Fries VA August 25-28, 2016

Day 15 – Thursday August 25, 2016 We did our morning walk around town and had breakfast. I did some reading and Lena practiced on her lap harp for awhile before we walked down near the river to The Cafe at Fries for lunch. This is the only Cafe in town. The food was good. The town has a large recreation building that was built by the founder of the textile mill. It is used as the library, town hall and also has a theater with stage. The town uses the theater for a variety of functions and on Thursdays they have a musical jam session with local musicians. About 6PM we walked to the theater to listen to the free event. There is a large floor space between the seating and the raised stage. There were 17 musicians setting in a circle playing mountain/bluegrass style music. Several women and a few men got up and did some flat foot dancing. This is a very old and popular style of dancing in the mountains. They played from 7-9PM.

Check out those prices from many years ago

Lena's Lap Harp

Day 16 – Friday - August 26, 2016 After our morning routine of walking and breakfast we drove through Galax and on to the Blue Ridge Parkway and heading North a few miles to the Blue Ridge Music Center. They have a large display on the history of the music in the area. On Fridays they have a music jam session on the breezeway so we listened to them for a couple of hours before going back to Galax for a late lunch and then on back to the campground.

Later in the day we went back to Galax to the Rex Theater. A bluegrass group named The Crooked Road Ramblers were performing. The local radio station 98.1 broadcasts the show live on radio. We won the door prize – a CD from The Crooked Road Ramblers. There were lots of men and women doing flat foot dancing for most of the two hour performance including a 80 year old man.

Day 17 – Saturday - August 27, 2016 Well Happy Birthday to me. Since it is my birthday I decided I wanted to be lazy today so we walked a couple of laps through the campground, ate breakfast, rode into Galax to Porkey's Family Buffet for lunch. Then returned to the campground to relax and read. I did get industrious and cooked some apples on the grill for our evening meal. Yummy!

Day 18 – Sunday - August 28, 2016   Starting about 7:30AM we did a 6.5 mile round trip bicycle ride along the New River State Park Trail before returning to the campground for breakfast. After breakfast we drove to Matthews Historical Farm near Galax to tour the farm and checkout the Civil War re-en actors that were camped there. There were about a dozen soldiers there in uniform performing drills and firing their rifles. They had several tents setup and an open tent where the wives and babies were setting around in period clothing much like they would have been during the Civil War. We also toured the 1900's farm house and many outside farm buildings that are original to the farm. A blacksmith was also demonstrating his craft.

View across New River

New River

Our bicycles

From there we drove on over to the Baywoods Community to see the Crossroads Primitive Baptist Church that we had seen on a map. We drove through the countryside for awhile and Lena decided she wanted to go back to the Independence Courthouse and get two more packet of the music for her Lap Harp. When we got there we discovered the courthouse is not open on Sunday so we went to a Mexican restaurant in town for lunch. The food was very good.

The day was still young so we decided to drive up to the Graysons Highlands State Park. We went there three years ago to listen to music at the Albert Hash Festival but the festival is now on Labor Day weekend. Virginia is now charging just to ride through the park now so we paid our $7 to enter the park. We have heard that North Carolina State Parks are considering charging an entry fee. After checking out the park campgrounds we drove back to Fries and relaxed/read until about dark and did a walk through the campground and stopped and talked to the owner for awhile. The campground is almost full.

Fries, VA August 22-24, 2016

Day 12 – Monday August 22, 2016 We slept really good and got up a little later than normal after getting to bed late Saturday night. The temperature was 60 degree this morning – nice after all the hot weather this Summer. The elevation here is 2129' above sea level. We did our morning walk around part of this small town. The town was founded by Col. Frances Henry Fries a 19^th industrialist when he built a textile mill here beside the beautiful New River.

