On a recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina and environs, Dick and I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to Boone. The Parkway passes through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and is the longest linear park in the United States with 469 miles of ethereal beauty meandering through North Carolina and Virginia. The Parkway is managed by the National Park Service and its helpful rangers at the Visitors Center where we started our trip, obtained our map, and inquired about not-to-miss stops.
Our first stop was at the Folk Art Center managed by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. 
The Center is a museum and gift shop featuring traditional Appalachian Arts such as painting, wood carving, glass blowing, basket weaving and quilting. The Center serves as an outlet for artisans in the area whose work is supported by Certified Entrepreneurial Communities, designated areas with resources to assist entrepreneurs succeed.
When we had reached an elevation of 6,000 feet, it was time for pie. We followed a winding road up to the Mount Mitchell State Park Restaurant. As we entered this lodge-like building, we were welcomed by Dolly Parton singing “My Tennessee Mountain Home” on the piped-in music system. We were now in the mood to enjoy comfort food and, of course, pie! After lunch we walked around the gardens. The view from the rocking chairs was spectacular! 
People: The chefs, dishwashers, servers, and maintenance crew at Mount Mitchell State Park Restaurant. These people live in dorms on the property for the six months the restaurant is open, and rarely leave the mountain. Most of the team does “double duty.” The pastry chef (aka pie maker) is also the dishwasher.
Places: Mount Mitchell State Park Restaurant. The restaurant is perched just off the road near the highest point in the park and offers sweeping views on both sides of the mountain.
Restaurant: https://www.ncparks.gov/mount-mitchell-state-park. 2388 NC-128, Burnsville, NC 28714
Folk Art Center: https://www.blueridgeparkway.org/poi/folk-art-center/
Pies: Blueberry Pie. The blueberries for the pie are sourced from the surrounding area, or from the Farmers’ Market in Asheville. We were so excited to taste the pie, we forgot to take the photo first! 
A little rearranging with a fork made it photo-ready before it was all gone. BTW, the crust was delicious and the blueberries hummed along with Dolly.
- Crust for 9 inch pie
- For the filling:
- 4 cups fresh wild blueberries
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- For the Topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbps butter
- Combine ingredients for filling and place in a pastry lined 9 inch pie pan.
- In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar and cut in the butter and cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over the pie filling.
- Cover edge of crust with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20-25 minutes. Crust should be brown and the berries tender.
