[upbeat music] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend," join us along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We'll visit Linville Falls Winery, sample Wehrloom Honey in Robbinsville and explore the Horton Hotel in Boone.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island Beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[bright upbeat music] [bright upbeat music fades] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend" everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel.

And this week we are traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began in 1935 near the Virginia state line.

This time of year is so popular for leafers to enjoy the fall season.

So tonight's show features stories from our beautiful mountains.

Let's head to one of the most Western corners of North Carolina.

And would you believe it is the sourwood honey capital of the state?

Chelsea Goodnight takes us to Wehrloom Honey.

[upbeat music] - What's up weekend warriors.

I'm Chelsea Goodnight, and today's adventure brings us to Robbinsville.

We're at Wehrloom Honey, where owners, Aron and Jessica Wehr have been making quite a buzz around town.

Let's check it out.

- So Wehrloom Honey is just a small business here in Western North Carolina.

We started off as beekeepers and it has grown to honey manufacturing.

We have a whole line of skincare products and we also manufacture and sell mead, which is a honey wine.

- [Jessica] We do have another location in Asheville, North Carolina, but all of our manufacturing is done here in Robbinsville.

We opened our retail store here in 2015.

So we opened up our location in Asheville in 2020, right after the pandemic hit, which was interesting timing.

But, we're excited to see the potential that, that location has as well.

[upbeat music] - Yeah.

So come on back.

Back here- - So this is the workshop.

- This is the workshop.

We make candles, soaps, lotions, lip balms, all in here.

Back here, all these tanks are filled with honey.

12, maybe 15 tanks.

All the honeys we produce here are definitely on the raw side.

So they maintain all those health benefits.

We have sourwood honey, which is sort of our regional specialty.

- [Chelsea] Oh, very nice.

- [Aron] That one, we have people coming from far and wide just to get that honey.

Sourwood trees, predominantly bloom in the Southern Appalachians.

So they're unique to this area.

And then if we go back in our next room, you can see where all the honey is used to make mead.

You know, each tank holds roughly 300 gallons or so.

And here's Eric, he's our assistant mead maker.

So if you want, we can try a little sample off one of the tanks.

- [Chelsea] I would love to try a sample.

- [Eric] So right here, we have the Dry County Dry.

It's our 11 1/2% mead.

Just three ingredients, honey, water and yeast.

It's our most popular mead.

- [Chelsea] Yeah.

That's an amazing flavor.

And I can't leave only three ingredients.

It's pretty incredible the mead is.

- Being a beekeeper.

You realize pretty quick, there's a lot of effort that goes to collect that honey and to process it.

Realizing every little honeybee makes like a 16th of a tablespoon of honey.

Like that's just a pretty amazing.

- All right.

So they're kind of on the trunk of a tiny little pine tree.

So it's pretty accessible.

They're not real high up, so it'll be not too bad to try to catch it.

What that'll do, is that'll give us a whole new colony of bees that will eventually grow up to be one of our production colonies.

What you're looking at, is you are looking at the natural ways bees kind of perpetuate their species.

So this is part of their life cycle when they want to divide and take one colony and turn it into two.

So that's what they're doing.

So what we'll do is we'll clip this tree and we'll carry it on up the hill and put it back in the hive.

So bees are super pheromone driven too.

So the queen has a really unique scent to her.

All of these bees are gonna be attracted to that scent.

So if we were to miss the queen and she was still on this branch, they would all come right back to her.

- [Chelsea] Oh wow.

- [Jessica] So Chelsea, I'm gonna give them this frame.

It's got a tiny bit of honey on this side and a little bit more over here on this side.

This will just kind of give them a little bit of a head start, right off the bat.

- [Chelsea] Yeah.

It's like a house warming gift.

- [Jessica] It is.

There you go.

There you go.

I mean, it's just amazing the number of gifts that bees give to humans.

- [Chelsea] So Jessica, do you think that these guys will be appreciative that we've done this for them?

