Friday Night Jamboree at the Floyd General Store

Day 6

We woke up to beautiful skies and 60°F temps.  We're spending two nights at this campground in the middle of the Blue Ridge and with no major plans for today we had a leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs, & toast on our new grill.  We spent most of the day driving up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway which covers over 400+ miles in Virginia and the Carolinas.  We were quite surprised to see 40 foot tall Rhododendrons all along the roads.  It must be incredible when they're all in bloom, but that's probably a month away since most of this area is above 2000 ft.  One of the locals told us they call them Laurel Bushes around here.

 We stopped at an old grist mill along the Parkway.  It was closed but we were allowed to walk among the buildings which have been restored to 19th century Appalachia customs.  This mill is apparently the most photographed spot along the Parkway.

 The owner of this grist mill built a trough to bring additional water to his mill where he also ran a sawmill, and blacksmith shop.

 These are the remnants of an old still.  One this size could produce up to 30 gallons on moonshine in one day!  Apparently a very profitable past time.

 This is a typical sight along the Parkway which is only two lanes wide and at least while we've been here had no traffic on it.  Most of the road is above 2000 feet and it's very similar to Skyline Drive, although open rolling countryside.  I was able to stop our van in the middle of the road, back up and take this photo without encountering another vehicle!

As I write today's blog we're sitting in front of the Floyd General Store waiting for their weekly Friday night jamboree.  This section of Virginia is apparently the blue grass capital of the Appalachians, and a major stop on the "Crooked Music Trail" (whatever that means!)  The Photo above was taken right next to the general store where a jam session is taking place.  Don't know if they are on tonight's bill, they sound pretty good.

Eavesdropping on the conversations of the others who are sitting next to us makes me feel like I've been dropped back into the 50's in Andy Griffith's Mayberry.