Blowing Rock

Monday, August 26 – Our Road Trip USA book said that Blowing Rock is the place to stop if you’re only stopping once on the BRP.  This will be our last major stop before Asheville.  Blowing Rock, NC is home to the state’s oldest tourist attraction, the Blowing Rock, which overlooks St. John’s Gorge.  

But before going there, we stopped in the quaint little town for lunch.   As we drove down Main Street, what did we see but a Kilwin’s, a hometown favorite based in Petoskey, MI (my hometown), which also has franchises in resort communities around the country.  After lunch we stopped in to get some pricey ice cream, get some Cappuccino Chocolate Chip (my mom’s favorite) and taste the locally-named Blowing Rock Mud, which my mom says is just a rename of a flavor they already have.  Probably an [Insert Local Town Name Here] naming scheme.  Whatever the name, Kilwin’s never disappoints.

[Insert ice cream picture]

Downtown Blowing Rock reminded us of a blend between Harbor Springs, Michigan and Bar Harbor, Maine.  A quaint, high-end, artistic resort town, except they’ve replaced the lake/ocean with the Blue Ridge Mountains.   It’s a definite requirement to stop for a meal here while driving the BRP.

 The actual Blowing Rock got it’s name because updrafts from the valley cause light objects to float upward.  Native American legend has it that a Cherokee brave, rather than be forcibly separated from his Chickasaw lover, leapt of the cliff, only to be blown back into the arms of his sweetheart.  In more modern times, it was mentioned in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not as the only place “where snow falls upside down.”  We didn’t test any of those claims, but we got some pretty tough pictures on the rock and in front of the view.