We hope your summer has been going well. It sure seems to have flown by here at the lodge. This morning it was in the low 50's, everyone was eating inside because it was just a little too cool. And it hit me, "I need to get out a newsletter, summer is nearly gone! It's too late to send out hot weather news, in fact I better hurry to get out some pre-fall articles." My excuses: Jodee and I have been busy dealing with; moles, voles, rabbits and rain - trying to replace employees that need to move on with a 1.7% unemployment rate in Asheville - taking care of elderly Moms three states away - the usual care and feeding of Bent Creek Lodge - trying to prod Jodee out of her pottery studio (don't tell her I said that) and a new project on which Jodee and I have been working. See the article at the bottom of the newsletter to find out more on that project.
So I will try to forget all that for a while and bring you a little "Bent Creek Lodge News". One more excuse, this is the first newsletter using our new mobile friendly template from Constant Contact. I know it is going to look better, especially if you are reading it on a phone, but I must admit this ole' dog's been dreading having to learn a few new tricks.
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Fall's Coming, Our Road Will Soon Look Like This
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September is the Time to See Bugling Bull Elk
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Repeat guests, Lori and Joe Durso checked in a couple of weeks ago and started telling me how they had missed Jodee and me last Septemer when they were here. They went on to say they had the most phenomenal experience on that trip going to see the elk over at Cataloochee valley, about an hour away from the lodge. They picked up dinner on the way over then parked beside a foggy field as evening approached. They rolled down their windows and as they started on their chicken sandwiches they heard the mournful bellowing in the distance. Then, as if ghosts, these giant beast suddenly appeared out of the fog searching for a mate. Lori showed me a picture she had taken of what looked like the big daddy then told me that that one was the little guy. She said "It was life altering." Well it was enough to make me want to go. So make your plans now, September is the time to witness it.
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One of the Bull Elks Bugling for a Mate
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We Rent Room by the Hour and Learn a Lot!
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A young lady called up the other day and wanted to know if she could rent a room for four hours on a certain afternoon. I was taken quite aback by her directness till she went on to explain that she and her fiance we going to elope up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and they needed a room for her to get ready. She also told me there would be a make-up person, a hairdresser, a photographer and probably a mother in the room during this time.
Well I was still a little confused. I grew up with the understanding that elope meant "
run away secretly in order to get married, especially without parental consen
t".
That was definitely not what she was describing here. But she seemed legitimate so I rented her a room (at the full night's rate). Then I sought out Abbey for a millennial's view on this new custom. She told me that elaborate "elopements" are all the rage now. You can choose mountain tops, waterfalls, vineyards, the French Broad River - even breweries. There is a number of companies that take care of everything you need from permits to photography. Asheville is one of the premier destinations for elopements.
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Elopement Photo by Amanda Berk,
co-owner and Head Photographer of
Elope Asheville
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Fall Colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway
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FALL COLORS - The Asheville Citizen times had a long article discussing the approaching fall leaf color including prognostications, expert opinions, scientific theory, wives tales and wooly worm indicators. It all boiled down to this. No one knows for sure what it will be like. The wet summer does not effect the color, it is what the weather does in September that matters most. We need cool, dry days. The peak in Asheville is usually mid October.
My prediction is that the temperatures will continue to be a little warmer than average and the colors will continue on into November.
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FALL FESTIVALS - There are too many to list here. The RomanticAsheville website highlights
40 Fall Festivals and Events. A few that I think deserve a little special attention are;
FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon is Sept. 11th to the 23rd. It is the largest sporting events ever held in North Carolina. The
Chihuly Glass Sculptures continues at the Biltmore Estate until October 7th.
Bonsai Expo at the NC Arboretum
is Oct. 13 & 14th.
The longtime favorite international
LEAF Festival in Black Mount is October 18th - 21st.
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The Rumor Has Gone Viral, It's Time to Fess Up
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Yes, Jodee and I are moving out of our little, back of the kitchen, suite and into a real house of our own! Not to worry we will still be working at Bent Creek Lodge we will just have a longer commute and evening off.
A few months ago Jodee convinced me that if we were ever going to retire we would need a place to live. I interpretted that to mean we could start keeping a casual eye on the real estate section of the paper. She meant that house hunting would now be our sole extracurricular activity and that after 19 years she NEEDED a house! I was immediately shocked at how prices have skyrocketed in the area. We looked far out, in town, old, new, pricey, then more pricey. (there is nothing below pricey) If I was ever going to go biking or hiking again I had to find a house. A racquet ball buddy of mine is a contractor and had just finished two houses on a hill above Biltmore Village. He moved into one and the other was for sale. He had told me about them and due to the location they were a little above our budget. However they were just around the corner from my dentist so after a cleaning I drove by. The price had just been reduced! I hurried home and checked out the MLS listing online and it looked like a possibility. I rounded Jodee up to go take a look. She liked that it was new, it had a garage AND off street parking, the kitchen was great with windows overlooking the city, decks front and back, the all necessary 1/2 bath, and most importantly a room in the basement for her pottery studio. We could walk to restaurants in the village and ride our bikes into the Biltmore Estate. She fell in love with the house! The address is on
Douglas
Place
. How could I say no?
We made a full price offer then waited! The promised response did not come. With the help of our friend and realtor, Steve Hieselman, we upped the ante a little and I sent a text to my friend to see if there was anything he could do. He said he would pray for us. Little did I know then that he did much more than that. The next day we got word that our offer had been accepted! We are now homeowners!
The next step was to hire a live-in manager so that we can actually move in. As much as we love Lisa, with her high school age son our quarters just wouldn't work. I think we found a nearly perfect candidate. We will introduce her in our next newsletter. We anticipate a move toward the end of September.
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B
ENT
C
REEK
L
ODGE
10 Parkway Crescent, Arden, North Carolina 28704
828-654-9040 • Toll-Free 1-877-231-6574
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