A Handful of 2012 Celestial Events

 
 
 
 

Mother Nature serves us up a good helping of dark night sky in Pisgah National Forest, thanks to zero street lights on our road and our location two miles within Pisgah National Forest, between two ridgelines that block a lot of the small town night lighting around us. So we like to provide a little calendar each year of what stargazing guests at the Inn on Mill Creek might see, other than the Milky Way (which, by the way, is awesome on a dark clear night flowing across the sky from the Lake House to the Main House).

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Some Garden Brainstorming

We’ve been told our property has been a private property since at least the 1880s — prior to that, it was government land — and the original structure was a little cabin that sat on the pond. The little cabin no longer exists, but the well (with nonworking pump) still does. When we arrived in 2007, growing around the well was some yarrow and a swath of dianthus, both of which we moved to other gardens. We {Brigette} have tried out some different plants, such as lavender and purple coneflower, but we just haven’t found the right combination of flowers for that sunny spot. We’ve planted two dogwoods near the well, so we have spring color covered. We need something for summer and fall, and maybe winter, too…

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2012 Winter Savings on Biltmore Tickets

If Mother Nature’s favorite colors on her paint palette right now are brown tones where you live, look no further for a color {and flower!} fix than Biltmore Estate, the entrance of which is about 20 minutes west of the Inn on Mill Creek. The Biltmore Conservatory, a short walk from Biltmore House, is an indoor oasis, loaded floor to ceiling with trees and tropical plants. Plus, winter is the perfect time to see all of Biltmore’s orchids in bloom, such as the one above. They’re special enough that they get their own room in the Conservatory!

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Geocaching on Vacation

We often say that it’s easy for us innkeepers to have “vacation brain” being in the mountains near Asheville and Black Mountain, North Carolina. The area just has a serene quality to it with an easygoing vibe, laid back people, wonderful restaurants and places to go, and stunningly beautiful scenery such as this view nearby, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway (summertime):

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