A Day in Blue Ridge at Huck's General Store

Yesterday we walked through Blue Ridge to enjoy all the shops while most of the people were at the Festival in the Park. Taylor wanted to gem-mine at Huck's General Store, so we decided to have some fun. What an education we received! Brett, the store owner, is such an enthusiastic "teacher" and just an all-round personable guy. There was hardly anyone there, so we had his full attention, not to mention an amazing education in the art of gem-mining. For $25 you can buy a large bucket of dirt which contains REAL hidden gems - this comes directly from Franklin, NC, the gem mining capital of the world. Brett has devised an amazingly authentic system for gem mining, that is the next best thing than going to Franklin for beautiful gems! He has a sign outside that says, "WARNING: Gem-mining can be addictive", and boy, is he right! The excitement you get from each scoop of dirt being poured into your wooden box to sift through, never knowing what beautiful authentic gems you might unearth, is like opening a present time and again until the bucket is empty. Taylor walked away with beautiful garnets, emeralds, tiger's eyes, large crystals, a sapphire, among other beauties.

In addition to gem-mining, your $25 buys you a round of Putt-Putt in a uniquely designed rustic space. The design for the course is from Donald Trump's Apprentice show, and it's more challenging than it looks! Brett and Company have a great thing going on at Huck's General Store. At our house, Brett's known as Uncle Huck! A treasure trove for ALL ages awaits you at the General Store. Besides such WONDERFUL merchandise, the camaraderie and fellowship rings from the days of yore - just good old-fashioned friendliness and warmth.

After browsing through several shops and chatting with shop owners, we decided to call it a day....until Travis heard the train from the distance. As we were walking to our car, we crossed the tracks and saw the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway's headlight approaching closer and closer. Stopping right at the edge of the tracks, Travis got a fabulous thrill! Already an avid lover of trains, this was icing on the cake for him! He was completely mesmerized as the train passed by - awed by the "bigness" of the locomotive, the cars, the loud blowing of the horn- so much so that he couldn't bring himself to wave at all the passengers as he usually does from our river cabins when we're over there. The look on his face was priceless after the train passed - such a great thrill for him, and for us!

A lovely little memory we made for our children - a great joy of parenthood.