A sad and heart wrenching day...

I always seem to have a happy themed blog but today, it is different.  Brown Mountain is known for their great chicken eggs and free range chickens.  Many guests love receiving our freshly laid chicken eggs upon arrival and then visiting our fun feathered friends down at the coop.  If you were to come visit our chicken coop, you would have undoubtly been greeted by 13 chickens running up to you (almost dog like) waiting for you to squat down, open your hand for them to gently peck the crumbles out of your hand- or if you came in the morning you would spend an hour giving each chicken a good  morning pet on the back, and a big hug.  You see, these chickens were raised with dogs and picked up all of there habits.  It was such a joy to have them around.  Yesterday (Sunday March 4) a masacre occurred in our land.  A domesticated animal snuck in and slaughtered 12 or our chickens, scattering the chickens up and down the roads and yard.  It truely is heart wrenching.  One lone chicken is remaining- left lonely and confused.  Our dogs and cats remained with the chicken all night to comfort her.  It was such an amazing act of friendship.
As you can tell, animals have feelings just like humans and can feel the same heartache for each other.  Needless to say these chickens will be greatly missed but we are thankful for our lone chicken and our other animals who are great friends to her and stay with her to help.

Saying all that to mean this- Don't teach your animals to be evil and kill systematically.  Your animals feed off your character.  Keep an eye on your animals- because they could be hurting someones pets/family.

Brown Mountain Lights! Are they real?

I have lived in Western NC for over 10 years now, and still hearing different stories of the brown mountain lights.  I took the liberty on myself to climb to the top of table rock (if you haven't been there take a day off and go on the hike- it is truely life changing!)  and search for these "so-called" brown mountain lights.  Reaching the top of the rock about dusk I was alert and waiting for these lights (or alien like creature) to appear.  Low and behold!  They are real!  The lights started blinking, dimming in and dimming out.  I couldn't believe it, people were right, the brown mountain lights are real. 
I spent the last couple months asking around and researching what the lights really are?  Ghosts? Scientific phenomenon?  It wasn't until this morning while doing my usual morning news check did this link appear on the front of the AOL webpage.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/26/brown-mountain-lights-nc_n_1302204.html

I couldn't believe it!  Not only did WNC make the front page, but our own brown mountain lights will catch the eye of thousands of viewers.  We are so excited to learn more about the phenomenon!
Let us know your unique story of the brown mountain lights- bmbresort@gmail.com or stop by and tell us!

Atmosphere, Tastebuds, and Romance

Hello Everyone!

Man, it has been a long time since I have written about what is happening. And boy! A lot of things have been going on.  But the most important would have to be the food.  One of the things BMBR is most known for is Mrs. Wendy's (my mothers) cooking.  If you haven't tried it, you need to stop by.  The cooking starts with a breakfast that will knock your socks off.  From our farm fresh chicken eggs, home cooked bacon sizzling on your plate and some warm homemade fluffy buttery biscuits smothered in creamy sausage gravy.  Then you move on to lunch that can range anywhere from a gourmet chicken and avocado sandwich topped off with red onion and her secret sauce (that I have tried and tried to pry outta her but can't seem to get the recipe :) all of that is packed into fresh homemade warm bread just outta the oven.  Then, if that doesn't fill you up, snacks are on the way!  Fresh local goat cheese, with local honey and local apples, or maybe some fried green tomatoes just picked outta the garden, and when you think the day of eating it almost done the handmade pizza dough pops outta the oven and toppings (anything you could imagine) is thrown on the pizza smothered with her homemade marinara sauce and tossed into the NEW stone pizza oven!
 Is your mouth watering yet?  So when is this all going to be done?  Late Spring!  And I can't even wait!  We are playing around with ideas about what days the cafe will be open, but man o' man is the food going to be terrific!
You can sample some of these items if you stay in one of our cabins.   You will be sweetly greeted with some of her homemade bread and butter and for a night snack some fresh cookies.  These foods will be a great "topper" to the evening of sitting in your hot tub or porch swing over looking the river as the moon shines down glistening the rapids.

Local goat cheese, apples and honey, ready to be eaten after a day of fun on the river.

If I didn't make it obvious enough, we are so excited for everyone to sample and see our new additions to the resort.  We invite you to enjoy a romantic weekend with the one you love and stay with us at delight yourselves in tasting the most unequalled food and unforgettable atmosphere.
Questions or to make a reservation- call us! 828-758-4257

Run, Run, Run as Fast as You Can!

