The third day of our family vacation began with a hike at Carvers Gap!
Ryan and I have completed this hike twice in the past (it’s a rather long day-trip from Charlotte, but totally worth it) and were excited to bring my sister and brother-in-law and our two dogs out for a chilly and windy hike on the Appalachian Trail!
We arrived at the trail head nice and early and didn’t see anyone on the trails for a solid hour which was a bit unusual, as this is a popular hiking spot. It was neat to have the trails to ourselves and we had a great time hiking, chatting and watching the dogs romp around and have the time of their lives.
We ended up completing a 5-mile out and back hike on The Balds, a series of treeless mountaintops that offer expansive panoramic views of the Appalachian Mountains.
I love this hike so much because you’re able to soak up gorgeous mountain views the entire time you’re hiking. It’s gorgeous and I’m so glad we had the chance to do it with Leslie and Ross!
Since the trail was a little ways from the house we rented in Banner Elk, we didn’t make it back until close to lunchtime. We thanked my parents for watching Chase and grabbed a quick shower when we arrived home.
Before moving onto the next activity, my mom requested a family photo for my parents’ holiday cards, so we snapped a few with the help of Ross’ tripod before heading out to lunch.
(We realized we all randomly packed plaid shirts and I suggested we all wear plaid and channel How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days and look like a “little plaid family” for the photos. Haha!)
The Fagan crew upped their game and went for a double whammy: Plaid and vests. (Cheesy coordination champs right here!)
After family photos were complete, we made the short drive into downtown Boone for lunch at Our Daily Bread.
We dug into soup, salads and sandwiches (the curry pumpkin soup stole the show) before walking across the street to browse around Mast General Store.
The store had everything from outdoor apparel and equipment to kitchenware and souvenirs but we were most interested in the barrel candy! We loaded up on a variety of candy from the barrels that managed to last us through the week. I drooled over some of my favorite candies that I haven’t had in years and made sure to add them to our stash. (Anyone else a fan of the melt-in-your-mouth delicious Ice Cubes chocolate squares?)
With our big bag of candy in tow, we headed off on our next adventure and stopped by Grandfather Trout Farm to do some fishing.
We used worms and corn as bait and did our best to fish for rainbow trout we hoped to eat for dinner. The fish weren’t biting like we anticipated and it ended up taking more finesse than we thought to catch a few!
Chase seemed to have fun at the trout farm, mainly because the activity meant he could spend time outside with his grandma!
This little boy loves looking at leaves, trees and the sky. He’s an outdoor dude already!
We left with five large trout and ended up grilling them for dinner and had enough leftover for lunch the next day, too. It was a great way to cap off the third day of our mountain vacation!
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Aw, I absolutely LOVE the family pictures! They are really beautiful! My favorite barrel candy is definitely saltwater taffy… Yum!
Ahhh so beyond beautiful (the scenery AND your family!) I’ve never even considered fall travel, but I certainly will in future. What a gorgeous time to be away with family. Loving these recaps!! 🙂
What cute family photos! Which totally reminds me that we need to get on ours.
I just read a book to my class about the Appalachian Trail and seeing your pictures makes me want to visit even more. Gorgeous views!
Where did you get your vest, Julie? I love it!!
I got it in a Stitch Fix box but the brand is Splendid! Here it is online –> http://bit.ly/1OHUoWf …, but I also saw it on sale for cheaper on Ruelala a few weeks ago!
Haha love the plaid! I need some for William!
Good morning Julie!
Wow looks like such a fun family trip, and the Christmas card photo turned out so great. You’ve reminded me that I need to bust out our tripod to take ours soon! I’m loving that you all brought plaid too, hah!
Glad you enjoyed the time with your family and got to partake in some fun outdoor activities and enjoy some awesome food. I’m keeping this day trip in mind when we move to Charlotte next year1 🙂
Have a great day!
Christina
aw! love that close up of Chase! and of course love the flannel vest family coordination! 🙂
Loving these recaps! Makes me want to schedule a family vacation to the mountains! The family pictures are great! Love the plaid!
Beautiful photos of your family! When I first saw the picture before I even read what you’d written, I thought to myself, that would be the ideal holiday photo! I love the theme of the flannel shirts, too!
Gorgeous scenery AND family! I love going on hikes in new places, I plan to visit friends in VA/NC next year and really want to go hiking 🙂
I can’t believe you didn’t plan that! So awesome. My hubby’s Mom always gets a family picture for the Christmas card like that.
This hike looks awesome! I’ve never done it before. I’ll have to add it to my list.
I wrote about nearby Hawksbill Mountain today– you’d love it!! 🙂
Your family pictures are just too, too cute! I love that the dogs get included. That candy store/general store would ahve had me SO EXCITED. I kind of like candy..
Beautiful family Julie! Thanks for sharing! I was wondering how Ryan’s knee is doing.. As I’ve had the same surgery! Have a blessed day! 🙂
Looks like a great trip – beautiful pictures! I have been reading for awhile and have to say the last picture is awesome. One of my parents is a cancer survivor and I can’t wait for them to have grandchildren in the future 🙂
Boone is my hometown! So fun to see y’all enjoying a vacation there 🙂 Our Daily Bread is one of my favorites. Hope you had time to check out Proper! And you picked a great hike!
Your family looks beautiful!! Really nice photos!
