MARCH GEOCACHING AND THE INN TURNS 10

Fork in the trail leading above Old Fort Picnic Grounds

In March, we set out on a specific geocaching mission: to place one of the travel bugs we had picked up during our travels in February, when we did some Ohio geocaching in the snow. We had held on to this practical little travel bug (a small wrench...clever idea!) for way too long and it was time to help it move on to its next destination...while discovering a new cache in the process.

Our hunt took us to a scenic hike that leads off from the Old Fort picnic grounds, about two miles from the Inn. The picnic grounds are a public entrance into Pisgah National Forest that surrounds us here in our neck of the woods. The hike is called the Young's Ridge Trail and it heads to Kitsuma peak, along more than six miles of mountain trail. The cache was just outside of the picnic grounds (and the innpugs were with us), so we knew we wouldn't be hiking six scenic miles that day.


Bugsy skipping along rocks that make perfect stairs


Csaba leads the way along the trail

What we did see along the trail were magnificent old rock formations and majestic towering trees along the Swannanoa Creek. We loved walking under tree branches that had grown above the trail into a canopy. We were surrounded by hemlocks, holly, rhododendron and other plants. What a pretty place! Nature at its best.


Rhododendron thicket along Swannanoa Creek

The search involved some moderate climbing off the trail, but nothing Brigette couldn't handle (which means most anyone could do it). The cache is called Hemlock Cove Cache and serves also as an educational experience for geocachers to learn about the threat to North Carolina's native hemlocks, the wooly aldegid. Bravo to the geocacher who thought to hide a cache in this spot to help others discover a great hiking trail and to learn about the forest.

As some of you know, the Inn on Mill Creek is celebrating its 10th birthday, and we've created our Inn Turns 10! list of 10s at: www.innonmillcreek.com/innturns10.htm. There, you'll find all kinds of lists for activities like birding, hiking and geocaching. Our geocaching list includes 10 of the 125 caches that are hidden less than 10 miles from the Inn, all of which are great for helping you discover our beautiful area of Western North Carolina.

BILTMORE FESTIVAL OF FLOWERS

A photo of Biltmore from our most recent visit (May '08)

We (read: Brigette) are getting really excited about Biltmore's annual Festival of Flowers, which starts April 4. Brigette and her mom have seen pretty much every nook and cranny at Biltmore, having visited the Estate, and Gardens, the Winery and so on, countless times over the past 10 years. It's a great place for moms and daughters.

The Festival of Flowers is truly a special event at Biltmore and this year's Festival of Flowers is even more special because a suite of four rooms above the Library, including the Louis XV Room where Cornelia Vanderbilt was born in 1900, and where she delivered her own sons in the 1920s, have just been renovated and will become part of the public tours.

Previously, Brigette and her mom toured the rooms as part of the Behind-the-Scenes Tour, and again as part of the Rooftop Tour last May, when the extremely knowledgable Biltmore guide described the renovations in detail (the wallpaper by itself is amazing, so we can't wait to see what else they've done).

Biltmore's Festival of Flowers runs from April 4 through May 17. Not only will visitors be treated to the addition of the four rooms, but also to thousands of tulips in the walled garden, gorgeous flowering azaleas, classical music in the Winter Garden and Walled Garden, live music at River Bend Farm, helpful seminars at Gardener's Place behind the Conservatory, Red Wine & Chocolate seminars at the Winery, and the list goes on. We'll be heading there at the beginning of May (our favorite places-- the Spring Garden and the Conservatory).

And remember, guests of the Inn on Mill Creek can purchase discounted tickets to Biltmore that are good for two consecutive days, for the price of one-day admission. More information is available on our packages page.

PAINTER'S GREENHOUSE HERB FESTIVAL

Mmmmm...basil, perfect for making pesto

Mark your calendars: Painter's Greenhouse in Old Fort has its 5th Annual Herb Festival coming up the weekend of April 11-12. Craftsmen, musicians, herbalists and cooks will entertain visitors on Saturday and Sunday at this gem of a greenhouse and nursery.

