Remember the story of the three little pigs? Remember what happened to Pig # 1? (who built his house out of straw) and Pig #2? (who built his house out of sticks).

Three little pigs.  Three Phases to open NC.  The three Ws.

I’m not comparing Governor Cooper’s Three Phase plan to open up NC to the 17th-century fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs, but both do bear a teeny, tiny resemblance when it comes to the outcome. In the Governor’s plan, we are asked to do things in baby steps in order to get to a place where we can live day-to-day in somewhat normalcy. In the Three Little Pigs, the pigs each went their own way, but all ended up with the third pig. He was the smart one. (Of course, in hindsight, he could have helped the other two pigs build their own brick house. Now, he’s got two dead-beat, lazy pigs living with him, but oh well, such is life in a democracy.) It took time and perseverance for that third pig to build a brick home, but it was worth it in the end.

Let’s hope and pray the public will follow the three phases and not be ‘sent back to our rooms’ by the Governor or any other form of government for not following the rules. If we all build our homes out of brick per se, by following the guidelines given to us, maybe, just maybe it will be worth it in the end.

Meanwhile, Chambers Realty & Vacation Rentals is continuing to take reservations for the summer and fall of 2020. In addition to following the Governor’s plan, we’ve stepped up our housekeeping regime, and our housekeepers are taking more time to make sure everything is clean and ready for the next guests.

We are keeping a minimum of 30-36 hours between guests in our rentals, meaning there will be no back-to-back rentals for 2020. We’re asking all visitors to Highlands, NC to adhere to the three W’s. Wear. Wait. Wash.

A few things you will want to know about Phase 1. You can rent a vacation rental home. You can not dine inside restaurants, but curbside and takeout are available. (You may walk inside the restaurant to place your order) you can not eat in outside dining areas. Some retail stores will be open, but limited hours, shoppers allowed inside, etc. will be in place. Gyms, spas, salons are still closed. Grocery stores are open. Churches are not open yet, but streaming services are available for many of them. Theaters, libraries, and other places are not open yet.

If we get through two weeks of Phase 1 with no significant spikes in COVID19 related instances, (I’m assuming tested positive people, hospital cases, or deaths) then, we may be able to move on to Phase 2 by Memorial Day weekend, or at least the end of May.

Let’s do this!