- [Jessica] Just like our mead, now they are Home Sweet Home.

- [Chelsea] Ooh, I think we need a glass.

That's amazing.

- Let's go.

- All right.

[upbeat music] - Wehrloom Honey is a farfetched unexpected dream.

We are the beekeepers.

We are the accountants.

We are the designers.

We've done everything on our own.

We moved to Robbinsville, our family did in 2010 and we didn't ever plan on staying here, but we fell in love with the area.

And that year for Christmas, my husband, Aron bought me two beehives.

And so two hives became 10, and that became 20, and it became 100 pretty quick.

So when you're producing that much honey, we kind of needed a way to support our habit of keeping bees.

- I love when people come in and they're like, Hey, I was inspired, and so I went out and started my own hives.

And we had a little boy who came in with his own money and bought a hive.

And just to think that kind of impact can go a long way to me, that's pretty amazing.

[upbeat music fades] - [Announcer] The original Wehrloom Honey and Meadery is at 257 Willie Colvin Road in Robbinsville and they're open daily except Sundays.

Their Asheville Tap Room is at 32 Banks Avenue.

For more information, give them a call at [828] 735-2300 or check them out online at wehrloom.com.

- We are at the Mahogany Rock Overlook.

3,420 feet above sea level.

And it's about the same elevation as Linville Falls.

And that's where you'll find, the family-owned Linville Falls Winery, where their award-winning wines speak for themselves.

Let's join Clay Johnson.

- This dry Riesling is not on your tasting menu.

This is an extra on me.

- [Clay] Linda Wiseman pours some wine at Linville Falls Winery makes from it's hybrid grapes.

She and her father-in-law own and operate this winery, showing people that good wine doesn't have to come from traditional, old-world, vinifera grapes.

- People that come here that have not tasted these real acidic, fresh-tasting grapes as the wine that we're making from these mountain grapes, they just haven't tasted anything like that before, and they're loving it.

- [Clay] Linville Falls Winery sits just off Highway 221, about a half mile north of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It's a 40 acre farm that includes the winery and tasting room and the patio overlooking the vineyards and Christmas tree farm.

And it's a dream come true for Jack Wiseman.

As a child, his grandmother taught him how to make wine.

And he spent some time in the Napa Valley in the 1950s.

- When I was there in the Napa Valley, it caught fire.

And I knew that someday I would be making wine and hopefully would have me a vineyard.

- [Clay] Wiseman returned to North Carolina in 1960 and started a janitorial business in Charlotte.

But he soon started buying up small farms in his native Avery county and planted Christmas trees.

In fact, he bought nearly 20 farms over the next 25 years.

- And there was one of them that stood out and it just looked like it needed to have grapes.

- [Clay] Turns out the elevation, soil conditions and climate were perfect for some kinds of grapes, especially Riesling.

- We had no idea that we would get the flavor that we get, here in North Carolina of high elevation Riesling grapes.

And it's just wonderful.

- [Clay] The Wisemen say their reasoning pairs well with fish and Thai food.

- [Linda] Hi in acidity, citrus, notes of pear, Riesling grapes along, dry, very unique to have a dry Riesling that's not been sweetened.

- [Clay] Elevation is a blend of three red hybrid grapes.

- [Linda] This is the first time ever that these three hybrids have come together off of our property and out of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

- [Clay] It pairs well with steak or Italian pasta dishes.

The Cherry Bounce is a dessert wine.

- So Cherry Bounce is an old Martha Washington recipe that we like to say behind the bar that we dumbed down a little bit, 'cause Martha made it quite strong for George.

- [Clay] It's apple brandy blended with Sourwood cherries and finished with ground cinnamon.

- It is just a very lovely port like style, after-dinner cordial.

- [Clay] You can taste all of the ones at the tasting bar or pick up a glass or bottle and enjoy it out on the patio with a view of the vineyards and the mountains, and often to the sound of live music.

