With a name like the Happy Shack, it should come as no surprise that this Ashe County shop offers a cheerful welcome: Brightly colored Adirondack chairs line the entrance, and silk Tibetan prayer flags flutter in the breeze on the front porch. Inside, you’ll find red-hatted gnomes and coir rugs; a menagerie of colorful egg chairs made from Indian saris; couches covered with North Carolina-spun cotton; and the sweet aroma of jasmine incense from the Nepalese highlands — a special destination for owners Shawn and Sheila Gentry. Oh, and limited quantities of fresh, seasonal seafood.
Yep, seafood. On weekends throughout the summer and fall, Shawn treks down to the family’s vacation home on Harkers Island and returns up the mountain with a fresh catch. Because of Shawn’s love for deep-sea fishing, the couple originally envisioned the shop as a fish market. Eventually, though, they opted to combine their passions for the Carolina coast and for far-off destinations, creating what Sheila calls “a cheerful place for products we loved and couldn’t find anywhere else.”
The Happy Shack
1116 South Jefferson Avenue
West Jefferson, NC 28694
(336) 219-0301
facebook.com/carolinahappyshack
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.
