High Hampton Inn a relaxing Thanksgiving retreat

Cashiers, N.C. – Sandy Stogner cooked the last Thanksgiving dinner in her Lilburn kitchen eight years ago. After that day of nonstop cooking and cleaning, the Stogners took their holiday weekend to the High Hampton Inn & Country Club, in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, 150 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Now in its 36th year, the focus of High Hampton’s Thanksgiving House Party is the holiday feast, with turkey and dressing, baked ham, pumpkin and pecan pie, and dozens of supporting players. But the Wednesday-to-Sunday party also includes complimentary golf and tennis, boating, guided hikes, donkey cart rides and other kids’ activities, a magic show, square dancing, clogging, Christmas wreath- and ornament-making, and apple cider from an 1860s press.

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The High Hampton Inn & Country Club in North Carolina offers a delicious, fun, stress-free Thanksgiving weekend.

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The bare granite face of Rock Mountain looks out over the lake and golf course at the High Hampton Inn & Country Club. If mountains could talk, this one would surely brag about the view.

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In addition to the inn, 17 cottages are located throughout the property for families or small groups. This is a view of the Connor Colony House kitchen area.

IF YOU GO
Getting There
High Hampton is about a three-hour drive from downtown Atlanta in Cashiers, N.C.
About the Inn
The all-inclusive Thanksgiving House Party for two adults is $487.87 a day; for two adults and one child, $582.89. Three-night minimum. No tipping. Nov. 26-30. Regular season rates for the full American Plan, including three daily meals for two adults is $254-$330 a day. Children under 3 are free. 1-800-334-2551, www.highhamptoninn.com

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“I don’t like to do Thanksgiving at my house,” Sandy Stogner said. “The last time, I worked myself to death. All I did was cook and clean the whole day… the week before that, I was in the kitchen while everybody else was watching football on TV, and I decided I wasn’t going to do that again. I made reservations at High Hampton for the next year, and we’ve missed only one year since. Last year, my husband asked if we wanted to go somewhere else next year. We all said no.”

The appeal, she said, is that “it’s thoroughly relaxing. There’s no stress, nobody’s in a hurry to go anywhere, so we spend a lot of time together. At meals, you sit with your family at the same table, with the same waiter. After dinner, the lobby fills up with guests playing cards and games. The entertainment is always the same. It’s so traditional, you look forward to the same things year after year.”

Tradition reigns

Tradition is the hallmark of 86-year-old, 1,400-acre High Hampton, which has been owned by the McKee family since 1924.

“We resist change, and we do it, sometimes reluctantly, to keep up with the competition,” said Mark Jones, general manager for 21 years. Men are still required to wear a jacket and tie for dinner. The inn didn’t get an alcoholic beverage license until the late 1990s, and only after the death of founder Will McKee’s mother, an ardent prohibitionist. A high percentage of perennial guests insist on the same accommodations and same tables in the dining room.

“Even the menus stay basically the same,” Jones said. “Monday lunch is barbecue. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday lunch is seasonal; Wednesday dinner is prime rib. Thursday night is Cornish hen and pork tenderloin; Friday is turkey and trout. Saturday night is New York strip. Sunday is always fried chicken. This year we added made-to-order omelets to the Sunday brunch, and people said we’re really in the fast lane now.”

For Thanksgiving dinner, 700 guests, in two seatings, demolish a buffet banquet, which stretches nearly the length of the dining room. The kids’ menu features turkey drumettes, macaroni and cheese, french fries, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

After Sunday lunch, the inn closes until late April.

Now, work off that buffet

Last year, $4 million was invested in updating the 117-unit inn and cottages. Modernization did not include in-room TVs or phones. For those who can’t do without their favorite programs, TVs are in the lobby, library and tavern. With the inn’s 3,600-foot altitude, open windows and ceiling fans make up for the absence of air conditioning in summer months.

New amenities include the Hampton Health Club, offering a full range of spa treatments and exercise equipment.

The weathered wood and stone inn and cottages overlook 35-acre Hampton Lake and Rock Mountain, a 4,370-foot granite dome that could be an overgrown cousin of Georgia’s 825-foot Stone Mountain. Pontoon boats, fishing boats and canoes are available at the marina.

Until 1954, High Hampton had the world’s only 11-hole golf course, because in 1924, Australian golf architect Victor East ran out of money on the 11th. Renowned architect George W. Cobb designed today’s 18-hole, par 71 course. It still has no sand bunkers. The golf program includes lessons and clinics for adults and kids, a practice range and several tournaments. Tennis is played on six clay courts.

At most hotels, guests are admonished never to pick the flowers. But here, guests are furnished with scissors and urged to pick to their heart’s content in the 1-acre Dahlia Garden.

It encourages the blooms, as well as the guests, to come back next year.