♪ When I was just a baby ♪ ♪ My momma told me ♪ You can also stroll the vineyards and Christmas tree farm.

And during the holidays, you can come choose and cut your own tree.

The Wisemen say their guests should choose their tree before enjoying their wine.

If done in reverse... - Their living rooms get really big.

- [Clay] A 125-year-old barn on the property hosts all kinds of events, everything from art classes to weddings.

There are lots of reasons to come here.

Steve and Marsha Zarecki are from Maine and visit the North Carolina Mountains every fall.

They never miss a trip to Linville Falls Winery.

- The wine itself is just phenomenal.

- It is an awesome place to sit and while away the afternoon.

- [Clay] And both children and pets are welcome.

- [Jack] It's a little bit unique with the people that come here from different areas that haven't seen this relaxing atmosphere and this quality of wine before.

- [Announcer] Linville Falls Winery, is at 9557 Linville Falls Road in Newland, and they're open daily.

For more information, give the winery a call at [828] 765-1400 or visit them online at linvillefallswinery.com.

- Visitors to Boone have been raving about its first downtown boutique hotel.

With luxurious suites, a really cool rooftop bar and unbeatable views, your stay at the Horton hotel will be absolutely unforgettable.

Let's join Clay Johnson for a tour.

[upbeat music] - [Clay] This is Rob Willis and Stacy Conn getting married at the magistrate's office in downtown Boone.

It wasn't exactly what they had in mind.

- We were getting married in June and we had a lot of rooms booked, but then the pandemic came until we didn't get to do it that way.

- [Clay] The rooms and the wedding we're booked just down the street, at the Horton Hotel.

- [Stacy] This is such a unique, boutique hotel right here in our hometown.

It is just a treat to come and stay.

- [Clay] In fact, the Horton is downtown Boone's first boutique hotel.

- It's unique, it's intimate, it's offers a more personal experience.

It is innovative in ways that you wouldn't necessarily find in a more commercial or big box hotel.

So I think it allows us to kind of be very creative and ever-changing.

- [Clay] The building has changed a lot in over nine decades.

A man named Walter Horton built it in 1929 as a Studebaker garage.

It later became a department store and housed a few other businesses over the years.

When it went up for sale, the building caught the attention of local realtor, Fulton Lovin.

- I would walk by from my office and kept thinking, now, what would work there?

What would work there?

[upbeat music] - [Clay] He and his wife, Denise decided to buy it and turn it into a hotel, since there wasn't one in downtown Boone.

- [Fulton] We wanted a place that was iconic for downtown Boone, that would be community-based as well as tourist-oriented.

[upbeat music continues] - [Clay] Turning the building into a hotel required some creative renovation.

- Oh, it was a piece of cake.

[Denise laughing] - [Clay] It took a year and a half.

- [Fulton] We had to go with the flow of the building to create the spaces that worked for the building.

- [Clay] During the renovation, the Lovins solicited ideas for the hotel's decor.

- We had a really fun time gathering insights and opinions and ideas from people that chose to follow us on social media.

And so there was sort of an energy around our opening because so many people contributed to the elements here.

- [Clay] The 15-room hotel opened in February, 2019.

- No one room is quite like the other because we're in a historic building.

[smooth Jazz music] There are no cookie-cutter hotel rooms here, and they're all really elegant and clean, sleek, little notes of luxury.

And each of them... - [Clay] With guests comfort and curiosity in mind.

- [Andrea] We want them to feel like they're having a really special experience, that's new and fresh and has maybe elements in them that they've never seen in a hotel before.

- [Clay] Including elements of the buildings, origins, which can be found throughout the hotel.

- We wanted to make sure to hold on to the history of the building, the history of the town, the story of the Horton's.

- [Clay] There are old Studebaker parts in the lobby lounge.

It's a great place to enjoy a craft cocktail, a glass of wine or a local brew.

- [Denise] That's kind of like a almost speakeasy, kind of cozy, cocktail lounge.

- [Clay] The exposed brick walls, add to that feel.

