Hello from Gore, VA
Tuesday evening– October 19, 2021 (fourth post of this travelogue)
We are at the Cove Campground (Google Maps)
{google_map}39.2174, -78.3715{/google_map}
Pat (and I) originally labeled this another “pretty campground from hell”. Pat hated the 30-mile road into the campground (we are way off the beaten path with twisty narrow roads) and I was pretty upset with the attitude of the person who checked us in and the fact that it appeared with did not have any phone signal or WiFi to the camp spot (according to miss congeniality). It turns out that we have great TV satellite reception, enough AT@T signal to get texts and manageable phone calls (some issues) and very good internet via our Verizon MiFi. To top all of that, it is beautiful here.
One of the fun things that happened to us was that we have been visited several times by goats. They use the goats to control weeds, but right now they are letting them free range. I have included a picture of me feeding them Iowa corn.
Prior to coming here we did some touring of the Blue Ridge Parkway from our camp site in Willis, VA. Saturday we traveled north along the parkway to Roanoke (perhaps 50 miles). Our goal was to go to a WalMart to get some prescriptions filled. While we were there we ate at a Bojangles fast food restaurant. They are famous in this part of the country. Most of the menu items are chicken variations. We returned via the interstate.
Sunday we drove south about 50 miles to the Blue Ridge Music Center where we got to hear some local musicians perform music from this area (similar to blue grass). The visitor center has a good museum that displayed various musical instruments associated with the regional music. I have included a photo of the group.
On the way home we stopped at the historic Mabry Mill and had a great dinner. I have included a picture of the mill and will paste a great description of the mill history at the end of this post. BTW, that picture is one I took – not too bad huh?
The Blue Ridge Parkway is over 400 miles long and we traveled perhaps 150 miles of that route. It is absolutely breath taking and varied in types of scenery. While our goal was to travel the full route, that was just not practical. Here is a description of the parkway:
As a public works project begun during the Great Depression, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the first and longest rural parkway in America. Administered by the National Park Service, the 469-mile long Parkway extends through the southern Appalachians of Virginia and North Carolina, linking Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Along the Parkway, travelers experience stunning pastoral and mountain vistas, and a great diversity of plant and animal life. In addition, visitors encounter the region’s history, culture and traditions of craft, music, and agricultural heritage, brought to life through historic sites, artifacts, displays, live interpretation and performance.
Below is a paste of information about the Mabry Mill. It is rather lengthy, but I think it is good reading.
Mabry Mill is one of the most photographed sites on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Several hundred thousand travelers visit the Mill each year, a turn of events Ed Mabry probably could not have predicted when he built the Mill more than a century ago.
Around 1905 Ed and his wife Lizzie Mabry set in motion actions to realize the dream of their own gristmill. With the help of a neighbor, Newton Hylton, they built the gristmill, waterwheel, and water supply flume system with hard work and hand tools. By 1908 the gristmill was in operation and people from as far away as eight miles were bringing their corn to be ground. Also by this time Ed Mabry was ready to move on to his next project which was to build a sawmill on the left side of the gristmill. While Ed was busy building the sawmill, Lizzie took over the milling duties at the gristmill. Many said Lizzie was the better miller of the two. There was a problem though. Because the streams used to supply water to the mills were small, there was not enough needed water power. Due to the lack of water power, the process of grinding the corn at the Mabrys’ mill took longer than at some of the other nearby mills. Mills with plenty of water power would at times grind too fast. The resulting friction turned to heat which would then burn and scorch the corn meal leaving it tasting bitter. Because of the low water power problem at the Mabrys’ mill, it was known as a slow grinder. Due to this problem the Mabrys could not grind the corn fast, but they also never burned or scorched the corn meal which resulted in some of the best tasting corn meal around. This news spread fast which brought many loyal customers to the Mabry’s little mill.
Soon the sawmill was finished and Ed began to build a woodworking shop on the right side of the grist mill. This shop had a double-bladed jigsaw, a wood lathe and a tongue and groover all run by the water-powered waterwheel. This completed the gristmill complex with the sawmill, gristmill and woodworking shop all attached.
For convenience sake, the Mabrys now decided to build a new blacksmith/wheelwright shop beside the gristmill complex. This was around 1913-1914. Later, after many years of hard work building up their business at the mill site, Ed and Lizzie decided to build a new house for themselves. Sometime around 1918-1920 the Mabrys built by their own hands and skill a two-story white farmhouse. The approximate site of that house is where the Matthews’ cabin is located at Mabry Mill today.
The National Park Service acquired the Mabry Mill property in 1938 after Ed died and Lizzie moved away. The gristmill complex and the blacksmith/wheelwright shop were deemed historically significant by the Park Service as representing the rich cultural past of the Blue Ridge Mountain region. In 1942 those structures were completely restored, giving the Blue Ridge Parkway yet another gem along its beautiful winding 469 miles through the heart of Appalachia. Every year Mabry Mill, the legacy which Ed and Lizzie left us, is visited by people from all over the world. We invite everyone to come visit us here. Enjoy some great food, great music, great history, great people, and all that is Mabry Mill.
More to come.