While the general mood of the beach is similar to the relaxed nature of the mountains, traveling six hours to the south felt like traveling to a different country. The crisp mountain air changes to a warm, humid breeze; the rolling landscape, so dense with life, relaxes into a cool horizon. Again, I was experiencing everything for the first time, but Ryan was seeing the landscape for what it once was and what it had become.

After living just a few years of his life in Dayton, Ohio, Ryan and his family relocated to Carolina Beach and later, Wilmington. From the moment we arrived, we began piecing together all of the memories. From the view from their first condo:


To Ryan's elementary school, where he, as a mere six year old, lusted after little Drew Barrymore, a young actress enrolled at Carolina Beach Elementary while filming Firestarter.

Having never grown up on the beach, I simply can't imagine spending every weekend on the water, hanging out on the dock at night or worrying about the boat being stolen. (OK, maybe this isn't a common concern, but after the Flynn boat was stolen and later abandoned sans motor, I would think it became a concern of theirs.)


The best part of our trip to Wilmington was spending time with Ryan's sister Lisa, her husband Curtis, and of course, Ryan's nephew Ben. As we caught up on life and all that has been going on since we last saw one another, each of us took a turn (or two) attempting to transform Ben's transformer. You would never guess how difficult those things are!! It was addictive and I didn't not want to give up until Bumblebee was as he should be. At least a couple of hours later, Lisa figured out the final trick and it all came together.

After reluctantly vacating the boulders, we stopped by the hotel, got Salinger settled, cleaned up a bit and headed to Blowing Rock, NC, to have dinner at Canyons. Until 2001, when the restaurant changed hands, Canyons was known as The Emporium. Ryan worked at the Emporium for three years while he was studying at App State.

The forty-five minute wait for an outside table was well worth it. We were seated just as the sun was setting.


During our entire dinner, I barely took my eyes off of the view. Each morning when Ryan would arrive to prep the kitchen, he would have the opportunity to sit out on the deck and watch the sun rise over the mountains. I couldn't help but to start digging in my heals, dreading the moment when we would have to return to DC.

But I didn't dwell.

Instead, I soaked up every minute of it, hoping I could make the memory last until the day we relocated to somewhere so beautiful.

Spending time in downtown Boone the following day solidfied my love for the town. The downtown area is tiny, consisting of one main street that splits the University campus and a hillside community with a spectacular view. After vacating the Coffey Break Apts, Ryan moved into a cute little house in the neighborhood just above the main street of Boone. He was within walking distance of the downtown shops and restaurants, the town green, a state park, and the University campus. We spent the morning touring campus, shopping, and simply enjoying our last day in the mountains. That afternoon we set out again. This time, our destination was the North Carolina coast.

Though fairly close to Boone, Ryan didn’t spend much time in Asheville when he was a student at Appalachian State University. We were tourists in Asheville. We spent much of our time walking around, shopping, looking at local art, sampling local beer, and talking to bartenders, waiters, and the occasional artist. When we set out for Boone, our experience changed drastically. For me, each moment was new and inspiring, but this was a trip through the past for Ryan; each moment was flooded with memories of how life once was.

After driving the narrow and winding roads through the mountains, Ryan veered right and parked the car in an abandoned lot on the side of the highway. We got out of the car and he motioned across the street to his first apartment in Boone.


While the Coffey Break Apartments weren’t much to look at, I was thrilled to be standing before a place that I had heard so much about. But that wasn’t what we had pulled off of the road to see. On Ryan’s heels, I struggled down a small cliff, grasping at branches as my feet slipped on the gravel. He’d told me all about “his boulders,” the rocks on which he would sit each evening, but until now, I never quite knew what to picture.




Ryan forged ahead, jumping over rocks and pools of water, ending up atop the largest rocks in the center of the stream. I was slower. My flip-flops were worn and had absolutely no traction. Also, I was stopping a lot, looking around, trying to absorb the scene. This is about the time in the trip that I started shaking my head in disbelief. Granted, there had been lots of head shakes in the car as I stared out of the window, overwhelmed by the beauty of the mountains...but now it was different. This was a place that Ryan had lived. This was a beauty that he was fortunate enough to experience every day.

As I made my way over the water toward the central boulders, I leaned down and gripped a fallen limb to steady myself. I put my weight on the tree, it shifted, apparently disturbing its resident. A large spider zoomed out from the shadows, and though I couldn't see its face or its beady little eyes, I could feel him looking at me. Annoyed.


Ugh. Spiders. The one insect that I would need to learn to deal with if we moved to the mountains of North Carolina. Even after four years of living in a city crawling with roaches I was never able to get used to them... and I think I might be even more terrified of spiders.

I took a dramatic detour to avoid the nasty beast and finally, I joined Ryan on the rocks.

Once we were satisfied that we had covered the cemeteries in town, we gave up on the notion that we were going to find any more of the Morgan family. So, we continued on with our trip to Boone.

It is far too easy to become accustomed to your surroundings, only to slip through life without appreciating the view. After three years of living in Washington, DC, the grandeur of the monuments, the White House, and even the US Capitol doesn't affect me like it once did. But somehow I just can't imagine a moment when my breath doesn't catch as my gaze sweeps across the magnificent view of the Appalachian mountains.

Our trip to North Carolina was filled gasps of awe and roadside frolicking. I asked Ryan to repeatedly pull-over so I could run around desperately clicking my camera in an ill-fated attempt to capture the giddiness that the mountains inspired. My most memorable day in NC was the day that we traveled between Asheville and Boone.

On Friday, August 8th, we woke up early to savor our last morning in Asheville. Since arriving two days earlier, we had faithfully followed the plan to sample as much local beer and local fare as possible (more on that later.) We were full. Oh, so full. We had a light breakfast in bed, spent a couple of hours exploring the city one last time, and then hit the road for Boone.

Typically, this trip would be a quick one. Not much more than an hour on the road. However, we took the opportunity to search for the resting place of Ryan's mother's family. The cemetery was located in a small town just outside of Asheville. The only problem was we didn't know exactly where. We knew the cemetery was beside a white church and on a hill, but we didn't realize just how many white churches and hills there were. Though Ryan is sure this isn't the one (the church wasn't white) the only cemetery that came close was this one:


It was the most brilliant day and the perfect place to be was up on the hill reading old headstones. I realize that may sound strange, but that's exactly how I felt. That and completely baffled by the number of young children that were buried there. Why was it so difficult for a child to survive in the the mid to late 1800s?

To be continued...

We are off to North Carolina for a week. I will be posting about our trip when we return.