Eric Readling's photos

The Murray & Minges General Store was built around 1890 and continues to operate as a tourist destination. The store offers a glimpse of a simpler time and provides visitors with a variety of modern and vintage crafts, candies, drinks, and more.

Interesting layered Stone along Rich Mtn. Trail, Moses H. Cone Manor, Blowing Rock, North Carolina

The metamorphic rocks that seem to jut out over cliffs are referred to by geologists as gneiss (pronounced "nice"). When the Blue Ridge was forming, strong pressure on the rock in the earth's crust produced many of the aesthetic features seen today at Blowing Rock. A U.S Geological survey says this gneiss in particular was formed 1,055 million years ago. Away from science, Blowing Rock also has plenty of myths and legends. Most notably, the story of the Chickasaw Chieftain's daughter. Worried a white man was advancing on his daughter, he moved her to the remote location of Blowing Rock in care of a squaw mother. One day, she saw a brave Cherokee hunting - she shot a bow and arrow at him as a form of flirtation, and it worked; the two fell in love. One day, the sky grew red and the maiden and her brave love worried trouble was to come. She begged him not to leave, but torn by his duty, he leaped from the rock and into the woods. Heartbroken, she prayed daily to the Great Spirit, until one day, the sky reddened again and from the bottoms of the gorge her love returned - a gust of wind blew him back onto the rock. From that a day, a strong wind has blown upwards from the rock and this story is at least how some describe the strange phenomenon of Blowing Rock.

Bass Lake also known as Cone Lake is a 22-acre (8.9 ha) man-made lake or reservoir located in Blowing Rock, Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. The Moses H. Cone estate also called Flat Top Manor, is on a hillside overlooking the lake, whose elevation is 3,563 feet (1,086 m). Cone constructed two lakes on the property: Trout Lake and Cone Lake. The lakes are within Moses H. Cone Memorial Park which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

MONT ST MICHEL faintly seen at a distance from La Pointe du Groulin, France.

Goldenrod flowers along a barbed wire fence

The title says it well.

A new day begins along the coast at Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA.

Fence along Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA. Apparently someone was too impatient to wait to get to the opening in the fence. :)

Fence along Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA.

Light through the trees