Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 235: Luxury in the Wild: How Molly Rhoades Created the Perfect Mountain Glamping Experience
What makes Molly Rhoades with Into the Wild Retreat a good neighbor?
Ever dreamed of trading your office chair for a camp chair, fluorescent lights for starry skies, and climate control for a fresh mountain breeze? Join Skip Mauney as he welcomes Molly Rhoades, owner of Into the Wild Retreat, who brings glamping to new heights in the pristine mountains of Ashe County, North Carolina.
Molly's journey from dedicated educator to glamping entrepreneur began with a transformative honeymoon experience in Vail, Colorado. What started as a retirement aspiration blossomed into a fully-realized luxury retreat when she and her husband acquired a 100-acre cattle farm positioned uniquely at the corner where North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee meet. Opened in fall 2022, Into the Wild Retreat offers an experience that shatters camping misconceptions with its spacious canvas tents featuring king-sized beds, private bathrooms, upscale linens, and deck-side fire pits.
The educator in Molly shines through in charming details – each tent is named after a beloved wilderness novel, with bedside copies available for guests to enjoy. But perhaps most impressive is the retreat's commitment to sustainability, operating entirely off-grid with solar power and natural mountain water – an achievement that came with significant challenges and learning curves. Nature enthusiasts will appreciate the property's privately stocked trout streams, offering perfect opportunities for fishing adventures between moments of pure relaxation.
Whether you're an avid outdoorsperson or someone who typically avoids camping due to perceived discomforts, Into the Wild Retreat creates a harmonious middle ground where luxury meets wilderness. Ready to disconnect from daily pressures and reconnect with yourself, loved ones, and nature? Visit www.intothewildretreat.com to discover how glamping can transform your relationship with the outdoors.
To learn more about Into the Wild Retreat go to:
https://www.intothewildretreat.com/site
Into the Wild Retreat
828-406-2877
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So we're very fortunate today to have a very special guest in our studios and I'm super excited to learn all about them and what they do. And I'm sure you will be too, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, miss Molly Rhodes, who is the owner operator of Into the Wild Retreat. Molly, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thanks so much for having me Skip.
Speaker 2:Well, like I said, we're excited to have you and learn all about you and your business. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us what you do?
Speaker 3:Sure thing we out you and your business. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us what you do? Sure thing we own. End of the Wild Retreat. End of the Wild Retreat offers luxurious glamping in the North Carolina mountains. It kind of simplifies traditional camping guest stay and spacious canvas tents that feature king and queen size beds. We have upscale linens and we even have in-suite showers and bathrooms right inside the canvas tents. Each tent deck is equipped with a propane grill, cooler and fire pit, and we're lucky enough to be situated right along a trout stream and we're surrounded by stunning mountain scenery. Here in Ashe County, north Carolina, skip Our Retreat aims to help guests disconnect from the daily pressures and reconnect with themselves, their loved ones, their pets, as well as nature. We like to say we invite our guests to escape artificial environments and embrace the outdoors. Kind of trade out their office chair for a camp chair. Trade their fluorescent lights for starry skies and climate control for a fresh mountain breeze and a cozy campfire.
Speaker 2:Well, you sold me. That's all you had to say. What trout stream do you have running through camp?
Speaker 3:We have Big Laurel stream running through as well as Kilby Creek.
Speaker 2:Very nice, and Big Laurel is stocked too, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Yes, well, and we privately stock our part of the stream. The state, within the last year, has stopped stocking that part and we picked up where they left off.
Speaker 2:Oh, very nice. Yes, sir Very nice when you stock rainbow trout.
Speaker 3:We stock rainbow and we've got some native browns.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 3:Very nice.
Speaker 2:I am an avid fly fisherman, so I'm sold, I'm sold, wow. So how did you, how did you get into the retreat business?
Speaker 3:That's a great question. Our journey to establish the glamping retreat actually started as a retirement aspiration. I'm a longtime educator in North Carolina, just retired this past year from Banner Elk Elementary, and I envisioned my retirement deeply connected with nature. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Vail, colorado, and it introduced us to the concept of glamping back in 2018 and kind of sparked a dream to create our own retreat. Upon returning home, we started developing a business plan. We dedicated over a year to finding the ideal property.
Speaker 3:I would say that was one of the longest searches. We wanted one with scenic views and water features, or both. We were living on Beach Mountain at the time and we observed a very large increase in population post-COVID and we decided to sell our Beach Mountain home and acquired a 100-acre cattle farm in Ashe County in 2021. And my husband and I commenced building the retreat in 2021. And we officially opened in the fall of 2022. And that's kind of how this journey began. I will say that once a teacher, always a teacher, and so I had to embed my love of reading into the retreat, and so each tent at our retreat is named after one of my favorite wilderness novels, which reflects my deep connection to education and there's a bedside copy of the novels at each tent.
Speaker 2:Oh nice, yes, Is a river runs through it, any of them?
Speaker 3:You know we've got call of the wild, we have into the wild, which of course the retreat is named after. We have Wood Song and Gone to the Woods after my favorite author, Gary Paulson.
Speaker 2:Very nice, very nice. Well, molly, what are some myths or misconceptions in the retreat slash glamping business?
