i'm walkin', yes, indeed!

I started off with a good breakfast.
Baked butternut squash, blackberries, cheddar cheese...
and the constant sound of babbling Barbara.
After the conflict over television last night -
I was opposed to anything concerning the blonde guy in the White House -
we were all a bit tense.
They opted to hang around the condo.
I went for a walk into town.

The day was beautiful...
and the surroundings were much quieter,
outside of a little birdsong
and the light traffic.

My first true stop was here.
The Beech Alpen Inn allowed me
the use of their very nice bathroom.
(Thanks for the emergency pit stop!)

And of course I had to get a photo
when I saw this mailbox!
In memory of one of my favorite restaurants,
now long gone.
This 606 also belonged to a restaurant.
Maybe I'll get to try it sometime!

Uphill I continued on,
pausing frequently for breath
and to avoid traffic.
Then, the buildings of
the town of Beech Mountain
were at hand!
Woohoo!
I made it!

Here I am, across the street,
outside Fred's General Mercantile,
a must-see site for sure!
You would think it had been there for years,
but nope!
It's from only 1979, folks.
(smile)

Of all the cool, oddball, interesting stuff
contained within its walls,
I liked this upstairs reading room the best.
What a lovely place to hang out,
should there be a rainy day!

And before leaving Fred's shadow,
I just had to snap a photo of me
with one of the gorgeous rhododenrons!
How lovely of them to be blooming for our visit!
Do you recognize the shirt I'm wearing?
It's Oskar, the space cat!!!
(smile)

I then bounced back across the street
for the mini-golf course.
The yellow brick road portions had drawn me in!
However, the Oz-like configuration was not yet finished... hope it will be soon!
(We were unable to obtain tickets for the Land of Oz theme park - they were all sold out for our stay.)

Next up was an assortment of bird houses -
and various types of birds -
on a roadside trellis.
How funky!

Since I could not journey to Oz
and its Emerald City,
this sign will do instead!
Emerald Mountain...
how nice and cool they appear to be!

This sign outside Town Hall very nicely showed my walking path.
See that bit of road labeled "Beech Mountain Parkway"?
That's known as NC-184 North.
The letter "D" (pale green balloon) marks Christie Village Condos - that's roughly where I started. (We were staying on Hornbeam Road, right behind that.)
Then I had walked past Fred's (the "N" red balloon),
beyond the flag at Town Hall and the Visitors Center,
continuing on until I had passed the White Wolf Lodge (the "K" blue balloon).
It may have only been one mile, but it had been uphill the entire way.
Seriously!!!
Thankfully, I had not been trudging through snow, too.
Hahaha haha!
(You know the old joke, don't you?)
Now, I'm waiting for the two old ladies I'm traveling with to finally leave the condo and join me for lunch.
C'mon, y'all - that barbeque smells delicious!
Why have that type of cuisine again?
Well, I had an epiphany while on my solitary stroll, you see.
I had been under the assumption that this vacation was for all of us...
but that was incorrect.
In fact, I had known that would be the case when Boo invited me on this trip to North Carolina, back in mid-January.
I had agreed to come anyway.
Without me to help drive such a distance, Barbara would not have been able to have her much-needed vacation.
She and Sandy would both have missed this opportunity to wake up somewhere new.
That's very important.
So, I have been on the watch for barbeque joints for Boo...
on her vacation.
Nice treat for me, too.
(smile)