Explore Murphy North Carolina

If you are looking for a great family and friend event this Labor Day weekend, join the Highlander this Saturday, September 5th, at the 9th Annual Heritage Walk and Festival.

We feel truly blessed to be able to travel throughout the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains and have the privilege to share what we find with you.

This week's feature is on Cherokee County North Carolina, with two significant towns, Murphy and Andrews, beautiful mountains, recreation for all ages and plenty of great mountain relaxation. Cherokee County has a tremendous amount to offer those looking to getaway to the mountains and for those looking to move or invest into the mountains.

The Highlander would like to announce the first in a series of new Explore the Mountains web sites, ExploreMurphy.com is a work in progress and we will be constantly updating and adding new features. These sites will be an excellent way to keep in touch with your favorite mountain towns, events and special offers. Visit one of the fine establishments on ExploreMurphy.com and pick up one of our new maps of the area, they are fun and they are free. Check it out and send us feedback.

Murphy is a great destination with a revitalized downtown and an eclectic selection of specialty shopping. One of the many features of Murphy is their nice selection of restaurants with creative and gourmet menus that you won’t find in most small towns. You will also find a creative coffee house that roasts their own organic free trade coffee.

Cherokee County is rich in history and culture and is surrounded by beautiful mountain vistas. If you are looking for recreation, you will find 2 lakes, 3 rivers, hiking, biking, camping, fishing and boating. Cherokee County is located between the Ocoee River Gorge and Nantahala River Gorge offering plenty of white water adventure for all ages and skill levels. Not to mention 2 popular scenic drives, Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway, both close by.

Cherokee County is a very creative community and has a nice selection of artists and craftspeople.   John C. Campbell Folk School is a tremendous asset to Cherokee County and offers festivals, events and classes throughout the year.

Read more about Murphy and Cherokee County and you will want to visit this special mountain town.

Join us in the Mountains for 4th of July Weekend.

We are really excited to announce that the Highlander has a new calendar of events, with lots of great new features. Take a look and let us know what you think.

The calendar has the ability to search by town, state, date and/or type of event. Click each title to get a detail page on each event.

It also includes a google map to each event, and the ability to add a reminder about a specific event to your personal Google, Yahoo, iCalendar or vCalendar.

If you would like to invite a friend to an event, click the "email to a friend or click the icons under "Share this Event" to add your favorite event to your Twitter or Facebook page to invite all your friends. The new calendar even shows the weather for the event location.

If you want to see all events for a specific time, just use the small calendar to flip through the dates.

Know of events that are not on our calendar? Email us and we will email you instructions on submitting events.

We are always working to make the Highlander a great experience and would like your feedback on the calendar, Email us and let us know what you think.

Great Smoky Mountains 75th Anniversary

History is fascinating, and each time we research a new story we learn so much about these mountains and appreciate them even more.

Saturday June 13th launches the celebrations for the Great Smoky Mountains 75th Anniversary with an Outdoor Concert in Cades Cove by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

As the Great Smoky Mountains National Park celebrates its 75th Anniversary, the anniversary of one of America's most beautiful and majestic national treasures, we should all be aware that this particular national treasure came at a high cost, a renowned national park that almost never came into being. The cost was not only in financial value, but also the cost of persistent determination.

Read the Highlander's latest feature story "Jewel of the East." Learn how this great national park wasn't a favorite choice for the first national park in the Eastern United States. The people of these great mountains knew it was the right choice for many reasons, conservation being one of them...read on....

We were up all night working on our latest editorial on the Great Smoky Mountains 75th Anniversary, check it out and let me know if you think it was worth losing sleep over...

Memorial Day in the Mountains

Memorial Day Weekend tends to kick off the season and bring us all into thoughts of "Summer is Here" even though Summer hasn't officially started. Memorial Day Weekend Events throughout the Mountains

There are still a few Special Offers for Hotels and Cabins for Memorial Day Weekend....Follow the links to find a special deal, just for you...and come to the Mountains

Gardens of the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains

The reawaking of spring in the high country of the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains is quite unique.  In the lowlands of the mountain interior, the first signs of spring follow a horizontal path across the valley, growing ever so slowly as it makes its journey upward along the mountain slopes....read on...