Speaker 3:That's a great question, skip. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that many people associate camping with discomforts like sleeping on the hard ground, difficult tent setup, carrying heavy gear, maybe lack of proper restrooms, insects, extreme temperatures, things like that. And you know, our glamping offers a contrasting experience. We provide glamorous camping and that combines the comforts of a hotel and in a natural setting. So our preset tents feature luxury mattresses and linens, private bathrooms and showers. We have spacious decks with grills and fire pits. And then we like to throw in Tents feature luxury mattresses and linens, private bathrooms and showers. We have spacious decks with grills and fire pits. And then we like to throw in some entertainment options like cards and board games and conversation starters around the campfire to facilitate connection in nature for families and couples.
Speaker 2:Well, my wife definitely has that misconception. She's not a big camper. I'm the opposite. I absolutely love camping.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, I think even the wives would be very comfortable in this setting.
Speaker 2:Very good, very good. Well, I've got to get her to check it out. So, outside of work, molly, what do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:Well beyond the realm of our businesses. My husband and I, we share a deep connection to the land that we bought here. We find immense satisfaction in really the daily routines of cattle farming and the tasks that come along with owning a farm. Some people look at that as work. We actually enjoy it. A significant part of my routine right now involves carrying and nurturing a bottle calf. We interact with our farm animals quite a bit and, you know, our property, as I mentioned, is graced with a beautiful stream and it offers us, you know, a chance to indulge in the simple pleasure of trout fishing. We embarked on a new learning journey, actually delving into the art of fly fishing. So, as you would know you said you're an avid fly fisherman. It requires a lot of patience and precision and an understanding of the environment, and so a lot of our leisure hours are spent, you know, at the water's edge, casting lines and and just immersing ourselves in the beauty around us. We love where we live. We're so fortunate.
Speaker 2:I love it. Love it One of the reasons I became a fly fisherman. I've been a fisherman my entire life, but I worked for a guy in North Carolina who was a fly fish his entire life. He was from the Northeast and he got me into it. The reason I love it so much is because trout can only survive and live in pristine conditions, and they can only, you know, non-polluted water, not a lot of construction going on, you know, out in the middle of nowhere, that's where they thrive, and so if you're trout fishing, you're in a beautiful place. Yeah, anyway, anyway, awesome. Well, let's change gears for a second. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've overcome and how it made you stronger on the other side?
Speaker 3:Yes, and Skip, I'm going to I'm going to relate it actually to our to the business.
Speaker 3:But, you know, and Skip, I'm going to relate it actually to the business. But we've all had hardships throughout life's journey and I'm going to relate it to the business because it's something that my husband and I, over the past couple of years, have had to overcome, and that's providing an off-grid experience here at End of the Wild Retreat. We didn't know a lot about solar and how it worked and we've had to learn along the way. You know we want to provide An experience that is powered solely by solar energy and natural mountain water, and tapping into that water to provide it at our tents has probably been our most significant challenge and the water sourced, you know, directly from the mountain and pumped using solar pumps and solar panels, and achieving consistent success to get hot showers to our guests. And you know it's required a considerable time and numerous trial and error with my husband and I. But despite those difficulties, you know, we're proud to offer a unique solar powered experience to our guests and we've gained a lot of invaluable wisdom as we overcame those obstacles.
Speaker 2:I'm sure. I'm sure I can't imagine trying to get water to every campsite from the creek. Well if, Molly, if you could think of one thing you would like our listeners to remember about Into the Wild retreat, what would that be?
Speaker 3:Skip, I would say our location. A lot of people are not aware of where Pond Mountain is, and that's our community. Our community is Creston, but within Creston we have Pond Mountain and a lot of people don't realize we are situated right on the corner of North Carolina, virginia and Tennessee, and so our retreat offers very convenient access to Damascus, virginia, west Jefferson, butler, tennessee, which is along the scenic Watauga Lake. So there are numerous activities that our guests have access to that are fairly close. But you know, many visitors find the retreats, peacefulness and the setting so appealing that they choose to remain on the property through the duration of their stay. But if we have people who stay for over a week and we have we like to be able to offer things to do pretty close by.
Speaker 2:Gotcha Sounds amazing to me. Actually Very good thing to remember too. So for those of us like me and any of our listeners that are interested in checking you guys out and potentially planning for a trip, how can we learn more?
Speaker 3:Yes, sir. So listeners can learn more by visiting our website. There is an abundance of photographs and video tours also on the website that is wwwintothewildretreatcom. That's one of the best places to go to get a visual, and if your listeners have questions that are not answered on the website, they're always welcome to email me at intothewildretreat at gmailcom or they can give me a good old-fashioned phone call. That's certainly welcome. I don't mind a bit to put my number out there. My number is 336-469-9986, and I'm happy to speak with anyone who's interested in knowing more about Into the Wild Retreat.
Speaker 2:Wonderful, wonderful. Well, Molly, I can't tell you how excited I am about this because it is right up my alley and I'm sure a lot of our listeners too, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time you've taken out of your schedule to spend with us and to tell us all about Into the Wild Retreat and what you guys are doing, and want to wish you moving forward all you and your family and Into the Wild all the best.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure to be a guest on your podcast and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.
Speaker 2:Well, we appreciate you being here and maybe we can have you back sometime.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Skip.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873.