Thursday, July 23, 2009

Time Standing Still

My little fella hiking up the mountain


Are they a Keen's commercial or what?



Do you ever return to places where you had wonderful childhood memories only to find that it looks nothing like you remember it? Where there was once woods, there is now a new subdivision with cookie-cutter homes? Where there was once an old General Store that sold gumballs and gobstoppers for 10 cents each, there is now a drive-thru Starbucks? Where there were once old cottages that didn't have air conditioning but had great big porches, there are now multi-million dollar homes that you could never afford to rent? Montreat, NC is one of the few places that looks almost the exact same as I remembered over twenty years ago.

Somehow it has managed to remain untouched by the McDonalds, Starbucks and commercial development that I am used to seeing when I visit a place after several years. It is a tiny town nestled in the Appalachian mountains, remains relatively inexpensive, has great activities for all ages and is absolutely serene. You can use the potters wheel to make coffee mugs, go rock-hopping in the creeks, hiking in the mountains and canoeing in the rivers. We used to go to Montreat every summer for a couple of weeks and my mother would let us all loose to roam around this little mountain town. And now, many years later, my sisters and I are continuing the tradition as we take our children hiking up Look Out Mountain.

http://www.townofmontreat.org/

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