Lena finished our laundry and we just relaxed and enjoyed the cooler weather. It was cool enough that we decided to put on our long pants and take off the shorts. Tom (the owner) brought us two muffins that his wife made this morning so I guess he is not mad with me. They sure were good with a cup of coffee. Then Tom started repairing the mess I made in the grass. I offered to help but he said there was no need. Tom soon had it fixed and put the grass back in place, put out some grass seed and spread some straw over it so it looks nice now. After talking to him while he worked I found out he built the campground himself after he retired so he could remain active. He has really done a good job with the layout and landscaping. He keeps it really clean, all the grass is kept mowed, the bathhouse is nice and very clean (we don't use the bathhouses in campgrounds but sometimes will check them out) and he is very friendly and easygoing. We really like it here.

Our site #6

Day 13 – Tuesday August 23, 2016 Tom (the owner) gave us a set of driving instructions for a scenic driving route through some of the back roads in the area. So after our morning walk and breakfast we took off on the drive. There is some really pretty scenery in this area with lots of nice cattle farms, rolling hills, trees, hugh rocks, etc. We would really like to come back to the area in the fall for the fall colors. We stopped in Independence, VA to tour a 1908 court house. After the county built a new modern court house some of the community wanted to tear it down and build parking lot but a local man that had money purchased it and donated it to the town after he had some restoration work done. Now it is a museum filled with local artifacts and a small gift shop. The upstairs court room is used for meeting, etc.

Lena spotted a lap harp in the gift shop that she wanted so we got it and two extra packs of music sheets to go with it. Then we stopped for a late lunch at a local pizza shop for their buffet. From there we returned to Fries.

1908
Grayson County Courthouse

Peach Bottom Primitive Baptist Church

Day 14 – Wednesday August 24, 2016 We did our normal routine and had a late breakfast, then we drove to Galax to get some groceries. After we returned one of our fellow campers stopped to talk to Lena about her lap harp. He told us to go to his campsite and his wife would use her tuner to make sure the harp was in tune. They both play dulcimers. Later we went to their site and they used the tuner and got the harp in tune. It was just a little off. The lady also gave Lena a couple of pointers on playing the harp.

Home to Marion, NC August 11-21, 2016

Day 1 - Thursday August 11, 2016 We departed home at 6:40AM for Marion, NC to attend the 42^nd. North Carolina Bluegrass Festival. This will be our 5^th year to attend the festival. We stopped in Wallace to fuel up the motor home and get some breakfast. We stopped at Tanglewood RV Park in Clemmons NC for the night. We normally drive all the way to Marion but this year decided to stop at Tanglewood RV Park where we have stayed several times. We checked in about noon and rested the remainder of the day after setting up in site 11 (our favorite site).

Day 2 - Friday August 12, 2016 We departed about 8:30AM and drove the final 106 miles to Tom Johnson's Camping World and RV Center in Marion NC. We arrived about 10:30AM and checked in. We also had the state inspection done on the motor home before we setup in our site (35). After setting the motor home up we walked over to the TJ's Cafe for their catfish lunch. We like their catfish lunch.

After lunch we went to the sales center to look at some recliners for the motor home. They had the recliners we wanted but we had to have them shipped home because we have no room to put them in the motor home with the two we already have in the motor home. When we get back home they will be put in the house and the new ones will be put in the motor home.

Then we drove to a small locally owned grocery store to buy their sausage. The owner makes his own sausage and we like it so we always stock up when we are here.

About 6:15PM we drove a few miles toward Old Fort to hear some local Bluegrass musicians play at Woody's Original Mountain Music. Local groups have been playing here for 6 years but we just heard about it a few days ago. They don't charge admission, but do sell raffle tickets for prize and drinks and desserts to “keep the lights on”. They played until 8:30PM.

Day 3 – Saturday August 13, 2016 We drove to Black Mountain to visit a coffee shop we found last year and also attend the annual Sourwood Festival. We were disappointed with our coffee and should have complained. It was just barely warm. Then we checked out a campground in the area (Mama Gerties). It had some sites with nice views but there was quite the climb up the campground streets to get to them. We think we will pass on this one.

We returned to Black Mountain to check out the various vendors at the festival before returning to our campground in Marion. After lunch a rain cloud came through and it rained rather heavy for awhile. I hope it bypassed Black Mountain and their festival because if it didn't there were some vendors that got wet.

