Solar Eclipse Option - Blowing Rock, NC

Every town needs a legend, especially in times when the moon comes creeping across the sun, and the ancient stories come alive.

Nature dealt Blowing Rock a legend in the making. Location, location, location. Chickasaw chief's daughter falls in love with a Cherokee brave. Courtship follows. Distraught over having to leave her, he jumps from the rock to the canyon below. Grief stricken, she prays that he be restored. She returns over and over to the rock, where one day, her prayers are answered. The wind blows him back into her arms. Now a wind blows eternally, perhaps even more so when the sun dies a slow death. 

Okay, enough of that. Blowing Rock is a mere thirty minute drive from my house, and has the making not only of a legend, but of unbelievable eclipse viewing possibilities.

The blowing rock

The view from the rock

So what if the blockage percentage is a paltry 96.5. With views like this, how could anyone complain. Besides there's Canyons, a restaurant on the next curve beyond the rock that has a variety of meal selections.

Not only that, it has an outdoor seating area overlooking the Linville Gorge, and toward another direction, the Johns River Gorge, which is near my home. 

My Florida friend, Sara capturing the view.

This is certainly a contender for spending my afternoon gazing at the sky. With my special eclipse glasses protecting me, craning my neck won't be such an issue. I'll almost be parallel with the sun!

But I'll keep on searching.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen