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

Ok, I have to admit, I was wrong.

I imagined a trip to Boone, NC to consist of driving up a mountain on narrow two lane roads, praying I didn’t miss a curve, only to find a one horse town with a college stuck in the middle of it.  I imagined Troy, Alabama as far as (the lack of) amenities were concerned.

Mea culpa.  Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

It may be the size of Eunice, but it's more like being in New Iberia.

No, Boone isn’t particularly easy to get to.  And, there’s no question we were fortunate as far as the weather is concerned (40’s and 20’s this time of year is not a bad thing at all.)

But…and I never thought I’d say this:  If you get a chance to go to Boone, NC, do it.

Whew, I feel better after the confession.

I traveled separate from the team as often happens when flights are involved.  The team left Lafayette early, bused to Baton Rouge and took a direct flight to Charlotte.  From there, it’s about a two hour bus ride to Boone, which took the team three hours because their bus broke down a few miles from their destination.  There was no coolant…the team got all of their bottles of water that were on the bus and put that in to help the situation but it wasn’t enough.  So a couple of folks walked 200 yards or so and got a good neighbor to loan them some buckets of water.  That did the trick and they were back on their way.

I looked at getting on the team’s flight but it was sold out.  And, other direct flights were pretty expensive.  So I wound up taking a flight with a connection and a pretty long layover which got longer because the flight was delayed.   I didn’t arrive in Charlotte until after 6pm and then started the drive to Boone (after stopping for dinner).

I really wish I would have made this drive during the day because it would have been more scenic than it was even in the dark.  And, it was four lane highway (Interstate then a US Highway) all the way to Boone.  I’m thinking if there was bad weather with snow and ice it could have been a tough trip.  But that wasn’t the case.

Because it was a Sunday night, the watering holes in town were closed.  In fact, assistant Sports Information Director Ben Rikard and I just missed getting served in one sports bar.  The chairs were on top of the tables, but there were six or eight patrons inside and the TV’s were on.  We walked in and sat down and after a minute, the bartender came and said they were closed.

Well, I couldn’t resist.

“No you aren’t,” I said.  “The doors are open, the TV’s are on and there are people here.”  I looked and winked at some folks who were sitting at a table.  They smiled.  The bartender reiterated they were closed.  I suggested it was because we had Ragin’ Cajuns on our jackets.  “Why you hate Cajun people?” I asked her.  Now she was a little flustered.  We laughed, thanked her and left.

I actually slept late (at least late for me) the next morning.  After getting up and showering I texted Ben and asked him if he wanted to go get breakfast.  He said he’d meet me in the lobby.

Now, here’s a suggestion.  If you’re in a town you’ve never visited before and you want a suggestion on where to eat, always ask the person at the front desk.  They’ll rarely give you a bad suggestion.  I asked Nichol (without the e) if she had a suggestion.  She named three different places but when she said “my favorite is”, well, I knew it would be the Sunrise Grill.  It was just a ½ mile from the hotel.

Megan was our waitress and did a great job.  We asked her (again, always a good thing to do because chances are the waiter/waitress has eaten there) and she said “the hash is really great.”  Well, the hash consisted of beef brisket with potatoes, onions, bell pepper and a touch of jalapeno.  A sweet barbecue sauce that complimented it perfectly was served on the side.  Hash and eggs.  Sold.  Ben also had a biscuit with gravy and the gravy was terrific.  Put that on your list of places to eat.  Trust me.

Afterward we drove over to campus and made a quick tour of one of the more picturesque college campuses you’ll ever see.  Because of the mountains, you’re going up and down hills constantly, but that makes for a beautiful experience, especially for someone that lives 20 feet above sea level.  We went by the football stadium and drove higher up the mountain until we were off campus.  We started our way down and saw some houses that looked like the view would be great.  It also looked like they’d have hell trying to get out of their driveways on bad weather days.

After that it was back to the hotel for game prep.  I was doing a doubleheader and had to be at the arena around 3:00.  When we recorded our pregame interview, Coach Marlin had talked about how impressed he was with the facility.  He said he thought it was among the top three or four in the league.

I agree.

The Holmes Convocation Center seats 8,300 but it looks more intimate than that.  The ceiling is fairly low and I could just imagine how loud that place would get if they had a huge crowd.  Basketball however, doesn’t have a ton of tradition and the crowds are small.  But if they win, people will show up.  At any rate I thought the Cajuns would love to have an arena like that.

Before going to the arena, Ben and I went to Bandana’s for lunch.  It’s North Carolina barbecue with both vinegar based and mustard based barbecue sauces.  Another culinary home run.  Write the name down for when you make a trip.

Between games I got to visit with Dave Amato.  He posts quite a big on the “ragin pagin” message board.  I met Dave when he was a student back in the 90’s.  But that’s another story.  I got an opportunity to visit with him again at halftime of the men’s game.  Got to meet his lovely wife and their two children.  One of the great things about travels is I frequently run into transplanted Cajuns who take the time to come and see their alma mater.  Dave and his family drove up from Greensboro, about two hours away.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Boone, NC has the highest elevation of any town 10,000 or more located east of the Mississippi River.  If you want to be precise, it’s 3,333 feet.  They make mention of that in the arena, and there’s a big mural outside the visitor’s locker room talking about the possibility of respiratory distress.  All that reminded me of a comment former coach Jessie Evans once made about going to Denver.  Asked about the altitude he said, “We tell our players it’s not a problem because we play indoors.”

As an aside, 3,333 feet will mean baseball there will be very kind to the hitters.  Tony Robichaux is going to hate going to Appalachian State.  He still has nightmares about playing at New Mexico State, which has a similar elevation.  I, on the other hand, can't wait to spend three days in Boone when the weather is (hopefully) gorgeous in late April.

After the Cajuns’ victory, I stayed behind while Ben wrote his story.  That way the team didn’t have to wait for him.  But it was a good while after the game by the time we left for the two hour drive back to Charlotte.  Going down the mountain we got some good views (of lights) down below.  I’m imagining in the daylight it’s breathtaking.  We stopped for some fast food and to gas up the rental car when we got to Charlotte.  By the time we checked into the hotel right near the airport it was 1:30am.

Once again, I had a long layover.  By the time I got to Baton Rouge and got my car and made my way back to Lafayette, it was right to Walk-Ons for Coach Marlin’s radio show.

Finally at 8:30, I was back home.

I slept well last night.