Morganton, NC
If you are looking for affordable insurance and live in Morganton, NC look no further than The Asheville Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina® Store! We provide fast, affordable insurance quotes to residents of Morganton, NC and all of North Carolina. Simply give us a call at 828.348.2583 to have one of our personal Health Care Reform agents walk you through the enrollment process and assist you in finding a comprehensive health insurance plan at an affordable rate.
I hope not to find myself at Grace Hospital during my trip to Morganton, North Carolina, but I know that if I do, I will be in good hands. The folks at WNC Health Insurance / The Asheville Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina® Store showed me several Morganton, NC insurance plans and provided me with an insurance quote that helped me to get health insurance through Obamacare months ago; so there are none of those “back of the mind” worries that sometimes go along with weekend adventures. Sickness and accidents may ruin a lake trip in Morganton, but they do not have to ruin a bank account! I know that if I need it, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina® card is tucked away in my wallet. I may call WNC Health Insurance / The Asheville Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina® Store later to ask for a couple more cards, now that I think about it!
A misty spray moistens our cheeks as nautical miles race beneath our fast running craft. This day with an azure sky and crisp, clean smelling air seems to justify the entire creation of the world. Here, in Burke County, just outside her seat in Morganton, North Carolina, we are sure that these elements that surround us now could never have been other than benign. The sun crackles silently as it reflects in a million directions off the jostling liquid surface, necessitating the donning of polarized lenses and sunscreen.
The cool waters of Lake James slap against the hull of the sleek fishing boat as we slow up along the shore which is jealously guarded by erect evergreen sentinels. Long deceased fallen boughs dip deeply into the water’s edge and provide excellent hiding places for the largemouth bass we intend to tease out with thin lined lures. Our vessel bobs gently on a mirror of blue, up and away from which roll verdant hills. In the distance, a rugged, upward-reaching rock face firmly lifts one tree line above another, creating the illusion of a huge table supporting a deciduous forest.
In autumn, Table Rock’s grey vertical stone rises up from a fruity forest, colored by the recession of chlorophyll from the leaves in anticipation of lower light levels during the winter. Red, orange, and yellow will be ablaze. At this time, the sea of varying greens is interrupted here and there by the bright white of Dogwood blooms which peek out and seem to query, “Do you see me?” One need not be a philosopher or naturalist to understand immediately why people flock to this voluptuous environment to pass a day or even a lifetime.
Unlike a Tuesday or Wednesday when there’s barely time to breathe, we feel great pleasure in Morganton, NC on the weekend in just breathing! Our heads, usually fixed forward and slightly down at some type of screen, swivel with a full range of motion and take in the panoramic vista of nature’s handiwork. Screens are for work and entertainment…but this is living! The sky is limitless. Long, slow minutes pass without a word said, and nobody misses words. The silence is golden.
Lake James is actually a man-made lake. It was produced by damming up the Catawba and Linville Rivers around 1920. Twelve hundred feet above sea level, the cool water is a home to all types of fish and a source of hydroelectric power as well. The lake takes its name from the king of electricity in North Carolina, James B. Duke, the man who started Duke Power Company. Biking, camping, swimming, fishing, boating, picnicking and hiking are all available on her surface and along her shores.
When we finally pull the boat up onto its trailer and the truck pulls the trailer up out of the lake – the only thing we pulled out of the lake today – we head on into Morganton for a bite to eat. More than 17,000 people call Morganton North Carolina their home, so, to avoid an unbearably long line that would inevitably exist at just one restaurant; they have opened up a large number of delightful restaurants! Favorites include Habaneros Mexican, Judge’s Riverside BBQ, Friday Friends, and Abeles Family Restaurant. Exit 105 off of Highway 40 will drop us into hog heaven. Today we are at Allison’s for burgers and fries. This food is what some people call “comfort food”; in Morganton, NC, we just call it “real good eatin’”. After lunch we go home for a much-deserved rest. Hard fishing and eating, normally lead to a good long nap in the “me-shaped” space in my recliner.
