Newland, Avery County NC - Grand Celebration July 29,30 and 31st, 2011

Avery County is North Carolina's 100th County and is having it's 100th Birthday and Newland NC - the county seat is having a Grand Celebration July 29, 30th and 31st, 2011. 

Friday - July 29th, 2011  from 4pm till Dark - Art Festival, Live Entertainment,
Kidz Area, Cruz-In, Sock Hope featuring The Tams and Fire Works !!

Saturday July 30th, 2011 10am to 8pm - Art Festival, Live Entertainment,
* 11:00am Parade of Decades
* Veterans Program and Civil War Encampment
* Dog Daze of Summer
* Historical Tours
* Quilt Show

Sunday July 31st, 2011  10am to 2pm - Praise Bands, Art Festival, Closing Ceremony

More Info about Avery County NC
Need more to do while staying in Avery County? Visit the storied peaks of Grandfather Mountain. View the majestic vistas from Sugar Mountain, Seven Devils, and Beech Mountain – known as some of the High South’s most popular playgrounds! Stop by Banner Elk the quaint one red light town, and home of the World Famous Woolly Worm and Art Festivals and visit its winery and the many shops along the way, hike the Blue Ridge Parkway, Linville Gorge and Elk River Falls.


With the highest county seat in North Carolina (Newland,elv. 3,589 ft.) and the highest incorporated town east of the Rockies (Beech Mountain, elv. 5,506 ft.), Avery County is the place to come to clear your head, connect with family and friends and get above the rush of daily life.

Avery County, recognized as the premier Ski destination of the South and frasier fir Christmas tree capital of the world makes coming to the High Country, in winter the perfect family family getaway. Avery County is also home to the 13th Annual Blood Sweat and Gears bike ride coming up in two weeks. More information is available here



See more info at  http://www.averycounty.com/  or call 828-898-5605

The Wizard Of Oz Club's National Convention - Beech Mtn NC - Aug, 5-7, 2011

Register now... see a listing of the events for the weekend at Beech Mountain/Banner Elk, North Carolina!

August 5-7, 2011: The International Wizard of Oz Club's National Oz Convention, Beech Mtn/Banner Elk, North Carolina. Co-chairmen Sean Barrett and Karen Owens welcome Oz fans to the Beech Mountain site of The Land of Oz Park for a weekend of fan-focused fun.

Join us for a weekend in the marvelous Land of Oz where you can...

Follow the Yellow Brick Road Saturday morning, encounteri...ng Oz characters along the way

Meet Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini on our Sunday program

See 18 Judy Garland gowns and other treasures from an extensive private collection of Michael Siewert

Meet artists Rick Ewigleben and Joe Shipbaugh with their fresh-from-the-press Oz coloring book

Bid for Oz treasures in the IWOC auction of collectibles, toys, books & ephemera

See Oz film projects, including a presentation by the production team behind “L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”
Programs and displays include Oz jewelry, Oz-theme cakes and parties, Oz in personal art and on public display, Oz home decor and much more.

The Land of Oz was North Carolina’s No. 1 tourist attraction throughout the 1970s. Today Dorothy’s house and the Yellow Brick Road remain, drawing loyal fans to one annual event and exclusive private parties. But we won’t just tour the grounds; our Friday evening program first celebrates the park with past cast and crew members, including Lori Hafer, the original voice of Dorothy. Stories, songs, pictures and costumes will set the stage for our own Saturday morning on-site Oz adventure -- including lunch and a stop at the Oz Museum where authentic MGM screen-used park artifacts are on display.

Meeting venues include both indoor and outdoor sites; private transportation is necessary. Group rates are available at the Alpen Inn and Top of the Beech; the Pinnacle and Best Western are additional local options. Watch for updates here and in the forums at http://www.ozclub.org/

Friday, August 5 at 3:00pm - August 7 at 4:00pm

Email Sean (SeanOz@aol.com), Karen (Storylandmi@aol.com) or Jane Albright (Ozisus@aol.com) with your program suggestions, ideas and offers to help.

Beech Mtn NC Bike Trails To Host National Championship!!

Beech Mountain, North Carolina To Host National Bike Championship

Christopher Herndon spent his youth not only riding his mountain bike on the trails of Pisgah National Forest, but also crafting jumps and other cool terrain alterations for some gnarly bike stunts.

He continued to do so years later while cycling for Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky, satisfying the daredevil side of the Brevard native.

Now a 30-year-old general contractor from Etowah, Herndon has reached the pinnacle of race-course design, having been chosen to oversee the construction of a race track at Beech Mountain Resort in Avery County that will host the 2011 and 2012 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Gravity National Championships.

