Tag: North Carolina

Los Angeles and Boone: What to do on a Beautiful Day

Dear Readers and Listeners,

We started off our planning for this podcast with a two-part question: If you want to get out of the house to take advantage of a beautiful summer day where you live, where do you go and what songs do you listen to on the way there and back?

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LOS ANGELES: Anne: It’s a Beautiful Day in LA, where do you go to take advantage of it? 

Point Dume
Dodgers Stadium
Griffith Park
Hollywood Bowl
Point Dume
The Last Bookstore
Santa Monica Beach
  1. Hike at Griffith Park, I like to park on the eastern side in my old neighborhood and then go up the side and across the ridge back down to the observatory.
  2. Go park at Santa Monica beach and walk on the beach or the walking path  all the way to Venice. Go to Abbott-Kinney and get lunch and do a bit of shopping, then walk back. Get a donut on the way back home at Randy’s in Santa Monica.
  3. Drive on PCH to Malibu and go to Point Dume. Lay on the beach and watch the ocean. Can also hike up the hill and do a nice short walk on the cliff above.
  4. Go downtown which is struggling a bit, but still fun things to do. Go to The Last Bookstore and peruse the aisles. Eat at the food stalls at Grand Central Market. Take a shuttle from downtown to a night Dodgers game.
  5. Shop along Melrose and La Brea. Fav store on La Brea, American Rag Cie. 
  6. Take the train to Universal and catch a movie at Universal City Walk
  7. Drive along Mullholland, drive on Benedict Canyon in the hills.
  8. Go to the Getty Center or the Getty Villa, not just for the art, but mainly for the beautiful grounds.
  9. Walk along Sunset Blvd and get a slice of Pizza at Prince Street
Anne’s LA Spots to Take Advantage of a Beautiful Day

BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA: Bill, It’s a beautiful day in Boone; where do you go to take advantage of it? 

Rough Ridge Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway
  1. Go to Blowing Rock, North Carolina
  • Walk Main Street and Sunset Drive. Go to Blowing Rock Brewery. Walk around Mayview Lake. Longer walk around Bass Lake. You’re by the Blue Ridge Parkway here and not far from Moses Cone Manor, Fire tower hike, and Price Lake.
  1. Do the Flat Top Tower Hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway across from Moses Cone Manor. 
  • Milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Go stand on the back porch of the manor. Look down at Bass Lake in Blowing Rock. 
  1. Drive the parkway to Asheville. 
  • My daughter Izzy and I made a video of our spontaneous drive to Asheville here: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_torg/video/7378490239981079850
  • From Milepost 293 to 382. Approx 3 hour drive. Grandfather Mountain Overlook. Linville Viaduct. Craggy Gardens Pinnacle Trail.
  • Asheville recommendations: First timers usually go to the Biltmore. Downtown walking Lexington and around the Grove Park Arcade. Wicked Weed, Green Man Brewing. Have a drink at the Grove Park Inn. New Belgium Brewery on the French Broad River. Sierra Nevada Taproom. We like to eat at Rocky’s Hot Chicken and White Duck Taco.
  • Hikes near Asheville: Craggy Gardens, Graveyard Fields, Dupont State Forest.
  • Rafting: Skip the French Broad in AVL. Do Blue Heron Rafting, section 9 for adventure, north of Hot Springs my favorite stretch.
  1. Go to the Valle Crucis Park
  • Some days there is a $5 charge to park. There’s a mile trail that goes around the park. It’s on the Watauga River and there are several spots to go wade in the river. There is a large playground, a few disk golf “holes,” a baketball court, and a volleyball net. Trees that have been damaged have been carved into various works of art.
  • This is near Mast Farm, the Inn, two Mast General Stores, and there’s a new convenience store with food that I have not yet been to!
  • I go here almost every other day!
  1. Go to the Boone Greenway Trail 
  • Lots of people throw down a blanket and spend lots of time here. There is a long paved trail that winds around near a branch of the New River. There are many wide open athletic fields. There’s a trail that goes up into the woods. I think there is a new skate park there. If I want to treat myself, I will drive the seven miles into town and do my run on the Greenway. My daughter spends lots of time there with her friends and they play a fair amount of pickleball.
  1. Go to Linville Falls. 
  • This is the largest waterfall I know of around here. You can access off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. You might want to check if it’s open after the hurricane. You can also access just off of 183 turning briefly onto Old NC 105 where there is a parking area for the Lineville Falls Trail and Waterfall.
  • Watch out that there is a little town called Linville Falls too. The town is something like a mile from the falls.
  • Bonus: take your big truck or Jeep and drive Old North Carolina 105 / 1238 along the Linville Gorge. Wiseman’s View Scenic View Overlook is the highlight. 
  1. Drive Watauga River Road. 
  • It’s freshly graded with new gravel after the hurricane. Check out Laurel Creek Falls, known as Trash Can Falls, and the Watauga Gorge. There’s a different Laurel Creek Falls in TN and that could be confusing. You can do a nice little circle with Valle Crucis Park, the two Mast Stores, Watauga River Road, and then park to head over to the falls. Also lots of pull outs on the river where you might just go wade in the river or hang out on a rock.
  1. Grandfather Mountain:
  • This is a more expensive thing to do. You can drive to near the top. There’s a high swinging bridge you can stand on. Think there is even an elevator to that. There is a rescued animals habitat that I think has bears, cougars, and elk. For me the highlight is the hike the rest of the way to the top. It’s a pretty strenuous hike with vertical ladders to climb up. Your dog won’t be able to do those. You can go for free if you’re willing to do a really tough hike from the other side of the mountain.
One of the views from Watauga River Road out of Valle Crucis, NC
Driving alongside of Watauga River Road