Day 4 – Sunday August 14, 2016 Today was kind of a slow day for us. We did a morning walk and then relaxed and read until about 1:30PM when we drove a few miles up hwy. 70 to Old Fort to attend a music jam at the Mountain Gateway Museum. A dozen local musicians gathered in one of the rooms in the museum and did an impromptu music jam. The musicians ranged in age from about 13 to over 70. Then played from 2 to 4PM.

We returned to the campground for the remainder of the day. Later in the evening we rode our bicycles around the grounds for awhile. Many of the people coming to the festival have arrived.

Day 5 – Monday August 15, 2016 At 7:30AM I took our chairs and went to the pavilion to get our wrist bands and place our chairs. There were already about 200 people in line ahead of me. Someone said some of the people had been in line since 10PM last night. You get to place your chairs under the pavilion based on your position in line. The line started moving about 8:40AM. I was able to get our chairs on the 11^th row so we are in a good position from the stage. By the time I got back to the motor home I was ready for breakfast. Lena had already ate so I went to TJ's Cafe in the Service Center for breakfast.

We relaxed and read for most of the day until late in the day when it cooled off so we could ride our bicycles around the grounds.

Day 6 – Tuesday August 16, 2016 We did a morning walk before breakfast and then drove up hwy 221 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We rode through Linville Falls Campground. This is a pretty campground but it was built a long time ago when campers were much smaller than most are these days so most sites were vacant. Then we stopped at the visitor's center and walked the one mile round trip trail to the Linville Falls. This is a really pretty falls. We stopped here a few years ago. Then we drove to just below Grandfather Mountain. On the way back we stopped at a roadside produce stand and got some tomatoes and peaches. From there we drove South on the parkway and stopped at Little Switzerland Cafe for lunch. We have ate here a number of times and they always have good food. From there we rode through the Catabaw Falls Campground. It was also built many years ago and has even smaller sites than Linville Falls Campground. We returned to the our campground and after it cooled down we rode our bicycles around the campground. It is filling up for the festival.

Day 7 – Wednesday August 17, 2016 We did our morning walk and then went to TJ's Cafe for breakfast. After breakfast our neighbors in the next site came over to look at our motor home and we talked for awhile. Mid afternoon a thunderstorm with winds and heavy rain came through but it did cool the temperature down. Later I rode through the campground and stopped to listen to people setting around “picking and grinning”.

Day 8 – Thursday August 18, 2016 We did our morning walk and had breakfast and then at noon we rode our bicycles over to the pavilion for the start of the Bluegrass Festival. As usual there were lots of good singers and musicians. We got back to the motor home about 11PM when the festival was over for the day.

Day 9 – Friday August 19, 2016 We had the same routine today except we went to TJ's Cafe for their Friday Catfish dinner. I came back to the motor home during the afternoon intermission and to wait out another rain storm. The MC had been telling us about a long time employee of Tom Johnson's Camping World that was in the hospital after having 3 brain aneurysms. Some of the employees were selling tickets for a chance to win a hand engraved plaque that all the entertainers were autographing to make up money to help the employee. Then later in the day they announced they were going to “pass the hat” through the audience for a collection for anyone that wanted to donate. The promoter of the festival (Adams Bluegrass) and Tom Johnson's Camping World would each match all the donations from the audience. Later they told us the audience donated a little over $3,000 so with the matching money and an anonymous donation of $1,000 they collected over $10,000 to help out the man and his family.

Day 10 – Saturday August 20 2016 We did our morning routine and then rode our bicycles over to the festival to get some lunch before the singing started. We got a good Shrimp Po Boy Wrap. As usual the music was good and it lasted from 12 noon to midnight with one 45 minute break. We went back to the motor home for supper during the intermission and stayed for about 2 hours to eat and relax. It was raining lightly when the music stopped so we had to ride our bicycles back in the rain but that was not a big deal.

Day 11 – Sunday August 21, 2016 We ate breakfast and finished packing and departed about 10AM for about a 170 mile drive to Fries, VA (pronounced Freeze, VA) for a 11 day stay.