Painter's Greenhouse is a great example of a family-owned and operated agri-tourism business. They grow all plants onsite, and every plant we've gotten from them has thrived. We definitely can't say the same about some of the other nurseries and garden centers we've tried. We have yet to buy herbs from Painter's, but this year we'll be adding to the herb garden and plan to get over to Painter's Greenhouse to hopefully get some really great herbs.

Hours and directions to Painter's Greenhouse are available at http://www.paintersgreenhouse.com/Hours.htm

TRIP TO THE NC ARBORETUM

We spent March 19, the last day of Winter, at one of our favorite spots: the North Carolina Arboretum. We were joined by Csaba Pugga and Bugsy Pug, our innpugs, with the goal of making the most of the beautiful weather with an outdoor walk.

Csaba and Bugsy enjoyed themselves as always, mostly due to the fact that the other visitors to the Arboretum cooed over them and told them how cute they were. We met a wonderful little girl who was at the Arboretum with her mom, and we learned that they had two cats who had similar personalities as the innpugs (outgoing like Csaba and shy like Bugsy). Csaba would have liked for the little girl to accompany us the whole time because she gave him lots of good pats on his back.


Csaba plays hard to get with his new friends

Once Csaba and Bugsy were done with their socializing, we set out on the Natural Garden Trail, one of the many dog friendly trails that meander through the Arboretum's grounds.


Ready, set, sniff...innpugs' idea of a "walk"

The Natural Garden Trail is almost a mile long. We started from the Education Center and walked past the Stream Garden, Quilt Garden and Heritage Garden (all still waking up to Spring) to the start of the trail. From here the trail looped southwest through forested areas overlooking Bent Creek and then headed back up, past blooming Winter Jasmine, to the Education Center.

We appreciated the many placards describing the different tree types along the trail. We also saw cool benches made of stone like this one:



The Arboretum always gives us such great inspiration for our Inn.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Now that Winter is officially over, we'd like to report on the progress of our Spring flowers at the Inn on Mill Creek. Enjoy some photos we took this week at the Inn. Here's what's in bloom:

Forsythia


Daffodil


Pansy


Hyacinth

Just beginning to bud and bloom at the Inn:

• Creeping phlox
• Peach Trees
• Weeping Cherry

Up and out of the ground and growing (blooming later this Spring)

• Grape Hyacinth
• Tulip
• Bleeding Heart
  
• Iris
• Peony
  
• Lily
  
• Roses

Plus, if you're in the Asheville and Black Mountain area at this beautiful time of year, you'll see a variety of flowering trees welcoming Spring as well.

We read a great article recently at one of our favorite gardening sites, davesgarden.com (no, it's not our Dave, but it's nice to know that there are other green thumbed Daves out there!). The article talks about the magic of Spring set to the tune of Vivaldi's La Primavera (Spring). We're playing Vivaldi's concerto it right now...

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2243/

CANADA GEESE LAYOVER

Glen and Lynda, two of our newest guests, are staying at the Inn on Mill Creek this week. (We were impressed to hear that Lynda has written a children's book -- illustrated by Joshua Hendry, talented artist, Montreat native and friend of the Inn -- and we look forward to getting a copy of Lynda's book to put in the guest library!)

This morning, Lynda and Glen were treated to a special sight just as we served breakfast. Around 8:30am, a dozen or so migrating Canadian Geese (or the more accurately called Canada Geese) arrived for their annual stopover at our little mountain lake before flying further north. Last year, the geese were here for just one day, so today was a special day at the Inn on Mill Creek, and we were so happy to be able to share the experience with Lynda and Glen.

GREENING UP THE INN: MORE EDIBLE GARDENING

In our February Greening Up the Inn post, we briefly mentioned our blueberry bushes as part of our edible gardening endeavors. This month we'll give them their full 15 minutes of fame.

