Exploring the Valley
Discover the hidden gems, local legends, and can’t-miss experiences in Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley as we dive into the perks of Chamber membership and uncover what makes this mountain town a must-visit destination. Whether you're a local business or just passing through, there's something cool waiting for you!
Exploring the Valley
What If The Right Town Finds You First
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
They came to the mountains to be close to their daughters at summer camp and left with something way bigger: a new sense of home in Black Mountain, North Carolina, plus an “accidental” house purchase that might change everything. We sit down with Lisa to talk about what happens when a family from Wilmington starts spending more than a weekend in the Swannanoa Valley and realizes the place isn’t just charming, it’s livable.
We get into the real details behind a potential relocation to Western North Carolina: why they were drawn to a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, how Airbnb and short-term rental realities shape the first step, and what it’s like to keep one foot in the coast while imagining a future in the mountains. Along the way, we trade notes on rainy-day pivots, restaurant finds, coffee shop hopping, thrifting, and that moment on the Blue Ridge Parkway when the clouds erase the view and you find out what you actually love about being here.
Lisa also shares the family side of the story: raising four kids, watching teenagers grow through a summer counselor experience, and navigating homeschooling in North Carolina with co-ops, sports, theatre, and a community that’s often more social than people expect. We wrap with dreams of remote work flexibility, flipping fixer uppers, and the local spots and people that make Black Mountain feel like it’s already theirs.
If you enjoy stories about mountain town living, Black Mountain NC travel, family transitions, and building community in a new place, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who’s dreaming of the mountains, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.
Best Buy Metals is the industry leader in long-life metal roofing and siding materials. With seven manufacturing locations, they deliver high-quality products at everyday low prices and at speeds others can’t match. But what truly sets Best Buy Metals apart is their people—a dedicated team committed to providing exceptional service for projects of any size, every single day.
Welcome And A New Friend
SPEAKER_01Lisa Eckhart. I am so glad you're here. I um I don't run into a lot of people that have so many um similar hobbies, activities, lifestyle, life existence, all those things. But um we ran into each other at recess one morning, waiting for them to open and um became fast friends. And now when you're here, which is gonna be often, yay, that's I'm so excited when I hear that you're here. But tell me what's your story and where are you from?
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you for asking me to come. Um I am actually from Wilmington, North Carolina, about five hours east of here, but that's not original. I lived there since 2003. I'm actually an Air Force brat. So lack of accent because I've lived everywhere, born in Texas, lived in seven different states. Oh, wow. But yeah, so I I'm North Carolinian though. Okay, cool. And what's your story? Ooh, my story. Family.
Lisa’s Roots And Big Family
SPEAKER_02Let's see. I have four kids. Holy cow. Yeah, four kids. Started young. Okay. Um, I've got a daughter in Texas with two grandbabies.
SPEAKER_01You have grandbabies? Grandbabies.
SPEAKER_02Man, I'll start eating like you do. Two and a half in about nine months. And I have a 21-year-old son that's a rising senior at UNCW in Wilmington. I've got a 19-year-old and an almost 18-year-old as of next week. Yay! And both of those girls are at Camp Cedar Cliff here where the cove is. Yep. They're there all summer as camp counselors. So that's exciting. One of the reasons why we came up here to stay all summer.
SPEAKER_01All right. So you were here all summer and then you accidentally bought a house. Accidentally. Who does that? That's right.
SPEAKER_02Who does that? Well, we had been looking, I will say, um, my husband's actually from Lake Tahoe. So after we met, moved to North Carolina, he, I think, was just really kind of wanting mountains again. And I love mountains. So we were kind of knowing all along our our journey with our kids growing up that we were gonna eventually be in the mountains. And so we've spent a lot of time in the North Carolina Mountains from Boone, actually even Virginia Mountains, down to Clayton, Georgia
Hunting For The Right Mountain Town
SPEAKER_02and Tennessee. And we're like, where are we going to end up? Where do we like best? So we've been on a search for, I don't know, years actually, for this the perfect sport of small town. So yeah, uh, all along we we knew that it was going to be probably North Carolina Mountains, just because we have mostly family in North Carolina. So to narrow that down, we just we really started with all the bees. We went to Spoon, Blowing Rock, Brevard, and then here we are in Black Mountain. And yeah, we were captivated by Black Mountain, I have to say.
