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Chase Winter Magic in the Mountains: Asheville, Banner Elk, Boone, & Blowing Rock

Published about 1 month agoΒ β€’Β 2 min read

Good Morning Reader,

If you follow Uncorked Asheville on Facebook, you saw that we had our first gorgeous snowfall of the year (well, for those of us who live in the higher elevations), and man, has it been chilly this past week! ⛄️ Goodbye, gorgeous leaves. πŸ‚

Overnight Mountain Getaways: Boone, Blowing Rock & Banner Elk

Tom and I recently enjoyed overnights in Banner Elk and Boone/Blowing Rock. Just a snapshot of what we did...

Our overnight itinerary in Blowing Rock and Boone, NC

We wanted to catch the end of peak leaf season and get our Gilmore Girls on. Just under 2 hours from Asheville, this was our first time visiting Blowing Rock and Boone, and we stayed from Tuesday to Wednesday (some places we wanted to try were closed).

blue ridge parkway
burger
shrimp salad
Christine in bookstore

A few highlights:

  • Having lunch at Storie Street Grille & Sidecar Bar – fried calamari, a prosciutto salad with shrimp, and sausage; it was jumping.
  • A burger dinner at Hellbender with that cool dining room; they have a really neat cocktail list, too.
  • Shopping downtown, including puzzle buying at FireLight Book & Candle.
  • Drinks at Blowing Rock Brewing and Alehouse.
  • A cinnamon toast crunch latte with oat milk at Bald Guy Brew.
  • Wine and snack buying for the hotel room at Sunset & Vine.
  • Staying over at (budget-friendly) Holiday Inn Express in Boone with drinks from the Blowing Rock Market. We looked at the cute downtown inns, but could not swing $500+ a night...
  • Lunch and beer at Booneshine. It was excellent, and I loved their schnitzel special for Oktoberfest.
  • Walking the Boone Greenway Trail.
  • Wine tasting at Linville Falls Winery (we've been here before, but it had been a while).

Our overnight itinerary in Banner Elk, NC

We also met with friends - one of my former Florida youth services librarian coworkers - in Banner Elk, and we had SO much fun, especially since she and I love farm animals (alpacas!!), books, and nature. I tried to make a YouTube short...

video preview​

A few highlights of what we enjoyed in Banner Elk:

🐐 The alpacas, llamas, & goats at Apple Hill Farm; we bought Beau 🐱 a stuffed llama to love (and destroy) along with local honey.

🍽️ Lunch at Banner Elk Café.

πŸ”₯ An overnight at the Mountain Lodge at Banner Elk with a blazing fireplace (the property just switched from a Best Western).

🍣 Sushi and Thai at Uncle Lee’s Asian Bistro - sit outside! We saw a gorgeous mountain sunset, and the food was delicious.

πŸ“š The Banner Elk Book Exchange; their friendly volunteers are awesome. We found a few books and left a donation.

🌿 The Tate-Evans Greenway Trail.

πŸ₯ͺ Lunch at Williams Deli & Bakery with coffee (GF bread, too!). Shop next door at Country Bumpkin Candles & Boutique. We purchased two candles that are pretty much completely burned now.

🍷 Wine at Grandfather Vineyard & Winery - this winery is SO pretty!

We'll be back soon, as we have so much to explore.

Winter in the Mountains Just Hits Differently: Holiday & Winter Planning Guides

Updated for 2025 post-Helene, these articles will help get you started with top events, things to do, and where to eat in Asheville this holiday season.

My parents will be visiting in between the rush to enjoy Winter Lights and The Omni Grove Park Inn's National Gingerbread House Competition with us. We are also dining at Biltmore to see the decorations in Antler Hill Village.

Click below to read each article:

I hope you have a wonderful start to winter (and end of fall) in the mountains. As always, if you enjoyed our articles, photos, posts, and videos, say thank you with a secure tip here (this uses Stripe).

Uncorked Asheville

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Uncorked Asheville is your go-to online travel magazine for events, news, restaurant reviews, things to do, and more in and around the Asheville, North Carolina area.

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