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Taste the New Delights

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Chasing Sunsets and Waterfalls

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There are so many great articles in the pages of The Laurel Magazine, sometimes you want to read them again. You won’t miss a thing. Use these helpful search parameters and find just what you’re looking for about Highlands, NC and Cashiers, NC.

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Feast for the Eyes

Nestled atop a knoll in the Mirror Lake area of Highlands is Laurel Nest, a cottage-style home that offers a feast for the eye. As you near the front door, you immediately realize that you’re approaching a home that is unique and beguiling. Like a child entering a fairy-tale cottage, your eye darts from treasure to treasure.   Light cascades through …

The Best in The Nation

What comes to mind when you think about Labrador Retrievers? They’re smart, they’re friendly, and they’re loyal, right?  But did you know they were developed as the breed we know today by English aristocrats in the 1800s who were passionate about shooting game birds? Like all retriever breeds, the lab’s original role was that of a working gun dog. Jill …

Talk to Your Spouse About Your Retirement Vision

You may not see it in the greeting card section of your local drugstore, but August is “What Will Be Your Legacy Month.”  So it’s a good time to think about the type of legacy you’d like to leave. Of course, “legacy” can mean many things. In the broadest sense, your legacy is how you will be remembered by your …


Brand New Custom Home

Enjoy carefree living in this brand new custom home just steps away from Harris Lake and two blocks from the center of Highlands.  The quarter-acre level lot is surrounded by tall trees, lush native vegetation, and has a peaceful mountain stream flowing through the ultra-private backyard. What could be better than relaxing on the large covered porch with your morning …

Seven Salad Rules

When you think “salad,” do you visualize a boring pile of vegetables? Or do you imagine the same salad that you eat day after day, because you don’t really know how to create anything new? There are seven basic rules to creating a good, healthy salad. Once you are familiar with these, you can let your creativity flow and easily …

There Must be Something to it

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easier than ever to become overwhelmed by the ever-changing fad diet, exercise program and need for instant gratification. Yoga works like no other system of fitness because it focuses on more than just the physical body. Yoga is a system of union, uniting the mind, body and breath for overall wellness. Having been around for …


If the shoe Fits

The Plateau is gorgeous this time of year, and there’s nothing better than getting out in the sunshine to enjoy the beauty and get a little exercise. The great thing about our beautiful countryside is the wide variety of walking and hiking trails for us to enjoy. There are easy, flat trails for the average fitness walker, hilly trails to …

Ballad of Kidder Cove

It has been over a decade since I wrote an article about the well-known 15-stanza square-dance banjo tune known as “The Ballad of Kidder Cole.” I concentrated more on the ballad than I did the talented teenager who wrote it – Felix Eugene Alley – so it’s time now to tell about Felix’s life.  He was born in 1873 in …

Hatching a Plan

How much money did the chicken get for crossing the road to make a guest appearance in this column? A poultry sum. The Hall Family has endowed Highlands’ history with a solid contribution, though they weren’t above playing a practical joke or two when the opportunity presented itself. They ran a Dutch Colonial Manor officially named Meadow House, but affectionately …


The Intrepid Towhee

This large sparrow, the Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), looks more like an American Robin than, say, a House Sparrow, but a member of the sparrow family it is.   There are white-eyed towhees to our south, but our towhees here in Western North Carolina are red-eyed and plentiful in our woods. The male is black-headed with a sooty black cape, reddish-brown …

Birthday Golf in Ireland

Jimmy Maurin recently received a once-in-a-lifetime Birthday present from his three son-in-laws. It was a fantastic golf tour of Ireland, arranged through Laurel contributor Tom Chillemi, PGA, owner of Tom’s Golf Tours. These are his field notes for a birthday present that will always be treasured. “What a trip we had. Ireland is golfer nirvana. Courses are awesome, people extremely …

Black-Eyed susans

The Black-Eyed Susan’s real name is Rudbeckia hirta.  The genus was named for Olaus Rudbeck, a professor of Botany from the University of Uppsala, in Sweden.  The botanical name of hirta refers to the hair on its stems and leaves.  A good way to remember the real name of this plant: If you’re rude to someone, (especially to someone named …