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Original Mast Store Near Valle Crucis Park
Anne “hiking” the Grandfather Trail
Fire Tower Hike Across from Moses Cone Manor
Linville Viaduct on the way to Asheville from Blowing Rock, NC
Cooling off at the Valle Crucis Park
Linville Gorge from the Wiseman Overlook
popular spot at the Valle Crucis Park
Bill’s favorite spots on a map minus the complete drive to Asheville

We’d like to hear from you in the comment section:

  1. If you get out of the house on a beautiful day, where are you going?
  2. If you live near Boone, NC or Los Angeles, tell us what we missed.

Thanks for checking out our post and this edition of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Caitlin Clark Returns, Pacers and Thunder in the NBA Finals and Asheville Recommendations

On this week’s episode, Caitlin Clark Return to Indiana Fever, it’s two games each for the Pacers and the Thunder in the NBA Finals and Anne gives quick recommendations for Switzerland and I do Asheville on the Torg Stories Podcast.

Click above for audio / Click below for video version of the podcast

Happy Father’s Day!

  1. Memory of playing golf on many Father’s Days with Dad at Moss Creek in Winamac, Indiana.
  2. Walk with Megan and Charlotte (don’t think Izzy was born yet) over the Brooklyn Bridge and back.
  3. My Father’s Day requests for today: lift weights and family tree clean up. Fried chicken sandwiches with sliced fried potatoes for dinner.

Caitlin Clark returns to Indiana Fever and they beat the previously undefeated Liberty.

  1. Clark had been out 19 days with a thigh contusion.
  2. Fever go to 5-5 and are in 7th place out of 13. Liberty fall to second place at 9-1 behind the first place Minnesota Lynx. Click here for WNBA standings.
  3. Clark went out with with 5:44 to go in the first and they were down 15-6.
  4. Clark set out for at least twice as many short stretches. Wonder if that’s something to stay with?
  5. Fever were down 21-15. Then these three in 33 seconds: 33 foot running pull up three pointer AND 27 foot three pointers and 31 foot three pointer. Tied up 24-24. Finished the half with 25.

Key Stats:

  1. Sabrina 38 mins and 34 points. Stewart shot 14 free throws
  2. Fever 17-35 from three. Liberty 6-29.

Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals:

Feeling Frustrated about the Calls SGA Getting:

  1. That he can push off hard with his forearm all the time.
  2. That he swings his arms to try and draw the foul and that a defender can do everything possible to get out of the way and then they barely touch him and that’s a foul too.

It hurt that Nesmith ended up on SGA a lot late in the game. I’m really enjoying watching Nembhard play. Some Nembhard things I’m enjoying…

  1. Playing with his chest and staying down on SGA.
  2. Chippy with SGA
  3. Lots of ball handling as Dort takes away from what Haliburton is able to do.

