With the stress of a new semester upon App State students, it is easy to forget all of the good things Boone has to offer. However, if you look for it, you’ll find love is all around, and this town has much to offer in terms of date spots, whether romantic or platonic, that are unique to the High Country.
Love is a sunset picnic at the Caldwell Community College overlook in Watauga County, where dates can park their cars, sit in their trunks and enjoy the setting sun over the rolling mountaintops. Paired with a charcuterie board and warm drinks, an overlook is one of the simplest and easiest ways to share a moment with both the Earth and each other.
A drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway in May with the windows down, good music and conversation is a way to prioritize simplicity in relationships. Take advantage of the various stops along the drive and make a game out of the adventure by seeing how many you can get through in a set number of minutes.
Use the gift of a snowy Saturday afternoon and sled down the hill next to Broyhill Music Center and gather in someone’s dorm to drink hot cocoa after freezing your hands.
Take it to the next level by visiting Appalachian Ski Mountain, Beech Mountain or Sugar Mountain to go skiing or snowboarding, braving black diamonds with someone by your side.
Love can be hiking Rough Ridge Trail or one of the various hiking trails around town and helping your date put their best foot forward. Take advantage of exploring the native flora and fauna and look for plant species or gradually increase distances or difficulty.
For a nightlife option, go to TApp Room and watch local Boone bands brave the stage as you brave that first brush of fingertips with your date. If you’re feeling adventurous, travel from bar to bar and see what activities are going on at all of them, whether it be a trivia night or potato wedges for two at Lily’s.
But at App State, love is not just romantic. One of the ways to show love to your peers and the community is through organizations on campus that prioritize checking in with each other and supporting one another.
As Panhellenic president, junior marketing major Sage Hessert finds love within the Greek community is best shown through the support each chapter shows to one another.
When Hessert was on the Panhellenic Council last year, she and the other members of the council hosted a Panhellenic Love Week, where all of the sororities on campus got together and did various activities to not only shine light on each sorority’s philanthropy but also the Panhellenic philanthropy, Circle of Sisterhood.
“There are so many amazing women in our community, and you can be in your lowest of lows, and someone will sit down in the hole with you and really empathize with you and feel all of your feelings to make you feel less alone, which I think is beautiful,” Hessert said.
Letters of Love is another such organization. At its core, Letters of Love writes cards for children who are most often in hospice at hospitals around the country, aiming to brighten the kids’ days through colorful drawings and lettering.
“Love to me is a selfless act of kindness,” Letters of Love president and freshman psychology major Emily Pearl said. “I think that love and kindness go hand-in-hand, and making a difference in the world or in someone’s life personally and really caring and being kind and showing your heart to people is what love is.”
Pearl added that Letters of Love provides a selfless way to show love, and it is what love means to her.
Mckenna Carver is a sophomore marketing major and the marketing and publicity chair for Letters of Love. She said she has met some of her best friends through the organization, and spreading love to children across the nation has helped her transfer that love across campus.
“I walk around and take pictures of meetings, which means I’m also watching everybody connect and mingle,” Carver said. “A lot of people do come alone, and it’s really cool to see people leave together afterward. Like, maybe they walked in by themselves, but they’re leaving with a big group of people.”
Pearl said studies have shown that coloring and crafts reduce anxiety, and at Letters of Love she aims to create a space that is relaxing, positive and loving. Students can show fellow Mountaineers love by prioritizing those same three guidelines.
