NYE in Balsam NC.

Happy New Year friends! Today I am sharing my NYE weekend and all of the details about our stay at the Balsam Mountain Inn in Sylva, NC.  When I was a wee little girl, my parents took my brother and I up to this 100-year-old inn for a ski trip to Cataloochee Resort. Here we are 20+ years later, longing to return. 

A little background on the inn: it's located in Balsam NC, population 49 in the year 2000, where it once was a bustling town brought to life by railway sightseers in search of a cool summer getaway. The inn was built in 1908 by two guys from Athens, Ga (of all places!) and was a major destination for vacationers in its time. The inn was in operation until the 80s, but when major highways were built in the 40s, the town kind of died off due to lack of railway passengers, and so did the inn. A hiker spotted the old building while traversing Balsam mountain and decided she would renovate and reopen the inn during the 90s (that's when we first visited). Today the inn holds 50 guest rooms, each with their own style and decor (there were 100 during early operation, however with renovations they combined rooms to create larger spaces and more convenient private baths instead of communal baths.. eek. Some have stand up showers, but like ours, some have claw-footed tubs - very interesting time there.) It was as though we had stepped back into time.. no TVs, hardly any cell reception and definitely not a computer in sight.

Now on to the more interesting part about our stay.. as with any 100-year-old structure, there has to be stories of ghosts and paranormal encounters, right? Well, my friends, let me just tell you about my experiences. Sure, they can be explained away with facts and science, but I'm telling you.. what I felt there was something more. So, i'll begin by saying that there was this super strong feeling? that kept drawing you in. Like you never wanted to leave. It could have been that Adam and I just loved every square inch of the old building and the feeling that we had stepped back into time was mesmerizing. Who knows.. but at one point I cried a few happy tears because Adam had made the comment that we were on day two of our trip and I mentioned this being the best vacation yet and he reminded us that we hadn't even left the building yet. (HA!) Anyways, once the nighttime darkness set in, the inn seemed to come alive. Yes, we were the youngest there by at least 30-40 years, but man those good ole folks sure know how to party! They even kept us awake well past 11pm. (Sound carries very well through an all-wooden structure.) Well, after lights out and after everyone settled into their rooms, quiet overtook the room. Maybe it was my perception of the lack of noise, but it just felt heavy in the room. The first night I laid down with a sense of weight on my chest. Maybe it's the mountain air.. but ALL. night. long. I felt like I was being watched. You know, the sense that someone is staring at you and you look up to find someone zoned in on you kind of being watched. I tossed and turned both nights and it even pulled me out of sleep it was such a strong feeling. (Mind you, Adam slept like a baby.. haha) We were on the balcony side (room 237) with a room that overlooked the mountains - breathtakingly beautiful. But once the sun rose above the mountain, all seemed ok again. I've read about some folks' stay and what they've experienced in the way of paranormal entities. Mostly being footsteps, jiggling of door knobs and even some report the covers being pulled from the end of the bed (!!). Two rooms are reportedly haunted.. 205 and 207. We couldn't get into the rooms to read the guest logs, either because they were occupied or the innkeeper wasn't booking those rooms.. hmm?

So, after we got home I decided to take it upon myself to do some further investigation into why this inn might still be holding past spirits. I stumbled across a blog (with the help of my dad) of an old employee of the inn who served as the cook. He documented some of his paranormal experiences and delved deeper into factual history from researching old newspaper sources around the time the inn was in full swing. Mostly, he reports unexplained footsteps, looking around the corner to find empty rooms and even one shadowed figure in a room that had no outside doors. The most interesting research he reports on is the death of Deputy Sheriff Claud Green during 1928. He got into a scuffle with some escaped convicts at a summer party near the community center of Balsam. Shots broke out and the deputy did not survive. The murder didn't happen at the inn, but very close by. The researcher couldn't find any reports of the deputy being taken to the inn and maybe dying there? Anyway, legend goes that Green walks along the second floor balcony searching for justice. WAIT. WHAT? Yes. What if he was the one who I felt? I don't know. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me because I am a scaredy cat (no shame here). All I know is what I felt.. sometimes it's like a 6th sense. Haha. Anyways, I think you should go see for yourself. I highly recommend a stay at the Balsam Mountain Inn, I know i'll be back, ghosts and all! You can read more of his encounters here.

I hope your new year is off to a great start. We were also in the area to watch my cousins play in their live band 'Stone Crazy' for their NYE show, and trust me, it NEVER disappoints! So much talent in those two i'm telling you. If you follow along my snapchat, you may have caught some of it. Downtown Waynesville is straight out of a movie - picture perfect with its decorations, exposed brick storefronts and artsy feel. We enjoyed walking around and joining with my parents and sister for an afternoon of recapping our year. One of our favorite stores is the Mast General store where you can find all of your hiking, camping, outdoorsy gear and then much on some sweet treats with their huge old-fashioned candy selection in the basement.

 Here are a few photos from the extended weekend. Can you spot any ghostly figures? :)

Here are a few shots of our cozy room, 237.

A blustery walk around downtown Waynesville.

Thanks for stopping by (and reading my super-long post)! (Not pictured: my beautiful sister.. she didn't have her 'face' on for photos - you're beautiful no matter what!) If there is something you would like to see more of, please let me know! I'll be continuing my blog with more frequent posts and adding to my current content. Do you guys like recipes, travel, fashion or interior decorating? Let me know what you'd like to see more of! I have already achieved some of my new year goals two days in - today I launched my photography website! You can visit here. Here's to a great start of 2017! Let's make it a good one!

xoxo, ab