Wed 7/29/26 – 4-9 PM – $8 Bloody Mary Special – Our very own special recipe of this “any time of the day cocktail.” Our recipe calls for the traditional tomato juice, Worcestershire, horseradish and all those other spicy ingredients but with a kick, including freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice. We’re ready for summertime fun!
Thurs 7/30/26 – 4-9 PM – Hiddenite Gem Cocktail Specials – Emeralds, a gem 20 times rarer than diamonds, occur naturally in rocks in the Western North Carolina Mountains. The gem was designated as North Carolina’s official state gemstone in 1973. Guests can still prospect for emeralds for a small fee in Hiddenite, Spruce Pine, and Little Switzerland. Two basic varieties of emerald crystals are found in North Carolina. In the area around Little Switzerland and Spruce Pine, most emeralds are primarily composed of the mineral beryl. But those found near Hiddenite (small town in Alexander County 15 m. NW from Statesville) are usually a form of spodumene that exists nowhere else in the world. (In recent history small deposits have been found in Madagascar and Brazil.)
Hiddenite (spodumene) and beryl are minerals of an unusual geology underlying isolated areas of Western North Carolina’s mountains. Some 600 million years ago, thick streams of molten minerals with the consistency of hot taffy pooled up on convection currents from deep within the earth’s mantle. The force of the current injected these melted minerals into fractures and voids in gneiss, bedrock underlying emerald mines. Cooling ever so slowly, crystals of quartz, mica, beryl and hiddenite grew bigger and bigger. Eons of rain, a weak acid, then dissolved emerald-bearing bedrock into saprolite, a reddish orange clay-rich dirt in which mica, quartz, beryl, and hiddenite is left untouched. Hiddenite can vary in color from emerald green to pink and lilac and, because of its more fragile crystalline structure, is more difficult to cut.
A 100-acre tract in Hiddenite that as far back as 1870 delivered hundreds of emeralds is owned and operated as the North American Emerald Mine, whose owner, James K. Hill, has found several world record emeralds. One, the Carolina Queen, in the rough was 71 carats that was cut into a spectacular faceted gem weighing 18.8 carats. It is known worldwide as the largest and finest emerald ever found in North America. Its mate, the 7.8-carat Carolina Prince, was cut from the same rough green crystal. Five years later Hill dug up a 1,861.9-carat behemoth.
Hiddenite’s name derives from the interesting history of Thomas Edison’s search for platinum to use as filaments in his electric lights. In 1879 his search led him to send his geologist, W.E. Hidden to Alexander County. During his investigations in Alexander County, Hidden discovered a crystalline rock colored green like emerald, but lacking the classic six-sided structure and softer. He sent the stone to famed mineralogist J. Lawrence Smith (highly respected in 19th century for research on the composition of meteorites) who determined the rock was an unknown form of spodumene. Because of the unique combination of lithium, aluminum, and silica, Smith named the new mineral “hidden-ite.”Hiddenite cocktails: Hiddenite – CB Frost, green goodness juice, lemon juice, agave nectar; Hiddenite Old Fashion – Laird’s Applejack, bourbon-soaked cherry, fresh orange slice, mint jelly, mint leaves, bitters; Hiddenite Crème – Crème de menthe, crème de cacao, heavy cream, fresh grated nutmeg (optional); 1/2 price special on fruit/infused flight