The Blowing Rock is a scenic attraction for visitors

A Mountain Legend

IF YOU GO

What: The Blowing Rock

Where: Blowing Rock, N.C.

How much: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $1 for children

When: Open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., November, December and the first week of January

Info: (828) 295-7111

Web: www.theblowingrock.com

BLOWING ROCK, N.C. – Visitors may vacation at Blowing Rock, N.C. for a variety of reasons.

Like going shopping or taking a nostalgic train ride at Tweetsie Railroad.

"And that Blue Ridge Parkway is huge," said Tracy Brown, the director of the town’s tourism development authority. "We’re known as the crown of the Blue Ridge."

But, of course, there is also another attraction that lures visitors – a natural wonder hidden behind fences and a fanciful building.

"It is the town’s namesake," Brown said. "And it’s got a legend all its own."

SCIENCE AND LEGEND

Welcome to the Blowing Rock.

Oh, by the way, hold on to your hat.

At this windy place, you can stand on a 20-foot-high outcrop – the actual Blowing Rock – that curves 1,000 feet above the Johns River Gorge.

And, if you like, you can take off your hat, while the wind is blowing, and toss it toward the gorge.

Next, in what seems like a defiance of gravity, it is practically guaranteed that your hat will blow right back at you, instead of falling.

Even more strange – it’s been known to snow upside down at this spot.

As you might have guessed, there is a science to all this.

Take it from park manager Billy Elder. Incoming winds funnel through the Johns River Gorge and consistently hit the bottom of the 1,000-foot-high cliff where the Blowing Rock stands tall.

There, the wind blows straight up, producing the wind effect that Elder often demonstrates when tossing a hat or some leaves from the Blowing Rock.

But, then again, you might simply choose to believe the legend of the Blowing Rock.

As Elder tells it, a Native American chief moved to what is now the mountains of North Carolina with his beautiful daughter. She fell in love with a brave who belonged to a neighboring tribe.

Eventually, that brave became torn between the love he had for the girl and a duty to his family.

Distraught, the young brave jumped from this cliff.

Yet, instead of falling to his death, the brave blew back into the arms of the girl that he loved.

Now, it is said, that perpetual wind has continued to blow at the rock from the valley below.

‘QUAINT AND QUIET’

One of Elder’s great-grandfathers, Grover Robbins Sr., developed the Blowing Rock as a tourist attraction in 1933.

"There’s something quaint and quiet about it," Elder said.

Also, not everybody simply shows up to test the wind.

"I like the magnificent view,’ said Mary Lynn Robinson of McDowell County, N.C. "If I could afford it, I’d love to live up here."

For Libby Simons of Harrison, Tenn., the rock was a recent discovery while trying to find a halfway point to meet her daughter, who lives at Norfolk, Va.

"And," Simons said, "we just fell in love with it."

Annually, about 75,000 people visit the Blowing Rock, Elder said.

"It’s one of the more photographed places in North Carolina. I love the heritage," he added. "I love the idea that we can preserve and protect something. It’s not condominiums. It’s not restaurants. It’s pretty much the way that it was since 1933, for over 75 years. People can enjoy it now, as much as they could then."

jtennis@bristolnews.com (276) 791-0704