Gift Giving

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Gift giving in the High Country

MAKAELAH WALTERS

As the holiday season approaches, a spirit of giving settles on the High Country. Visitors frequent the area, seeking out special gifts for loved ones. From clothing to home goods and specialty foods, the High Country’s several downtown areas offer visitors a walkable shopping experience.

Blowing Rock is known for its convenient downtown area, interspersed with stores such as High Country Candles. Recognized by Southern Living magazine as a must-visit shop, the shop allows visitors to watch as wonderful wax creations are made in-store. The candles make for a perfect handmade gift for candle lovers.

Downtown Boone is also a fabulous place to walk around and explore the various stores, from artisan markets to boutique clothing stores. The downtown area is the place to be on the first Friday of each month, as patrons stroll from shop to shop for the monthly Art Crawl. For art lovers on a budget, the town’s Curio Art Vending machines offer an affordable way to purchase locally made prints. The machines dispense artwork from local artists in exchange for coins. Visitors can check out Curio Art Vending Machines, located in Boone’s restaurants and cafes, including Tapp Room and Espresso News.

The route from Boone to Banner Elk is lined with antique stores, where guests can find one-of-a-kind home goods and vintage decor perfect for the holidays.

Other places to find fun goods include the wonderfully refurbished downtown area in West Jefferson in nearby Ashe County.

Between Boone and Banner Elk, the beautiful valley known as Valle Crucis is marked by the Watauga River. There, at 3565 Hwy. 194 S., Sugar Grove, is the original Mast General Store. The store, first opened in the 1800s is a trip back

PHOTO SUBMITTED At High Country Candles, staff create unique hand-sculptured wax creations. They also make and carry tri-color candles, scented pillar candles, a wide variety of highly scented jar and votive candles, as well as non-drip and smokeless taper candles.

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in time. Mast General Store’s inventory has stayed the same throughout the years; offering candies and sundry items of old. Just down the road, the Mast Store Outlet,offers similar items at a specialty prices. A sister Mast General Store, located on King Street, is an anchor of Boone’s downtown area.

The Boone Mall, located at 1180 Blowing Rock Road, and the Tanger Outlet Mall, located at 278 Shoppes on the Parkway Road, Suite 33 in Blowing Rock, offer a traditional shopping experience with clothing and jewelry stores like Belk and Rack Room Shoes.

For cheese lovers, choose from a variety of gourmet cheeses made locally right here in the High Country. Ashe County Cheese makes its home-spun brand in West Jefferson, while on the other end of the High Country, near natural attractions Linville Falls, Linville Gorge and Linville Caverns, English Farmstead Cheese Shop craft a variety of dairy products.

The dairy farm has been in the same family for six generations and it is designated a Century Family Farm by the N.C. Department of Agriculture. Known for the cheddar and more, the home farm store is open Fridays and Saturdays at 10 a.m. English Farmstead Cheese can also be found at Maw’s Produce found at 7918 NC-105 in Boone.

FILE PHOTO The Spice & Tea Exchange offers a variety of tools, kitchen utensils, books and goodies, perfect for gift giving.

PHOTO SUBMITTED Jerky Outpost, located at the Tanger Shoppes on the Parkway in Blowing Rock, offers the largest and best selection of craft jerky in the High Country. PHOTO BY CHAMIAN CRUZ A large variety of candies are among the different giftable items offered at the Mast General Store.