Steer wrestling, a practice credited to legendary cowboy and rodeo star Bill Pickett, usually involves leaping onto a steer from the back of a specially trained horse. At the Madison
Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
The honey-hued heart-pine flooring of this 1886 building in downtown Burlington is itself a pretty piece of work, but the real beauties are hanging on the walls: dozens of guitars,
The honey-hued heart-pine flooring of this 1886 building in downtown Burlington is itself a pretty piece of work, but the real beauties are hanging on the walls: dozens of guitars,
The honey-hued heart-pine flooring of this 1886 building in downtown Burlington is itself a pretty piece of work, but the real beauties are hanging on the walls: dozens of guitars,
The honey-hued heart-pine flooring of this 1886 building in downtown Burlington is itself a pretty piece of work, but the real beauties are hanging on the walls: dozens of guitars, banjos, and mandolins. These are vintage instruments, defined by father-and-son owners Ed and Will Lowe as those made before 1969, when Brazilian rosewood, which produces the finest wood tone, was added to the endangered list. And while collecting instruments began as a hobby for the Lowes, it soon turned into an obsession — and then led to a lack of space. Hence Lowe Vintage Instrument Company, which opened on Main Street in 2014 after a decade of online sales.
Today, the Lowes’ customers come from around the state and as far away as Australia, and include both collectors and musicians looking for, say, a Martin 1968 D-45 with pearl inlay for $45,000, or a 1914 mandolin whose white face is the result not of ivory, but of ordinary house paint. Even if you aren’t in the market for a vintage instrument, it’s worth stopping by to hang out at their monthly bluegrass jam, and to learn the lingo of headstock, heel, fret, and fingerboard. And for the pure pleasure of hearing Ed Lowe say “git-tar.”
Lowe Vintage Instrument Company 327 South Main Street Burlington, NC 27215 (336) 524-6250 lowevintage.com
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This tiny city block in downtown Greensboro once had a gigantic reputation. Not so much for its charbroiled beef patties — though they, too, were plentiful — but for its colorful characters and their wild shenanigans.
In the 1950s, as Americans hit freshly paved roads in shiny new cars during the postwar boom, a new kind of restaurant took shape: the drive-in. From those first thin patties to the elaborate gourmet hamburgers of today, North Carolina has spent the past 80 years making burger history.