Fittingly, a gooseneck lamp curves over Walter “Brother” Gaskill’s marvelous, meticulous workspace, where he carves purple gallinules and red-breasted mergansers for collectors and competitions. The chisels, knives, spokeshaves — to “true it down” — sanders, and calipers that he uses on his decoys are arranged in a foam organizer. Dozens of bird bills dangle from nails, so that Gaskill can study their features, like the wartlike bumps near the mouth of a Ross’s goose. Or he can sit outside beneath the scuppernong arbor and watch the real things paddle around a natural habitat he created. When it comes to decoys, details matter.
Gaskill and other decoy carvers will sell their creations at the Core Sound Decoy Festival on December 3 and 4. Learn more at decoyguild.com.
In North Carolina, spring brings the scent of fresh-cut grass and memories of helping Dad mow the lawn.
Nostalgic burger joints are like time machines, delivering something extra special that keeps us coming back.
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.
