Mountain Heart

I feel just as at home in Western North Carolina as I do in Chapel Hill. Both of my parents grew up in small towns close to Asheville so when they talk about going "home" it has adopted a similar feel for me as well.

First stop was Black Mountain where Obama came to hang out with Billy Graham. My Mom & Dad saw the motorcade and said it was the biggest thing to hit the quiet town since Elvis got a tooth pulled there in the 20th century.
I obviously had to trek out to Pisgah Brewing before leaving and came home with the Endless Summer ale which is currently sitting in my fridge, waiting for a warm summer day in a cold glass on my back porch.
Grandmother, as I formally call her, and I went out to the cabin for the first time this season. It took me three tries in Stella (a "hefty" SUV) to get up the drive. Grandmother and I were laughing hysterically but I eventually made it... after I left a few tire streaks in the mud. We starting preparing for the summer and put up the porch swing.
I never eat a blackberry without thinking of the cabin since it was my job to pick the bushes as a kid. Looking forward to those blackberry bushes in August!!!
This is Grandmother in front of the cabin that Granddaddy rebuilt. Her Steel Magnolia accent twirls around her stories of Southern culture and history. She is the woman who gave me a sac of sapwood for Christmas and taught me all I know about campfire cooking.

Stay tuned for our summer trip up to the mountains...