Ghostly Happenings

It’s turning colder here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The leaves have turned their beautiful fall colors, and half have already fallen to the ground.  Remodeling is continuing at a good pace.  Today I painted the deck rails on the back deck and when I had almost finished, and was covered in paint myself, a small totally white ghost spider decided to tip toe across my new paint.  She must’ve been a lady spider because she daintily walked through the paint, lifting her front feet and holding them high like she was trying to avoid getting them wet.  Katie says that the white spider means good luck, and I now believe her as we had amazing luck in shopping today, managing to get the very last bucket of paint for the fence and the last 2 white rockers for the front porch. 

Katie reminded me of a scary memory from our past—a trip through Lumberton, NC where we were accosted by a drunk man late at night who zoomed around our car, slammed on his brakes and  jumped out of his pickup truck with what looked like a rifle but was maybe a baseball bat and headed for our car.  I have never seen Ray react so quickly as he through the car into reverse and backed the car up with tires squealing and spun us around to make a quick escape in the opposite direction.  Like a scene out of a James Bond movie!  But I still get a racing heart when I remember the incident.

We decided to explore our area a bit the other day and ended up finally finding Jump Off Rock.  Not an easy task.  Jump Off Rock has an Indian legend attached to it that’s been passed down for many years. Over 300 years ago a young Cherokee Indian Chief fell in love with a fair Indian maiden. They often met on top of the rock ledge overlooking the valley below. When the young Chief was called to war, the maiden promised him that she would wait for his return from their favorite rock ledge. When the maiden received word that her young Indian Chief had been killed in battle, she climbed to the edge of the rock and jumped off, tribal hunters found her broken body below. Indian legend has it that on moonlit nights you can see the ghost of the maiden on Jump Off Rock.  The sign says the area is closed at sunset, so I may never see the moonlit ghost. 

I may have a better chance at seeing a ghost in my very own neighborhood.  I just finished reading a book called Tar Heel Ghosts by John Harden and in it is a story called “The Haunted Mill of Willow Creek.”  Interesting as we live in Willow Creek Farms right by Willow Creek and just across the pond from the old mill.  Turns out that a Robert Jones built the mill after the Revolutionary War.  This area had been inhabited by the Cherokee Indians for many years before and the area where the mill sits was exactly where the Indian women would grind their corn in the hollowed-out places in the rocks, Willow Creek being by the Indian Trail—the old trading path of the Cherokees. 

Robert Jones ended up being shot & killed with an Indian arrow & years later one of his sons and his wife were killed when the mill burned.  It stood abandoned for many years.  One night a Henry Hampton was walking by the mill and decided to check it out as a possible place for him and his hopefully—soon-to-be fiancé to fix up and settled down in.  As he left the mill and was back up on the road, he turned to see a shadowy figure that looked like a woman in a shawl following him.  She kept up with him all the way home without a sound, even when he ran the last part of the way.  When he got home, he locked himself inside his house and looked out to see the woman was actually a ghostly man wrapped in a blanket. 

He didn’t buy the mill and it declined even further.  A few years ago, someone did buy the mill and fixed it up.  This evening, she called to invite us to a Halloween Party at the mill next Saturday, so maybe I will see the ghost after all.  It is said that on some quiet nights, you can hear the gristmill still turning by itself and some have seen a ghostly figure moving about the mill.  : )

Playing Hookey

So we decided to take the day off from our remodeling today and revisit Mt. Mitchell and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It is prime time for the leaves and their colors, and we weren't disappointed.  I only wish the photos would show how truly riotous the colors were--flaming oranges, sunny-bright yellows, deep reds, jewel-colored purples, and my favorites, the oranges that were so orange they almost looked pink.  It was amazing. 

Learned at the Mt. Mitchell museum that we live in a "cove."  A cove is a recess or small valley in the side of a mountain.  It can also be called a "hollow."  Oh dear, now Ray will use his country voice to say we live in a "holler" all the time.  : (

We drove back down the parkway and stopped in at the Pisgah Inn for lunch.  The wait for the table was 50 minutes, but oh was it worth it.  The food was the freshest most delicious I havae ever eaten.  Best House Salad with homemade dressing, flaky philo-dough crust Chicken Pot Pie, Maryland Crab Cake Sandwich, and for dessert--which we never get but had to try because everything else was so good--Southern Pecan Pie a la Mode.  Our waitress, Connie, was the best and made the whole meal very memorable.  All while sitting at the best table in the house, right by the window with stunning views of the mountains.

Home

Went to the Homeowners Association meeting today at friends' house on the other side of the pond where I captured these beautiful views of OUR house across the pond.  Just had to share.  The leaves are gorgeous just now. 

Twilight Tower of Terror Run October 1, 2012

Just got home from a trip to DisneyWorld—this trip so that Ray could run the Twilight Zone of Terror 10 Miler race at 10pm on Saturday evening.  He did very well.  Fourth place in his age group. 

We had a great trip, staying at the new Bay Lake Towers for 2 nights and the rest of the trip at Beach Club. 

Highlights: 

--watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks display FROM ATOP Bay Lake Towers,

--Soarin’ (of course),

--French pastries for dinner one evening—and that’s all,

-- meeting Geraint, our waiter at the Rose & Crown, who is from Pontypool, Wales,

--meeting Ratataouille at Chefs de France,

--peeking in at the New Fantasyland under construction,

-- delicious meals at Chefs de France and Liberty Tree Tavern,

--the new parts of Haunted Mansion,

--the incredibly drunk 65 year old woman dancing for all its worth to Beatles songs at the British Revolution,

-- getting stuck on 3 rides in a row—Ray killed Splash Mountain, then we were stuck for 20 minutes on Webway, then Carousel of Progress got stuck on one of the scenes—all Ray’s fault,  

--seeing the cute movie, “Hotel Transylvania,”

--Panna Cotta and Jaffa Tart (orange soaked sponge cake covered in chocolate) and passing up the Scotch Egg (golden-fried hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat with mustard sauce)

--and watching the fireworks from the patio of the Rose & Crown. 

And the memorable thing about the trip, not necessarily welcome though—temperatures of 96 degrees everyday with humidity at 90%. Then driving home today--by the time we got here, the temperature had dropped 40 degrees! Wow!!