Annual NC Pilgrimage: Mountains - Tweesie, Mini Golf, Horses {2 of 3}
We stayed overnight in the NC mountains around Boone on Monday. First thing - of course - was the kids' BIGGEST reason for coming on the whole trip: Tweetsie Railroad! Y'all have heard me wax poetic about this place for years. It truly holds my family's heart. My brother, Andy, and his son, Matthew, met us up there for the day, too. ❤️
I looooove taking the ski lift to the top of the mountain!
Feeding all the animals in the Deer Park
Cousin ride share
With our train engineer BFF, Mr. Scott
Backstory before the next pics: on a Tweetsie trip when my brother & I were little (5 & 7ish?) my mom & dad decided to have us do one of those old time western photos, where everyone dresses up like the 1800's. Andy refused to be in the photo after we had already committed to doing it, so he literally sat out...and we had *THE* CUTEST pic of me, my mom, & my dad looking like a precious pioneer family framed in our family room the entire time we were growing up! :-P It was there until after my dad passed away, and I took it after Mom & Hershel were married. Guess what I just found, again???
So when my mom suggested us doing it this time, now with all of her biological progeny in one pic, Andy finally got 30-year redemption. :-D Here's Big LaLa's clan!
It was so funny - we did tons of poses, smiling/not smiling, different props, etc. For the last two shots, they said, "Everyone hold a gun!" I thought, "This is stupid. It's too cheesy..." And darn if that one wasn't the best pic of the bunch! :-P
Andy & Matthew went home, but we stayed in the mountains overnight! We ate at our family-fave teppanyaki ("cook on the table") restaurant, Makoto's, and when we got to our hotel, the kids & I actually went down to the fitness center to work out a little! #needed We went back first thing in the morning, too, before breakfast. #proud
Mountain Day 2: Will has been begging to mini golf for months, (it's one of his most fave things!) and mountain mini golf is the ultimate! This course was GREAT! All hills, really challenging, and so scenic:
(This was hysterical!!! He's just posing - he had a great attitude about it, but the ball TRULY DID stop there!)
After mini golf, we headed over to Dutch Creek Trails. My mom grew up showing horses but hadn't ridden in 25 years. I love riding, Annelise was in heaven, and Will was initially nervous but ended up traversing the super steep mountain passes like a champ! Happy horse day riding Pistol, Bubbles, Chiquita, & Grady!!!
Annelise said this was her favorite part of the whole NC trip...even more than Tweetsie! :-O :-D
We had lunch in Valle Crucis and let the kids explore the Mast General Store before heading back to Charlotte. I hadn't been to the Mast since I was in grade school, and Annelise had a neat connection: when we went on her Texas pioneer field trip in January, they had a late 1800's calendar on the wall...from the Mast General Store! I flipped out & told her about it then, so she actually got to see the real thing in person!
Final treat on the drive home: Cook-Out milkshakes #heaven
I looooove taking the ski lift to the top of the mountain!
Feeding all the animals in the Deer Park
Cousin ride share
With our train engineer BFF, Mr. Scott
Backstory before the next pics: on a Tweetsie trip when my brother & I were little (5 & 7ish?) my mom & dad decided to have us do one of those old time western photos, where everyone dresses up like the 1800's. Andy refused to be in the photo after we had already committed to doing it, so he literally sat out...and we had *THE* CUTEST pic of me, my mom, & my dad looking like a precious pioneer family framed in our family room the entire time we were growing up! :-P It was there until after my dad passed away, and I took it after Mom & Hershel were married. Guess what I just found, again???
Andy & Matthew went home, but we stayed in the mountains overnight! We ate at our family-fave teppanyaki ("cook on the table") restaurant, Makoto's, and when we got to our hotel, the kids & I actually went down to the fitness center to work out a little! #needed We went back first thing in the morning, too, before breakfast. #proud
Mountain Day 2: Will has been begging to mini golf for months, (it's one of his most fave things!) and mountain mini golf is the ultimate! This course was GREAT! All hills, really challenging, and so scenic:
After mini golf, we headed over to Dutch Creek Trails. My mom grew up showing horses but hadn't ridden in 25 years. I love riding, Annelise was in heaven, and Will was initially nervous but ended up traversing the super steep mountain passes like a champ! Happy horse day riding Pistol, Bubbles, Chiquita, & Grady!!!
We had lunch in Valle Crucis and let the kids explore the Mast General Store before heading back to Charlotte. I hadn't been to the Mast since I was in grade school, and Annelise had a neat connection: when we went on her Texas pioneer field trip in January, they had a late 1800's calendar on the wall...from the Mast General Store! I flipped out & told her about it then, so she actually got to see the real thing in person!
Final treat on the drive home: Cook-Out milkshakes #heaven
Just had lunch at Cook-Out today!! I skipped the milkshake, though I usually don't - Caramel Cheesecake is my fave!
ReplyDeleteMmmmm! My mom just discovered you can add chocolate chips to any of their shakes, too - the chips are little chocolate shreds, perfect for the straw!
ReplyDelete