Boone NC. Have you been? Any suggestions?

Tomato shack is a great restaurant
The blue ridge parkway drive is great if weather is good
Blowing rock is a fun town not too far depending on how much time you have

I always loved the Daniel Boone Inn for dinner. It's served family style. The biscuits with country ham and black cherry jam are to die for!

I live about an hour away so we go frequently but we mostly go to Blowing Rock the little town about 5 miles south of Boone on Hwy 321. It is quaint with lots of shops and some restaurants. Stories is the best restaurant in Blowing Rock IMO. In Boone, DH loves the Peddlin Pig. He thinks the BBQ is amazing. I'm not much of a BBQ person but the food is good. There is another Peddlin Pig in BAnner Elk about a half hour from Boone down Hwy 105 which is a nicer location. Other very good restaurants in Boone are Mint Taste of India and Coyote Kitchen.

Do you ski? That's the thing to do in the area in winter. I don't ski, so I can't make any recommendations. Do watch the weather as it is significantly colder with much greater chances of snow than our foothills and piedmont. People there are better equipped to drive in the snow but this is still the south and the general driving skills in snow are poor.

If the road is open, you can go part way up the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Moses Cone estate. The old house is an art gallery and overlooks BAss Lake. Bass Lake is accessed from trails from the house or you can drive there from Blowing Rock. It is about a mile out of town and a beautiful place to walk.

I second Patter's recommendation of Cheap Joe's Art. It is just outside of Boone on Hwy 421 going towards Wilkesboro.