We found Asheboro NC to be a really cool and friendly small town located right smack dab in the middle of the state. The small town had a population of 25,000 people that we found to be friendly and helpful for visitors. We did spend 2 nights in the area and about half a day walking the downtown area and visiting with some of the shop owners.
The town has many downtown businesses which is always great to see instead of the closed storefronts that blight many small towns. There are several art galleries, bunches of restaurants and other shops. They also have a daily farmers market that is open until 12 noon. We bought 2 pints of some great tasting fresh strawberries.
From there we visited the art galleries and one of the owners was explaining a truly cool idea for a new business that she was in the process of implementing with the town. They are starting a Ghostwalk on a limited basis that will take place once per month and continue for 5 months. While we have been to several places where they had “touristy” ghost walks, they are doing something different here.
Mary Murkin, owner of Brightside Galley, explained that it was her idea and she has been in the process of developing it for two years. She brought in historians to research the long history of the area, contracted with actors to play the interactive parts and then sold the idea to the town which is sponsoring the event. You could tell it was her prized baby in how excited she was in telling us about it. You can read more about it in this newspaper article.
She also gave us a super place for lunch – The Table, a farm to table restaurant, that did not disappoint. In fact it was difficult to make a menu decision. The line out the door on a Tuesday at lunch was an indicator I guess. I had the crab/lobster salad and Pat had the cranberry chicken salad. Both excellent.
Unfortunately, the highly rated local brewery, Four Saints, was closed on Monday and Tuesday, so we could not sample – gotta work on my timing. After lunch it was back to the campground where we tried fishing and an afternoon swim in the pool to cool off.
The next day we ventured on north to near Salem, VA. where we will be set up for just less than 2 weeks. The drive went fine with only a couple of challenges the worst trying to fit the 5th wheel into our campsite with a very narrow lane and tree positioned at the corner. The site is billed as a pull-through (preferable), but after some help from neighbors and coming within 6 inches of the tree, we gave up and drove around to the other side of our site and then cleanly backed into the narrow spot. Whew! I’m wondering when this will just not phase me anymore and become just another day at the office.
The campground, Dixie Caverns, is just an okay, close to the interstate place to park for a few days as it has limited amenities. While here, I will assist my former employer a bit and work on more organization of the truck and camper. We brought too much stuff with us and some will be going back into storage. I also need to build some shelves for one of the closets.
Some photos:
Have a great weekend!
Love the painted mural – someone had fun….Frank and I would love to visit you and see your RV while you’re in our neck of the woods. Let us know what night is best. 🙂