Boone NC “Heart of the High Country”

Town of Boone North Carolina
Boone is tourist and college town atop the Appalachian Mountains and home of Appalachian State University Mountaineers Football Champions. The tourist town is located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway and resides in Watauga County. The area is known for its high country attractions, outdoor recreation, fall leaf colors, shopping, real estate retirement, hotels, family fun, festivals and events, arts and crafts, art galleries, performing arts, restaurants, cultural heritage, scenic blue ridge parkway overlooks, skiing, whitewater rafting, winter activities, choose and cut, vacation rentals, local parks, and waterfalls. If you are looking for adventure and things to do in the mountains this is the ideal place to start looking. Boone has something for everyone at every age and is hours from major cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, Johnson City, Bristol, and Winston Salem. Boone offers its residents and visitors a four-season playground for sports and outdoor activities. Boone is recognized by travel journalists as an “ultimate outdoor adventure destination” in the Southeast. It is also home to Appalachian State University, the Appalachian Regional Medical Center, scores of businesses, large and small as well as tourist attractions and a progressive school system consistently ranked for its excellence.

The Town of Boone has the highest elevation of 3,300 feet of any town of its size east of the Mississippi River. During summer, high temperatures in Boone are typically 76°F or below, noticeably cooler than the lowland areas to the east and south. Summers are also considerably cooler than most parts of the Carolinas. Winters are colder with sleet and snowfall common.

Just outside of Boone within a 5-30 minute drive by car are a variety of state and national attractions in the High Country. For family fun visit North Carolina’s original family theme park Tweetsie Railroad, the state’s very first golf course, Linville Golf Club, the state’s oldest travel attraction since 1933 The Blowing Rock, the state’s only public caverns Linville Caverns, the nation’s oldest Revolutionary War drama Horn in the West, and the world’s first privately-owned nature and wildlife preserve Grandfather Mountain .

 

Appalachain State University Mountaineers Football
Appalachian State Univeristy “The Mountaineers” Football Team has won three consecutive National Championships in 2005, 2006, 2007, The Mountaineers are the first FCS team to win three straight national championships since the playoffs began in 1978. The Mountaineers 1-AA Football Program are the first in history to beat a Division 1-A fifth ranked Michigan 34-32 on September 1st 2007. If you have chance to attend a game its well worth it. Attendance can range from 25,000 to 33, 000 fans and students, the roar of the crowd is amazing as they get behind their football team on every play. These days tickets are hards to come by so if your lucky enough to attend a game never leave early. The Appalachian Mountaineers are a 2nd half team and 90 percent of the time come back if they are down in point to win the game,making it an exciting experience. When visiting Boone take a drive over to Appalachian State University, the home of 3 time NCAA and 5 time SoCon Champions.

Downtown Boone North Carolina
Located in the Heart of the North Carolina High Country, Boone offers historic interest, mixed with the college life of Appalachian State University. Enjoy our festivals, including our monthly Art Crawl, Easter Egg-Stravaganza, July 4th Parade and Merchant Crawl, The Kraut Creek festival in late September, Halloween, topping the year off with our Christmas Parade of Lights. Downtown Boone epitomizes the traditional small town atmosphere. Downtown Boone is a great variety of busineess such as restaurants, Art lovers of all ages are invited to visit our art gallerys, restaurants and boutiques the 1st Friday of each month for our art crawl.

Daniel Boone Days Music & Cultural Festival
Every year the town pays homage to it’s founder and namesake at the Daniel Boone Days Music and Cultural Festival. A festival that celebrates his pioneering spirit with local and national touring bands, an educational symposium featuring award-winning authors and historians, living history, Fess Parker wine dinners, a World Record attempt, fun & games, children’s activities and more High Country-imbued fun and hospitality than you can shake a stick at.

An Appalachain Music Festival
An Appalachian Summer Festival is a multi- and inter-disciplinary arts festival presenting and producing programs in music, theatre, dance, film and visual arts. The festival will forge a unique national identity through artistic excellence, innovative programming, commissioning new works, and educational opportunities. By bringing the most accomplished and respected creative and performing artists from around the world to Appalachian State University, the festival supports the overall university mission, enhances the cultural life of the Appalachian community, and serves as an important gateway onto the campus. Presented by the Appalachian State University Office of Arts & Cultural Programs, the annual arts celebration is held every July on and around the university campus, and features an astonishingly diverse mix of music, dance, theatre and visual arts. While many of its artists are world-renowned, this distinctive arts celebration also prides itself on presenting new art forms, new works and emerging artists whose names may not be instantly recognizable, but who many festival fans claim have created some of their most memorable moments, both on its stages and in its galleries. The festival’s commitment to developing ensemble performances across disciplines, shaped by collaborations among artists of all disciplines, has catapulted it to national prominence.In keeping with its status as a university-based arts program, the festival continually seeks to enlighten and educate—a focus reflected in such initiatives as the festival’s discounts for children’s tickets and community outreach programs, in which young people are exposed to performances, demonstrations and presentations by artists in partnership with area schools.

Daniel Boone Native Gardens
Daniel Boone Native Gardens openign in the summer of 1966 offers a collection of native North Carolina plants in an informal landscaped design set amid 6 acres for education and preservation. The wrought iron gates were made by Daniel Boone VI a direct descendant of the great pioneer Daniel Boone. Weather permitting, the gardens are open daily from May 1 to October 15 and on weekends in October from 10am to 6pm. June 15 to August 15, they remain open until 8pm. Admission is $2 for visitors 16 and older.

Spring: Dog Tooth Violet, Trillium, Bloodroot
Summer: Flame Azalea
Fall: Orange, yellow, scarlet leaves on trees

Horn in the West-Oldest Revolutionary War drama
Boone is also home to Horn in the West, the nation’s oldest Revolutionary War drama, bringing to life the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone and the hearty mountain settlers in their struggle to preserve their freedom during the turbulent years of the War for Independence. The drama highlights those settlers who came to the Blue Ridge Mountains seeking freedom and escape from British tyranny. Dr Geoffrey Stuart, a prominent British physician, comes to the Colony of Carolina to study the dreaded disease smallpox, bringing his wife, Martha, and their teenage son, Jack. In May of 1771, a band of colonists who call themselves “Regulators” take up arms against the British authorities. After being soundly defeated at the battle of Alamance, the band of ragtag rebels is captured, along with Jack Stuart, who fought alongside the Regulators during the battle. Dr Stuart must find a way to rescue his son and save his family name.

 

Mast General Store
Widely recognized as a historical landmark and becoming a houselhold name to vactioners, The Mast General Store has nine locations all over the high country, including the original store located in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. The Mast General Store is a modeled after the general store concept from the 1800s when mountain settlers came to rely on general stores to keep them in touch and supplied. Since 1883, Mast General Store has played a key role in the community surrounding Valle Crucis its original store in a rural community. The Mast General Store sells commodities, such as old-time hearth and home goods, outdoor clothing and gear, footwear, work clothes, old-fashioned wind-up toys, regional books and music, honey, and more than 500 varieties of old-fashioned candy.