We just rolled back into town after an eight-day road trip to the mountains of western North Carolina for a family reunion. We couldn’t help but drive through Clemson territory – it’s not too bad as long as you keep the windows rolled up. As we drove into North Carolina, we stopped near Asheville to get gas and got our first hint of Buckeye love.
(Sorry about the blur.)
After we did a volksmarch in the historic part of Asheville, we drove on to Blowing Rock, which is close to Boone and our good buddies at Appalachian State University.
After unpacking, we decided to do a little touristy shopping in Blowing Rock. At one store I saw a couple of shirts that reminded of some 11W characters. We all know who this refers to:
This one made me think of Fatpants:
But the best shirts were the ones we saw in Boone at a souvenir shop. Yes, it has been 12 years since App State upset Big Blue in the Big House, but they are still very proud. First, check out the framed T-shirt that was autographed by some of the App State players.
Then there is the banner.
And last, but not least, is another T-shirt ripping Michigan.
Don’tcha just love these guys? Of course, the main event of the weekend was spending time with family members that we only see once a year, but coming in a close second was seeing that App State is still rubbing Michigan’s nose in the stink after 12 years!
The day after the reunion, we drove to Hiddenite, NC, to visit an aunt and to sluice for emeralds at the Emerald Hollow Mine.
https://www.emeraldhollowmine.com/
This is a neat place we first visited last year when our daughter and granddaughter came along on the trip. It is also the reason I now have a rock tumbler in my garage as I try to polish some of my finds. Of course, we did not find any of the very rare Hiddenite emeralds, but it is fun to try.
On our return drive to Florida, we stopped in Fernandina Beach for two nights and walked two volksmarches in the area. Then it was off to Atlantic Beach for a volksmarch in route to Mt. Dora. There we did another walk and visited a couple antique shops.
All told, we had a great time and checked off all the boxes for having a great vacation:
Ate too much? – Check.
Drank too much? – Check.
Spent too much money? – Check.
Oh well, now it is back to “normal,” but Fall camp started today and we’re less than 30 days ‘til kickoff!
Go Buckeyes and thanks, Appalachian State, for the greatest upset!
