- Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone is a harbor for scenic views, tasty food, and adventure.

Five years after moving away, producer Sadie Maddock returns to the mountain town to rediscover the community that makes it so special.

(upbeat music) - Five years later, and I still get that feeling of arriving when you pull over this final hill into Boone.

There's nothing quite like the mountains.

I graduated from App State in 2020, and in the years I spent here, I fell in love with this town tucked away in the hills.

But then, cue COVID, moving home with my folks.

- Sadie Grace Maddock.

- Online graduation, my time in Boone cut short.

I've been back here and there, but not in full force.

It's about time I revisit some of my old favorite spots and discover some new ones too.

Let's go.

(upbeat music) - First order of business is a cup of coffee, and E-News or Espresso News is honestly the reason that I started drinking coffee to begin with.

Thanks so much, appreciate it.

Now I can really get started.

I'm headed to a new shop to see how they're bringing Asian specialty goods to the high country, and one of the owners is a friend I haven't seen since college.

Sadie!

- Hello!

- Hi!

- Hey!

- First and foremost, the Happy Persimmon is a community space.

(laughing) - That's amazing.

- I think this is a place for people to feel represented, to feel at home, to be creative and adventurous.

- This is Kim, my business partner.

- Hi, so nice to meet you.

Thanks for coming in today.

- She was in Argentina, and I couldn't wait for her to get back to Boone, and we were on the phone, and she said, but I wish there was an Asian market, 'cause there's a great one here.

And I said, how about if we start one?

- Y'all have a great day.

- Yeah, we'll see you around.

- We have this bulletin board in the shop that is a place for people to put their special requests.

I'd say probably 70% of the shop has been stocked because of our customers.

We have a selection of sauces, cooking ingredients, canned food, spices.

- Jams.

- Jams.

And then we have a section that's mostly premade, or easy to make foods, snacks.

- Candies, sodas.

- Candies, yeah.

The drinks, people love the drinks.

- They love the drinks.

- It's not that people who look like me don't live here, it's just that we don't have a space to gather.

- We'll have people come in and they'll say, oh my gosh, I haven't had this since I was three years old, or people will cry because they see something that reminds them of their childhood or of their grandmother.

- It just felt like it was something the community was waiting for, and that they're happy to have.

- Ilya and I are grabbing lunch at Wildwood Community Market.

They have drinks, all sorts of local goods.

And the main attraction, their deli.

- Our signature sandwich is our chick fillet, which is a fried tofu patty on a locally baked bun with all the good fixings on it.

- Cheers.

- Wow.

- We produce all our own food in-house.

We purchase as much locally as possible.

We just buy organic produce.

We try to be really conscientious of the food quality that we serve here.

- Got a camera.

(laughing) - Playing board games is one of my favorite things to do, but believe it or not, I never checked out this local boon shop.

Now, I get to see what I've been missing.

Dragon's Den is a trove of games, accessories, miniatures, and art.

- Dragon's Den itself has been around on and off for nearly 40 years, and it has passed through different ownerships and has been closed for periods of time.

But we recently bought it, my husband and I, about a year ago, and it's owned by our family.

- They offer games to buy, but also ones to play while you're there, and plenty of table space to play them.

- We want everybody to just be able to come to a nice, safe place to relax, have fun playing games.

(chattering) - AMB's definitely known for its local vibes, laid-back atmosphere, pretty easy going around here.

- Hello, hello.

- When we opened our doors, we were the first brewery in Boone, and we grew from there, and it's been a wild ride.

And it's all kind of tied around music, community, getting the locals out here, and kind of giving back to the community.

(upbeat music) - I used to love getting one of their stouts in the winter, but now I'm on more of a sour streak.

- Hey.

- Got a whole flight.

- Nice.

Of course, you picked all light-colored beers.

- I know.

- Oh, come on, amateur.

Trying to pick your favorite beer is like trying to pick amongst your favorite children.

You know, it's just really impossible.

It kind of depends on the season, depends on the weather, but all year-round IPAs are good for me.

- Our flagship IPA is Longleaf IPA.

For every case we sell, we donate, and we plant a tree with the Longleaf Alliance.

- And then-- - That tie-in between our beers and the philanthropy that we do is also a big part of what we love.

- Sweet.

(upbeat music) - Tonight, I'm staying at a classic drive-up inn from the '50s.

- Hey, welcome to Rhodes Motor Lodge.

How are you?

- Doing well, thanks.

How are you doing?

- Good.

- The motel feel is rather nostalgic, and I'm excited to see the way they've renovated the space.

Ready to check it out.

Oh, man.

It's so cozy.

- We want people to walk in and immediately be comfortable.

We want this to be their base camp for all of their adventures up here in the high country.

We have a bit of retro elegance, if you will.

We brought in a lot of really lush fabrics to make things seem warm and homey, but also fairly utilitarian.

We kept the concrete floors in the rooms and then gave it little touches to make it a little more inviting.

We have really cozy spaces inside so that in the wintertime, when you're out doing winter adventures, people are happy to come back and lounge around the fire or have a drink at the bar.

We are very lucky to have a restaurant partner called Over Yonder with delicious food, great creative drinks.

- All credit to our bar managers.

They've created a really, really fun cocktail menu.

- What's this one called?

- This one's called the Welcoming Weather.

I really like this one because it's elderberry, and then it's got some melon liqueur, and then it's got this cat head honeysuckle vodka that I really like, too.

- Over Yonder is just a short walk from the room.

We combine Appalachian roots with a Louisiana flair.

- Some of our most popular items are the chicken fried chicken, the crispy okra, which we just take a very fresh okra, like flash fry it, salt, pepper, lemon, our rainbow trout, our shrimp and grits, kind of a New Orleans barbecue style.

- I went with the shoots and roots bowl, a flavorful vegan option.

It's bright and crisp with just the right amount of spice and the crunchy chili oil.

Andy and his business partners moved the restaurant here after Hurricane Helene closed their first location.

- I grew up in Louisiana, and I'm familiar with going through hurricanes, but when Helene hit up here, it was like the craziest, most destructive thing I've ever seen.

We were just like cooking food and giving it all away.

- Post storm, we worked with World Central Kitchen in order to provide meals for affected areas.

You'll notice once you get off the beaten path that there is a lot of destruction, and we are often reminded once we get out of town, wow, we really experienced something terrible.

- Mostly this community has just been so resilient and really dug their heels in and figured out a way to make it work.

- So I would say this area is ready and willing to host.

(crickets chirping) - Just waking up here today at Rhodes Motor Lodge.

It's shaping up to be a beautiful day.

The mist cleared a bit from last night.

Today I'm excited to just get to do some outdoor exploring, which is another of my favorite parts of Boone.

(upbeat music) ♪ - A drive down the parkway lands you at Moses Cone Memorial Park, with a lovely historic manor that has a cozy porch.

You'll find beautiful views, nice wide walking paths, plus the trail leads right to Bass Lake.

It's a perfect finale for a high country adventure.

Thanks Boone, until next time.

- To plan your visit to Boone, go to exploreboone.com.