By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — At least it was sunny.
That could have been small consolation for the thousands of spectators lining Blowing Rock’s Main Street on Nov. 30, getting the holiday season appropriately kicked off by watching the annual Holiday Parade.
Before the parade, the line to get hot coffee or hot chocolate serpentined around the inside of Bald Guy in a series of switchbacks. Nobody seemed to mind the lengthy wait — as long as they could stay inside, out of the bitter cold!
Outside, the sidewalks started filling up early, parade watchers anxious to get just the right vantage point. And although a few parade entries might have been scared off by the bitter cold weather, there was enough festive fun and frolic to whet the holiday appetite.
The Blowing Rock holiday parade has grown to be a staple part of many family traditions. We talked to folks from Lincolnton, Charleston, Winston-Salem and even Atlanta who said they wouldn’t miss it, that they come every year. One young family from South Carolina said they had come up to choose and cut a Christmas tree at a local farm, then read about the holiday parade and decided to make a weekend of it.
A few random captured moments:
