© Louise Lindsay 2017 Many Mountain Air residents saw the partial eclipse from Mountain Air, and others traveled to nearby places to experience the total eclipse. Mountain Air's Outdoor Discovery Center chartered a bus and took a large group to Clemson University. Louise and Steve coincidentally also stopped at Clemson University on their drive up to Mountain Air from Key Largo, FL. It turned dark, and the cicadas started chirping.
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For those looking for something different to do, try a Friday or Saturday night of star gazing in one of the few dark sky locations. The Bare Dark Sky Observatory is located at the Mayland Earth to Sky Park in Yancey County, very close to Mountain Air. The address is: 66 Energy Exchange Dr, Burnsville, NC 28714. It offers a 360 degree view. People can view the moon, planets and stars through the 34" diameter Sam Scope, as well as the smaller planetary telescope. Or you can simply appreciate the dark night sky. The Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina have stood as silent witnesses to the uninterrupted, nightly rain of starlight for nearly a half-billion years, but artificial light now threatens this nightly show. In honor of notable local efforts to preserve the natural nighttime landscape of western North Carolina, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) designated the Mayland Earth to Sky Park and Observatory as the first IDA-certified Star Park in the southeastern United States. The Mayland Earth to Sky Park and Bare Dark Sky Observatory is open to the public many Friday and Saturday nights. More information and tickets are available here. Brian Gurl has played at Mountain Air in the past. Now his new show is at the Diana Wortham Theatre. Tickets are available here.
International award-winning pianist/vocalist Katherine Alexandra takes on renowned American piano powerhouse Brian Gurl in this innovative production. Performing an eclectic and vividly entertaining fusion of classical, pop, jazz & ethnic folk genres, with shades of Victor Borge. Together with Grammy Award winning bassist Eliot Wadopian and drummer Byron Hedgepeth, Moscow Meets Manhattan takes you “Around The World in 88 Keys” - performing repertoire from Argentina, Spain, Hungary, Russia and America. This diverse duo skillfully compliment and playfully challenge each other on both one and two pianos - enhanced by lush vocal duets, Brian’s virtuoso melodica playing and an engaging rapport with the audience. From Ragtime to Rachmaninoff, Billy Joel to Broadway and Gypsy Folk to The Tango, MMM - Dueling Pianos Plus is a first class act in a fun-filled package. © Louise Lindsay 2017 No, this was not taken at Mountain Air. Most years I am at Mountain Air for the Perseid meteor showers in mid-August. Kat, our naturalist, always has a great program on the runway at the top of the mountain. It's a great place to view the meteors. But this year, I am still in Key Largo. It is also a great place to view the meteor shower. The streaks here are star trails, as this image was created from tons of images stacked together, taken over 40 minutes. The stars move and create these beautiful star trails. The horizontal streak across the image toward the bottom may be a plane that crossed my path, rather than a meteor. But maybe it's a meteor.
The meteor showers are still active tomorrow night, 8/13/17. Be sure to look up at the sky if you are awake at night. Nearby Asheville is always winning awards and making many different top 10 lists. A recent Country Living article ranks Asheville #1, among the top ten coziest cities! Enjoy a visit to Asheville, perhaps to one of their great restaurants, or breweries, to an art gallery, for some bluegrass music, or check out all the many Asheville activities on our helpful Links page.
We have the best location in the world here at the Heritage Ridge Villas. We are an easy 35 minute 4 lane highway drive from Asheville. But we gain 1500 ft. in elevation along the short trip. That means we have much cooler summer temperatures than Asheville. Every one of our villas has amazing long range views, as we are nestled on a ridge top with views to the east and the west sometimes. We have our own on site hiking trails and all the amenities of Mountain Air, including restaurants, a spa and swimming pool, tennis courts and golf, But lovely Asheville beckons whenever we are up for trying a new restaurant, seeing the latest movie, or attending one of the world class festivals that call Asheville home. © Louise Lindsay Old cars, of all sorts. The police chief and his wife, from a local small town, And the "burn out" contest at the Poplar Car Show. Photos © Louise Lindsay For those who are old car fans, or who simply love old time Appalachian parties, check out the Poplar Car Show, coming up on August 27, 2017. Louise Lindsay and her husband and their two poodles have enjoyed these shows in the past and hope to attend this year. Louise had a lot of fun practicing "street photography" at a prior trip to the Poplar Car show and shares some of her photos with us. Poplar is out in the middle of no where, but not too far from Mountain Air. There is a huge field, full of old cars. Then there is the local "burn-out" contest, where cars compete to spin their wheels and see who can create the most "smoke and burn". There are food concessions with "funnel cake" and all sorts of Appalachian specialties. This show is mostly for mountain locals, but is very welcoming of guests. It is a beautiful drive through the country to get there. We get to wake up in our beautiful condos with their long range views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We get to enjoy our lovely summer coolness brought by our 4,000 ft. in altitude. But at our finger tips, adventures await. A short drive to Asheville brings us all the restaurants and riches of city life. And a drive through the country brings us the Poplar car show, the world class arts and crafts at Penland School of Crafts, and all sorts of theater, concerts, and literary events very nearby. Or we can stay put on our mountain all day, enjoy our local hiking trails, eat in our lovely Mountain Air restaurants, and rock on our back or front porches, after a lovely massage at our Mountain Air spa, or a relaxing yoga class, or tennis game, or round of golf. A homeowner, Carol, sent us this beautiful image. How lucky we are! We get to wake up every morning to this long range mountain view from our condos. And then we are only a 35 minute drive to nearby Asheville, and yet we are in the high mountains, with more altitude and the lovely coolness that comes with it. On mornings like this one in the image, we are also gifted with glorious views of cloud inversions, drifting through the mountain ranges. In this image, and from our living areas, bedrooms, and back porches, we get to look out on the glorious Black Mountain range. Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak (6,684') in the Eastern U.S. is part of this amazing range. And then, more gifts. We are only a 10 min. drive to our lovely local village, Burnsville, where there is ample shopping, and all the artists and crafts you could want.
