The Irish Rose

I had never been to Lenoir, North Carolina before. It’s not at all what what I expected to find. Not there, not anywhere really. But especially not so far away from Asheville. The best place to see it from is from the Irish Rose, a Bed and Breakfast that is owned and run by Rose Noakes.



Rose calls it a Bed and Breakfast, but really it is her painting. That’s right, you move into and spend the night inside a great painting, a real work of art. It is not just the paintings that hang on the wall, but it is the wall itself that is also art, and not just the carpets on the floors, but the floors themselves as well.




You will stay upstairs but the downstairs is your main gallery. There are paintings and mirrors and all kinds of things that will amaze you. All the decor and even the doors and carpets and books will slow down your pace and you will find it amazing to be constantly confronted with so much beauty.








Rose even has wi-fi throughout, although it’s not easy to use downstairs because the beauty and serenity around you is distracting - how wonderful.



Breakfast was even better. Talk about living in your art, what about eating art? Three of us ate in our group and we each ordered different breakfasts. Shamelessly we shared, and we all envied each other!






For more information contact:
Rose Noakes
The Irish Rose Bed & Breakfast
1344 Harper Avenue N.W.
Lenoir, NC 28645, US
www.irishrose.com
and for you GPSers it can be found at
35°54.560N 81°32.941W

This post is intended to be in the public domain.
John Womack.

Watterrock Knob

Down in the lower mountains of Franklin and Asheville today it's warm and muggy. Hasn't rained down there for almost a month and misery gets worse every day. But up here on Waterrock Knob, it's always a different world. It's one of those high sky islands that reaches up into another place. Today it's cool, almost chilly, and gusty winds drive icy showers across these peaks. And you can walk right out into the sky.

© John Womack, 2007. All rights reserved.