We arrived at Fries New River Trail RV Park about 12:30PM to a light rain. This is a small campground with 16 full hookup sites. The owner was not onsite when we got there but our site number (6) was posted at the door on a blackboard. We unhooked and turned the motor home around to get to our site. The sites are not laid out in rows like most campgrounds. The campground is situated is a small hollow surrounded on three sides with tall shade trees and hills so the owner had to build the sites based on the terrain. I normally get out and look over the site if it is a little difficult to get into but since it was raining I didn't do that – which was a mistake on my part. I got the right front wheel off the gravel onto the grass and made a bad rut in the pretty landscaping. While I was setting up the owner came up to introduce himself. I told him what I did and offered to pay for the damage. He was very nice about it and said not to worry about the damage, that he would fix it tomorrow. He said he should have been onsite to give me directions on how best to get into the site. I still was mad at myself and somewhat embarrassed at my carelessness. 

Cedar Point National Park Campground Cedar Point NC July 25-29, 2016

Day 1 – Monday July 25, 2016 We departed about 9:30AM with our two grandsons for a four night trip to Cedar Point National Park Campground in Cedar Point NC. We arrived and was setup by 11:00AM in site 7. We have camped here several times. It is a nice small campground with 36 sites, two of which are for the host and co-host. Four of the sites are doubles, which brings the total to 40 sites. If someone gets the double sites they pay for both sites even if the second site is not used, but they are nice if two families are together. All sites except 4 can be reserved online. These four are for “walk-ups”.

Our site is mostly shady so even though it is hot we do have some shade to help keep it a little cooler. The grandsons rode their bicycles and played yard games. The street around the campground is paved so it is easy riding. After supper we all rode our bicycles down the street to the boat ramp to look for crabs and enjoy the nice breeze across the White Oak River.

Day 2 – Tuesday July 26, 2016 We went to the local McDonald's for breakfast and to use the WiFi for a few minutes. Then we drove down the island to Fort Macon State Park to tour the old fort. The grandsons really enjoyed the fort when we came a few years ago. The fort has been used for the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I & II. It is the first functioning North Carolina State Park. In the last few years the state park system has really done some nice upgrades to show how life was when it was in use and they also have a nice visitor's center. One of the Park Rangers put on a nice demonstration about how the 1812 muzzle loading rife was used in the Civil War. He explained and demonstrated how to load and fire the rifle.

Commissary Store Room

We stopped in Atlantic Beach and ate lunch at the Four Corners Diner. We have ate there several times and the food is always good. On the way back to the campground we stopped in Cedar Point and got a Bouge Sound Watermelon. Later in the evening we rode the bicycles down to the boat ramp so the grandsons could play in the water and look for fiddler crabs which are all over the place in the marshes around the area. We spotted an Osprey nest over the picnic grounds in the top of a tall pine tree. Both the male and female flew into the nest to feed their babies that were screeching for food.

Day 3 – Wednesday July 27, 2016 I cooked some bacon on the grill for breakfast and after breakfast we rode our bicycles down to the walking trails near the boat ramp and walked the 1.3 mile trail that goes along the banks of the White Oak River and over the marshes. It was low tide so we saw thousands of fiddler crabs and one large Egret. By the time we got back to the campsite we were ready for the air conditioner. This is a HOT week with high temps in the upper 90's.

Fiddler Crabs

After cooling off for awhile I grilled some chicken for lunch. Mid afternoon we went to McDonald's for ice cream and access to their WiFi. Later we rode our bicycles to the boat ramp to see if the Ospreys were on the nest. There was one but it soon flew off. We got a really light rain shower about 10PM but not enough to cool the temperature off.

Day 4 - Thursday July 28, 2016 After breakfast me and the boys rode our bicycles around the campground some but it was so hot we decided to stay inside and watch movies until about 6PM when it cooled off enough it was okay to be outside without melting. About 99 degrees today. About 7PM we rode down to check on the Ospreys. There was one adult on the nest and another one in a dead tree nearby.

Day 5 - Friday July 29, 2016 After breakfast we packed up, dumped the holding tanks and departed about 10:30AM and arrived home about 11:45AM. I nice week even though it was hot.