Many events are occurring around Mountain Air in June and early July. For those of you wanting to take some artistic workshops, checkout the new schedule at the world class and nearby Penland School of Crafts. There are workshops in clay, and in journal making, as well as photography and painting. The world class Carolina Mountains Literary Festival is in September, but the time to get tickets for the banquet and keynote address is now. They usually sell out quickly. This year the Sept. 8 keynote address is by Ronni Lundy, author of Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, winner of the 2017 James Beard Award, Best American Cookbook as well as Book of The Year. You can contact them directly at: cmlitfest@gmail.com Volunteers are also always needed. June means the rhododendrons are in bloom on Roan mountain, and all over Mountain Air also. There are many concerts and festivities scheduled at Roan Mountain over the next few weeks. Be sure to check them out. The phone number is 423-772-0190.
The annual Toe River Arts Council Studio Tour is scheduled for June 2-4, Pick up maps for the self-guided tour at TRAC in Burnsville, or at various places around the village. More information available, and maps for the tour, at Toe River Arts website. If you want to type in the website yourself for security reasons, it is ToeRiverArtsDotOrg. The artists' studios are all around Mountain Air and Yancey County. You can pick and choose which studios you go to. For those who have never been before, prepare to be awed. We have several world class artists right here in Yancey County. And there often are very good prices offered special for the studio tours.
Sallie sent in this delightful image of her grandchildren, during an earlier visit to Mountain Air. So precious!
Sallie sent in this picture of the beautiful rime ice that formed around the Heritage Ridge Villas and all of Mountain Air. She also sent in some older pictures of past snow. She got to see the rime ice, but left before this recent snow came through. Those of you staying at Mountain Air hopefully enjoyed the beautiful snow. Some of us are in Florida enjoying sunshine! But we miss the beautiful snow and rime ice also. One picture of the "storm" rolling in to Key Largo is below. The water is usually Caribbean blue, not muddy brown, and still, not full of white caps and waves. When snow or heavy weather hits NC, Florida usually feels a tiny echo of the storm. Key Largo, FL, today, with our windy storm, left, and on a more typical day, right. May everyone enjoy their holidays, on or off the mountain. Jan/Louise and Steve send another image to everyone from Florida, wishing all happy holidays. We send a special warm welcome to the new residents of D4, who are about to discover all the riches of living in the Heritage Ridge Villas and Mountain Air community. I think that they are from Florida also, so they will appreciate these Florida holiday wishes.
Sue and Rick sent in these pictures of their family, enjoying the decorated trees at Mountain Air, and hanging out with Santa and the Mrs. But they will be at their home in California for the immediate holidays.
Some Heritage Ridge Villas residents spend the holidays in other parts of the country. Louise (Jan) sends everyone her family's greetings from Key Largo, FL.
Several Heritage Ridge Villas families participated in creating gingerbread houses and holiday decorations. It's not clear who had more fun - the children, their parents, or their grandparents! There are always plenty of activities year round at Mountain Air.
Several of our villa residents were at Heritage Ridge and Mountain Air for Thanksgiving. The feast at Mountain Air Country Club was reportedly fabulous. After the big meal, everyone needed some exercise. Our resident naturalist, Kat, guided a lovely morning moon walk. Several of our residents attended. Many intersting creatures make an apearance around the Heritage ridge Villas area. Sallie took the following pictures of deer, of an adolescent bear, and of a racoon. We all have seen many deer around the mountain this year. The nearby 18th hole often is visited by deer crossing the fairway. Bears seem to be a bit shier but also make their appearances.
Sallie sent in a picture of her granddaughter enjoying Halloween and fall crafts at Chautauqua. There are so many activities for children and grandchildren at Mountain Air!
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