On our second house-hunting trip to North Carolina, we chose to stay at a bed and breakfast within the Wolf Laurel community. Our research found several houses in the area and we figured what better way to get a feel for the neighborhood than to spend a few nights in it. Good choice on many levels…

The Bald Mountain House, run by Monica and Tony Martin, was a delightful find. The high elevation with drop dead mountain views, along with the comfortable sleeping arrangements would make for a memorable stay by itself. However, add to that the phenomenal breakfasts and interesting conversations and I’d say we hit the jackpot.

We stayed in the Mount Mitchell room/suite with a king bed and roomy sitting area, on the third level, with gorgeous views. In the middle of September it was a bit chilly to leave the windows open at night but during the day the fresh mountain air wafted through the rooms.

Each of the four mornings we were there, Monica whipped up creative and tasty dishes to start our day of house hunting and gave us tons of tips about the surrounding Wolf Laurel community. Tony has his own HVAC business and winterizes most of the homes on the mountain so he proved to be a wealth of knowledge whenever we mentioned an address in which we were interested.

Wolf Laurel is close to Mars Hill, Weaverville and Asheville, which was our focal point. We want to live within an hour’s drive of the city which had us looking at Burnsville, Maggie Valley and Waynesville, in addition to Mars Hill. After scouting on our own we decided on the Bald Mountain area with Wolf Laurel embedded into the NC side of the mountain. The Appalachian Trail bisects Big Bald along the state lines of Tennessee and NC, and is easy to access from Wolf Laurel.

Our exploratory drives took us to the tiny town of Weaverville where we found fantastic restaurants, leaving us wanting more time to discover whatever else this town has to offer. On this trip we tried two eateries, Twisted Laurel, on Main Street, and Stoney Knob Café.

Our first stop at Twisted Laurel gave us some creative Mediterranean choices and local craft beer, along with one of the most pleasant servers we’ve ever run across.

Our stop at Stoney Knob treated us to a funky diner, full of kitschy décor which reminded me of the old Bubble Room. Again, the choices were varied and we weren’t disappointed. If the house deal goes through, we’ll be visiting these fine restaurants again and again.

Our second trip proved a charmer and we found a few homes from which to choose. We made an offer on one and then accepted the counter. The deal’s not done until the papers are signed, though, so we just have to wait it out…more on that later.

After spending more time in the NC mountains, we are convinced this is the right thing to do in order to escape the muggy heat of summer. Enjoying the best of both worlds climate-wise is our goal and I think we’ve finally found a way to do it before we get too old to enjoy the adventure.