Herndon, the 2007 dual slalom national champion in mountain biking, drove up on Sunday and, beginning today, will spend the next 11 weeks constructing the riveting courses in time for this year's nationals Sept. 22-25, 2011 which for the first time will take place at a resort in the South.

“It's going to be fun and challenging but also safe,” said 14-year-old Luca Shaw of Hendersonville, who races on Herndon's Specialized/GROM elite juniors team with his 15-year-old brother, Walker. “It seems that every race we went to this year with Chris, he'd always have better ideas and was always thinking, ‘That could be so much better,' or, ‘That's really dangerous.' ”

“Which is funny,” Herndon said, “because when I was in college, I built a lot of crazy stuff that was really fun to ride because I was wanting to push myself to my limits. But now that I'm building for other people, I've kind of gone back to building something that's safe and fun for everyone to ride.”

Designing three race tracks Along with Etowah's Danny Cesare and Mike Thomas of Boone — both of whom also have impressive racing and course-design resumes — Herndon will be carving out three race tracks: a pro and amateur downhill track and a dual slalom track on which both amateurs and pros will race.


The sport is much like skiing in that competitors race down the mountain — time-trial style against the clock — executing turns and jumps. World-class gravity racers often reach speeds of 45 mph on a downhill course and 30 mph in slalom racing. While some of the downhill course at Beech Mountain will feature ski-slope sections, Herndon said, what happens in the woods is what will really wow spectators.

“Most people would walk into the woods and say, ‘There's no way anyone could ride a bike down this,' ” Herndon said of the numerous boulders and drop-offs that riders navigate. “These guys come through it at 30 mph — pretty impressive.”

So, too, Herndon added, is the commitment to excellence shown by Beech Mountain Resort.

He said officials there approached him last fall about submitting a bid to USA Cycling for hosting nationals. After walking the area one day, Herndon determined the beautiful location, unique High Country terrain and top-notch accommodations in and around the resort made Beech Mountain an ideal spot.

However, he told officials the trails there needed a lot of work, and that turning the resort into a national championship-caliber venue would require a substantial investment.

The entire project — including course construction — will cost about $100,000, Herndon said, and “they were fully on board for it.”

In addition to hiring Herndon and his team, the resort will purchase and install lift trays, which hold competitors' bikes on the ski lift as racers are shuttled up the mountain. This is a necessity for increasing the capacity of riders atop the mountain during an elite race like nationals, Herndon explained. Now, each lift chair will hold four riders instead of one.


“You have to go nine hours from here to get that kind of product,” Herndon said. “It's a huge investment, but they knew that that's what they needed to do. ... It's great to see a resort actually taking the right steps, and not just trying to host an event to make money off of it. They truly want to do it right, and that's the only reason I'm involved with them.”

Conversely, resort officials were eager to work with a man recognized as one of the best around in creating first-class courses.

“We feel confident that Christopher Herndon will design a unique facility ensuring that Beech Mountain Resort will produce an innovative product,” Ryan Costin, general manager of the resort, said in a statement.

The Shaw brothers, who will be together at Hendersonville High this fall, certainly are excited about having such a venue so close to home. The closest mountain-bike park of its kind is six hours away in Snowshoe, W.Va., the boys pointed out.

”It's huge because next year, the stuff that Chris is doing now to it is going to make it sustainable for the years to come — the courses he's building, the people he's bringing in,” said Walker Shaw, who competed with his brother at junior nationals last year in Colorado. “I actually really look forward to next year because it's going to be a great training tool, having a place like that to ride downhill. There's not many places you can ride downhill bikes. It's very specific, and it has to be good for it to be fun.”

Luca Shaw added that he hopes the new course at Beech Mountain will elevate the popularity of the sport in the Southeast.

Talia Freeman, marketing director at Beech Mountain, said Herndon brings “a real insight to safety and beginner terrain,” which is important to the progression of mountain biking in the region.


“We are very fortunate he is overseeing our efforts,” Freeman said. “To say (Herndon) is knowledgeable of the sport and trail building is an understatement. He really takes an innovative approach to everything he does, which will ultimately differentiate us from other areas.”





Info, Photo from BlueRidgeNow.com

See Dora & Diego At Tweetsie Railroad - 6/24-26, 2011

Meet Dora the Explorer and Diego from Go, Diego, Go this weekend, Friday - Sunday June 24-26, 2011 at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock NC.  Tweetsie is open from  9am till 6pm..

July 23- 31, 2011 - Tweetsie will hosts  K-9's In Flight "Frisbee Dogs" - Show times - 11am, 1pm and 3pm... For 9 days, you can see the Frisbee Dogs in their high energy perfomances showcasing a team of dynamic dogs in acrobatic freestyle routines.. 

