We had a mixed day of activities along the Blue Ridge
Parkway. There were opportunities to
shop at an old-fashioned country store, and at a local candy shop. We ate lunch at a local winery and then
visited a living history exhibit along the parkway. The day wrapped up with a visit to the Blue
Ridge Music Center where a local volunteer musician entertained us, we viewed
displays outlining the history of mountain music, and enjoyed a professional
concert in the center’s amphitheater.
Meadows of Dan
The day started with a shopping opportunity at Poor Farmer’s
Market in the Meadows of Dan area of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Meadows of Dan is an unincorporated
community in Patrick County, Virginia along the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are numerous shops, classic houses, and
restaurants in the community.
The Poor Farmer’s Market is an old time country store where
you can buy baking supplies, jams and jellies, toys for kids of all ages, a hot
breakfast or lunch, tee shirts and hats, and a great variety of good
stuff. If they don’t have it, you don’t
need it! We spent some time exploring
the aisles of treasures offered for sale.
The largest item purchased was a bacon press that was desperately needed
by a member of our group.
 |
| Mister, Mister, Please Take Us Home |
Because we had not fulfilled our shopping quota for the day,
we traveled to the nearby Nancy’s Candy Company. This is a location where “WTF” means “where’s
the fudge.” Different flavors of fudge,
yogurt covered pretzels, and jellybeans were sampled before several members of
the group bought bags of sustenance to get us through the day between meals.
 |
| Who Needs to Buy Candy With a Sweetheart Like This? |
 |
| I'm Sure That the Lady Will Set Out More Fudge Samples Pretty Soon |
Our Winery Lunch
After sampling the fudge at Nancy’s, it was time to travel
to the Château
Morrisette Winery for lunch. This winery
has excellent scenic views of the rolling mountains in its backyard. We enjoyed a nice lunch and a few members of
the group sampled some of their wines before moving on to our afternoon
destination.
 |
| Scenery on the Back Deck of the Winery |
Mabry Mill
 |
| We Found the Old Still on the Site |
At Mabry Mill we were treated to living history exhibits of
early life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A
local musician had exhibits of some very early string instruments that looked
vaguely like banjos and guitars made out of rough-hewn wood. He also explained the process of making
strings and glue for the instruments out of animal parts. The interpreter displayed and played a
mountain dulcimer that he made under the direction of a local luthier.
 |
| Rough Hewn String Instruments |
 |
| His Hand Made Mountain Dulcimer |
The site also houses the Mabry Mill, a water mill, where
corn was once milled into grist. Edwin
Mabry built the Mill in 1905. The mill
building also includes a sawmill that is driven by waterpower.
 |
| The Sawmill |
We saw demonstrations of ladies quilting, spinning wool into yarn
using foot-powered spinning wheels, and weaving. A couple of musicians sat nearby playing old-time mountain music on a fiddle
and mandolin. In addition to being an
educational experience, the mill site was an opportunity to sit back and just
enjoy the afternoon under the shade trees.
 |
| Sonny and Sally Watch the Quilter |
 |
| A Compact Spinning Wheel in Action |
Blue Ridge Music Center
By mid-afternoon, it was time to drive to the Blue Ridge
Music Center where we were once again entertained with music and learned about
early music of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The center’s museum houses a permanent exhibit, “Roots of American Music”,
that tells the story of the region's rich music heritage. The exhibit displays many stages of the
evolution of the five-string banjo since its arrival in America with enslaved
Africans. Viewers also see the
relatively few changes made in the fiddle, brought with Europeans who migrated
here. The blending of these two
instruments was the beginning of virtually all forms of American music and was
the ensemble that came to frontier Appalachia. There are also oral history
audio programs of those who collected the music of the mountains in the past. How the recording industry and radio
popularized and changed mountain music is also part of the story.
The center is currently hosting a traveling exhibit “Banjos
from Africa to the New World.” The
center’s website describes the exhibit as “a travelling exhibit that surveys
historic replica, pre-factory made banjos hand-crafted by California luthier
Bob Thornburg.”
We arrived at the music center a few minutes before the end
of the daily free concert performed by regional musicians daily from noon –
4pm. Today’s artist is a retired NCIS agent
(you know, like the program on Tuesday evening with Gibbs, Abby, and DiNozzo,
only real life). The artist is enjoying
living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, playing and writing music, away from the
daily work grind.
After listening to the free music concert and exploring the
museum exhibits, we were treated to a catered picnic-style dinner of fresh
barbeque brisket, cole slaw, and banana pudding from a local restaurant that
was arranged by food team 3. What a
great way to get out of cooking while visiting an off-site location. Thank you ladies for all of the research in
finding and arranging the caterer.
While still at the Blue Ridge Music Center, we settled in
for an evening’s entertainment from two superb bluegrass bands in the center’s
outdoor amphitheater. Although the
concert was delayed for a few minutes due to a passing rain shower, we had a
great foot stomping time.
 |
| We Arrive to the Amphitheater Early |
 |
| Bring on the Music! |
 |
| A Little Rain Never Dissuades Music Lovers |
The opening act was the Carson Peters and Iron
Mountain. This is a bluegrass group
fronted by 12-year-old Carson Peters who is a fabulous fiddle player. This group appeared recently on the Grand Ole
Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. They play
traditional bluegrass mixed in with a little gospel music.
 |
| Carson Peters and Iron Mountain |
The feature band for the evening was the Lonesome River
Band. This award-winning group has been
playing bluegrass style music for 34 years with 17 albums. The group has earned numerous IBMA (International
Bluegrass Music Association) awards, including Album of the Year and Bluegrass
Band of the Year, and Vocal Group of the Year from SPBGMA (Society for the
Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America).
The group’s leader, Sammy Shelor, claimed Banjo Player of the year from
both organizations and the second annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in
Banjo and Bluegrass. Although the band
plays in the bluegrass genre, it adds its own twist to the music that makes it
feel a little more main stream. The band
performed an excellent concert.
 |
| Lonesome River Band |
