What a great weekend for me to gather information for you. I hope you will find things as interesting as I did.
Saturday I went to Elk River Falls and on the winding roads passing streams of water. There were fathers and children fishing and having a cookout. As it turns out, the first Saturday of April is the opening day for Trout fishing. I was able to talk with one of the locals and he told me he got up at 5:00am to get HIS spot for a particular hole (where the fish gather) in Linville. He said he was in his waders and his line had ice on it but he wasn’t going to let someone else get his spot. It was catch and release and he pulled in eight, which was the limit. After that, he came to Elk River Falls area and had only caught three at that time. Can’t say I would get up at 5:00am to stand in freezing water but I have been known to get up at 4:00am to go deep sea fishing and have sea sickness to boot. So it’s a matter of what you are use to.
While in the area, some friends went along with me on my quest to find area restaurants, or dives that have wonderful food. We tried the Highlander Bbq inRoan Mountain. We walked in, only to be greeted by a giant pig, and I jumped as my earlier experience on Thursday night was still with me. (Tell you later). The special of the day was Pig wings and I just had to try them as I have never heard of them, and I grew up in Eastern North Carolina, home of great barbecue. They actually look like pig wings… it is the shank portion of the pig. They gave me three but there was so much meat that I could only eat one. The others had barbecue, chopped smoked chicken, baked beans and slaw. They loved it and said it was so tender. I got a small slaw and I will say they win the prize for this area. It was great! The fried okra looked great and so did the Mac and cheese. The desserts looked as if your mom was in the kitchen baking your favorite sweets. If you are in this area I recommend this spot. I will be going back.
Thursday night I was in a local restaurant and experienced an eventful evening! While talking to the security guard, I looked over his shoulder and saw a man carrying a rifle. I said “You aren’t going to believe this but a man is carrying a rifle outside.” Long story short, he had the restaurants lock down and then found the man and told him to get on his knees.(He had the gun pointed at the man). The guard examined the gun and it was a toy. Boy did I feel SILLY, but in this day in time he told me I did the right thing. It was not recognizable as a toy because of the weight and how it looked. The man was told not to bring that on the property.
Now for local events coming up… May 9,10, and 11th. St Bernadette, a saint in the Catholic Church ,is coming to the St Bernadett’s Catholic Church. They will be hosting Lourdes to Linville. This is the Holy Relics of St. Bernadette.(patron saint of the ill) You can go to lourdestolinville.org and find out more. The Sanctuary in France is sending 1st class relics of her for the first time ever. There will be a 4ft. tall pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Lourdes as well as miraculous water from Massabielle Grotto. The Catholic Church in the North Carolina mountains is her namesake. From my understanding, she will only go to five places in the USA. I hope you will try to make ticket arrangements so you can attend. They are expecting thousands of people to see this once in a lifetime view of her relics.
I hope all of you are having a great Spring and things are beginning to turn green and bloom. I, for one, am ready for the Spring Weather. The Bunny is hopping here Saturday for the Easter egg hunt so I would like to see warm weather for the children and parents. There will be a prize for the one who finds the golden egg. Also, Scooped will be serving a free ice cream cone for those who attend.
HAPPY EASTER!
Bobbie