SPEAKER_01Well, good, good, good, good. So you said you started with the bees. That can't really be true.
SPEAKER_02No, okay.
SPEAKER_01I didn't think it's just a coincidence. Did the car just break down one day? And so you started walking in. How did you pick Black Mountain? Where how did you hear about it? How did you decide to do that?
SPEAKER_02Well, once upon a time, 199 uh 1990, I went to a youth retreat at Ridgecrest. Oh, okay. First time I'd ever been to this area, and I was actually saved there. So I have a special connection to Ridgecrest. And um, since then, my girls actually went to Fuge at Ridgecrest. We came up to serve in 2024, about two years ago, for the Heel Helene effort. And we served at in Swananoa, and we actually served at the Black Mountain children's home there. And I feel like my husband and I really developed this just connection to the people here. Uh, and I don't know, I just can't I can't explain it, but we we went back home and we didn't decide then Black Mountain, but we were spending some time in some of the other areas, and I feel like we just knew I think we we knew we would know when we know, you know. Right. So we came here specifically this time because the girls were at Cedar Cliff and we're 15 minutes from them. And so on the weekends we could still see them, which has been great for us. But uh yeah, we we kind of did know, like once we were here, we thought, wow, we could really see ourselves here. I think we had to be here longer than a weekend. Right, you know, so that afforded us some time to get to know the area and the people and the good, bad, and the ugly of something, and we really like it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01And then you accidentally bought a house. What what what how did that happen?
SPEAKER_02Well, we we did come thinking we could do a second home. Some towns are not Airbnb friendly right now, which I do get that it's getting saturated in some areas. I understand some of the complications that they're having with that, but we obviously wanted to do an Airbnb first, just to kind of get our toes in the water in an area, you know. Because we're not a hundred percent ready to
The Accidental Airbnb House Buy
SPEAKER_02pull away from Wilmington, especially since my son's still in school there. So to buy a house full time would just be a bigger commitment. So we thought let's just do the Airbnb, maybe make some money and you know, go back to Wilmington, come back, have a place to stay, best of both worlds. So we were looking for an Airbnb. And uh now we actually purchased the Airbnb and we're thinking we're not gonna put it on the real market for a while because we really like it. So we'll see. It's it's kind of small for us, but we like it.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, if you're just escaping and coming here, it's not that small. Yeah. I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_02Eventually we'll need the bigger one.
SPEAKER_01Just tell the kids they're going camping, put them in the backyard, you'll be fine. It'll be fine. That's right. This is wilderness, children. This is how it works. No. Well, okay, so what is it that you I mean, I I talked to you on I guess it was Monday. Was that yesterday? Yeah. Anyway, it was just yesterday. I talked to you on Monday about your weekend, and I was worn out listening to everything you did. I I I don't know. It was, I don't know. I was surprised. But you do a really good job of coordinating an entire weekend in 20 minutes. I don't know how you do that, but tell me what you did this, what your plans were this weekend, and then it rained. So your plans changed. Yeah. What were you gonna do? What did you do with your job since you said I was good at coordinating? There we go.
SPEAKER_02You're hired. We can be friends and pays really bad. So yeah, I'm I am sort of a planner by nature. And if I said that in front of my family, they would all roll their eyes because yeah, it's true. I can fit a whole, whole lot into a really, you know, packed, already packed weekend or especially a summer. Ask my husband. Yeah, so the it's been raining quite a bit, which I heard from a local that this is typical in July.
SPEAKER_01Learning next week. Oh, it stops next week. Just so you know, because August is dry. August is completely fine.
