of fun!

~XOP~