We are parking off of Sterling Street at the Old Burke County Courthouse now as we begin an afternoon downtown stroll. This old Morganton courthouse was first used back in 1837, the contract for its construction having been awarded to James Binnie in 1833. This courthouse is the only one in North Carolina outside of our capital, Raleigh, which has housed the illustrious State Supreme Court while in session. Two statues outside the courthouse silently speak to passersby of significant men from Burke County and Morganton, NC.
The first, a life-sized representation at ground level of Senator Sam Ervin, Jr., who served as a Senator from 1954 to 1974. He is most widely known for his leadership of the committee investigating the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of then President Richard Nixon. Interestingly enough, Nixon, while serving as the Vice President under President Dwight Eisenhower, had appointed Senator Ervin in 1954 to a committee that would effectively end the career of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The second is a lone Confederate infantryman. He seems to be a combination of battle readiness - with a bayonet-tipped rifle at his side, cartridge belt snugged up on his hips, and feet set one before the other in an aggressive preparedness for action. He is a stalwart figure - a debonair James Dean, with his hat set to one side and jaw set against all adversity - a rebel with a cause. The statue, which sits on a base with crossed rifles on one side, crossed canons on the opposite, and a declaration on the front, was dedicated in 1918 by Judge Walter Clarke. In Judge Clarke’s dedication he reminded the world that North Carolinians had committed more able-bodied men per capita than any other state - to the Southern cause.
A short walk across Morganton’s main thoroughfare affords us an opportunity to check out the movies playing at the Marquee Cinemas this week. The Mimosa 7 always has the latest movies, and plush stadium seating means everyone is comfortable and sees the film without distraction. All Marquee Cinema locations have excellent sound and full theatre-width screens, so the experience is always well worth the normal high cost of a modern movie ticket.
As I look at the streetlamps, I remember the winter of 2003 when snow blanketed my world in white. The same lamp posts were bedecked in holly and tinsel. The sounds of “Silent Night” massaged the crisp evening air from the public audio system as large unique snowflakes fell meteor-like from a black sky and deepened the little walls created by crunchy foot-falls. The warm air I currently feel under a bright spring sun is a 180 degree contrast to the recollection of that cold December night. I love that Morganton, North Carolina, has four distinct seasons and that the cycles of the year mark the passage of time in gentle shifts of color, smells, temperature, and costuming. We have to closet four different wardrobes in order to be seasonally garbed, but the changes make for more opportunity for the ladies to be beautiful and the men to be debonair – like the heroic confederate soldier on the lawn of the Old Courthouse sporting his hat, angled low across his forehead.
The shops we stroll past on the downtown walk are as entertaining and inspirational as they are necessary. Coffee, dessert, art, history and civic involvement are all represented in a clean, well decorated downtown that gives the residents pride. The street corner clock makes the analog time available in European fashion and adds a touch of old world to the country home town community that is Morganton, NC. For people like me, there is plenty to do right here. I enjoy passing an hour in Freeman’s store, perusing his unique merchandise that can only be found right here in Burke County. Fortunately for the young people who never live in a place full enough of activity and opportunity, Morganton has bustling cities within an easy drive. Asheville is to the west, Charlotte to the south. Greensboro lies north, and Winston-Salem is located eastward. All these cities are under an hour’s drive away and have all the big city stuff for which people long. I like that it is there and I like that it is not here!
Morganton, North Carolina, evokes a positive family feeling. It’s a world that says, “Come on in and stay awhile!” The clean streets, neighborhoods, and storefronts draw out a sense of home, a sense of quaint, comfortable permanence and peace. Unlike a big city, it doesn’t call to the masses with, “Come here to work! Come here to play!” but rather whispers, “Come on back here after work and after play...and set awhile.” That suits me just fine, and just might fit you, too, if you give it a try.
Be sure to give the folks at Asheville Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina® Store a call if you are planning a move to Morganton, NC. Their friendly, fully licensed agents will clearly explain the various Morganton, NC health insurance plans available to you through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina®,including plans offered under Obamacare, and they will provide you with the most affordable insurance quote available to your family.
