Boone, North Carolina: A Hippie Town with a (Serious) Football Problem

It’s onerous to come back to Boone and never be informed you might be in God’s nation. It’s tougher nonetheless to not go away believing it. Particularly if it occurs to be a fall Saturday when the leaves are altering and the air is crisping and—most particularly—when the Mountaineers are taking part in soccer. 

The nice Marcus King might need sung “Don’t let your ladies transfer as much as Boone,” however you’ll be able to’t precisely blame them in the event that they do. There’s one thing totally different in regards to the place, and it isn’t simply the altitude. It isn’t simply the mountains both, although they’re throughout you. It isn’t simply the bike trails at Rocky Knob or the pastries at Stick Boy Bread Firm or the best way the deer alongside the Greenway seem completely content material to share the paved paths with the rollerbladers and the oldsters swishing by in teal tracksuits. It’s that Boone—not less than to me—embodies one of the best of the South. To stroll down King Avenue is to move by each a Pleasure flag and a memorial to veterans who gave their lives for our nation. It’s to move each Mast Basic Retailer, whose origins date to 1897, and F.A.R.M. Cafe, a restaurant the place “all people eats, no matter means.” It’s to move avenue buskers and old-time mountain males shoulder-to-shoulder with faculty college students ducking out and in of tattoo outlets and vacationers as much as see the autumn foliage. It’s a spot the place everybody appears welcome. And by no means is that extra evident than on a fall Saturday outdoors Kidd Brewer Stadium.

I’ve at all times felt just a little misplaced: an eccentric child rising up within the small-town South, a literature professor who loves contact sports activities, an English main on the Citadel for goodness’ sake. This stuff don’t match our simple assumptions, and perhaps that’s what I like most about Boone: It’s completely content material to be its personal factor. A tough-working mountain city with nice espresso—sure. A hippie city with a severe soccer downside—completely. 

Take a stroll by means of the tailgaters outdoors a sport in the event you want proof. You’ll discover the decadent tableclothed spreads of wine and charcuterie alongside the cardboard tables of Bud and barbecue. They’ll invite you over, and also you would possibly as nicely have a chunk or a drink. However when you go to, you would possibly discover one thing totally different too: Are these skate boarders sluicing down Stadium Drive, and are they carrying black-and-gold striped bib overalls? (Sure and sure.) And down by the marching band, is the unfold on that grill vegan? (Fairly presumably sure.) Boone is filled with people who—with apologies to our wonderful marching band—transfer to the beat of their very own drummers. Some come for the outside: the snowboarding, the climbing, the climbing in Linville Gorge. Some come for the college: You might need seen our photo voltaic automobile, or perhaps you’ve bought tickets for Yola or Mavis Staples? 

Some are born right here and by no means go away. Like so many fascinating locations, lately Boone has gotten dearer and extra crowded. However there aren’t many cities the place you’ll be able to camp on the banks of the New River one night time and take heed to an acclaimed poet learn from her work the subsequent. Or eat ham biscuits on the Dan’l Boone Inn for Sunday dinner after which drive over to Appalachian Mountain Brewery for a chilly one. In the summertime I take my youngsters tubing down the Watauga River after which we soar off Trash Can Falls, a neighborhood swimming gap that is likely to be the one factor that rivals a soccer tailgate for inclusivity.

The Howard’s Knob Overlook over Boone.

After which there’s the soccer itself: the large killers from the prettiest little city you’ve ever seen. Ask Michigan about that. Ask Texas A&M or UNC or USC. Ask the followers at Penn State, who in 2018, after watching their 17^th ranked Nittany Lions narrowly maintain off App State in additional time, stood and applauded the Mountaineers as they left the sphere. The soccer is thrilling, and recently has been significantly so. When ESPN requested head coach Shawn Clark in regards to the Mountaineers’ latest last-second Hail Mary win over Troy, he simply shook his head. He didn’t know clarify it, besides to say, “I suppose God is a Mountaineer.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, however I plan on sticking round to search out out.

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If you happen to come to go to, and you must, I’ve bought a number of suggestions. 

Begin your day with espresso and a selfmade donut on the Native Lion. With some gas in your stomach, drive towards Blowing Rock and Moses Cone Manor off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Stroll a loop round Bass Lake or, if you’re feeling significantly spry, make the two.5-mile trek as much as the Flat Prime lookout tower with its seemingly countless views.

For lunch, you would possibly contemplate the Come Again Shack with its Nutella milkshakes together with a Watauga burger, presumably a double, topped with fried inexperienced tomatoes and house-made pimento cheese. If you end up on King Avenue, you would possibly cease by Our Every day Bread for certainly one of its heavenly sandwiches—I’m keen on the smoked turkey press—or Misplaced Province Brewing Firm, the place the wood-fired pizza choice modifications with the seasons.

After lunch, stroll the downtown. There are boutiques and T-shirt outlets, Watsonatta Western World, and the Nthº Gallery & Studios. Go to Mast Basic Retailer and the Mountain Operating Firm as you wander from Vidalia restaurant—which focuses on native farm components—on one finish of city to Foggy Pine Books and the Turchin Heart for the Visible Arts on the opposite. If you happen to want a break, have a drink on the rooftop of the Horton Lodge or the fish and chips at Boone Saloon. Benchmark Provisions has provides aplenty to your tailgate. Take your time, linger, and don’t overlook to have your picture taken with the Doc Watson “Man of the Folks” statue on the nook of North Depot and West King. In winter you’ll discover him carrying a shawl. When it will get chilly sufficient, a hat too.

The Doc Watson statue in downtown Boone.

Come night, take a look at what’s occurring on the Schaefer Heart for the Performing Arts or the newly renovated Appalachian Theatre (it is likely to be traditional movies one night time, banjos and mandolins the subsequent). As for dinner, I’d counsel a correct Southern meal at—the place else?—Correct. I like the fried catfish, and don’t get me began on the dessert case.

The Schaefer Heart for the Performing Arts.