Wednesday, August 12, 2015

North Carolina: Mountain Shops


We've been home from North Carolina for over a month, but I realized I hadn't posted pictures from our last two days there! What reminded me is that I created and ordered six 11"x14" poster collages on the Walmart photo web site. I haven't hung them up yet, but they look great! Many of these pictures made it onto the final one.

Ten of us went to the village of Blowing Rock on a Wednesday. I love that place! So quaint and picturesque!

My grandson enjoyed the playground when we stopped for a picnic lunch. What a cutie!


We visited several shops. I am always drawn to words, so I love inspirational signs.

I was supposed to meet my family at the ice cream store, but they weren't there when I arrived, so I popped into another store two doors down. Cross Trade reminds me of Trades of Hope. They import lovely craft work from Brazil to support artisans with a fair living wage. What a surprise to see that the cashier is my friend Anne, who is also the mother of my brother-in-law. What a sweet lady! We had a nice chat. I hadn't seen her in years and didn't realize she lived in the area.

We all enjoyed our waffle cones at Kilwin's ice cream store.


Heading back to the van, I saw the Dulcimer Shop. I love dulcimers! I've owned one since I was in 8th grade, but haven't played it in years. I bought new strings and a music book, and enjoyed hearing the owner play one of the dulcimers for us. 





Take a quick listen to the sweet music that the owner Bill Magee played for us on request!




I'm getting my dulcimer restrung at Lyrical Lumber here in Maitland, Florida very soon. Two of my daughters want to learn to play it, and fortunately it is super easy. There are even instructional videos on YouTube.

On Thursday, one of my adult daughters bravely took five of her younger siblings to Grandfather Mountain, while the other three of us adults stayed at the cabin to do a final cleaning before leaving the next morning. I'll put those photos in a separate post.

That afternoon, we all visited Mast General Store, a beloved local vintage landmark.




Besides being a general store, it is still a working post office!


Of course, the kids bought both Nehi and Cheerwine sodas!



One son arranged his Mast treasures on the table back at the cabin.

 

It was my second son's 16th birthday, so I got him a Grandfather Mountain t-shirt to remember the day.


Such a lovely trip to North Carolina! Here are the links to the other photo posts so far.



Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles

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