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Boone
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BOONE
is the most obvious northern base for exploring the mountains; the town itself holds little of interest, though as home to the Appalachian State University it does have a life of its own. On campus, just off Hwy-321, the small
Appalachian Cultural Museum
(Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; $2, free Tues) gives a good overview of the area, concentrating on suchmountain pastimes as music, storytelling, stock-car racing and making moonshine whiskey. Corny family entertainments dot US-321 - the three-mile steam-driven Tweetsie Railroad, which also has other attractions, is all that remains of a line across the mountains to Johnson City, Tennessee (summer-fall daily 9am-6pm; $22) - while pretty back roads hold offbeat settlements such as
Valle Crucis
on US-194, where the 1883 Mast General Store (summer Mon-Sat 7am-6.30pm, Sun 1-6pm; winter hours vary) is well worth a look around.
Local public transportation is dire, so you'll need a
car
to get here and around. The
visitor center
is downtown at 208 Howard St (tel 828/264-2225 or 1-800/852-9506,
). Bargain central
accommodation
can be had at the
Boone Trail Motel
, 275 E King St (tel 828/264-8839; $50-75). The
High Country Inn
, 1785 Hwy-105 (tel 828/262-0073 or 1-800/334-5605,
; $75-100), is a clean motel with a decent cafAŠ and a sports bar, while the
Cat Pause Inn
, 2044 Broadstone Rd, Valle Crucis (tel 828/963-7297,
; $75-100), is great value. Back in Boone, the
Lovill House Inn
at 404 Old Bristol Rd (tel 704/264-4204 or 1-800/849-9466,
; $100-130) is a pleasant
B&B
. Most of the best places to
eat
or to have a beer are along King Street; the
Caribbean CafAŠ
, 489 W King St (tel 828/265-2233), serves good, spicy food including vegetarian dishes; and the gourmet pizzas, pasta and Mexican food at the
Red Onion CafAŠ
, 227 Harden St (tel 828/264-5470), are favorites among locals. For great vegetarian food and energizing smoothies try
Angelica's
, 506 W King St (tel 828/265-0809). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United States,
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