Follies of a Mountain Chick: Back Up the Mountain

Sort of a last minute plan and a good one at that - Christal and I stocked up on a good cup of coffee from the Crooked Door Cafe and headed up the mountain to Blowing Rock. Just she and I. We had a ball, even if it was drizzly when we got there. Lots of other people were there too. Blowing Rock's July 4th parade drew many people to the quaint little town. The parade started at 2 and chairs were lined up on both sides of the street by 11.

We headed down the street and spent most of our time in a kitchen store and a gift store, where we laughed until we cried at some the adult humor on coasters and magnets.

I noticed my hair starting to flatten, which meant, of course, more rain and humidity. We got this picture in before we looked too disturbing.

Onward to a couple of boutiques where, if she had been a TRUE FRIEND, Christal would have purchased me a pair of $260 sandals and a pair for herself too.HA HA! That didn't happen!! I love her anyway. She already knows how many pairs of sandals I have in my closet! At this point we were getting hungry, so we hustled to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza. We hustled in the rain, that is, while hundreds of people sat happily in their 'lined up' seats watching the parade.

You gotta try this place some time. There's also one in Boone.

Inside the restaurant, this PARTIALLY disturbing, flat-haired picture was taken by a PARTIALLY inebriated fellow who sat in the bar while his family watched the parade.

We got back to the car, half-soaked, even with umbrellas, and headed to Boone. It was kinda funny though, 'cause the sky cleared slightly and the rain clouds looked as if they were moving on by the time we drove over there. We took NO umbrellas with us into the shops since we weren't going to need them. We visited Mast General store first and then The Shoppes at Farmers Hardware. Love those stores, I tell ya. Christal did too. At this point, it was time to head back to Marion and we thought we had it made. WRONG! The sky opened up and vast amounts of water came pouring down. We had two blocks to run - with no umbrellas! We were sliding out of our sandals because inches of rain were in the streets. So, off came the sandals and we ran. I've heard it over and over but the saying is true this time. You can take the girls out of the mountains, but you can't take the mountains out of the girls. Very true, but we loved every minute of it!