Have a cup of joe with Joe

“Please turn that TV off….I didn’t come to the mountains to see Charlotte”

This heartfelt comment uttered in a local restaurant years ago resonates in my unawakened brain.

This fine gentleman was called to the North Carolina high country simply to take in all the beauty and positive energy a funky town called Banner Elk had to offer. I will never forget it because his “burst” was real true raw emotion. All he wanted was to “take in” a breakfast experience with a big ole bronze elk statue outside the door not unwarranted car dealership advertising. All he wanted was to take in was an uninhibited mountain breakfast experience to nourish his soul. As the stickers promote “The Mountains are Calling and I must Go” and he went.

It is with this thought that I pontificate. You see… the website you are viewing today is the culmination of years of visual, mental and spiritual high country experience. It’s been in my thought pattern for a while. But after our recent “biblical hurricane experience” its time has come to bring the “mountain dream” alive for one and all. 

So the purpose will be to promote all our special Appalachians have to offer. But I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be a site that calls to the souls that have the spirit of this special mystical place in their heart…..that just say Ahhh when seeing the mountains appear in their windshield. I desire through my stories, poems and heartfelt narratives to showcase the uninformed to what my Bride and I have found….the special “warmth” of true mountain friendship.

So please travel with me in my old Jeep with my invisible time traveling beagle puppy named “Puppy” at my side. We will venture over the hills and into the hollers. All the while seeking out the fine souls that inhabit our blessed mountain space. We will shoot their guns, tell their Jack stories, drink their moonshine and pray over Confederate and Union soldiers alike that once called our mystical space home. All the while my prized clawhammer banjo will hang over shoulder and blues harmonica tucked away in pocket….. Just waiting for the time to praise the lord and those that have passed before with spoken word, poems and song.

I remain,

HighCountry Joe®