Carolina Cottage Guest House

We've intended for a long time to add a blog post, and we have about three drafts just waiting to be posted.  Why we haven't yet posted them, who knows?  But this idea of "Saluda Soothes the Soul" came to us several months ago, and it's been lingering ever since.  So we decided that now is the time, before somebody else claims it and puts it on billboards along I-26 and I-40.  

People ask all the time:  what is it about this place?  There's a sense of patience (more than just functioning on "mountain time"), peacefulness, calm.  How does that happen? 

There was a time when the phone book had a piece on the effects of negative ions produced by waterfalls.  The crux of the article was that negative ions were/are created with air molecules broken apart from moving water, and apparently negative ions give positive results such as better sleep and a positive attitude.  And apparently they are inhaled in abundance in certain environments, namely mountains and waterfalls.  No doubt we have more than our fair share of moving water, mountains, and waterfalls.  And we also have more than our fair share of positive attitudes.  But other places have beautiful water and/or mountains, and other places have people with positive attitudes, and some places have both.  Yet Saluda still has something more.  Something that you just can't quite put your finger on.  You feel it whether you're walking through the shops downtown, enjoying a meal at a restaurant, playing at the park, enjoying a bike ride, kayaking the Green River, and/or hiking the nearby trails.  You sense it even when you're sitting alone on the deck or enjoying the hammock in complete solitude (which contrary to popular belief is a good thing).

So we still don't know what it is.  We don't know how it is that Saluda is so soothing.  And to be perfectly honest, we're not going to spend our time trying to figure it out, primarily because we have restaurants to enjoy, rivers to kayak, and trails to hike - among other things.  We're just going to spend our time enjoying this place, and you should, too.  Because all that really matters is that spending time here makes one a better person, because Saluda soothes the soul.  

If you love music, you'll love western North Carolina this weekend.  We won't waste your time blogging about it because you'll want to hurry and make plans to be here by Friday afternoon.

Beginning Friday, August 10th, at 7:00, enjoy Sol Driven Train in the open air at  the Summer Tracks Concert Series at Rogers Park.  Sol Driven Train opens with the children's show then continues until 10:00.  Thanks to our friends at Green River Adventures for sponsoring this one.

Then on Saturday starting at 1:00, it's RiverFest 2012 - the "biggest party of the year" at the French Broad River Park. The fun begins at 1:00, and the live music starts at 2:00.  The headlining band, The Galen Kipar Project, starts at 5:05 and plays until 7:00.

And if you still need a bit more, grab a seat and some great food at The Purple Onion, then sit back and enjoy the Chuck Beattie Band.  

So stop reading and start planning.  It's not every day that you get a weekend like this one.

English composer Edward Elgar once said, "My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require."  

Well, there's no need to travel the world to take as much as you require; Saluda and its neighboring communities can provide more than enough throughout the summer.  Whether you want to enjoy the Purple Onion's POSEM Concert Series before dinner, pack a picnic for the Summer Tracks at Rogers Park Amphitheater, and/or pull onto shore from your kayak or canoe, grab a New Belgium beer, and enjoy RiverLink's RiverMUSIC, here's a mere sampling:

Sunday, June 3:  Sol Driven Train at the Purple Onion
Friday, June 15:  The StereoFidelics at Rogers Park Amphitheater
Friday, June 29:  Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds at RiverLink's RiverMUSIC
Saturday, June 30:  Honeycutters at The Purple Onion
Friday, July 13:  bluegrass on the French Broad river with Sanctum Sully at RiverLink's RiverMUSIC
Friday, July 27:  The Stray Birds at Rogers Park Amphitheater
Friday, August 3:  The 42nd Street Jazz Band at RiverLink's River MUSIC
Friday, August 10:  Sol Drive Train at Rogers Park Amphitheater (Thanks to GRA, this one's for the little ones.)
Friday, August 24:  The Bad Popes and Swayback Sisters at Rogers Park Amphitheater
Friday, September 14:  Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band  (because September is technically still summer)

And there's more if you need it!

In the big picture, things really haven’t changed that much since 1896. What was spring fever then is still spring fever now, as proven by this excerpt from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer, Detective:

“Don't you know what that is? It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want -- oh, you don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! It seems to you that mainly what you want is to get away; get away from the same old tedious things you're so used to seeing and so tired of, and set something new. That is the idea; you want to go and be a wanderer; you want to go wandering far away to strange countries where everything is mysterious and wonderful and romantic. And if you can't do that, you'll put up with considerable less; you'll go anywhere you CAN go, just so as to get away, and be thankful of the chance, too.”

If “you don’t quite know what it is you DO want,” perhaps we can help. Here’s a list of happenings in May in or near Saluda. There’s not a single weekend that doesn’t offer something, and some weekends offer a lot.

• Friday, May 4 - Saluda Tailgagte Market
• Saturday, May 5 - Green River Adventures Spring Bash
• Sunday, May 6 - Bearwallow Brawl and Honey & Hops Festival
• Saturday, May 12 - Sunday, May 13 - Art in Bloom
• Saturday, May 19 - Saluda Arts and Music Festival
• Saturday, May 26 - Sunday, May 27 - Garden Jubilee
• Monday, May 28 - Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival

So "get away from the same old tedious things you're so used to seeing and so tired of, and set something new
. . . go and be a wanderer."

I've wanted to let you know about all the improvements that we're making at the cottage, but I didn't want to bore you in the process.  Let's just say that the song by The Fixx kept popping into my head - even though, admittedly, it has nothing to do with spring cleaning and construction projects - because one thing certainly led to another.

• It started with a salvaged french door panel that became a window, which, of course, required painting.
• The window looked so good, that the front of the cottage deserved a fresh coat of paint,
• and the front of the cottage looked so good that the front door deserved a fresh coat of paint, too.
• You can't paint the door without painting the trim, and you can't trim one door without trimming the other.
• And what good is a construction project if you don't landscape around it?

Gone are the winter's shades of gray; now it's shades of green all around.  As I was driving up the mountain, the beauty of the leaves on the mountains was second only to those of the fall.  If you haven't seen it, it's certainly worth a trip to Saluda. 

Spring has certainly arrived, and summer is on its way.  Make plans now to attend any one (or more) of the great events happening in and around Saluda.  And if your schedule doesn't allow you to be here for any horse shows or festivals (whether they be bbq, arts, or music), then make plans to enjoy the river, waterfalls, and or hiking/biking trails on any weekend you choose.  There's never a bad time to enjoy Saluda, and it's always a good time!

The shades of green will last, but open dates at the cottage won't.  Don't delay in making those reservations.  As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

The Carolina Cottage website has made some website changes, and we've gone mobile.  Now you can find us at home and on the go.  Let us know what you think.  

Congratulations to our friends Sara and Tim on the completion of their new shop.  It's awesome!  Visit their new website at http://www.greenriveradventures.com, and then make plans to visit them in person!