Enjoy...the Highlander

Wednesday, April 22...Earth Day 2009

Just think of the difference we could all make if each of us would make more "Green" choices.  Email us and let us know what you are doing to "Green" your life. We would like to publish a list of Highlander fans that choose Green Living.

Earth Day and Green/Eco Friendly Living

I remember when this nation celebrated the first Earth Day; it was back in the peace, love and hippy days of my youth. That day a great unified and organized call went out to stop polluting our environment....read more...

Earth Day is being celebrated throughout the mountains...visit your favorite and enjoy....

The Shoppes of Brasstown Village Celebrate Earth Day 

Saturday, April 25 from 10- 5.

Arts and Crafts, Music, Food, "Green" Vendors

and Organic Produce. 

Brasstown Village is located at Clay Corners by

John C. Campbell Folk School

for more info email jax1215@gmail.com

Down the Chimney...Ho! Ho! Ho!

The Blue Ridge Highlander would like to wish everyone a very special Merry Christmas and spread the love, hope and joy that we feel.  It has been a difficult year for all of us, I don't know anyone that hasn't been effected in some way from what is happening in our country.  

This year we were inspired to write two Christmas Stories, one to touch your heart and one to tickle your funny bone. Our goal for this second feature was to introduce you to a very special event at a very special state park and give you a story to chuckle about.

From the first day we began writing our first Christmas story, Hope, Faith and the Light, we have felt inspired and been excited about the potential next year has to offer.  After launching the story we got more emails than ever before from people in all walks of life sharing their feelings about how the story made them feel, and how it gave them hope for a brighter tomorrow.  Read Hope, Faith and the Light and get inspired.

Then we were invited to Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park for their Annual Christmas Event which inspired our second Christmas story of the year.  What a great event, we had a blast.  Read our story, a link is below and it will truly make you laugh and laughter is contagious and heals what ails ya.

Where does Santa go to train for his Christmas Eve journey down chimneys all over the world?

Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park in Western North Carolina... of Course!

Mrs. Highlander and I would like to thank the staff at Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park for inviting us to this special holiday event.

Its great to get to see Santa once again, we haven't seen him for many years nor have our daughter and son-in-law. Our granddaughter Maddie has been informing us that Santa's doing just fine and looks great, she says, "He thinks he's so quiet but he's really not."....for a fun story and a good hearted, jolly laugh, read on...

In our quest for this year's first Christmas Tale, we were quite perplexed because of the current times.

Mrs. Highlander recommended an abstract thought for me to ponder on..."There is light at the end of the tunnel" a cliche, but but one with meaning, and something we do believe....read on....and gain your own sense of Hope, Faith and the Light at the end of the Tunnel.

Be sure to share our stories with all those you feel could use the inspiration.  And remember, we are a resilient people, we will pull out of this towards a brighter tomorrow.  Changes happen when we think creatively and look in ourselves to the answers to the issues we are faced with.

Merry Christmas and God Bless Us All.....Mrs. Highlander

Hope, Faith and the Light

The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains are a very special place.  A place where you can visit or live away from the hustle, bustle and stresses of today's confused world.  I am not saying that the mountains aren't feeling some of the same issues as the rest of the world.  But I don't think we are feeling the issues as severely as the rest of the world.

We feel truly Blessed to have the privilege to publish the Blue Ridge Highlander.  It has always been our goal to inform, entertain and inspire our readers and hope you take the time to explore the Blue Ridge Highlander and find the peace the mountains have to offer.

In our quest for this year's Christmas Tale, we were quite perplexed because of the current times. 

Mrs. Highlander recommended an abstract thought for me to ponder on..."There is light at the end of the tunnel" a cliche, but one with meaning, and something we do believe....please read on....and gain your own sense of Hope, Faith and the Light at the end of the Tunnel.