- [Denise] It's really cool because it's original to the building.

And so you kind of get to see the history in the layers of the building.

- [Clay] Three floors up is the hotel's rooftop bar.

[smooth relaxing music] - [Denise] We're the first and only rooftop bar in downtown Boone, and really all of this area.

- [Clay] There's a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and Boone and fire features together around on chilly nights.

- [Denise] It's the perfect place to enjoy daytime drinks or nighttime under the stars.

There's really nowhere else in this area that offers something like that.

- [Clay] Since the Lovins are from Boone, they're a wealth of local knowledge for their out-of-town guests.

- I think both of us really enjoy providing that personal touch and have staff that can do the same.

- [Clay] From the complimentary breakfast, to the comfortable rooms, to the cocktail bars and connections to history, the Horton Hotel is all about creating an experience for guests.

- I want them to have an experience that they never thought that they could ever have in Boone.

- [Clay] Even if they are from there, like Rob and Stacy, they may not have been able to marry at the Horton Hotel, but they did spend their wedding night here.

It was their first day.

- You feel like you're somewhere else.

Not that I don't love Boone, I do.

But you feel like you've had a mini vacation, once you stay here.

- When you see the front door, you know, you're gonna go into somewhere special.

- [Stacy] It is just a lovely place.

[smooth relaxing music continues] - [Announcer] The Horton Hotel is at 611 West King Street in Boone.

For more information, give them a call at [828] 832-3060 or go online to thehorton.com.

- Did you know Daniel Boone lived in North Carolina for 21 years before he went off to explore Kentucky?

Well, the North Carolina Daniel Boone Heritage Trail was created about 10 years ago to help celebrate the life of this American pioneer.

And John and Teresa Litschke discovered that these historic sites, make the perfect weekend family adventure.

[American folklore music] - Daniel Boone is America's pioneer hero and surprising to a lot of people, he lived in North Carolina for 21 years before we moved off to Kentucky.

- He profoundly affected American history and positively because he led explorations and settlement, which led to modern day state of Kentucky.

- He's our portal to understanding the pioneer era and that part of American history that leads into the American revolution.

[American folklore music fades] - [Teresa] To experience that history, one must travel the North Carolina, Daniel Boone, Heritage Trail.

You'll see historic markers, monuments, museums, statues, outdoor dramas, and more that celebrate his life.

- The trial is in various places across the Western part of North Carolina.

And it's places that you can drive to, it's places that you can visit and get out and walk.

- [Teresa] First stop on our tour is Appalachian State University in Boone.

Located on campus, you'll find one of the most exquisite statues of Daniel Boone.

- The Daniel Boone monument in Boone, North Carolina is a very visible image of Daniel Boone with his dogs and he's hunting sitting on a rock.

And it's a place that you can go and think about and remember the Daniel Boone was there.

- [Teresa] Next stop, we traveled down highway 421 to the towns of Wilkesboro in North Wilkesboro.

Here, you'll find the Wilkes Heritage Museum and Arrowhead markers used to commemorate the trail.

- Here at the Wilkes Heritage Museum, we have a Daniel Boone marker in our yard that the DAR placed here.

And also inside of the museum, we do have a small portrait of Daniel Boone and some information about the part he played here in settling Wilkes County.

- [Randell] The marker that's in downtown North Wilkesboro is very interesting.

And then it has metal in it that came with the Battleship Maine.

Turns out that J. Hampton Rich traveled to Washington DC and talked the Department of Navy out of giving some scrap metal from the gun components of the Battleship Maine.

- [Teresa] A visit to Whippoorwill academy and village will take you back to the early days when Daniel and Rebecca Boone lived along Beaver Creek, near what is known today as Ferguson.

- [Randell] Whippoorwill village, as it's called now, includes a lot of pioneer era structures, which is an old chapel, a jail, a blacksmith shop and a replica of Daniel Boone's cabin.