SPEAKER_02No problem. Okay, good to know. Yeah, so my son from Wilmington and his girlfriend came to visit us. They had never been here before. So it was fun. I had all these outdoor things planned, and then the rain came, and I thought, let's pivot and eat out a lot. So that's what we did. We actually tried so many restaurants. We did drive up on the parkway, which I have to say was a little bit of a bummer because we were gonna take him to Craggy Gardens. You didn't tell me, so I didn't call the weather guy. I'm sorry. I wish I would have. Yeah, you should have. Yeah,
Rainy Weekend Pivot To Food
SPEAKER_02Craggy Gardens. We were like, oh, this is a short hike. You guys all love it. Wait till you see the view. And as we're climbing and climbing, we're looking and we're like level with the clouds, and then all of a sudden it's like completely white. It looked like you were like, you know, the green, the green screens. It was like the white screen behind them for pictures when they were laughing. They're like, Great view. Anyway, so yeah, that was a bummer, but we ate out at some fantastic restaurants and we walked around Black Mountain, which his girlfriend said was super charming. What else did we do? We went thrifting, which is sort of my family's fun thing to do. Yeah, went to a new restaurant that had just opened. We went to Daymaker in Swantanoa. Um I took him to, well, I took him to every coffee shop is because he likes coffee. Okay. So I was like, we have to try all the coffee places. That's right. So we did that, yeah, and went to Daymaker, which was amazing. My father's pizza, which was a must.
SPEAKER_01Did you go to the new rooftop and look around? Well, you know, it was raining. You didn't need to. Oh no, I forgot. Oh my goodness. It got raining. They have to come back. Yeah, they just had to come back. That's what I said. August. They should come back in August.
SPEAKER_02August 8th and 9th. 8 to 9th would be good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. No. Good. And then so y'all are outdoorsy and I am not outdoorsy. That is the one like place where we don't our our our Venn diagrams don't don't collide. But you're gonna teach me to be better at that. We're going to get better at it. So, what is it that you like to do when you're out when what am what is it that I'm signing myself up for?
SPEAKER_02Well, I have to say, one of the things for us to in picking an area was can we get to hiking close by? Can we get to mountain biking close by? Can we do anything else like paddling? I I don't rock climb, but my daughters probably would do that. We just are such outdoor people, like we don't want to be inside. So some of the places that we had visited, for instance, I'm gonna throw Boone under the bus. I love Boone. But we were there in the
Hiking Biking And Mountain Life
SPEAKER_02wintertime and it was so incredibly icy and cold. Like I couldn't even ski. I mean, like it's too cold to ski. I'm a fair weather skier, I have to say. But it was just miserable. So I'm like, I can't have my winters where I'm just stuck inside, you know. So this the area here to me is like perfect because in the wintertime you might get a little snow, but it's still very mild and moderate. But we we have done mountain biking down in Old Fort. We've we want to try some mountain biking a few other places too, but we've hiked everywhere, like literally Montreat. We have covered, I think, all the hiking in Montreat. We've gone up to the parkway, um, we've gone into Asheville a little bit, we've gone to Swantanoa and done like the Warren Wilson college trails. But anyway, we we love the fact that we can do a different trail, you know, at any point. And then like you go to NOC in an hour and have a day there. I mean, that's super cool to be that close to all the outdoor.
SPEAKER_01It's cold too. Just so you know, the water is cold to stay in the racks. Oh, oh, I know don't fall out. Yeah. I may have done that last time. Yeah. Well, I will tell you that I have been hiking at Warren Wilson. And I hope this is something you've never done. I think I'll surprise you. You ready? I used to be part of a group that was here that was a barefoot hiking club, and we would hike all of Warren Wilson barefooted. It was great. I don't know why I liked it, but because I don't love hiking, but it was fun. It was just because it was fun people, and and it was always fun to see the other hikers looking at us like, oh my goodness, they have no shoes on. So, anyway, so I have done all of the work. That is a warning effect. Yes, sure. There you go. Not many people know that. My friend Troy kind of led that group, and after the storm, he lost where he had to live, and so he had to move. So we all miss Troy, but we visit. He comes here and we go to the air, and he's in Raleigh now. So you get started again. No, I'm not that is not gonna happen. I yeah, with my spare time. Yeah. So restaurants, outdoor. Have we eaten at outdoor restaurants? Yes, and even if they're not an outdoor restaurant, that's where I could do it. I can handle the outdoor part. And if there's a glass of wine, I'm even more in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Very good. Every restaurant down here is so nice because you do have outdoor access. Most of them. Most of them. Yeah. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I ate a grange last night because I like to sit outside there when it's not 300 degrees.
