About a month ago I had the opportunity to go on a road trip with my best friend. I haven't done that since college. Beth Nellis joined Beacham & Company this summer. She is selling real estate in Atlanta, but she also lives in Highlands, NC some of the time. She is selling real estate up there as well. Beacham & Company built a whole new website for real estate in Highlands/Cashiers, and we needed pictures. I was scheduled to go up in the middle of the week and take some photographs. I felt so badly because my best friend Lindley had just broken up with her boyfriend of three years, and I had to leave town. On a whim I said, "hey, why don't you come with me?" She agreed! Girls trip! We drove up to Highlands and took pictures, ate food, drank wine and lived it up at the Old Edwards Inn. I came back feeling refreshed, in love with Highlands, and reminded of why best friends are so important.
While we were there I said, "hey, why don't you write about this for my blog?" She is a much better writer than me, and I knew she would do a great job capturing the feeling of the trip. She did! Without further ado...
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This Writer’s Life: If you’re lucky enough to live in the mountains, you’re lucky enough
Have you ever broken up with someone even though you still loved them?
I did.
Then…I sat on the floor singing the “Bodyguard” soundtrack... singing “I’m Every Woman” to my dog, and thinking I’d probably be alone forever…
The next day, I called Blayne…when she answered, all I said was, “hey… we broke up.” If you’re a girl and you have a best friend, you know those words translate to: “You better do something before I start crying hysterically” … she told me, “Pack you’re things, we’re getting out of town.”…perfect best friend response…
At 8:00 am, the next day, I was ready…wearing a fashionable BCBG jumper…of course, I later decided that it made me look fat (which is why there are no pictures of me actually wearing it), but at the time, I was the cutest broken heart in Buckhead…
With our mouths full of Chick-Fil-A breakfast, we bobbed our heads to the new Phish album all the way up 85N…
When we finally found ourselves curling around the mountain roads, we did what most busy Atlantans would do…we got concerned that we didn’t have cell phone service. Then we tried to call Blayne’s mom to ask what gear we should put the car in…no answer... I asked, “What do these people even do in the mountains?”...
I was about to find out...
Beth Nellis
Next thing we know, we’re in a town full of sensible people who actually wait to hear the answer when they ask you how you’re doing. Beth Nellis met us right away at Old Edwards Inn. I was impressed right off the bat. Her greeting is genuine and you feel like you are the most important…
She believes Highlands, and she made me believe in it, too.
We follow her to a charming house so I can watch Blayne snap some photographs…and I take some pictures of her taking pictures...
Blayne with her camera
Next, we followed Beth to Highland Country Club, where we took photographs of a croquet court and a lovely garden that was just begging for a bride and groom to take pictures there…
Garden at Highlands Country Club
Once Beth cut us loose we grabbed some lunch on the roof of the Old Edwards Inn…i.e. a couple healthy salads that we loved… and a cheese plate that we totally polished off!
Rooftop lunch! If you look closely you can see the top of my jumper!
Notice there is very little cheese left on that plate!
Blayne wanted to go shopping…I wasn’t really in the mood, and by not in the mood I mean I was broke…she bought a few scarves, a striped shirt, and some other stuff for her upcoming Phish shows in Denver…
Blayne had to put on her new scarf RIGHT AWAY!
For dinner, we chose a restaurant known for its Italian (Paolettis), ordered veal and chicken, and then discussed how it must not have been their specialties…don’t worry; we still managed to consume 600 plus weight watchers points and a few glasses of wine…
Clearly the flash did not go off...
The next day before we left, we visited the Bascom, an art center, where we discovered the magic of the striped shirt Blayne bought the day before…and by magic, I mean, it takes 20 lbs off of every person who puts it on…
See how much skinnier Blayne looks in the left photo than the one on the right? MAGIC!
We liked it so much that we drove all the way back into town so I could buy one for myself… as luck would have it, there was only one left, and it was my size!!
Yes!
I’m telling you…that’s just how life is in Highlands…the last one’s always your size, and you always get a great parking spot…
On our way home we made stops at two different waterfalls, drove down a road less traveled, and stopped at a restaurant that has no menu…they just bring you everything…
And then…we sang…
We sang the whole way back, at the top of our lungs, with smiles on our faces …you know you’ve found a best friend for life when you can actually sing without caring how bad you sound…
So, now, I regret asking, “What do these people even in the mountains?”…
I was missing the point… it’s not about what you do… it’s about what you don’t do…
You don’t worry…you don’t feel sad…you don’t think about all the things you should be doing…you don’t think about the person who’s not calling…
Remember that time I broke up with that someone who I still loved?…Me neither…
Take it from me…mountain air makes a weak heart a little stronger… and when you’re up that high, ears popping and all, you have no choice but to find a better perspective…