THERE'S A SPECIFIC spot
AS I CRUISE up U.S. 421 that lets me know I'm nearly there. The road that ribbons through the foothills rises and twists like the tail of a cat. My car shifts into a lower gear, what my daddy would call "granny gear," to dig into the climb. As the elevation increases, the temperature drops about 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet. The sweeping skyline narrows and then gives way to the Blue Ridge Mountains-I'm almost home.
I grew up in Boone, North Carolina. Both sides of my family have lived in the high mountains and deep hollers of Watauga County for over 150 years. I moved away decades ago, but it will always be the homeplace that beckons and recalibrates me. When I visit my parents, I rarely venture beyond their serene backyard, where I'm content to hang out in a metal-framed lawn chair under the sprawling maples and listen to the creek burble. Not long ago, whenever anyone asked me what to see and do in Boone, I had to sheepishly confess that I didn't know. Their questions implied I was missing out, so I figured it was high time for me to reacquaint myself with my hometown, a place that I was once so familiar with but hardly knew at all anymore.
People have vacationed in Boone for decades, returning time and again due to what some call the "Boonerang Effect." Tourists come in droves to enjoy the scenery and embrace the four distinct seasons. I love taking in the fall color, playing in the snow, and marveling at the spring blooms, but nothing beats the summer. So I planned my vacation for when Boone's cooler temps feel like mercy from the shimmering heat that broils most of the South.
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Southern Living.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Southern Living.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