SPEAKER_02Me too.
SPEAKER_01I even sit out there in the cold. Yeah, I prefer the cold over the heat. Yeah, me too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02When we came here a couple weeks ago, or well, when we were here a couple of weeks ago, the weather was like really hot. And I'm like, no, no, no. We're trying to escape the coast. That's right. But apparently it was unseasonably hot. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_01All right. So you have you told your kids that you're working on moving here? Have have we mentioned that yet? Or should we not put that in the podcast? Because, you know, now they'll find out.
SPEAKER_02It's not a secret. It's definitely not a secret. And in fact, that was one of the reasons we were a little apprehensive about making like the the announcement that we're moving to Abu Mountain, we're buying like this house. I think this was another reason why we sort of wanted to do it this way, to see how the girls really felt after they came, I have to say, like off the mountaintop, because they were they're having a mountaintop experience. We were actually there last night. We were invited to go to the camp last night and see them in their element and to watch them with these kids. And these kids love them and adore them and all the counselors and the camaraderie. It was the most beautiful thing. So I really felt like it was wise to wait until it came out of that experience to see has their perspective changed on their goals, their dreams, their, you know, what they can and can't do and want to do. And so, you know, they were very, they were born and raised in Wilmington. There, they have a lot of friends there, but for them to get away for a summer and have a different experience might change. Just might open up their perspective.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so good.
SPEAKER_01Good, good, good. Yeah. Well, and then Caleb was here. Texas. Let me tell you about grandchildren. There is well, I'll tell you all about it later, but there are so many opportunities to have a grandparent camp here in the summer for you, bringing the kids here. Oh my goodness. I don't know. I mean, they're too little right now, but not they're not far off. My kids started doing that when they were, I mean, they came at birth. They started coming to Camp Grand, how do we call it? Camp Duke, because my dad's my dad's granddaddy name is Duke. So we called it Camp Duke. But but anyway, there are so many we'll I'll have to teach you about that because it is it is great and they're gonna love it. And I've heard about Grandparent Camp from different people. Yeah, yeah, but it's a great grandparent camp here is a whole nother animal. It's awesome. Yeah. So one of the things that we figured out that we had in common was that we both chose to homeschool our kids. And I I don't know, I we haven't discussed, you know, kind of your approach and all that. And we're not gonna do all that here, but one of the things that I enjoyed about homeschooling was being able to get out and and do the things instead of read about them. And one of the things we did, believe it or not, are you ready? Yes. I took the kids camping once a year, and we were studying,
Homeschooling In North Carolina
SPEAKER_01we had a specific thing that we studied every year at the same time, and we would do the camping trip, and that was what we did. But I think about that we really should have spent more time here. I mean, can you imagine schooling here? Wouldn't that have been cool? I mean, it was cool wherever we did it, but yeah. But so did you do all four kids, two of them, three?
SPEAKER_02How'd you do it? Not my oldest daughter and my son only until he was in eighth grade, rising eighth grade. We put him in school at the time. Just for we just had things going on that we just, you know, anyway, it ultimately was a really good decision for him. My girls, my younger two girls homeschooled the entire time. Wow. And we even along the way, you know, offered them an out. Like, do you still want to do this? Are we happy? Or, you know. But they were very home. North Khan is a great state to homeschool in. And specifically where we were here at the at the coast there, I mean, it was a huge homeschool community, probably here as well. I'm hearing that it is a huge homeschool community up here. And in fact, we had a tester once a year. Her name was Glenna Tony, and she's from Asheville. I thought it was so funny at the time. I at the time I was like, man, people they homeschool in Asheville? No idea. But uh, but anyway, so she she would come down to Wilmington and she had like all of her clients booked and do all the testing and enjoy a beach trip. It was really smart, actually, of her. Um, but yeah, so we homeschooled the girls, like I said, the whole time. We ended up doing co-ops. I don't know if you guys did co-ops.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was just thinking, there is your business. I don't know that there are very many co-ops here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we were a part of classical conversation. You didn't hear me.