I’m going to use this opportunity to give a shameless plug to West Virginia — if you enjoy challenging hikes and drop dead gorgeous views, you should visit West Virginia! The Fayetteville area has the most amazing, breathtaking views and it’s just a four hour drive from Charlotte. The town is just the cutest little town, popular to outdoorsy people, lots of cute shops and yummy restaurants. There is also white water rafting, lots of cabins and tent camping!
I don’t think people realize how beautiful WV is, but this post made me realize how much you’d love it, if you’re ever looking for a fun road trip!
Definitely adding this gorgeous area to my to do list. It looks picture postcard beautiful.
I love these small towns. Usually the people are very friendly it is really good to breath…
this place looks soooooo beautiful, and your family pictures are gorgeous! love this.
Great pictures! It looks absolutely beautiful there, and your family is gorgeous. Love how you all wore plaid, and I love it even more since you referenced my favorite movie!
OMG baby in flannel and a vest. ADORABLE. love that he has so many cute clothes!! Also that hike looked amazing – definitely going to convince our friends when we have our annual reunion in Banner Elk to complete the hike!
Also – do you know where your sister’s flannel is from? I’ve been looking for one exactly like hers!
I love the plaid coordination! That hike looks gorgeous.
Your pictures are so pretty! This sounds like such a fun, outdoorsy vacation at the perfect time of the year. And I love the coordination in your family photos – matchy but not too matchy 😉
Cute boots Julie! Where did you get them?!
Zulily! The brand is Blue Berry and they were only $19.99!
Thanks! Zulily — the brand is Blue Berry & they were $19!
Your family is just adorable. Love the mountain views and pictures… Also, I love the colors in your plaid top. Mind sharing where it’s from? I need more plaid in my life.
I bought it on sale through Zulily but the brand is Fashion Web. 🙂
This hike looks AMAZING! I’ve made it a goal to move to NC at some point in my life, these pictures just solidify that decision!
What a fun post!!! I love seeing your family have fun together! Little man is getting so big and so cute!!!
These photos are gorgeous!! Love all the family ones too <3 <3
I love all the pictures, Julie! The scenery is breathtaking and your family photos are just beautiful!
Sounds like you had a blast! Your photos are beautiful. I went to the Grandfather Trout Farm every summer growing up and my family always referred to it as “Trout-O-Rama”… easy to feel like a great fisherman there 😉
It looks like it was the perfect day for a hike! Those views are making me miss Utah’s fall – it’s so beautiful and the weather fabulous this time of year. You guys are so cute in your plaid attire! I love it!
I’ve never hiked Carvers Gap, but need to after these photos! Wow..such a beautiful view!
I love Sadie’s pose in the tripod picture- she’s a natural! 🙂
Love the photo of you, your mom, and Chase and the one of just them :). Too cute! Looks like a great vacation day!
This looks like so much fun- what a great hike!
I love your boots! Where did you find them?
Leslie’s tunic is adorable, would you happen to know where she got it?
This recap makes me want to pack up the car and copy this exact vacation. It is still to hot for my liking here and Texas and those fall colors look amazing!
Beautiful family photos! That hike sounds amazing too! I just love this time of year. I had a great run this morning taking in all of the beautiful fall colors!
Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. That hike looks gorgeous, the views are beautiful!
Your family photos are so cute!!!
Love the pictures! You guys are really photogenic and it looks like you’re having lots of fun. I really love those pictures of your family with the mountains as a background. Looking at your pictures makes me want to see my family as well. I’m going down to see my Mom in February and in a few weeks my mother in law will be coming over from Romania.
Interestingly I genuinely loved the “all plaid family” look, it’s so cute! It looks more like a happy, professional, Lands End ad than the How to lose a Guy in 10 Days scenario. I.e. – ya’s look good!
Love the happy recap. Sounds like such a fun time (and you guys really lucked out with the weather!!) Great pics. 🙂
I love that first picture of you and Ryan!!
Totally off topic…but as I got out of the shower this morning I noticed I left my towel in my bedroom(I have a small bathroom so my towels get hung up on hooks behind my closet door) so I had to run soaking wet all the way down the hall into my room and totally thought of swamp beast??
I’m so glad you’re enjoying a much needed vacation!!
I LOVE the picture this blog post starts out with. You two are adorable! <3
Looks like such a great trip!!
Julie, I’ve followed your blogs for years rather silently as I’m a big outside of your target audience (43yo single mom to a 17yo boy and a 20yo girl) I love your health/nutrition info but have really loved your more personal blogs, especially about your time with your parents, Leslie and Ross. Your family vacations are always amazing because it doesn’t matter where you go, you all just cherish every minute together and it’s truly beautiful.
ALL of that to say, the picture of you and Leslie, mom and Chase actually choked me up a little. You are all so close and it reminds me of times with my mom and sister. These photos will be loved for many, many years to come and Chase (and any future siblings and cousins) will love to hear the stories as he looks through them.
You have a beautiful family Julie, thank you for sharing them with us through your blog. (Now you need to start vlogs and a You Tube channel!!!lol) ~~Bridgette~~
What a beautiful family you have 🙂 I love Chase’s little outfit! Also, apologies if you’ve already shared this but, where is your headband from that you are wearing in the hiking pictures? I am glad vacation has been so fun!
I’ve had this hike on my “to hike” list for years because of this and I FINALLY hiked it over the weekend. Absolutely didn’t disappoint – my favorite hike to date. Thanks for the recommendation!