Our blueberry bushes are located near the south lawn, at the edge of our pond, where they get just the right mixture of moisture and drainage (kudos to the person who planted them in the perfect spot!). They are very tall (over 9 feet) and provide a bounty of berries in for Summer and Fall breakfasts, which means no need to buy blueberries at the store.

Currently, our blueberry bushes are coming out of their winter dormancy and we're clearing the area underneath them to give them their proper growing room. Soon, the bushes will produce what seems like a thousand little clusters of white flowers, and then come the fabulous blueberries in July.

A few quick blueberry facts:

• Blueberries are native to North America
• There are approximately 30 different species of blueberries
• The best time to prune bushes is in late Winter/early Spring, before new growth starts
• An unripe blueberry won't ripen any more once it's picked, so blueberries are best left on the bush 5 to 7 days after they turn blue to get the best flavor and ripeness
• July is national Blueberry Month -- July is harvest time in most areas
• Blueberries are low in calories and high in antioxidants (ranked #1 in antioxidant activity)
• Birds love blueberries (a lot of people use netting, but we don't mind sharing)

TAAS MARCH FEATURED ARTIST

The Appalachian Artisan Society (TAAS) has an art gallery in downtown Old Fort, about 15 minutes' drive from the Inn on Mill Creek. You'll find a very wide range of diverse crafts and works of art there (we certainly have), plus they have Catawba Vale Cafe located right next door, which is good for getting a yummy sandwich or one of their new Cowburgers, or for looking at even more art displayed inside the Cafe.

Each month, TAAS features one of their 60+ artisans. Lana (Lonnie) Gentile is the March Featured Artist and her work is worth a trip to the gallery. Lana's medium is acrylic painting and she does landscapes and seascapes, wildlife and architecture. She has a very interesting background, which she shares online at her TAAS bio, which also includes an inventory of her artwork for sale.

The next time you're in our neck of the woods, ask us to show you the art we've gotten at the TAAS Gallery that we have displayed at the Inn. You'll be quite impressed at the work of these artists!

THE INNPUGS ARE "IN"

From time to time, we check statistics from our website to see where you all find us and which pages you like to visit. Would you like to know whose page is in the top 3 of our most popular pages?


Just another day at the office for the innpugs

Our Meet the Innkeepers page is ranked well below the Meet the Innpugs page. Yes, we now have confirmation that Csaba and Bugsy are way more popular than we are, but really, can you blame them? Next thing you know, they'll be on Facebook and Twitter. We can just see their Twitter updates now...

• Going to take a nap
• Just took nap...may take another in 5 min
• Playing with our toys, but wishing we were napping
• Oooh, just heard the humans whispering that we're going for a w-a-l-k (they don't realize we can spell and know what that means, haha!)
• Just Googled Bugsy Pug and our page is listed first!
• Googling makes us so sleepy, going to take a nap
• Eating dinner...getting logy
• Zzzzzzzzz snort snort Zzzzzzzzz

Since the ever popular innpugs are currently napping (seriously), we'd like to remind everyone on their behalf that the Inn on Mill Creek is an Asheville and Black Mountain area pet friendly B&B. Two of our seven rooms welcome our guests traveling with guest pets.

In fact, the entire area is very pet friendly, and in a month or two, many local restaurants with outdoor patio seating will allow you to bring your dog when you dine with them. Some of the stores welcome dogs, too. Additionally, many places like Biltmore Estate, Chimney Rock Park and the North Carolina Arboretum have dog friendly nature trails and are less than 40 minutes from the Inn on Mill Creek. In short, this is a great place to be a dog, even a sleeping one.

THE TUFTED TITMOUSE COMES TO VISIT

Last week, Brigette was outside checking on her Spring bulbs -- willing them to grow faster, of course -- when a little bird flew past and landed in the tree in front of her (above). He headed straight to the birdfeeder and began a 30-second fussy chirpfest, as if to claim the feeder as his own.

