BRIDGES PAST AND PRESENT AND A FEW THINGS IN BETWEEN

When I left home this morning, I had absolutely no idea where I was going, but I knew I was going to have a good day. Any day that I can spend traveling the back roads with my camera is a good day.  About an hour and a half after leaving home I ended up in Paint Bank, Virginia. Now you don’t just drop by Paint Bank, Virginia, you have to make an effort to get there. By the time you make the hour long trek from Salem, across two mountains you are ready for a break when you pull into the Paint Bank General Store.  The unassuming store on the side of Route 311 is also home to the Swinging Bride Restaurant. I had left home before breakfast and I was hungry so I decided to have breakfast.  If you want good ole down home southern cooking, then the Swing Bridge Restaurant the place to go. Any meal is a treat at the Swinging Bridge but I am partial to their breakfast.  A meal at the Swinging Bridge is well worth the effort it takes to get here.

If you want to stay and enjoy the scenery then you can stay at the Depot Lodge located right across the street from the General Store.  Housed in the old Norfolk and Western Depot that was built in 1909 along the railroads Potts Valley Branch, the Depot Lodge features 4-guest rooms for travelers who want to enjoy the peace and solitude of Pott Valley.  For those that want to enjoy a longer stay, the Section Foreman’s Cottage which was built in 1910 is located right next door.  It features two bedrooms, gas fireplace, living room, dining room and full kitchen.

After having a great breakfast it was time to continue my journey across Potts Mountain and into West Virginia and to the Valley of the Sweet Springs.

The Old Sweet Springs Inn in Sweet Springs, West Virginia open as a resort in 1839. Built to take advantage of the natural mineral springs of the area, the 110,000 square foot hotel has  5-presidents, George Washington, James Madison, Franklin Pierce, Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore along with the Marquis de Lafayette, Queen Victoria Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.  The Resort closed in the 1930’s and the elegant hotel was turned into a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1941 and finally was a home of the aged from 1945 until it closed for good in 1993.  As I walk around I wonder what it would have been like to stroll the grounds back in the day when presidents were enjoying the elegance of this historic resort.  Today the stately old hotel still stands proudly beside of Route 311, abandoned and unattended.

From Sweet Springs it was back on Route 311 to the tine resort town of White Sulphur Springs.  Unlike the abandoned Sweet Spring Resort, The historic Greenbrier Resort is thriving. With its elegant accommodations, casino for the guests and world class golf course, the famed White Lady is a jewel of the Greenbrier Valley.  I did make a quick stop at the Greenbrier and it was already obvious that plans were well underway for the upcoming stop on the PGA tour, The “Greenbrier Classic.”

Staying off of the interstate I decided to stay on Route 60 and just piddle along and I am glad that I did as just west of Lewisburg I saw a sign for the Herns Mill Covered Bridge.  I am a sucker for history and these old covered bridge are getting rare and people these days seems to be satisfied to let them pass into history.  About a mile and a half down a narrow country road I found the bridge which was built in 1884.  While I was walking around taking some photos, a local farmer came by on his tractor and stopped to talk with me and a couple from Connecticut who had followed me down the road off of Route 60.

 

For the next 30-minutes we passed the time talking to our new farmer friend about the history of the bridge.  He explained that it was a Queen post truss and was about 10 and a half feet wide and 53-feet long. The bridge gets its name from S. S .Herns Mill that once operated nearby.  The bridge was built to provide access to the mill for locale residents. The bridge has been reinforced and is still handling vehicle traffic today. 

A few miles after returning to Route 60, I stumbled on another “sign” from the past. An old Mail Pouch Barn, sits off the road proclaiming “Chew Mail Pouch.” Mail Pouch Barns first appeared on the landscape in the 1890’s. Many of the barns were painted by Harley Warrick who traveled about with the paint in the back of his pickup truck, taking an average of 6-hours to paint each barn.  Harley said that he always started with the letter “E” in chew and would work from there.  Harley once told Charles Kuralt that he every once in a while he would misspell a word on purpose just to see if folks would actually pay attention. A common misspelling he said would be an extra “B” in tobacco. Harley Warrick died in 2000 and with him died the advertising art of “Chew Mail Pouch.”

After stopping on the side of Route 60 for a few Mail Pouch Photos, I continued west on 60 through the towns of Rupert and Rainelle before arriving at the New River Gorge Bridge. The 3,030 foot long steel arch bridge spans the New River Gorge in Fayette County, West Virginia. For many years it was the longest steel arch bridge in the world, and is the third highest bridge in the world. The Bridge opened in 1977 and each October it is closed to vehicle traffic for the annual Bridge Day, where base jumpers from around the world come and jump off the bridge parachuting into the river 876 feet below.

After spending about an hour and a half at the New River Gorge Bridge the sun was getting low in the western sky and it was time to head home. Opting to expedite my departure I picked up the West Virginia Turnpike in Beckley and 90-minutes later I arrived back home. Another enjoyable day trip has come to an end.