- [Mary] The replica Boone cabin, represents the kind of dwelling that he and Rebecca lived in here on the Yadkin River.

- Whippoorwill is a place that celebrates history, local arts, music, theater, poetry.

It is in celebration of what gives us a great quality of life.

- [Teresa] During the mid 1700s, the Statesville area was the Western most settlement in North Carolina.

It was protected by Fort Dobbs, a must see heritage site on the trail.

[gun blasts] - And this served as not only a Fort to defend the frontier, but it served as a place of refuge, and as it was also a supply depot, and this is an often forgotten part of North Carolina's history.

And so we do everything we can to bring this to life, to garner an interest in it and further education about this early period in North Carolina's history.

- [Teresa] Bringing our day trip on the trail to an end, our final stop is at a cemetery in Mocksville.

- Joppa cemetery is to me a very sacred place.

It's the place that Daniel Boone's parents are buried.

It's a place where Israel, his brother is buried.

It's very calm and serene place.

- I think the Daniel Boone trail would be a great weekend trip for families who are interested in history, to pile in the car, take a picnic, and let's go discover these places and let's learn something together as a family about this important man named Daniel Boone.

[American folklore music fades] - [Announcer] To find out more about the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail, go to ncdanielboonetrail.org.

- With its stunning garden designs and plant varieties, the North Carolina Arboretum has always been a wonderful place to visit, and that couldn't be more true than during the holiday season, when the North Carolina Arboretum celebrates the holidays with its annual light show.

[smooth calming music] [people chattering] - Well, the Arboretum is an institution planted in the Southern Appalachians with a mission about trying to move the state forward in the area of education, economic development, design, by creating connections between people, plants, and places.

And so in many ways, the idea of Winter Lights was to illuminate this place, this garden.

- Yes, the show features over half a million lights, fascinating different kinds of lights.

But typically a lot of the lighting that we're using are things that you and I could use at our home.

I think a good designer doesn't mind, whatever your medium is.

You're happy designing with bulbs or flowers or living strawberries trees, just as happy designing with lights.

But when the lights can bring attention to your garden in a different way, that might bring people to your garden that would never visit otherwise or any other season.

Sometimes people come back after they've made one visit during winter light season.

That's really exciting.

- Sometimes just something as simple as buying a s'mores package and roasting marshmallows over a fire pit here, is something that people come back year after year to experience.

- It's beautiful.

- Where are you folks from?

- Baltimore.

- Baltimore?

- Hmm hmm, a friend of mine and I, we met to have Christmas a little early.

- Oh, how fun.

- Yeah.

And this is perfect.

This is beautiful.

- [Clara] My inspiration comes from nature, the ideas around us and the Mountains of Western North Carolina, from the gardens, from how plants grow, from all the inspiration of colors.

Some things you'll see are inspired by animals even.

We have a beautiful blue heron that was created from photography of the natural heron and then it was created by a manufacturer here in Hickory.

Visitors really have a chance to see each of our gardens, no pun intended, in a different light.

- [George] We have almost 40,000 people and they are coming to Winter Lights over a 45 nights span.

There's a significant addition to the economy of the area, which brings some excitement of Winter Lights into the community.

And so we're partnering with other organizations, with the city of Asheville, with the Tourism Development Authority and others to really continue to grow this lighted personality of Asheville.

Winter Lights is designed literally for everybody because it's become Asheville's newest and brightest tradition.

[smooth calming music] - [Announcer] The Winter Lights at the North Carolina Arboretum are on display from November 19th through January 1st.

The Arboretum is at 100 Frederick Law, Olmstead Way in Asheville.

For tickets and more information, go to ncarboretum.org.

- Well, that's it for tonight show.

We've had a great time out here at Cumberland Knob and we hope that you're able to make a trip along the Blue Ridge soon yourself.

And if you've missed anything in today's show, just remember, you can always watch this again online at pbsnc.org.

We hope you have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

Good night.

[bright upbeat music] ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by VISITNC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island Beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music]