For those of you that haven't read last years Christmas Tale, I know that you will enjoy it after reading this year's tale. This Christmas tale is several stories in one, our purpose is to take you back to the true essence of Christmas.

Please take the time to forward links to our story to all those you know that would benefit from the inspiration of the writings.  I also invite you to post comments about the story.  We have gotten a lot of great emails regarding the story and love to hear from all of you about how the stories made you feel.

Checks out our list of Christmas Events in the Mountains.

Below are a couple of our featured events, the first one coming up Saturday, December 13th.

December 13th, 2008
Santa is rappelling down Chimney Rock to get ready for his Christmas Eve trip.

December 20th, 2008
Christmas for the Kids at John C. Campbell Folks School

We will be reporting on this event in our next newsletter, coming out next week.

Enjoy the Holidays and Count your Many Blessings

God Bless Us All....Mr. & Mrs. Highlander

Christmas Festivals in the Mountains

Christmas is right around the corner, and the reports all say that retail spending is higher than last year what a great report, it is nice to have some good news for a change.   We are really looking forward to the new President's plans and know this country can get back on the right track with some hard work and a lot of faith.

Mr. Highlander is working on this year's Holiday Tale, and it sounds like a perfect message for the end of this year and a fresh new beginning.  If you haven't read our past Holiday Tales, we have a nice collection and you can find links on the front page of the Highlander.

It is a great time escape to the mountains to enjoy a few festivals. Christmas events are now on line for Georgia, Western North Carolina and Tennessee, click to find a few to attend.

Here are a couple of our favorites and one unusual one we are visiting for the first time this coming Saturday, click the links for more information.

Christmas at the Fort December 6, 2008

Christmas for the Kids at John C. Campbell Folks School December 20, 2008

Now, for the unusual...

the Highlander is looking forward to attending this events for the first time.

Santa is rappelling down Chimney Rock to get ready for his Christmas Eve trip December 6th & 13th 2008

We will be reporting on this event in our next newsletter, along with our 2008 Holiday Tale.

Enjoy the Holidays and Count your Many Blessings, Mrs. Highlander

Meet Beauregard Highlander

I love this time of the year, the weather is wonderful, not to warm, not too cool, we even got rain this weekend which we badly needed. Most of the colors in the mountains are beyond prime, but there is still some color in certain areas and those colors really stand out because the other leaves are gone. One thing about these mountains is that they are always beautiful in every season, always something to stand in awe of.

Meet Beau, the latest in the Highlander collection of orphan pets. Now that he has joined our family he loves his life. We live in a high mountain cove, with a wooded wonderland behind us for Beau to enjoy, and he really takes advantage of it.

His life in the mountains is simple and he knows how to love his life in its simplicity.

We could all take a lesson from Beau on how to enjoy life, come to the mountains, hike, discover and enjoy the fresh air and low stress atmosphere.

Gas prices are excellent, it is a great time to turn off the news and come to the mountains for a take a scenic drive and a hike in the woods.   Be sure to take time to visit one of the many small towns in the mountains, each and every one of them have their own personality and interesting in their own way. 

Leaf Color Change, Great Weather and Fun Festivals

We are starting to see signs of Fall even in the mountain valleys and the higher elevations are definitely seeing color change.  

As always along with the color change the mountains have wonderful festivals every week end.  This weekend, October 4th & 5th,  John C. Campbell is holding their 35th Fall Festival, and it is a great one to come to.  There is music, dancing, arts, crafts for sale and being demonstrated and a variety of good food from many different vendors.  

The Fall Festival is also pet friendly, so feel free to bring your favorite pooch and pooches bring your favorite human attached to your leash and enjoy the mountains.  The weather is going to be great and so far we aren't having any issues getting gas in this area and the price is not bad either, so take advantage the opportunity to turn the news off and get away to the mountains to have a great time.  

Admission for the Family friendly event is $5 for adults, $3 for kids 12-17 and kids under 12 get in free, so come enjoy this classic mountain festival.

If you would like more information see John C. Campbell Folk School web site, or email us as info@folkschool.org or call us at 800-365-5724.