Road Trip: Appalachian State – From the Bird’s Nest

I had been looking forward to this road trip since January.

When I visited Appalachian State back in January, I fell in love with the area.  For a man who lives in an area where the definition of a hill is an overpass, Boone, NC is a place you want to go more than once.  It takes a while to get there.  The team bused to New Orleans, flew to Charlotte and from there it’s another two hour drive to get into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But after the trip in January I did a little research and found there are literally hundreds of mountain cabins in that part of North Carolina for rent…and they aren’t much more expensive than staying in a hotel.  I found a place at the right price and booked it.  I invited baseball sports information director Jeff Schneider to join me and he readily accepted.  The thought of coffee in the morning on the porch overlooking the mountains was really appealing and I had the date circled ever since.

With the booking fee and cleaning fee, the cabin was just a tad more than the hotel would have been.  I figured it was worth it.  We were given explicit directions on how to find the cabin and were told to follow them rather than trust GPS.  We were also told there was a good chance there would be no phone service (although a land line was available).  Wireless internet was provided.  As it turned out, phone service was out of the question.  So were text messages, even with the internet.  iMessages would go through.

We drove up US 231 to just past Lenoir and then turned off the road.  As we drove, the road got more winding…and more narrow.  And then, the pavement ended and we were on a gravel road.  Now, the contract stated that four wheel drive vehicles were required in the winter in order to rent and I quickly understood why.  There were a couple of hairpin turns and the road was steep.  But finally, we arrived at the cabin.

And, we stepped into heaven.

The cabin had a full bed in one bedroom and two twins in the other.  There was a kitchen with everything we would need, expect groceries, which we picked up in town.  (Going into a store and seeing Yuengling is a beautiful sight.)  There was a large living room with satellite television.  There was a screened in porch overlooking the gorgeous scenery.  And, there was a small back deck with a hot tub.  There was an old (but functioning) gas grill for outdoor cooking.

Life was good.

We weren’t going anywhere that evening so cracking open a cold one was one of the first things we did when we got there after unloading all of our luggage and groceries.  We explored the property and just took it all in.  It was cloudy and a bit chilly but it didn’t take away from the beauty of the area.

I love to cook and was looking forward to dinner.  Jeff had gotten some snacks and I had a handful of mixed nuts out of a pretty good sized bag.  I grilled steaks outside and cooked the rest of the meal inside.  We had no leftovers .  If Schneider is around, there will be no leftovers.  We watched the first round of the NFL draft, although we went outside frequently to take in the fresh air, and, during a break in the clouds, the view of the mountains in the moonlight.  And, we had more Yuengling.  Later in the evening, I asked where the nuts were.

Schneider had eaten them all.

We got up the next morning and I went onto the sun porch for coffee.  That was the best

part of each day.  It was cold enough to where I needed a sweatshirt but that just added to the ambiance.  I probably spent an hour out there (about three cups worth) and then went inside to cook breakfast.  We had bought bacon.  Lots of bacon.  No.  Seriously.  LOTS of bacon.  I cooked eggs and biscuits.

Jeff had looked and estimated it might take us an hour to get to Boone.  I thought “surely not.”  After all, we were a little more than 20 miles away.  But he suggested we leave early just to make sure and I agreed. And, we obviously weren’t going to go the same route to Boone than we had in getting to the cabin.  Well, let me tell you something, Louisiana boy:  On those roads, twenty miles is NOT twenty minutes.

ESPECIALLY on the road that was (allegedly) shorter.

I’m figuring we traveled on gravel roads for about fifteen miles.  And much of it was on a road that had room for just one car.  I was waiting for someone to come out with a shotgun and announce we were on a private road.  But that, gratefully, did not happen.  Finally, we hit pavement and navigated the last miles to get to Boone.

Jeff suggested we have lunch and got a recommendation.  Café Portofino is adjacent to campus and that’s the place we chose.  I honestly wasn’t really hungry but figured it would be a while before we ate again.

Jeff, of course, was ready for lunch.  I ate about half of mine.

Jeff had worked at East Tennessee State at one time so he was more familiar with campus than I was.  Obviously, App State is not on flat ground.  As it turned out, the ball park was pretty much at the highest part of the campus.