These dogs have dazzled audiences nationwide at half time shows and on TV. 
**First come, first served seating.
**Reservations not required
**Shows are included in regular park admission.

For more information about Tweetsie Railroad see the website. 

Balcony Of The Blue Ridge - Avery County North Carolina

Beech Mountain NC Is Split Between Avery & Watauga County, two 
of the most beautiful mountain counties you will ever visit !! 

Avery County NC is known as the Balcony of the Blue Ridge.. Extraordinary mountains, art galleries and even the Avery Quilt Trail .  Need more to do while staying in Avery County? Visit the storied peaks of Grandfather Mountain. View the majestic vistas from Sugar Mountain, Seven Devils, and Beech Mountain – known as some of the High South’s most popular playgrounds! Stop by Banner Elk the quaint one red light town, and home of the World Famous Woolly Worm and Art Festivals and visit its winery and the many shops along the way, hike the Blue Ridge Parkway, Linville Gorge and Elk River Falls.


See more attractions here in the High Country of North Carolina

Snow Tubing - Easy & Fun In The NC Mountains !!

Joe Tennis from The Bristol News recently tried out Snow Tubing - here's his story. 

Insanely popular’

These days, Hawksnest’s snow business focuses on a zipline and more than 20 lanes of tubing at Seven Devils, N.C., said owner Lenny Cottom.

“Tubing really started in the mid-’90s in this area,” Cottom said. “And it’s gone very well here. The thing about tubing is it allows you to do something without a whole lot of knowledge. You don’t have to take the lessons. If you can sit down, you can ride a tube.”

Not far from Seven Devils, Ski Beech boasts a tube run atop Beech Mountain, N.C., that can be braved in the darkness – with floodlights shining on the powder-packed surface during weekend nights.

“A lot of people want to enjoy the snow,” said Ski Beech’s marketing manager, Talia Freeman. “But they don’t want to try snowboarding or skiing.”

That’s where tubing slides in.

“Tubing is insanely popular,” Freeman said. “Tubing is something, obviously, that everyone can do.”

And, this year, Ski Beech features three tubing lanes, including a new J-shaped curve.

‘Anybody can do this’

Near Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain Resort operates a set of medium-length tubing lanes at Banner Elk, N.C.

“Tubing is a real business,” resort owner Gunther Jochl said. “We’re doing real well in tubing.”

Stopping at Sugar, I tested a tube on a Tuesday.

And it proved just as sweet as sliding down Beech Mountain in the dark.

Still, Sugar’s tube supervisor advised me to put my feet down and apply brakes as I passed the tubing run’s orange-and-black “SLOW” signs; not slowing down could cause you to fly onto a hill and spill into a patch of pine trees.

Braking certainly sounded like a good idea after my slam-bam-I’m-sorry-ma’am with Rhonda Johnson the day before.

Only, applying brakes soaked my legs with snow.

But, hey you can count me luckier than a sidelined Sunny Garcia, a Raleigh, N.C., artist who split apart a shoe on her fourth run down Sugar Mountain’s tube slope. “I was trying to stop myself as I was going down,” said Garcia, 37. “And I guess the shoe – the sole – just separated.”

Busted shoe or not, Garcia stood anxious to try it all again with her 7-year-old daughter, Bianca.

And so did Julie Alkire, a florist from Hilton Head Island, S.C.

“We love it,” said Alkire, who went tubing at Sugar Mountain with her six-year-old daughter, Gracie. “And anybody can do this, which is great."

Check out all the snow fun at Beech Mountain Ski Resort.

or Hawksnest Snow Tubing and Zipline

or Sugar Mountain Skiing and Tubing

Lots Of Snow-Great Skiing On Beech Mtn NC

BEECH MOUNTAIN, NC --


This year's ski season is shaping up to be one of the better ones in recent memory thanks to the recent snow and cold. North Carolina's Beech Mountain Resort has already received more than four feet of snow this month alone. That's a third of what fell on Beech Mountain all of last year and the season has just begun.

“I would say these are some of the best conditions you’re going to have here,” Beech Mountain Resort Director of Marketing and Sales Talia Freeman said. “You can’t ask for better ski conditions than having natural powder out.”

Thousands of skiers took to the slopes Tuesday to take advantage of the good conditions.

“They’re excellent,” George Seaton of Washington County, TN said. “It’s a beautiful day. I don’t know how it could be any better.”

138 inches of snow fell on Beech Mountain last season, which was considered a good year. With 50 inches of natural snowfall so far this season, Beech Mountain hopes things are looking up again this year.

"It's a great feeling,” Freeman said. “The slopes are in great shape.”