Fontana

I've been going to Fontana Village, NC since my now 23 year old son was in diapers... my family has made an annual event of visiting this peaceful place tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, almost at the Tennessee line... We go every Labor Day weekend, a family reunion of sorts... some years there have been 60 people sleeping in 4 cabins, children lined up everywhere in sleeping bags on the floor, some years there have been only a handful... I have so many, many wonderful memories of Fontana and the tranquility offered there...

But the first time I ever took my Hugh there...

After a stress filled few weeks at his job, he needed to unwind and experience some of the peace that Fontana has to offer... he need to be "unplugged" and where in this world can you go where cell phones don't work, there's no internet service and a only a handful of channels are on the television?... Fontana!

We packed up some snacks and sodas and headed to the hills! Our room in Fontana's rustic lodge overlooked a small babbling brook and we were able to leave the door open at night to hear the sound of the water and feel the cool mountain air. May in Fontana! Soft mountain air and bluegrass music...

There was a small bluegrass festival going on and we enjoyed tapping our feet and clapping our hands to the sounds of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and the voices of Balsam Range and others as we sat in rocking chairs on the front porch of the big ol' rec hall and enjoyed the sweet Fontana air and the lush green scenery that surrounded us.

We breakfasted at the lodge's buffet breakfast bar and reluctantly made our way around the hairpin turns of the mountain roads, across the Blue Ridge Parkway and back home... taking our time and drinking in the breathtaking views around every corner.

Words and even pictures do little justice to time spent in Fontana... to fully appreciate the peace and tranquility, Fontana must be experienced!

Livin' Large in Greenville

Just a few weeks to go until our wedding in the high country of North Carolina... stress was beginning to build in anticipation of preparing and executing the perfect ceremony, the perfect wardrobe, the perfect food for the perfect Ceilidh reception, the perfect wedding for our perfect life...

My soon-to-be husband decided we needed a break and surprised me with an overnight delight... the Hyatt Regency in Greenville, SC and the Greenville Scottish Games... luxury and Scottish Games, what could be more perfect... we arrived to valet parking, they whisked our bags to our room while we enjoyed a relaxing drink at the bar in the lobby... we leisurely made our way up to our seventh floor room, freshened up a bit then headed out to make our way the four blocks to the Friday evening concert at Falls Park to hear our favorite Celtic Tribal band Albannach... we hired a bicycle cart to carry us down the street, enjoying the sights and sounds of downtown Greenville along the way.

At the concert, while Coyote Run was playing and we were waiting to hear the boys (and Jackie) of Albannach, we strolled about, watching the river flow by, children feeding the ducks, families laughing, couples holding hands as they enjoyed the evening by the city falls... appetizing smells wafted through the early summer, the charcoal grilled smell of summer.

We were able to spend several minutes talking to Davey Ramon "The Ramon" of Albannach... he gave me a hug and congratulations when he was told of our upcoming nuptials, said he hoped to see us at Grandfather Mountain in July at the games... all this was spoken in his delightful Scottish brogue... he is quite a figure of a Highlander standing tall and regal in his kilt, tattooed arms and winning smile...

A thunderstorm cut our concert evening short and the bicycles having stopped running due to the heavy rain, we made our way, at a run, from awning to awning, back to our lodgings, getting soaked to the skin as we ran.

After inquiring at the Blue Ridge Brewery and Grill as to whether they served drowned rats... we were welcomed in to the delightful microbrewery to a much needed late supper of fish and chips and the brewery's own ale... a bit of window shopping and a bit of a browse in Mast General Store where we purchased a shirt and a hand carved walking stick, and we were ready for a good night's sleep in the luxury of our room.

After a buffet breakfast in the Hyatt lobby... stuffing ourselves on croissants, bacon and other delicious fare, we called for our car and headed to Furman University for the Scottish Games... enjoying our day of shopping at the Celtic booths (I bought a skirt, my sweetie bought a kilt belt), listening to Scottish folk music and tribal music of Albannach (once again!), bagpipers, re-enactors camp, athletic games, visiting the clan tents and watching for the Prince of Wales (they said he was there, but I never saw him!), we drove home, tired but relaxed and restored, ready to get back to Columbia, SC (just two hours away!) and continue with our wedding plans...