SAPPHIRE VALLEY, NC – The well-known and very inviting plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains has always been a hotbed of recreation for visitors and residents alike, with mild days and nights that help foster an abundance of outdoor activities.

The fun here is to have a good time, as at the nearby Highlands and Mountaintop Golf Club, and to live a great life that everyone envies with its old and new history. If you can’t have fun it’s your fault. The area is described as “temperate rainforest.”

There are permanent residents here, but for many it is a second home region. People flock here to play golf, and Sapphire has the distinction of having both a beautiful golf course and a ski slope. It wouldn’t confuse Mr. Ripley, but this is where I learned to ski.

Original owner Gene Howerdd, Sr., who settled in Augusta in 1954, purchased 8,500 acres in Sapphire Valley, including the Fairfield Inn and a lake. He then hired University of Georgia landscape architecture graduate George Cobb to redesign the existing golf course. It was renamed the “Sapphire Valley Inn and Country Club.”

Of course, if golf isn’t your priority, you have plenty of options, from fly fishing to rafting to hiking in the older mountains of the Alps, Andes and Rockies. You can emphasize activities that will allow you to be a homebody in the most comfortable environments.

This past weekend, we were the guests of our neighbors, Carolyn and Charlie Callihan, who bought property here after they retired and can’t get enough of the mountain life. The spring, summer and fall seasons have a unique appeal outdoors, but in the winter they enjoy the large fireplace in their study, which, along with its adjacent kitchen, has become the center of their life. With a rustic touch, you will be enchanted by the exposed cross beams and rafters and the large windows framing the enticing and exciting views.

They have 14 acres of land, and this land allows them to explore the mountains, flora and fauna, as well as the masterpieces of nature. But Carolyn isn’t so thrilled with the last one. There are dozens of black bears in the area, and it could do without all of them. Bernie cartoons Sophie and Augie are outfitted with necklace bells to send the bears the message, “If you leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.”

Across from a spring-fed pond, Charlie has a fenced lot where he constantly matches wits with the abundant deer. He grows a horn of plenty Vegetables that grow all year round, such as zucchini, cucumber, tomato, potato, green beans, carrot and radish. A mushroom enthusiast, he spotted a cluster of black trumpet mushrooms on the side of the road while on his way to dinner one night. Suddenly it was “harvest” time. We had it with tomatoes and cucumber for breakfast the next morning. Dinner at the Cedar Creek Club, in the most attractive setting, has a head-turning menu, highlighted by a scenic veranda that makes fine wines “finer.”

Carolyn, who has a master’s degree in microbiology from UGA and a career at the Environmental Protection Agency, confirms how smart she is by staying out of the kitchen. Charlie not only cooks, he also cleans.

Charlie grew up hunting, fishing, and cooking in West Virginia until he was 16. Her father was a marketing professional at Blue Bird Manufacturing in Ft. Valley. Charlie later came to UGA, where his culinary expertise came in handy. His father had told him that he would be in financial trouble if he joined a fraternity, so when Charlie joined the Chi Psi fraternity on Lumpkin Street, he was on his own. Undaunted, she became her sister’s chef. She is as versatile in the kitchen as Paula Deen.

He also built a verandah for the fraternity, which was off-limits to his room and board. He became a night auditor at the Georgia Center hotel and was left with little time to finish pharmacy school, but he found a way.

A smart entrepreneur, he has a penchant for shrubbery, flowers, hanging baskets and an outdoor sofa under a tin roof. When The Callihans choose to “do nothing,” sitting in rocking chairs on the pavement in front of the waterfall and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. A lifelong carver and enthusiast of woodworking, it would be hard to find a couple more in tune with their surroundings. And retirement.

There is an important basis for this story. Once you reach retirement age, it is best not to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. Be active and studious, read books, eat healthy, and watch out for black bears.