Twelve-year-old Conrad Reed spots something shiny in Little Meadow Creek between Charlotte and Albemarle. It turns out to be a 17-pound rock of gold, which the Reed family uses as a doorstop until Conrad’s dad sells it to a Fayetteville jeweler a few years later for only $3.50 — about $87 in today’s currency.
Split-rail fences don’t shout “keep out.” They lean, they shift, they invite. And in western North Carolina, they remind us that some lines are meant to hold, not harden.
Each May, spring climbs nearly 3,000 feet to the seat of Alleghany County. Here, as the rhododendrons blush, a beloved mountain town welcomes visitors with its food, art, and flourish of color and creativity.
Brief but delicious, soft-shell crab season is cherished by diners as well as the folks who work around the clock to put these native pinchers on our plates.
When it comes to poultry, the best is raised close to home.
