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sat10AM - 7PM
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Fall is the season best known for its bounty. After all, it hosts the holiday we most associate with food. Before Thanksgiving, though, there are plenty more fall feasts! Autumn is harvest season with offerings of crisp apples and hearty veggies, tailgating season where portable grills turn out parking lot delicacies, and – don’t forget – fair season packed with deep-fried deliciousness and caramel-covered, sugar-dusted delights. ...read more
Recipes
All
My grandmother was a teacher, and she used the word primer, pronounced “primmer,” a lot. There were math primers to get the basics of operations, English primers to learn the foundations of grammar and punctuation, and, of course, spelling primers to garner all those rhymes for spelling success. So, why shouldn’t there be a “Fall Foliage Primer” to learn what you need to know about autumn’s color show? Well, now there is! ...read more
Fall Foliage Primer | Adventure | Local Flavor
All
Where do you go to visit the oldest structure that houses a Mast General Store location? You won’t find it in the mountains – Not even in Valle Crucis where the Original Mast Store has stood since 1883. ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Columbia
... Our favorite foods! Food is universal because everybody’s got ta eat! And the last two months of the year are filled with more than their fair share of family meals, work gatherings, special outings to favorite restaurants, tins filled with homemade cookies and fudge, and the anticipation of food traditions handed down from generation to generation ...read more
At Home | Recipes
All
Even before we bought the Mast General Store, we were taken by the beauty of Valle Crucis. We’ve heard people describe the drive out Broadstone Road as traveling through a time portal. In the 1970s, fields in the river bottoms would be filled with tobacco, cabbage, or high with hay to feed cattle that were grazing in the summer pasture. ...read more
Local Flavor | Mast Family Favorites
All
The lucky few who have seen the Earth from a different perspective – astronauts - all echo the same viewpoint upon their return. Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut and the first human to go to space, commented, “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it.”
Behind the Scenes | Inspiration
All
In the summer of 1984, Maine artist Roxanne Quimby, was trying to thumb a ride home. Eventually, a bright yellow Datsun pickup truck pulled over, and Roxanne instantly recognized Burt Shavitz, a local fellow whose beard was almost as well-known as his roadside honey stand. Burt and Roxanne hit it off. Before long, Roxanne was making candles in his 8-x-8 turkey coop with unused wax from Burt's beehives. They made $200 at their first craft fair; within a year, they'd make $20,000. It was a pretty fantastic beginning, but it was just the beginning all the same. ...read more
Adventure | Inspiration | Mast Family Favorites
All
The most anticipated event of the century is happening on Monday, August 21. For the first time in almost a century, a total eclipse of the sun will sweep across the United States from the coast of Oregon to the coast of South Carolina. Astronomers and serial eclipsers are heading to the Path of Totality, a 70-mile wide band where the moon’s shadow will totally block the sun. ...read more
Adventure
All
It’s hard to believe it’s already August, and everyone is talking about back-to-school plans. Even so, there’s still time to check off a few more items on your summer bucket list. Just in case you’ve already completed yours, we have a few suggestions for you to consider adding. ...read more
Adventure | Inspiration
All
Perhaps a better directive would be “please begin planning your itineraries and booking your reservations; the show is about to begin.” As the calendar continues its march to the fall equinox, the anticipation of the changing of the leaves builds. Will this be a good fall color season? How will the recent hurricane affect the leaves? Just what happens to make the leaves change anyway? The answers to these questions will vary depending upon who you ask, where you live, and the types of trees in the general area. To get a better handle on an answer that is applicable for the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, we contacted Dr. Howard Neufeld at Appalachian State University. ...read more
Mast Family Favorites | Inspiration | Adventure
All
Last week we learned about the seven basic principles of Leave No Trace (LNT). Familiarize yourself with the LNT essentials by clicking visiting last week's blog entry. This week, we’re exploring easy ways to share these important guidelines with the children in your life. Let’s get started. ...read more
Inspiration | Mast Family Favorites | Adventure
All
If you’ve been to a Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts meeting, attended a wilderness summer camp, or participated in the Great American Backyard Campout, you may already be familiar with the principles of Leave No Trace (LNT). These valuable principles aren’t just useful in the woods, they can be applied in every environment. This week, we’re exploring Leave No Trace so our collective small steps can lead to big changes in the natural world (and in ourselves)! ...read more
Mast Family Favorites | Adventure | Inspiration
All