Wake Forest vs. Duke

Because Kris is a student at Wake we were able to get some tickets to the Wake vs Duke football game. It turned out to be a pretty good game because they were both about equal. Wake was able to pull off the win in overtime. Wahoo, go Deacs!

Grandfather Mountain

Grandfather Mountain is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is privately owned right now but I heard that the state of North Carolina is going to purchase it and make it a state park. It was a beautiful place. They have a "mile high" bridge which really means that it is a mile up from sea level but it was still pretty cool. It is a swinging bridge but it is made from steel I think. They also have a little wildlife preserve place that has 3 bears, some eagles, otters, cougars, and white tail deer. They believe that there are not any breeding cougars here anymore out in the wild. There aren't too many eagles either but the other 3 animals are pretty well represented in this area. Then we hiked to one of the peaks. It was only a mile from the parking lot but it was a good mile. There are a series of ladders that help you to reach the top of the mountain. It was awesome. There were 2 guys that we met along the way that said we must be from the west because we were wearing real hiking boots and not worn out tennis shoes. The one man's toes were hanging out the side of his shoe. Most of the leave had already fallen from the trees because they are at higher elevation but it was a beautiful day and a nice view. We wanted to continue on to the next peak but shortly after we started on the trail again we came upon some ice on the trail that was very slick and we didn't feel comfortable going ahead without knowing what we would find later on. We are still planning on going back sometime though because there is some cool camping on that other peak that we'd like to do.

Hanging Rock

We decided to take advantage of the first block of school being over with for Kris and we went to Hanging Rock State Park again. This time we hiked to a fire lookout. It was about 4 miles total and it was a fairly easy hike. It was pretty with all of the leaves changing. When you go hiking here there are so many trees and the shrubs are so thick that you can't see a whole lot until you reach your destination. It was definitely a pretty view. We are glad that there are places near by that we can go, even for half a day. 

Salem Lake

One day while we were out and about we decided to stop at a little place called Salem Lake. It isn't too far away from here and we thought we should see what we could do at this place. During the summer time you can rent canoes for an hourly rate or for the whole day, you can go fishing there if you have a license or there is a path that goes all the way around it that you can walk run or bike. We didn't do any of those things on our first visit there because it was an information visit only but we are looking forward to the time when we can go back and really enjoy the place.

Lexington Barbecue Festival 2008

I don't know if you have heard the word on the street but it is that Lexington, NC has the best barbecue pork in the world. I'm not sure if I entirely agree with that but I don't think my opinion from the west really means much out here. There is a festival that has been held for the last 25 years on the main street in Lexington. They have several stages set up so that groups can sing, there are rides, lots of little shopping places like at the fair, and of course the food. We had pork sandwiches which probably would have been a lot better had the buns not been totally soaked and smooshy. They have a spot where they display painted pigs. When the festival is not on they have some of them displayed throughout town. It kind of reminded me of the painted buffalo that are found in different places throughout Utah. Anyway, it was fun and that might be because we went early and it was raining a bit so the crowds weren't as terrible as people told me they would be.