I missed first tracks yet again because SOME resorts just won’t post their updates early enough. So I made the sacrifice for you guys, yet again. Anyway I finished the morning updates and stories and I’m off to the slopes at 9:30am. Some of our group decided to make first tracks and ski down to the Boat House for some delicious Belgian Waffles. That is a wonderful little excursion in itself. Ski down to the bottom of the Ballhooter Lift, click off your skis and have breakfast at The Boat House. The Boat House is located literally right ON the edge of a frozen Shavers Lake which is awesome all by itself. However, once you enter into this beautiful little timberframe structure and catch the smells of sausage, bacon, waffles, blueberries and more…you KNOW you’re in for a treat. You really HAVE to make this one of your things to do while on YOUR ski trip. They also are open for lunch which makes for a great break between runs.
I finally hit the slopes at about 10:30 or so with Carrigan, my 10 year old, Kenyon, a friend of hers…and my four year old daughter, Madison. This is Madison’s third season skiing and she was doing well skiing down most any terrain…as long as I keep the tips of her skis together with duct tape. Yes Duct Tape! At four years old, even though the talent might be there, the leg strength isn’t. There are plastic tips that some ski shops sell that slide over the tips of skis that perform this same function, but I found that duct tape did the same thing. Hey, if it will hold Nascar vehicles together at nearly 200mph, it will hold a four year old skier doing 1.5mph!
Anyway, after two successful runs down the slopes, we decided she was doing so well that we pulled the duct tape. That was akin to pulling tape from the front of a race car to get more air to the engine – or so I thought. Anyway, from that moment on she blew my doors off, skiing from top to bottom, including some rather steep terrain…hooking up multiple "S" turns and giggling the whole way down. The two ten year olds were bored to tears with our efforts and kept themselves occupied by racing each other.
We stopped at 12:30 for lunch. This particular day we made the plans at Foxfire Grill and we were fortunate enough to get there without too much of a wait! Brian and his staff have a great selection of southern favorites including about anything you could want with barbecue in it. I have tried the Hunk O’ Hunk of Barbecue Sandwich (or SAMMICH as they call it) and it is great if you aren’t looking to ski anymore in the afternoon. This time around I had the Chipotle Chicken Sammich, which comes with fries and a fried pickle. That and a couple of brews later and we were headed back to the room. After a very brief stopover, we were headed out to the slopes. It always amazes me how different conditions can be from morning to afternoon. This afternoon was very cloudy with temps in the upper 30s and the snow was nice and soft. We did a few runs down Knotbumper and headed over to Widowmaker for another few runs. The lift lines were amazingly light with no more than 5-10 minute waits. I have to say that I have NEVER enjoyed skiing as much as I have this week. Part of it is the aforemention fact that all my girls are now skiing unassisted; part of it is probably the Atomic SX-10s I’m skiing, and part of it is the fact that the Snowshoe mountain ops have really done a phenomenal job of making and preparing the snow. About 3:30 or so it began to snow again and we skied until they closed the slopes.
Just as we got back into our suite the snow really began to fall and left us with a light dusting. This place rocks.
After a little time relaxing, we decided to meet up with friends and have dinner at a great little family dining restaurant at the bottom of the mountain. Today’s been my day to give out little suggestions or "secrets" as to how to the most enjoyment from a Snowshoe Mountain vacation, and here’s one more. At the bottom of Snowshoe’s main entrance road, take a right and go maybe a mile and on the left, right beside the Ski Barn is a GREAT little restaurant called "Elihu’s" (pronounced ell-e-hues) and it is operated by Gillian McGinn, who used to manage Auntie Pasta’s, which was a favorite dining spot at the top of the mountain a couple of years ago. Elihu’s offers a GREAT, family-style meal. After dining on all of the fancy food fare up top, it does a body good to get some good old cooking in you; the kind like mom would make you eat. This particular night Elihu’s offered all-you-can-eat tender turkey, dressing, macaroni & cheese, green beans, sausage & peppers, corn, tasty bread and a nice salad. Oh yea, save some room for your choice of one of her homemade desserts. The atmosphere is very casual…and you’ll thank me for this little suggestion!
After pigging out, we drove back up the mountain and hit the room for a little television and some relaxation…and called it a night.
See you on Day Five…
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