The boys had a fly fishing trip with the Boy Scouts, so Dave and I headed up into the mountains of Boone, NC, for a mini-vacation Friday night. We realized we haven't really had a day off since before Christmas. Our first stop of the day was the Cone Mansion in Blowing Rock, NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's just a few minutes off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The view is phenominal, although the house itself is mostly store where they sell artwork of artists from Appalachia.