SPEAKER_01Which is I don't think that's our business.
SPEAKER_02If that's something I want to continue.
SPEAKER_01We can work on that. Let's talk about that later. I just graduated my youngest daughter. I know, but anyway, we'll talk about it. I'm telling you, that's just saying. I know of one, but anyway. Anyway, keep going. Sorry.
SPEAKER_02No, and we anyway, we we did all the things. We did theater, we did we played soccer, they swam on a swim team and competed across the state. Um so you know, a lot of times people don't think that homeschoolers are socialized, but we actually had to watch how socialized we were.
SPEAKER_01That's right. You know, it did used to be a lot bigger of a stigma that it was these unsocialized children. And I was like, really?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Really? But I think that's changed a good bit. I think um I think it's pretty well understood that it's I mean if you think about it objectively, it I mean, if you don't know anything about it, it does sound horrible. Sounds like a terrible thing to do to your children, but I think it's the best thing we ever did for our children. So yeah, very cool. All right, and so your husband is still traveling back and forth and doing lots of like goes back to what is that four-letter word work?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he does have to work. He reminds me while we're here, Lisa. I have to work to pay for all the crazy. Like, yeah, you're right. That's right. Um, but yeah, he thankfully can work remotely, which is such a blessing. And, you know, he and I have some dreams and aspirations. I mean, we we love flipping houses. We've done several houses, um,
Remote Work And Fixer Upper Dreams
SPEAKER_02and we don't like living in the house while we work on it, because that's a bummer. So that's like super inconvenient. We don't want to do that anymore. What we really hope to do is find, you know, one person's garbage is another person's treasure type thing. You know, oh, this house is awful, but we see value in it. Yeah. So yeah, we really enjoy doing that. So that's something that I think he would love to sort of transition to, you know, as the years go by.
SPEAKER_01He's getting closer to retirement, but he's super young. He's young. He's younger than I am. I can't believe I just said that on. Oh no. You're a cougar. We'll take it. Yeah. Well, anyway, we also last weekend ran into each other. I had heard about side B since they opened, which is a bar that is underneath or at or whatever you want to call it. I guess it is underneath the Monta Vista Hotel, which the hotel is closed for renovations. But side B is a it's a bar that it's a vinyl listening room that is underneath Mona Vista. And I've heard about it and heard about it, and people keep saying, You've got to go, you've got to go. And I'm thinking, how, what a what a weird situation. Like, how could it be good? It's in a basement. Oh my goodness. Cool. So I went in with one friend, and he's a friend who grew up here, and all his buddies grew up here. And then I was sitting at the bar with him and the buddies, and then I saw some chamber members down the down the way from the quietude, and I went down there and talked to them. And I thought, this is the coolest place because I didn't really look around. I just sat at the bar with those guys and then looked around, and then y'all walked in. I was like, this is so weird. How can I be in here and know pretty much? I think I knew every group in the room. It was really fun, but it was such a strange combination of people. Strange sounds wrong, unique combination of people is probably a better way to put it. But it was so much fun. And they had a pool table and what were y'all playing? What were y'all doing?
SPEAKER_02We were playing darts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, of course. And and your 21-year-old son was like loving the darts.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it's like you don't even know you're in Black Mountain in that place.