Reasons for loss:

  1. Turner went 0-6 from 3. Overall 30% from three not great.
  2. No big scoring game from anyone.
  3. Worried OKC went 3-16 from 3 and won. Got beat 24 on the three point line and won.
  4. Guess I’d say winning at the line by 9 was a major difference. OKC shot 89.5% to Pacers 75.8.
  5. Pacers up 4 with 3:20 to go when SGA hit a three to cut to 1. The Pacers didn’t make a basket after that. They fouled before the ball was inbounded twice. They missed free throws. SGA made shots and free throws. Ball game!

How are you feeling about the Pacers for Monday ?

Some Pacers vs. Thunder statistical trivia…

  1. Who leads Thunder and Pacers in minutes? SGA 158 and Haliburton at 146
  2. Both teams rebounding? Holmgren 37 and Siakam 31, Haliburton 23
  3. Steals? SGA and Caruso with 10. McConnell with 8
  4. Three pointers made: Dort 11 and Caruso 8. Haliburton and Nesmith 10.

Eight Pacers are averaging 9.5 points or more. Can you put them in order?

  1. Siakam 18.8
  2. Haliburton 17.8
  3. Mathurin 13.5
  4. Turner 13.0
  5. Toppin 11.3
  6. Nembhard 10.8
  7. Nesmith 9.8
  8. McConnell 9.5

Anne recommends @C2_Cooper on Pacers Basketball.

Asheville and Switzerland Recommendations:

Anne gives her Switzerland recommendations while I give mine for Asheville.

Lauterbrunnen Valley from Anne’s balcony in Wengen

My friend Klop is going to Asheville with his wife. My wife Megan and I are meeting them for a day:

Two of my favorite areas don’t seem to be open for business. Riverside Drive southwest of downtown. Wedge Brewery, a place where you could pull your kayak up to the riverbank and walk over to relax. Also the Salvage Station further up on Riverside and then Ledges Whitewater Park. We once rafted the entire length of the French Broad River and made a film about it:

We rafted the length of the French Broad River (in sections) as a Family

First, a word on the Biltmore Estate: click here for information. Tickets start at $80. $299 for a pass. (looks like they have the flex pricing) Have to pick a time slot.

Downtown Asheville: 

Parking is tight. I used to park for free on N French Broad near Bee Thai Kitchen (which was really good!) and walk north into town. The Wall Street Garage by the Grove Arcade is a good pay to park spot. The Grove Arcade is a building with a bunch of shops in it and the Wall Street Garage is across from it. 

Interesting to think about how to tell Klop where to go. Do I order things by restaurants and breweries or by what part of town?

Some places downtown that if you walk to these you’ll see some good stuff on the way: 

  1. Battery Park Avenue / Grove Arcade. Malaprop’s bookstore on Walnut then walk down the hill on walnut. Lexington St. both ways lots of stuff. 
  2. College Street intersects with Lexington and lots of stuff. It does not go to UNC Asheville and UNCA is not worth seeing. Maybe more on that later. 
  3. I don’t recommend Tupelo Honey (crowded, expensive) but everyone tries to go there. It’s near Patton and College and they have regular drum circles there and there is often wild stuff going on there. That square is interesting. 
  4. Walking South on Biltmore (it would eventually go to Biltmore) is Wicked Weed which is a great place to sit outside and people watch and then further south Green Man Brewery. Between those two places is the “Orange Peel” which often has good music. 
  5. Asheville Brewing on Coxe (there are two and the other one has a movie theater by college) is close to downtown but not walkable. Lots of cool stuff around there. 
  6. There are the Asheville Tourists. I would not use my time in AVL to go to baseball but you might! LOL. Megan worked there, I think in her 20’s, and spilled a tray of beers on quarter beer night. She just walked out and never went back.  

My favorite hikes somewhat close to Asheville…

  1. Craggy Gardens is the best view we can think of. It is only 1 mile hike. A bit of a drive on Parkway. I have seen bears driving there. 
  2. Graveyard Fields. Off the Parkway. Waterfall down in the valley along the stream. 
  3. Dupont State Forest. The hike isn’t that great but you get to Bridal Veil Falls. The Last of the Mohicans was filmed there. You can walk behind the waterfall. If you go there, check out the small town of Brevard. 
  4. Other cool towns close: Black Mountain. Hendersonville.

Rafting:  Blue Heron Rafting is very good. It’s north of town. Do section 9. 

Grove Park Inn:  Click on the link and look at the view from the restaurant.Best view in Asheville. Presidents including Obama have stayed there. I can’t remember but you might have to pay to park. At least walk around, read the plaques, and have a drink at the bar. Less casual than other places I’ve mentioned. Polo shirt and khaki shorts probably right Klop attire. 

New Belgium Brewery: On the French Broad River. Not too far from downtown. High up on the bank of the river. I really like it and I really liked all the little breweries on the other side of the river that are no longer open. Click here.

West Asheville: Hipster area at Haywood Road and 240. The Admiral is there and that area around there. I made a documentary about Christopher’s Garden in West Asheville but it isn’t there anymore.  

South Asheville: Sierra Nevada Taproom. Click here. My family loves it. It’s huge. Kind of “polished” for me but a really nice outdoor space in back. Live music sometimes. The Baby Bull on the other side of the river looks cool. 

Two places I like to eat not sure where to put them: Rocky’s Hot Chicken. Several locations. White Duck Taco several locations.

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Hurricane Helene Disaster Relief, Colts, and WNBA Playoff Podcast

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast Sun Oct 6th edition. We’re just over a week since hurricane Helene came through Boone. We’re going to reflect on disaster preparation, talk about not having power or cell phone signal and then work in some Colts and WNBA playoffs.

Click player above to listen to the podcast.

What did I notice about having (sort of) no power this week?

  • loved the head lamps and lanterns
  • battery powered radio was really helpful
  • did a lot of things around the house: set up a new tv room, cutting up a tree and getting it by the road led to a more extensive yard, roof clean up
  • go to bed a lot earlier
  • inconvenient but also a liberation from a certain kind of obligation. When I was home without power, there was a whole bunch of stuff I couldn’t do: email, all the remaining business with dad’s passing, teaching prep, basketball prep
  • I still had that motor to do stuff…

There is a disaster relief station set up in the auxilliary gym at Watauga HS in Boone, NC. It’s open from 8am – 6pm.

  • In supply: incredible amount of water, diapers, c batteries, tooth brushes, tooth paste
  • Short on this stuff when I was there: laundry detergent, pillows and blankets, ALMOST NO LIGHTS,
  • Was a steady supply of this stuff that people were taking: canned goods, protein drinks, milk almond milk etc that doesn’t need to be refrigerated, fruit, various OTC meds, cleaning supplies trash bags with gloves etc, baby food, bars, pet food

Thanks for listening to this edition of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Stone Mountain Loop Near Roaring Gap, NC

Torg hiking journal notes for Stone Mountain Loop Near Roaring Gap, North Carolina. There is a video at the bottom of the post. 

Sentence from A Falcon Guide’s Hiking North Carolina book:

“The premier hike here is the Stone Mountain Loop, a 4.5 mile circuit of the summit that takes in the top of the dome, a spectacular waterfall, and views of climbers scaling the rock face” (Johnson 153).

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement

Hikers: myself, wife and daughters Charlotte age 12 and Izzy age 10 and our dog Indy.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
We parked at lower parking area.

Total Distance Hiked: Because of a mistake we made, 5.91 miles, 2 hrs 32 mins and 25 seconds of hiking time. With stopping at top of Stone Mountain and bottom of falls we were on the trail just over 3 hours.

Our directions from Boone are at the end of this post. We drove to Stone Mountain Park from Boone mostly traveling on 421. After our hike, we came home via the Blue Ridge Parkway. We loved the hike for the old homestead, the spectacular views from the top of Stone Mountain, and for playing in the water at the bottom of the falls.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
There were several buildings at the homestead. If walking is a challenge for any reason, there is a special road that can be used to park right by here.

Highlights: homestead, interesting climb over stone using steps and cable hand rails to top of Stone Mountain, walk along falls, playing in pool at bottom of falls, and ice cream at the Stone Mountain Country Store on the way home.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone

Possible negatives: there were A LOT of steps and one really steep climb depending which way you go to the highlights: either up the side of Stone Mountain or up the falls. We had trouble in a couple of spots following the trail. There are a lot of other hikes and loops within the park. The trail was pretty crowded and with lots of steps, cables, and bridges, less wild than some hikers might like.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
It was a tough climb to the top but even Isabel said the views were worth it.

We Torgs highly recommend this hike!

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
Pick your poison: up the steps to the mountain or these to the top of the falls.

