We don’t seem to have a New Year’s celebration in downtown Blue Ridge this year, but the celebrated Possum Drop is on at Clay’s Corner in Brasstown, North Carolina. (Apparently, they’ve worked out their problems with the folks who thought they were traumatizing the possum, or at least, I hope so.) You can read about it here.
The biggest excitement in downtown Blue Ridge has been the opening of Chester’s, the new bar and grill on East Main. They’re across the street from the train station, in the corner building where the antique store was located. They’ve done a nice job with the space, with a long bar on one wall and booths on the other, with a small seating area of tables in front. They’re opening at 4:00 PM, and are open seven days. They told me that they plan to open for lunch early in the new year. They haven’t been taking reservations, and the place has been jammed, so we haven’t been able to get in there to experience it yet. For what it’s worth, the one first-hand report I heard on the food was that the wings were good, most of the entrees sampled were good, and that the trout is better at the Brewery.