Beaver Field/Smith Stadium is a pretty new facility, built in 2007.  There’s not a lot that’s fancy about it, but you can tell it’s new, with a nice clubhouse, an indoor hitting facility (good move) and a building which housed both the press box and concession stand.  You actually had to walk through the concession stand to get to the press box.  We had our own private radio booth.  The bleachers seat about 1,000 people but the grassy areas on either side can sit many, many more.  All of the bleacher seats were chairbacks.  The field was artificial turf (another good move) and the dugouts were spacious.  Like I said, nothing real fancy.  But it was modern and more than suited the Mountaineers’ needs.  My only issue (from a purely selfish standpoint) was access to the field wasn’t easy and, since I had to get downstairs and back upstairs on the postgame, it was a bit of a challenge.

I got to visit with David Jackson, who has been doing App State sports almost as long as I’ve been with the Cajuns.  I liked David immediately when I met him during football season.  We had a good visit before the game and exchanged information.

And, I got to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.  I knew Kelsie Menard and her dad were making the trip.  I’ve literally known Kelsie since she was three years old.  She moved to Nashville last fall after getting her Masters Degree.  Kelsie is a huge Cajuns’ fan, especially baseball.  I saw her and her dad during the pregame show and got to go and say a quick hello during a commercial break.

Temperatures were in the upper ‘40s and it was windy.  Being the wuss I am, I kept the windows in the press box closed.  The game didn’t take long.  At all.  Jeff and I finished up our stories and headed back.  He said there was no way we were going back the same way we had come especially at night.  I agreed.  We grabbed a burger and headed back to the cabin.  We did some writing when we got back.  I went outside for a while and heard some rustling in the woods.  I have no idea what it was, although I was pretty sure it wasn’t a large animal.  I’m thinking it was probably a deer.  We also got serenaded by the owls before we went to sleep.

It was more of the same Saturday morning.  But now the sun was out and the place was

more beautiful than ever.  With it being an afternoon game, we left for the park around eleven.  No, we didn’t take the seventeen miles of gravel road.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Temps were in the upper ‘60’s.  We were there early enough to walk around a bit. I met a gentleman from App State.  He said his grandson, Jeffrey Springs, would be Sunday’s pitcher.  We had a good visit and I wished his grandson luck the next day.  (As it turned out, he didn’t need it.).

Jeff had asked associate head coach Anthony Babineaux and athletic trainer Brian Davis if they’d like to join us after the game.  We’d have a beer or two, cook dinner and they could enjoy the ambiance of the cabin.  This, of course, was before we knew how far from the park we would be.  But the invitation stood.  Unfortunately, the game took almost 3 ½ hours.

While waiting for Jeff to finish what he had to do, I went outside and a man approached me.  (Fans there were incredibly friendly.)  He saw my red shirt and talked about the Cajuns’ fans he had met.  He said they were the friendliest visiting crowd he had encountered.  He asked if I had a son on the team and I said no, that I was the radio broadcaster.

He had a son on the team.  It was the young man who had pitched a masterpiece against the Cajuns on Friday night.  I told Mr. Thurber how Impressed I was with Taylor’s performance and the great things Tony had to say about him after the game.  He was humbled.  He said he hoped someone would give Taylor a chance at the next level.  I said I hoped so as well.

We picked up Bab and Brian. It was about 7:30 by the time we got out to our cabin.  Bab was a “mountain virgin.”  He had never been in the mountains before and he loved being at the cabin.  I grilled steaks for them and burgers for Jeff and me.  I also said we had ice cream.

Had was the operative word.  Jeff had eaten the ice cream earlier.  I have no idea when that was.  He said it was just a pint.  I swear it was a quart.

We all had a great time, but it couldn’t be a late night because we had to bring them back to town and then head back.  By the time I got to bed, it was around 1:00am.  It wouldn’t be a long sleep night.

I got up around six.  There was a lot to do before we left.  Even though someone would be coming to clean the place, we were expected to do plenty of cleaning on our own.  I cooked breakfast (and finished off the bacon) while Jeff got all the trash together and threw it out.  We ate,  did the dishes, stripped the beds and double checked to make sure everything was done as the contract required.  The game time had been moved up to noon so we had to leave by nine.  But we got everything done.

I visited with David Jackson before the game.  I told him I had a feeling we wouldn’t score more than four runs on Sunday.  We lost 7-4.  I reminded him after the game how smart a guy I am.  It was another absolutely beautiful day.

And, after my interview down on the field, I saw Jeffrey Springs’ grandfather and congratulated him on Jeffrey’s performance.  I also saw Mr. Thurber again and told them both what a pleasure it was to meet them (and I meant it.)

We packed up our stuff.  Time for the two hour drive back to the airport.

Two years from now, the baseball team will make another three night trip to Boone.  Someone asked if I would rent another cabin.

I suggested I’d wait and look at the 2017 schedule.  If we’re playing in March, the answer is no.