We finally got out of Virginian today and crossed over into another state.
I had always wanted to visit this town in North Carolina because a famous person came from this town. Look at the following photos and see if you can guess who it is.
If your answer was Andy Griffith, you would have been correct. This town was the basis for Andy of Mayberry. Judy wanted to get her picture taken with Barney so I obliged her.
This next picture is of F. Rees Clothing Store. There is an interesting story here about the man who owned this store. The state built a bypass around the main part of the town. Eventually, a mall opened on the bypass and all of the downtown stores started closing and moving out by the mall. F. “Flip” Rees hated to see what was happening downtown so he had the fortitude to start buying up the old dilapidated buildings and rehabbing them. He then started leasing them to specialty shops that you wouldn’t ordinarily see in a town. Because he did this, the town came back and is thriving today. All of the buildings downtown are in good shape and kept up. Tourism is great and bringing money into the town. F. “Flip” Rees died 2 years ago at the age of 94. It is said that if you walked into his clothing store, all it would take is one look from him or his staff and they could tell you your coat size, shirt size and pant size. One man said of him at his death, ” he was a great businessman and a great Christian gentlemen.
About lunch time, we decided to go off of the Parkway and find some home cooked food. Sign said Laural Springs, 3 miles. We went 3 miles and no Laural Springs. I did see some rusty bed springs but we couldn’t eat them so we kept traveling. Judy kept saying we better turn around, but you know guys, we have to figure it out ourselves. We came across this field of tobacco that had just been cut. They stack it and let it dry for a while then hang it in barns.
Much to our delight, soon after this field, we came across a wonderful restaurant in the middle of nowhere. When we walked in, there were several couples seated at some tables. One of the gentlemen said “howdy strangers.” I said, have you been waiting for us. They laughed and said they had. I said, well we’re here now. They were a delightful bunch. After we finished eating, they told us about a shortcut back to the Parkway. It did save us several miles, and the food was good.
Next stop for us was the Moses Cone Estate. But first, I had to have a snack.
Moses Cone became one of the largest producers of denim in the world. He and his wife lived in the New York and Maryland area. After gaining great wealth, he came to the mountains for a vacation, fell in love with them, and started buying land. He eventually bought 3600 acres and in 1901, he started building Flat Top Manor.
It is almost 14000 square feet and has 23 rooms. He also built 25 miles of carriage trails on his estate and had numerous apple orchards. In 1908, he died unexpectedly. His funeral service held on the estate featured four wagonloads of flowers. His wife continued managing the estate for another 39 years following his death. She died in 1947 and left the estate to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
View from the front porch.
Carriage House and some carriages inside.
I had always wanted to visit a Mast General Store if I were ever near one. Today would be my chance as we were near Boone N.C. and they had a Mast Store. When we parked our bike, out came a fellow names Steve from one of the businesses. He had come to Boone via Naples FL and had been here 40 years. He owned a printing company and was very friendly. We had a nice visit.
Mast General Store established in 1883.
While we were walking back to our bike, I noticed an old gentleman sitting on a bench trying to play the guitar. He couldn’t quite get the tune out so I sat down next to him and helped him out.
He wanted to pay me but I told him that I wanted to help him, no strings attached.