Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Downtown Blowing Rock
My husband and I arrived in Blowing Rock, North Carolina the day before we started the Mountain Retreat (our first meditation retreat) at The Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, North Carolina. The town of Blowing Rock blew me away the second we drove into the beautiful town. Every home, business, apartment, restaurant is gorgeous! It’s immediately obvious that the residents of this town have pride in their community. I had no idea how popular this place is. For a Wednesday in August, Main Street and its small businesses were quite busy. I felt like I walked into a small town set in a cozy mystery story. You know the one, everyone knows their neighbors, there’s a coffee shop with fresh baked pastries, a warm and inviting bookstore, and an active town square where residents gather to relax after a busy day. I can’t leave out the pristine landscaping and flowers in bloom EVERYWHERE! Blowing Rock has it all…except for the murder mystery and I’m not complaining! Sadly, there isn’t a bookstore in Blowing Rock either…I made that up. But, there should be! On the bright side, there is an adorable library that completes the vibe this amazing town offers.
The Blowing Rock
After checking into the Holiday Inn Express, we drove to check out the town’s namesake, The Blowing Rock. Wow! Incredible views of the Blue Ridge Mountains! Credit for the gorgeous picture of The Blowing Rock goes to my husband. If you are interested in a print of this photograph, just visit his website and message him. I’m sure he’ll hook you up!
Ripely’s Believe it or Not deemed The Blowing Rock “The only place in the world where snow falls upside down.” The gorge and the rocky walls form a flume and when the wind blows it creates a force that will return light objects cast over the edge back to the thrower. Pretty neat concept. It wasn’t windy when we visited so we aren’t able to validate the claim.
For dinner, we headed to active Main Street and ate at Blowing Rock Brewery. A super casual bar and restaurant with amazing food. We devoured the Mediterranean olives with feta cheese as an appetizer. For our meals, we shared half of our sandwiches; the Carolina Bison Burger and the Portobello Melt with chips. Both sandwiches were scrumptious and the chips were deliciously unique. The shops close at 6:00 pm, so if you come here for shopping, I suggest you start early.
We absolutely fell in love with Blowing Rock. While we observed people of all ages, we noticed the majority of people were in their 40’s and older. If property wasn’t so darn expensive, this would be an ideal retirement location for us! We’ll keep it on the list though, the housing market can be unpredictable. 😜
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