THE CROOKED ROAD LEADS TO TEXAS

After being cooped up all winter, spring has finally arrived and I have some time off from work so I decided to hit the back roads and see what’s around the bend.  One of my favorite drives has been and always will be the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it is right in my back yard. It is a place I can go to unwind, to enjoy the ever changing view, and to meet people who have for one reason of the other found themselves traveling the treasure of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

FLOYD COUNTRY STORE

So on this sunny Saturday Morning I headed south on Route 8 for a quick stop in the Town of Floyd. Floyd is one of the jewels of the “Crooked Road Music Trail.”  Every Friday night the sounds of bluegrass music can be heard the historic Floyd Country Store. Every Friday Night local pickers gather at the Store and the street come alive with people “Flat-Footin” and dancing in the streets.  Spending a Friday night at the Old Country Store remind minds me of the Saturday nights on long ago at the “Frog Level Service Station” in my home town of Tazewell, Virginia; just on a larger scale.  There is nothing like “Pickin’ & Grinnin’ and dancing in the streets.

This Saturday morning the streets of Floyd was relatively quiet, with locals spending time at the farmers market and visiting with friends and neighbors.  Before head up to the Parkway, I decided to

have breakfast at the Blue Ridge Restaurant on Main Street.  The Blue Ridge Restaurant is a throwback to what many of us call a simpler time.  You still get a menus and a waitress still takes your order and after a few minutes you think you are a regular. I had eggs, bacon, grits (yes I like grits), homemade cathead biscuits and coffee, for slight more than $5.00 no including tip. The food is good and the servings plentiful. 

Have finished breakfast I was ready to continue my journey, joining the Parkway at Adney Gap, and a few miles later I arrived at the most photographed place on the Parkway; Mabry Mill.  It was too early in the year for the Mill to be open, but the beauty of this pristine spot is free and I joined a few other travelers in snapping a few photo.  Beginning in May and extending through October, the mill, gift shop and restaurant are open, but today the parking lot was largely empty.  During the summer the restaurant is a great place to eat, however it is rather small and sometimes the wait is long, but from past experience the food is very good and worth the wait.

Mabry Mill was built about 1905 by Ed and Lizzie Mabry. The Mill, waterwheel and flume was all built by hand. In 1908 the grist mill was doing a substantial business and Ed decided to expand his business and built a saw mill.  For several years the Marby’s operated their business with Lizzie operating the grist mill and Ed’s working the saw mill. The Mabry’s operated the grist mill, saw mill and blacksmith shop until the late 1930’s when Ed Mabry died and Lizzie moved away.  The property was obtained by the National Park Service in 1938 and the property was completely restored for the first time in 1942 and has become the most photographed place on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

After snapping a few photos at the mill, it was time to continue my journey south. A few miles south of the community of Meadows of Dan, I arrive at a hidden gem, the Mabry Trading Post. It is truly a throwback to the “good ole days.” I always stop here when I am traveling the Parkway just because it reminds me to slow down and enjoy the moment, and it is one of the few places that I can still get a cold peach pop.

Just a ¼ mile up is the Beautiful Mayberry Presbyterian Church. This is one of the original 6-rock churches built by Robert “Bob” Childress. Reverend Childress preached at Mayberry from 1924-1956 during which time he wrote his

popular book, “Man Who Moved a Mountain.”  I first read this book many years ago while in high school and read it again last year. Over the years I have visited and photograph all of them. They are all beautiful in their own right but in my opinion Mayberry is the most beautiful.

Today, I hit it lucky and a couple members of the congregation were preparing the church for Sunday Service.  I spent the next hour talking to them and was surprised that they had relocated a few to rural Patrick County from Chicago where the attended a huge mega church. As members of the small congregation my hosts surprised me with their knowledge of the area and the history of Reverend Childress and all of the rock churches.  The allowed me to take a few photo inside the small country church which a pleasant surprise.

By the time I finished my church visit, and arrived at Groundhog Mountain it was lunch time.  Before leaving home I had pack a few sandwiches, chips and drinks and decided to enjoy lunch at the Groundhog Mountain Overlook.  While having lunch I met a family from Kansas who was spending the next two month exploring the historic sites of the east. Their two children ages 12 and 14 are home schooled and the history of Virginia is going to be a treat for them. They were traveling in a 38-foot motor home and was planning on traveling the parkway all the way to Afton Mountain but after talking to me they changed their plans and planned to leave the parkway in Roanoke and head up to Natural Bridge where they would overnight before hitting Natural Bridge and the Historic sites of Lexington the next day. While it wasn’t on their original agenda I think I convinced them to stop off in Staunton and Visit the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum before heading across the mountain for tours of Monticello, Ashlawn-Higlands and Montpelier. 

After visiting with my new Kansas friends it was time to continue my trek south to Fancy Gap where I decided to leave the parkway and head up to Hillsville on old Route 52 where I ended up in the tiny community of Austinville.

Austinville is located on the banks of the New River in Wythe County. The community is named for Stephen F. Austin, who was born here on November 13, 1793. Shortly after his birth, the Austin Family moved to Missouri where Stephen spent his youth.  In 1825 Stephen migrated with 300 families and settled in Texas.  Stephen F. Austin along with Sam Houston, who was also born in Virginia near Lexington, are two of the most important figures Texas History.  I guess you could say, “Texas was born in Virginia.”

Located on the banks of the New River is a small park near where Austin was born. The actual site has long ago been reclaimed by nature, but there is a monument here that will forever commemorate the birth here of The Father of Texas.

By the time I was ready to leave Austinville the sun was getting low in the western sky so it was time to head home bringing an end to a most enjoyable day.