History repeats at High Hampton Inn Golf Country Club-Cashiers, NC
I found a great news article on the High Hampton Inn Resort in Cashiers, North Carolina that I wanted to share with you. Having been there myself several times I can tell you that the writer portrays what the lifestyle is really like in Cashiers. The same applies not just being here for vacation but living here as well. Cashiers has been described as one of the BEST kept secrets in Western North Carolina............when you visit you'll know why!
Enjoy the article!
Cashiers, N.C.: Much more than a getaway
By Christine Tibbetts
October 18, 2008 10:27 pm—
Looking through your grandmother’s favorite hotel window, breathing North Carolina mountain air and watching birds swoop in front of a mountain where she picnicked years ago changes a vacation from getaway to connection. Big difference.
Trips can be escapes from everyday routines, or they can be ways to enjoy the ones you call family and friends in new and comfy ways. Enjoying each other is easy to see people doing in Cashiers, N.C., at the 86-year-old High Hampton Inn & Country Club that I explored for three days just as the autumn leaves began to change colors. Some of them are the grandmother, and some are vacationing with their grandparents, and their children too, all together, upholding generations of family tradition.
Many are readily identified by hotel staff as families coming to this Inn for five generations. Same room too, some of the longest time returnees. Forty-four years seems to be the record — same couple booking the same room for the same calendar week. They vie for the honor with another couple choosing their same room for 42 years, but that couple stays three weeks each time. The rooms have changed over the years but not the spectacular views; a $4 million renovation has just been completed involving the 117 rooms in the lodge, cottages and cabins.
Photo from The Cashiers Real Estate Insider-View of Lake at High Hampton Inn Resort
Rock Mountain rises beyond the expansive lawns no doubt looking like it has for centuries.We saw babies in baskets, toddlers in flower gardens, schoolchildren pitching footballs with their dads, parents and children on the tennis courts and golf course and, had it been summer, surely all ages on the sandy beach of the 35-acre lake. A table in the dining room for some families required a dozen or more chairs, plus floor space for the baby carriers. The parents of those babies came here as children themselves and their immense pleasure throughout my three days on the grounds set the tone of the whole place. People know each other, and like one another.
There’s a gentle, pleasant mood in the grand lobby with the huge stone fireplace and lots of wing-chair-and-sofa places to sit and visit. They must be just as happy in their rooms, or cottages with several bedrooms and living room gathering places too because no televisions exist there. Find one in the tavern if you must, but the view of the mountains is more compelling.The lobby is Wi Fi, and a computer is provided, but I saw more people taking tea and cookies in the late afternoon, playing board games or simply chatting than I did folks with noses in their laptops. Not much cell phone reception either which limited intrusive sounds. Nice change from the other places I go.
The front desk and dining room staff acted like they knew me after my first few hours on site, as if I was one of those multi-generation returning people, so I felt special all weekend. It’s good to be noticed, and High Hampton models some of the kindest hospitality I’ve encountered during a decade of frequent travel.Buffet is the style for all three meals, big buffet with many choices. Stay all week and the entrees and veggies differ each day. I loved the beets and Brussels sprouts day, but traveling partner G. W. Tibbetts preferred the abundant salads and green beans. Fried chicken is the Sunday specialty and mountain trout appears mid-week. We agreed that the freshness and array of berries, melons, bananas, apples and kiwi was extraordinary. Since tradition is the 86-year-old value here, gentlemen need a jacket and tie for dinner. General Manager Clifford Meads says they polled guests during the hottest days of summer to see if that style should change and even the men voted a resounding “No.”
Trendy things happen here too. G. W. signed up for an Ashiatsu massage in the High Hampton spa and he didn’t even know what that was. Now he’s an advocate and willing to start a tradition for himself. Long, deep massage strokes propelled him to a place of immense relaxation, he said, delivered by therapist Theresa Branham with her feet and legs. Supporting herself on ceiling bars, Branham worked his arms and legs, and his long back into a supple state, drawing on centuries-old techniques from India. Only 350 therapists are trained in the Ashiatsu style in America, Branham said, but for her even that distinction isn’t enough. “I always have to go to the source to learn from the masters where ancient forms of healing are passed on from ancestors to new healers.” That’s why Branham studied Thai massage — almost a dance between practitioner and receiver — at Chiang Mai in Thailand last year, and why she’s going to Kerala, India this winter to study Ashiatsu where its roots began.“The deep flowing strokes we can achieve with our feet soothe muscles, open energy patterns, release toxins, improve postural alignment and circulation,” Branham says. Don’t worry about missing a treatment opportunity while Branham’s in India; another High Hampton tradition is closing after the big Thanksgiving House party and returning in the spring.
It gets cold in Cashiers and for 86 years the guests have said they prefer to come when it’s not winter. Even the tuberous roots in the two- acre dahlia garden are dug up for protection from the cold and replanted each spring. Year-round the waterfalls still flow and there are plenty of them near Cashiers; Whitewater is the tallest in the eastern U.S. with a drop of 411 feet—244 feet more than the famous Niagara. Walks and hikes open up all over the High Hampton grounds too---easy ones with picnic tables along the way and a big-deal one up to Chimney Top at elevation 4,618. Round trip took me three hours and lots of energy but I got two rewards: the 360 degree view from to top and sassafras twigs along the way for a jolt of natural root beer to refresh.
Nearby Highlands, N.C. is open year-round too with a downtown main street that was bustling when we drove through, anxious to start our High Hampton adventure but intrigued by the galleries and fine craft shops we spotted en route.
That’s why returning places is good; I guess those five generations of families and three generations of High Hampton staff are on to something.
If you are planing a trip to Western North Carolina for the upcoming Holiday Season and would like to look at our quaint log cabins, timber frame homes, or thinking of future investment in land please let us know. We'll be happy to offer you the same southern hospitality and show you around our gorgeous mountain community. mailto:info@carolinapg.com or call 828-226-8837
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