We took the John P Frank Parkway into Stone Mountain Park. No charge to enter the park. Keep to the John P Frank Parkway. I saw two ways to do the loop hike. You can park at the Upper Parking area or the Lower. We drove through the upper parking area and weren’t sure what to do. It was very crowded. There was one group of kids–maybe a youth group?–that numbered probably nearly 40 people. It was a beautiful Saturday in August and the whole park was pretty crowded.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
The girls and Indy the dog were glad for a chance to cool off at the bottom of the falls.

We parked at the lower area. Both parking areas are large with restrooms and water. We hiked up to the Hutchinson Homestead. This was a really neat area with quite a few old buildings that were furnished appropriate to time period. There was a large meadow and expansive views of Stone Mountain.

It wasn’t clear where we should go. There was a high school aged attendant at the house. She probably didn’t understand what we were trying to do–walk the whole loop–and she directed to a road that went right back to the parking area from where we’d come. We didn’t figure this out for a long time.

What we should have done was continue past the buildings, across a large meadow adjacent to where people were going straight for the mountain to climb, and do the loop that way. What we did was mostly backtrack on a road by the trail and walk just over an extra mile.

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
It took everything Charlotte had to finish this hike!

Our route from Boone, NC;

  • 421 toward Deep Gap and Wilkesboro
  • Left on 16 N Old North Carolina Highway (turn at Wilkesboro ABC store)
  • R after Millers Creek Elementary School on Pleasant Home Church Road
  • At T, left onto Mountain Valley Church Road
  • At T, right on Sparta Road.
  • After Cross Roads Primitive Baptist Church (We actually didn’t see this and I was luck to spot Yellow Banks) take a left on Yellow Banks Road
  • At the T, just after Viking Pump and Munch (didn’t see this either and as a Torgerson was looking forward to it), left onto Traphill Rd.
  • Over the Roaring River (wasn’t roaring)
  • After Billings Auto Sales, the Alleghany Spur Road, and Holbrook House, left on John P. Frank Pkwy.
  • Stone Mountain Country Store gets good reviews. It was busy and good!

Stone Mountain from Hutchinson Settlement, Roaring Fork, North Carolina, Life in Boone
Ice cream at the Stone Mountain Country Store gave us a boost!

Home on Parkway: The Blue Ridge is accessible via Traphill Road to the east and then a left on 21 North.

Lots to see heading back to Boone but we were too tired!

 

Twelve Places I’ve Lived: Journal Entry July 3, 2018

For the something like twenty-three years since I stopped living with my parents, I have moved a lot.

For the something like twenty-three years since I stopped living with my parents, I have moved a lot. This hasn’t necessarily meant I changed jobs a lot. After all, I worked at St. John’s University in New York for eleven years. I am able to remember how long I have been married by adding one year to my oldest’s age. Here’s to hoping I can continue to remember my daughters. It seems to be getting a little harder to remember my own. With a move to Boone, North Carolina on the horizon, I’m going to try and remember the places I’ve lived since I’ve been married.

  1. Megan and I started on the top floor of a tall apartment building on Church Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.
  2. We moved to Milledgeville, Georgia for graduate school and brought our daughter home to a three bedroom apartment.
  3. My second year of graduate school Megan worked as a resident director of a dorm and we lived there.
  4. When I got the job in New York, we lived in a two-bedroom apartment under Hell Gate Bridge in Queens.
  5. Megan and I bought our first house in Stratford, Connecticut.
  6. We moved back to Queens, this time to College Point where we used to sit in the park and look across the water to LaGuardia airport and watch the planes take off.
  7. We moved back to Connecticut, this time to New Canaan. It was another Church Street, this one up the street from the library.
  8. We moved to an old farm house outside of New Canaan where the neighbor offered our land lady a million dollars for the place so he could make it part of his backyard.
  9. Our family moved to Asheville.
  10. I also rented a studio apartment in Glen Cove on Long Island. I felt like the Great Gatsby might live up the street.
  11. Our family stayed another year in Asheville, and I moved from the rental to a different studio apartment, this one in Kew Gardens where the sound of the frequent trains on the Long Island Railroad woke me each morning.
  12. I’m now sitting in our home in Greenwood, Indiana. It’s sold. We don’t yet know where we’re going to live in Boone.

What to make of all those moves? I don’t yet have a theory.

Kept writing past 7 minutes today. Word count: 383