This is Gonna Be Great

Today was the big travel day to Cashiers, in the gorgeous NC Mountains. Suzanne and I had a slightly slow start as she got the clock mixed up between twenty after and twenty ‘til, but it was no problem. We picked up my friend Jan and my two friends finally met in person. They practically knew each other from my blog and facebook, given that they became Facebook friends way before they ever met.

We had a beautiful drive west. All of us like a good road trip. Jan picked our stopping point for lunch, the Veranda in Black Mountain. We were very interested in seeing how things had fared since Hurricane Helene. We saw plenty of giant piles of tree debris that were systematically being ground into mulch. I have a feeling if you pulled a truck up they would gladly fill it with free mulch.

The downtown of Black Mountain looks good so if you have been holding off visiting the Mountains I say GO! They can use the business and there is plenty to do, see and eat. We particularly liked these dish towels that were for sale.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch and Suzanne got a pimento cheese sandwich, which prompted her to ask us how to make pimento cheese. Thankfully Jan and I agreed on all the ingredients and techniques. Pimento Cheese can sometimes cause a rift in a friendship, but not ours!

We wound our way around Asheville, Brevard, Lake Toxaway and Sapphire to Cashiers and arrived at High Hampton. The guard was a little surprised to see us since the Inn was closed today. We are the only guests until tomorrow when they reopen for Mah Jongg Weekend.

We pulled up to the Inn and two woman came right out to greet us. They were very excited about Mah Jongg Weekend and quickly had all our bags and all the games out of the car. Once inside I met Leigh Anne who I had been talking with for months and her events person. For an Inn that was closed we had a lot of people waiting on us.

High Hampton was purchased by the BlackBerry Farm group three years ago and was totally redone. From the looks of the lobby we knew it was going to be gorgeous. Emma took us to our rooms, each one was more spectacular than the next. Emma explained how the old inn had communal bathrooms in the halls and when it was redone they joined rooms and put in en-suite bathrooms. These were not regular bathrooms, they are more like retreats.

Suzanne really liked the fainting couch in my room and took a little nap there while Jan helped me set up the Mah Jongg room. We also played a few hands while we were there.

Since the Inn was technically closed they sent us to a fabulous restaurant in Sapphire called the library. The food was special. We should have ordered one meal for the three of us the portions were so big, but we did enjoy tasting each other’s.

Now we are settled in for the night. The other students come tomorrow. We’ve got two big classes and lots of fun activities. It’s gonna be great.