SPEAKER_01It's like it's really cool. So cool. Yeah, that was fun. That was so fun, a fun thing to do. And I'm glad I went because I hadn't gone, hadn't gone. I've been a little busy, but I really, I really can't, I can't wait to take some more friends there. That was fun. That was a cool place. And I love the booths. I don't know what they're called. They're just chairs, they're just they're not a sofa. What are they? They're things. No, but they were really cool. Yeah, they were really cool. But um the whole place was really cool. I loved it. I'm really glad I went and I'm glad you were there because it was fun. That made it more fun. Yeah. This weekend was quite a mix of things. We also went to the 50th anniversary for Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry, and those people know how to throw a party. I mean, you would think that sounds very, you know, shouldn't do anything. It should, yeah, I don't know. Just it sounded like it was gonna be like whatever. They threw a party and it was really cool. It was a lot of fun. So, but the 50th anniversary, and I I don't know. Anyway, so the girls are finishing up with camp and then they're going back home. Did they do they have big plans or do they how how long how how quickly can we get you all here? That's what I want to know.
SPEAKER_02Good question that I'm asking my husband and myself currently, because everybody keeps asking, and I have no definitive answer. But I will say the girls are finishing up on Sunday. It's coming up Sunday. I know it's a really sad thing, but I think they're they're gonna be sad to leave,
Camp Goodbyes Moving Plans Shoutouts
SPEAKER_02but I think they're tired. Oh, I'm sure. They've been counselors for little kids for two months. They need a break since May 31st. They've been holy cow, that's a long time. It's been a long, long time. Good. So yeah, I think they need they need a good break. And what's so funny to me is that they're taking this group that they've kind of become friends with, the counselors, and some are in England, some are in South, one's in South Africa, wow, Florida. I mean, they're all over the place. Well, anyway, they all they don't want it to end. So they're going to drive across the country, or not the country, I'm still the state. They're gonna drive across the state, they're gonna kind of about 45 minutes south of where we are. They're gonna they have a little house that they're all gonna stay in. And they're gonna do that for like five days, and then everybody's gonna, you know, go their separate ways. My daughter, the older of the two, she's enrolled at an EMT class. It starts the 18th of August. Okay, good. So that doesn't end until the end of December.
SPEAKER_01Good. Well, tell her we're hiring. So I we need EMTs here.
SPEAKER_02I think that you know what, she needs to get that behind her belt, and she can do so many things with that. Yeah. So she hasn't exactly nailed down what it is, but at least she was gonna get that certification. So that's over when? The end of December. So you'll be here for the new year. That's great. Okay. I'm kind of thinking that that's a good time to make that transition.
SPEAKER_01So we'll see. Well, good. Well, thank you. Is there anything I didn't ask you that you would like me to have anything you want to any shout outs to anybody in town that you've uh gotten to meet or restaurants or places you love?
SPEAKER_02You know, I will say that everybody here has been extremely friendly and welcoming. And uh I met my real estate agent, Jenny Slagle. Right off the bat, we became friends and her husband Chad and their little boy Ari. And so I would have to say hi to them because they are amazing. They love Black Mountain, they've been super helpful. But yeah, I mean, all the store owners, I mean, they just get into conversations with you and they don't, you can tell that it's not like they just want your business, it's like they actually are just kind, considerate people. So yeah, I mean, just even at Ingalls. Like I've I feel like I have like my little group at Ingalls that I know, and we actually tried Hopi. Is it Hopi grocery? It is Hoppy, but okay. Why isn't it H O P P Y? Because that's their last name, and that is what they need. My son and I got into an argument. He said it's not Hoppy. And I said, Well, I think somebody called it hoppy. He's like, No, it should be H-O-P-P-Y, but it's a last name. I can't wait to tell him that. I know. Well done.
SPEAKER_01And when we get to win, you should have asked me. That is a fun grocery store to go to. I love going in there. I love it too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Anyway. And Swannanoa. And by the way, we do love Swananoa as well. And we love the the new area down there. And it's pretty exciting. I want to like give them business, you know, it's exciting.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you very much for coming today. Thank you for moving here and providing me with a new friend. And I look forward to when you get here in the new year. Thank you, new friend Cheryl.
SPEAKER_00All right. Thanks. Thanks for joining us on Exploring the Valley. Until next time, keep celebrating the pride of our community and discovering the magic of the mountains. In the meantime, you're free to move about the valley.