Thursday, June 21, 2012

Trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains Recap!

I am back for a full recap of our trip to Blowing Rock, NC and The Blue Ridge Mountains!  Like I said yesterday...this is definitely a vacation I would recommend adding to your travel bucket list.  It was filled with fun, a lot of relaxing and it is so beautiful!

Saturday, June 16th






Hubby and I arrived at our house by 9 AM and met up with the rest of the family that had gotten there the day before.  We got a tour of the amazing house we were staying in and hung around for a bit before a few of us decided to go for a hike. 
We spent 30 minutes (although it seemed like a lot longer) hiking down the side of a mountain to get to The Blue Hole.  It was a beautiful swimming hole with crystal clear water and a couple waterfalls.






The water was FREEZING but the boys dropped their shorts and jumped in.  They found a couple ropes tied to the trees so they had fun with that.  After a much needed break we headed back up the mountain.  Going up was much harder than going down...my ankles were so sore the next day! 
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and hanging around the house.  As soon as it got dark we headed out to the fireplace on the balcony and made s'mores, drank wine and got in the hot tub.  Heaven I tell you!





Sunday, June 17th- HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
We spent Father's Day at Tweetsie Railroad!  We rode the train, rode some rides, ate lunch and played with the animals in the Deer Park.  Such a fun day...especially for all the kids!








We all took naps when we got back to the house then hubby and I made dinner for everyone...poppy seed chicken, carrots, salad and banana pudding!  Then we spent more time by the fire, drinking wine and eating s'mores =)



Monday, June 18th

We got up bright and early for pancakes then we had some family pictures taken!  We took some at the house and the rest at this beautiful opening overlooking the mountains.  We had a photographer take them so once I get them I will have to post some.  Here are just a couple that I managed to get on my camera though. 








Is my nephew not the cutest little thing ever??  I swear over half of my pictures are of him :)  He is just too cute and sweet not to photograph all the time!

Monday afternoon the guys played golf and the ladies went to visit the Moses Cone house (was used in the movie The Green Mile) and shopped at the outlet mall.

We had Jambalaya for dinner, watermelon for dessert and of course....wine and s'mores by the fire!


Tuesday, June 19th

Hubby and I were flying home this day so we got up early and packed our bags.  Luckily we did not have to head to the airport until around 2:30 so we had a good part of the day to do some things.  We all loaded up into 3 cars and made the hour drive to Grandfather Mountain. The drive itself was BEAUTIFUL but very curvy! 


 Once we got to Grandfather Mountain we walked around the Nature Trail to see the bears, deer and otter.  I was our mission to see a bear and we finally did. Unfortunately it was not just out in the wild but at least we got to see one. 




We walked around the museum then headed to the main attraction- The Mile High Swinging Bridge.  A little scary but such a cool experience!




Crazy brother...nearly gave us a heart attack!

We spent our last few hours in the the little town of Blowing Rock...seriously the cutest little town I have ever been to.  We shopped and ate lunch at a local pub before we had to head to the airport.



I wish we could have stayed longer....there is still so much to do and see!  But, we loved the 4 days we got to spend with my family and we came back feeling relaxed and refreshed! 
Seriously, if you want a romantic getaway with your husband or want to plan a family vacation, consider the Blue Ridge Mountains!  I promise you won't regret it =) 
I am already dreaming about going back one day!

5 comments:

Britney said...

How FUN! Gezzz, do you have a single brother so I can be apart of your family? GREAT picts!

Britney said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenn @ Party of One said...

LOVING all of your pictures!! Looks like you had a great, great time :)

Allison said...

Beautiful!! Love all of the pictures and it looks so relaxing!

Anonymous said...

Hi Leslie,
My name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
I was looking for blogs about Blowing Rock to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jane