Mountains Part One

I'm blogging from the car again on the way home from North Carolina. We had such a nice, relaxing time in the mountains as always. I hate Jimmy won't be with us for our second trip there this summer in a few weeks. It was a nice change of pace from last week in Maine. We enjoyed lots of meals on the porch, Come Back Shack (duh!), lots of play time at the Banner Elk, Valle Crucis and Blowing Rock parks, picnics, visits with family, a waterfall hike at Elk River Falls, a little shopping and an amazing meal at The Artisinal. We have been dying to try The Artisinal for several years as we have heard such great things. This was Jimmy's only request for the week, and while a tad nervous to take Charlie Banks to a not so kid friendly restaurant, we made it happen and he was on great behavior. The cavatelli carbonara appetizer plate was licked and my steak was pretty tasty as well. We were bummed when we saw on their Facebook page that Michael Jordan was there the same night we were, but we didn't see him!  Charlie Banks really enjoyed splashing and throwing rocks in the rivers. Such a nice trip...back to the heat we go!