Explore downtown West Jefferson. Just up the road from your hotel lie two blocks of antique stores and boutiques. Be sure to visit North Carolina's only cheese factory, Ashe County Cheese. Right across the street from the factory is the cheese store. Like little Miss Muffet, enjoy some curds (they're fresh when they squeak in your mouth). You may also want to take a scenic, short hike up nearby Mount Jefferson.

Take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the most scenic mountain roads in America. Get on the Parkway where it intersects with 421 (you drove under it on the way up), drive by Grandfather Mountain and over the impressive Lynn Cove Viaduct to Linville. Either come back through Boone or return on the Parkway. Be sure to pack a picnic lunch and take a hike along the way! Here are two maps (map 1, map 2) that may be useful.

Ashe County is home to rare and famous churches of the frescos: St. Mary's Episcopal Church (just down the road from the hotel), and Holy Trinity in Glendale Springs. Artist Ben Long is now internationally known for these religious frescos in Ashe County as well as some Charlotte and Europe.

Up for a canoe trip down the New River? (A state and national Wild and Scenic River and one of the world's oldest rivers.) Check out Zaloo's Canoes.

Boone is the largest city nearby. It even has a mall! You'll find a cute little downtown area, the Daniel Boone Inn and Restaurant, various shops and restaurants, and Appalachian State University. Also nearby is Tweetsie Railroad, where both my Dad and I have lost our lunch after riding the spinning teacups!

And, finally, when you get to the Creek for the wedding, take a few minutes to explore the property. See Daddy's small apple orchard up the hill behind the house. Cross the stream, take a left, and wander through the woods a little. (Watch out for poison ivy!) Go through the trees on the far side of the ceremony site and check out "the beach". If you're brave, go creek stomping back to the house via the Creek. Cross the high bridge on the road, take a left on Old Apple road, and hike down the road which meets up with the old Virginia Creeper railroad grade. For those with enough time, take a right when the road veers uphill from the railroad bed, and visit Ron and Suzanne Joyner's apple orchards on top of the hill.