It’s not uncommon for people from North Carolina to take a family trip to Pennsylvania to tour Gettysburg, visit the chocolate factory and amusement park in Hershey, and go to the area around Lancaster known as Amish country. Our family made that trip in 1995 and we still fondly remember the amazing Amish bakery we came across in the midst of Pennsylvania farmland. It is a little strange though to think that we included in our vacation plans an excursion that consisted of driving by and looking at people who are different from us.

There aren’t many Amish communities in North Carolina but a small one was settled forty or so years ago in western Yadkin County. The new arrivals established the Shiloh General Store in Hamptonville, with grocery items, baked goods, jellies and jams, and furniture, mostly created by the Amish people living in the area.

Katy and I stopped by the store for a visit after a morning in Mount Airy and were impressed by the quality of the products. Luckily for us it was lunchtime because they sell delicious sandwiches with chips for the incredibly low price (for 2025) of $6.99. All of the people in the store were Amish, most of them young, and very friendly. As we sat outside eating our inexpensive lunch, two young men in Amish garb rode by on bicycles. Again, I wondered at the spark of excitement I experienced simply seeing people who live and dress differently than I do.

The South is stereotyped as a monolithic society made up of conservative white people. Thank goodness our state is far more diverse than that! From members of an Indian tribe in Robeson County fighting for recognition, to natives of Ocracoke who still speak as their ancestors did centuries ago, to scientists at the Research Triangle worried that their important work will be defunded, to children in Charlotte heading to soccer practice, to immigrants from Mexico working construction in eastern NC, to community college students studying hard in mountain communities and, yes, to Amish people in Yadkin County, we are all North Carolina. May we always celebrate – and respect – our differences.

August 1, 2025 – County #68 – Yadkin

For thirty-five years, I managed a local nonprofit organization and for most of those years my friend Frances was the director of another. Nonprofit work can bring its share of challenges and frustrations. When things got especially stressful, Frances and I would fantasize about one day writing a book on the Sheriff Andy Taylor Style of Nonprofit Management.

Of course, our inspiration was The Andy Griffith Show, a sitcom that ran in the 1960s, set in the mythical small town of Mayberry, NC and clearly based on Andy’s hometown of Mount Airy. Sheriff Taylor’s easy-going demeanor could fool people into overlooking his strength and wisdom. His humility was sometimes misconstrued as weakness. Sheriff Taylor didn’t need to carry a gun to gain respect. Every episode carried valuable lessons for the work Frances and I were doing.

Although the show went off the air in 1968, it’s still rerun more than fifty years later. The town of Mount Airy has wisely capitalized on the show’s popularity, drawing tourists to ride in a Mayberry sheriff’s car, eat a pork chop sandwich at Snappy’s Grill, or visit Floyd’s Barber Shop.

Katy and I visited on a warm August day and were disappointed that Mount Airy is feeling more these days like a kitschy tourist trap than a celebration of small-town values. Gift shops were focused on the show’s buffoonish Barney Fife rather than on Andy Taylor, the sheriff with a strong moral compass. We saw that Floyd’s Barber Shop has closed and I couldn’t help but wonder if Mount Airy’s days of exploiting its ties to a fifty-year-old show are coming to an end as well.

In spite of the disappointment of today’s Mount Airy, Andy’s words of wisdom still resonate across the years as clearly as ever. America’s current leaders would do well to listen and learn.

“You know, being the sheriff of Mayberry isn’t about keeping folks in line. It’s about keeping folks together.”—season 1, episode 16.

“A badge isn’t a license to be important. It’s a reminder to serve the people who gave it to you.”—season 1, episode 2.

“When enforcing the law, it’s important to use both your head and your heart. One without the other won’t get the job done.”—season 3, episode 20.

August 1, 2025 – County 67 – Surry

As July of 2025 came to a close, a seemingly interminable heat wave had settled over much of North Carolina. This was on the heels of tropical storm Chantal flooding parts of Chapel Hill. leaving the first floor of my daughter Katy’s condo uninhabitable. One extreme weather event after another drove us to seek respite in the foothills of our state. We needed a break!

The first stop of our journey was at the Old Wilkes Jail in Wilkesboro. The spot was of interest to me because it’s where Tom Dula was held for the murder of his lover Laura Foster in 1866. The folk song, Tom Dooley, has helped keep the story of this tragedy alive. Over 150 years later, many believe that Tom died to protect the actual murderer, Laura’s cousin, Anne Foster Melton, but all that speculation doesn’t change the outcome.

(A Wikipedia story about the song Tom Dooley explains that his name was written Tom Dooley in the famous song because “the pronunciation of a final ‘a’ like ‘y’ (or ‘ee’) is an old feature in Appalachian speech, as in the term Grand Ole Opry” Reading this took me back to my befuddlement when I was first introduced to my husband’s Appalachian family, and found that Aunt Lindy and Uncle Ezry’s names were spelled Linda and Ezra.)

From Wilkes County, we drove to Banner Elk and were saddened to see evidence of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene ten months after it hit the North Carolina mountains. We did find dark humor in acknowledging that at times it was hard to distinguish storm destruction from man-made junk collections. Still, knowing how stressful Katy’s recent flooding experience had been, we could hardly imagine the trauma Helene had brought to this area. It was heartening to see rebuilding and repair all around us.

In Banner Elk, we took a spin on the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster where, even though riders exercise control over the speed of their cars, I found out the hard way that the proprietors prefer you not keep the brakes on for the entire trip. It was a fun if un-exhilarating ride for me! From Banner Elk we drove down an exceptionally twisty mountain road to Boone and then on to Ashe County, making a tasty stop in West Jefferson at Ashe County Cheese, before arriving at our day’s final destination, the River House Inn.

The River House Inn is a true gem that Katy had uncovered online. Nestled on the New River in a remote area of northwestern NC, the inn is the epitome of charm. The property was purchased and renovated by Gayle Winston, an Ashe County native who lived a storied life in New York City before returning home to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was thrilled to read that Gayle was a fellow recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, while also feeling humbled by her many accomplishments. Sitting in front porch rockers looking out over the river framed by wooded hills was a welcome respite, allowing us to appreciate that nature’s power brings us both joy and grief.

July 31, 2025 – Counties #64, 65, 66 – Wilkes, Avery, Ashe