The bird is a Tufted Titmouse, and he hung around long enough for our guests, Ron, Angie and Katie, to see (and hear) him when they arrived, and for Brigette to take a few photos. One photo is now on our homepage, and here are some more:


That feeder is mine, mine, mine


Chirp chirp chirp now you see me...


...now you don't


The fussy chirping caught the attention of his buddy

More about the Tufted Titmouse: The Tufted Titmouse is a small gray songbird with dark black eyes, a short gray tuft on top of its head and a black square on its forehead. It lives in the eastern United States and likes the forest. The male and female look the same. Our friend and local birding guide, Wezil Walraven of Wezil Walraven Bird Tours LLC tells us that the Tufted Titmouse stays in our area all four seasons, as opposed to other species that migrate elsewhere during the year. You can learn a lot more about the Tufted Titmouse and listen to its song at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

As a site on the North Carolina Birding Trail, we hope to introduce you to lots of other birds this year. You can learn more about the North Carolina Birding Trail at www.ncbirdingtrail.org.

Birding enthusiasts, be sure to bring your binoculars and camera when you stay with us!

DINING SOLARIUM PROJECT

Our 2009 "Almost Spring" project is almost done! This year, we decided to redecorate the dining solarium, where we serve breakfast in Spring, Summer and Fall. So far, we've added dark walnut chairs, Innkeeper Dave's custom cut tables with glass toppers and white tablecloths, and a new sofa (pictured below), which has been great for relaxing and watching as Mother Nature wakes up the outdoors out of winter's sleep.



Below are a few more photos that we took of the progress. Enjoy!


The chairs arrive! Still waiting on table tops...


The sawdust flies as Dave puts his magic touch on the table tops


View of the dam and water


Almost done!

We have a few finishing touches to add (table toppers, houseplants, etc.) and then we'll be checking this off our 2009 Project to-do list. Can't wait for our guests to have the first breakfast in the "new" solarium!

PAINTERS GREENHOUSE OPENS

Can't wait to get to Painters Greenhouse!

We received great news to share with green thumbed gardeners and plant novices alike: Painters Greenhouse in Old Fort is now open for the season! This is one of our favorite local growers to visit for their wide variety of super healthy shrubs, perenniels, bedding plants, houseplants and more. In fact, we got all the water plants that grace our solarium fishpond from Painters Greenhouse last year.

Painters is open March 1 through June 30, Wednesdays-Sundays, from 9am to 4pm. Here are a few special happenings at the Greenhouse in Spring:

Open House (March 28-29): Browse the spring plants at this celebration event, complete with free refreshments and entertainment.

5th Annual Herb Festival (April 11-12): You can be sure that Brigette will be visiting Painters Greenhouse for this festival, just in time for adding great herbs to the Inn on Mill Creek herb garden.

Mother's Day and Bedding Plant Sale (May 6-17): We guarantee you'll be able to find plenty of flowering and vegetable bedding plants during this sale, plus some of the most beautiful hanging baskets we've seen. Painters really does a creative job with their hanging baskets and planters. It's very tempting to buy more than what can fit in your car.

There's a lot more going on at Painters Greenhouse during the growing season. Check their website at www.paintersgreenhouse.com and click on Current Ads for information. They also have driving directions available on their website. Plus, their photos link is worth browsing if you need a little bit of green garden cheer during this last part of winter.

ROARING SNOWFLAKES

Did your March come in like a lion or a lamb? Our March arrived promptly on the 1st like a beautiful snowy lion, shaking off its mane and raining down enormous snowflakes the size of dimes and quarters, which fell straight down out of the sky, blanketing the ground for a few hours.


View of the Lake House through huge snowflakes

The contrast of white with the evergreens and rhododendrons combined with the dark stillness of our little mountain lake was absolutely spectacular, but unfortunately, was too difficult to capture before the snow had mostly melted away. We did get some of the huge snowflakes on film, as you can see above.

Now that we're heading back to sunny, Spring-like days this week, we're finishing up our solarium project. It's coming together quite nicely! We can't wait to share photos with you later this week, when we'll be reporting on the entire project.