Thursday, October 25, 2007

Quick hits: Bluegrass pioneer honored, as is Biltmore's Inn

Bluegrass great low-key about N.C. Heritage Award
"George Shuffler is the first to admit he doesn't move as fast as he used to. But he still gets around his farm pretty well, even though he has to lean on a cane," writes our good friend David Menconi of the News & Observer.

" 'My hips are just about wore out,' Shuffler says, showing a visitor around the farm. He has lived on this Burke County spread 180 miles west of Raleigh for all of his 82 years -- except for the decades he spent on the road playing guitar behind the Stanley Brothers, Don Reno and other legends of bluegrass. ...

"Standing in the bright autumn sunshine, lamenting a farmer's hardships, Shuffler could be any other old-timer. For long stretches of his life, that's who he has been. A visitor would likely never guess that Shuffler is one of the most influential bluegrass guitarists to ever hoist a pick.

"That will be discussed at some length today in Raleigh, where Shuffler will be feted with an N.C. Heritage Award.

"He'll attend the ceremony, and he'll probably enjoy it. But like another famous Tar Heel guitarist, Doc Watson, Shuffler isn't entirely comfortable with people making a fuss. ..."

The Inn on Biltmore Estate one of the Top 10 resorts for parents & kids
The readers of Travel + Leisure have voted for the Top Resorts for Parents & Kids. Making the list - which includes properties from the U.S., excluding the states Hawaii and Florida -- is Asheville's Inn on Biltmore Estate.

Writes the publication: "Some grounds! 8,000 acres of field and stream surround George Vanderbilt's 1895 Biltmore mansion. Kid magnet: the on-site River Bend Farm, which re-creates rural life in the 1890's."

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