Banner Elk, North Carolina August 9 – September 2, 2020
We left Franklin, North Carolina on August 9, 2020 and arrived in Banner Elk. The city/town is located near Boone, Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain. This area is beautiful. The RV park is situated at the base of Grandfather Mountain with mountains on all sides.
Just down the road from the campground was Grandfather Mountain Winery, and of course, we had to try it out immediately upon arriving. The winery was nice and set between the mountain and a creek. The vines grow on the side of the mountain and the winery had outdoor seating scattered between the mountain and creek. The winery is not as upscale as a winery in California or Oregon (the only places that I have any experience) but it was very relaxing. I enjoyed the Cabernet Franc, but the rest of the wines were just so so.
We visited a couple of breweries in Boone. We were in Boone the week before school started at App State, so the place was covered with visiting families. We went to Booneshine Brewing Company and Appalachian Mountain Brewery. Booneshine was very commercial, required reservations, and the beers were acceptable. The beer at Appalachian was better, but the place looked like my Uncle Clyde’s fishing shack.
We stayed in this area until September 2, 2020. Steve really liked the campground, but I did not. We had a nice spot which was right on the creek (the same one as the winery), but the park was not nice.
“Change of Scenery” by Genesis