*3rd annual Ridge to Bridge Marathon 2011*

Welp, most of you have seen, ran in, or heard of the R2BM that starts at Jonas Ridges runs through Edgemont and the gorge and ends right here at the resort, if you haven't you are missing out!  It is an awesome time and one of the most fun fall afternoons you will spend up here.  It is filled with breathtaking views, new and old friends from around the world, and activities through out the day.  The marathon is organized by Rhonda and David Lee (Lee Timing) who do a phemonenal job and volunteers who join in to help get everything set up including aid stations, start and finish lines and tons of wonderful food.  This year there were over 350 runners who participated in the marathon making it the 4th best qualifier in the nation for the Boston Marathon.  Check out the link!  http://www.marathonguide.com/races/BostonMarathonQualifyingRaces.cfm

Also, a good friend and a runner in the R2BM is a writer for the Charlotte Observer Theoden James.  Check out his write up of the race!  http://obsruntheoden.blogspot.com/2011/10/nope-im-not-disappointed-with-313.html 

Next up, Active.com lists the 50 best marathons in the US, one for each state. http://www.active.com/women/Articles/Top-50-Marathons-to-Do-Across-America.htm. Guess which marathon was chosen for the state of North Carolina?  WOO HOO!!!

The Davidson Area Running Club also wrote a blog on their experience of the R2BM.

http://davidsonarearunningteam.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-of-best-recap-of-2011-ridge-to.html

This race is an absolutely amazing and mind bogginly event.  You meet the most amazing people and learn so much through the entire experience.  I for one feel so blessed that I can be apart of such an amazing event.

If you would like to run or volunteer for the R2BM please visit http://www.leetiming.com/ or contact David Lee at David@leetiming.com.

Don't forget about the Scream Half Marathon that is in July!  It is almost the same course, all down here and all in the gorge!

Up the creek with no paddle!

October has got to be one of the prettiest times and postcard views around the gorge in the entire year.  As most of you know, Danny and I can't go a day without planning our day around finding a way to somehow get a couple hours of "gorge time" during the day.  So today was no different than any other.  We knew the river was up and is slowly going down which means trash will be floating down and needs to be picked up through the gorge.  Danny (being the creative worker that he is) has a great idea we will kayak down the gorge and pick up trash as we go down.  This way we kill two birds with one stone- enjoy the perfect fall skies and breeze and clean the gorge up.  So here we go- boats loaded- smiling faces- and we are off!  Trash was found in trees, along the banks and hung up on rocks, we gathered them in our boats and all we have left is the scenic route straight back to the resort.  One more small rapid and we are home free....!  Right then, I suppose I thought I was a little too talented, I somehow went down a rapid sideways and ended up getting my boat submerged in a hydrolic. (Keep in mind our paddles we are using are paddles we found from a trash clean up that have been broken in half and chopped in two- then floated down the river for days).  Slipping and falling everywhere, I get out of the boat flopping all over the rapid to save the trash from falling out of the boat.  My kayak is competely submerged and now stuck under rushing water.  Worst!  Trash is pouring out and I lost my paddle.  Luckily, Danny wiggled the boat out of the rapid.  But no paddle to be found and tons of trash to be picked up.  So, the only smart thing to do is steal Danny's paddle and start picking up trash.  Thankfully, Danny being the southern gentleman that he is, agreed, picked up a stick to use for a paddle, and we both paddled down the stream picking up more trash and learning a lesson that work comes first then play!
If anyone wants to join us on smaller unofficial gorge clean ups, let us know!  Just bring your own paddle!!

Snowflake Siting!

First snow in the mountains on October 1st!  AAAAHHHHHH!   It is unbelievable and absolutely gorgeous.  Luckily, the sun is out now and the leaves are just starting to change and it is perfect weather to go on a hike.  So, if you are looking for a short, but gorgeous hike to a waterfall I believe Phillips Branch is perfect.  It is about a 10-15 minute easy hike to a great waterfall.

Also, a huge thanks to Serv-Pro!  We had a blast hosting your company picnic.  It was a true joy getting to know you all.  Here are a few pictures from the picnic check all the rest out on our facebook page!

If you would like your company to come out and enjoy a day at the resort, let us know and we can make it happen!

Enjoy!

Back to school- Back to fishing!

Holy Moly!  Summer is gone....  School is slowly creeping back in to session and there is a hint of fall breezing through the gorge.  I can't help myself but to get lost in daydreams of fall trout fishing.  There is nothing better on this earth than a fall day and some large trout caught on Wilson Creek.  Oh man I can not wait!


Send us your favorite Wilson Creek fishing story and picture at bmbresort@gmail.com