A Blast in Boone with the Balcones Babes!

Well...I finally succumbed to the pressure of Mrs. Emily Gentry and decided to create a blog. Actually she set up everything and even knows the password to my blog! Any boring posts can therefore be credited to her!

Since my life is usually not that exciting, Emily persuaded me that this was the perfect time to have an interesting first post since we just returned from Boone, NC! We had a great college roommate reunion with our other roomie Amanda. She is currently finishing up her internship at Appalachian State. Amanda was a great chauffeur and hostess, and I am so glad that I got a chance to see God's wonderful creations in North Carolina!

Here is a small recap of the weekend's events!

Friday (June 20, 2008):

We left super duper early on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. Emily and I got to encounter a smelly fellow passenger and a nasty telephone located in the seatback in from of us. Other than that, it was a smooth flight into North Carlina. As Amanda was driving us to Boone, I pulled out the crazy mixed tape I had made just for our roomie reunion. Here are a few of my favorite selections on my crazy mixed tape that remind me the most of A&M and my roomies:

• "Cowboy (or Corps Boy) Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks
• "Barlow Girls" by Superchick
• "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer
• "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog
• "Redneck Girl" by the Bellamy Brothers
• "A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion
• "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys (dance included!)

Saturday (June 21, 2008):

Amanda and Emily let me fulfill my dream of visiting Mayberry! We headed out to Mount Airy, NC, Andy Griffith's hometown. It was no surprise that Main Street in Mount Airy is very similar to Main Street in Mayberry. I was a little worried that Mount Airy wouldn't be as perfect as I thought when we passed a tattoo parlor and tanning bed salon! Nobody in Mayberry would be so vain!

My roomies let me search for wonderful Andy Griffith paraphernalia at many of local shops. We then headed to Opie's Sweet Shop and got lots of fun bulk candy. We then saw the Darling house with a moonshine bottle on the front porch! I was waiting for Ernest T. Bass to be chasing Charlene Darling out in front of the house! Only true Andy Griffith fans will understand what I am talking about! We got to see the Mayberry jail where we were locked up for a few minutes. There was already a line for the Mayberry Squad Car tour at Wally's Garage, so we didn't get to hear all of the behind the scenes information about Mayberry. Darn those NASCAR dressed people who beat me to the squad car tour line! I don't think they were true Andy Griffith aficionados! I left Mayberry with a sweet picture of Andy, Barney, and Opie, a Mayberry coffee mug, and a swell Aunt Bee's cookbook. What more could a girl ask for?!? FYI: my favorite Andy Griffith episode of all time is "The Pickle Story" where Aunt Bee has a fiasco with making pickles for the county fair!

Sunday (June 22, 2008):

We headed out to Asheville to fulfill Emily's dream of seeing the Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore is America's largest privately owned home. It was built in 1895 and is just amazing! We took a behind the scenes tour and got to see much of the "high tech" amenities that the Biltmore offered for back in the day!! Everything was so fancy around the Biltmore! The McDonald's across the street had a piano, fireplace, and even fresh flowers on every table!

Monday (June 23, 2008):

The roomies and I headed out for a short hike to see a waterfall along the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. It was so peaceful and beautiful!! I also got to see more Christmas Tree farms along the way!

It was then time to head back to Charlotte for our flight home. What a wonderful reunion I had with my roomies! I love these girls who laugh at my stupid jokes and listen to my crazy stories! We will hopefully get to see each other more as Amanda is marrying Mr. Kent Morgan in November! I know that he is a wonderful man since he is an even larger aficionado of the Andy Griffith Show than I am!

Well...I hope I haven't bored people to tears. Stay tuned for my life's crazy journeys and random thoughts!!

PS...I am SO frustrated with the picture posting! It keeps giving me an error! I will post pics after my roomies help me figure this whole thing out!!