I continued my zig-zaggy path around North Carolina. In looking at my map, I saw that one route would take me through Spivey’s Corner.
If you are of a certain age and watched Johnny Carson, you probably have heard this place’s name before. Spivey’s Corner used to have a “Hollerin’ Contest” and the winners would go on The Tonight Show to show off their talents.
Naturally, I had to stop – or at least slow down.
There it is!
It really is small town America. These flags and this sign were out in front of the main civic building – fire hall, police station, and town hall all rolled into one.
I do have to say, their civic logo is a bit unnerving, but I suppose a view down a hollerin’ throat is appropriate.
After my brief pause, I continued searching out the grain elevators.
This one solved the issue of a designated smoking area in a unique manner. Sure – make the whole office a designated smoking area. I’m sure it works for some people. (Me – not so much.) I collected my samples as quickly as possible.
I came across an interesting sight in their parking lot, though. A ground bird of some species had made a nest in the gravel. They marked it with little flags to warn people not to drive over it.
I tried to get a little closer to see what kind of bird it was – as it I would know. I could tell that it wasn’t a robin, cardinal or blue bird. Also, it wasn’t a heron, pelican or sea gull.
I guess I got a little too close. It puffed itself up into as large a bird as it could be. I could tell I wasn’t wanted, so I backed off and got back on the road.
In addition to the number of places in the United States named Clinton, there are an awful lot of places named Fremont. From the info I could glean in a 60 second Google session, it looks like there are 17 places in the USA named Fremont. In fact, Fremont, California was named “America’s Happiest Place” in 2018.
But, this is Fremont, North Carolina, and I just grabbed a photo of their bright yellow water tower.
I stopped somewhere for the night. There was a Cook Out hamburger joint just down the street, so I decided to see why my niece was so fond of the place.
My brother and his family lived in North Carolina for a spell. While I saw the chain when Dad and I would go down to visit, we never stopped there.
You could drive up or walk up. I just strolled over from the hotel. It was fine fast food fare; it kept body and soul together for another day, and now I can say that I have been there.
The next day, I headed off on my rounds. I an incredible variety of scenery – mountains, farmland, forests and now this river or bay or whatever it was. It might have been the Albemarle Sound.
I say that because I was zipping down Historic Albemarle Highway. I took the picture because I wanted to remember to look it up. “Albemarle” had such a distinguished ring to it. Maybe it went all the way back to the Revolutionary War!
It turns out that it is a tour route that goes through historic areas in the seventeen counties in northeastern North Carolina. The coat of arms on the sign belonged to George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, according to the website for the Historic Albemarle Highway.
I stopped at the visitor center. Never pass up a rest room! Just in case you are interested in the story of Tyrell County, here it is:
I continued on and eventually my work day came to an end. I consulted a map and picked out a place near the water: Edenton, North Carolina.
I found a hotel and then headed in to see what I could see.
I pulled into the central tourist area, past the statue honoring “Our Confederate Dead.”
They have the most elaborate poems about the sacrifices made by their ancestors.
I found a parking spot and went to check out the Welcome Center.
It was closed, of course. I wasn’t the only one who had reached the end of their work day. There were still things to look at.
For instance, there was an interesting sign that provided a lot of information about the history of the building.
For instance, Thomas Barker married Penelope Padgett, who was 28 years old and twice widowed. I suppose mortality was different back then, but if I were Thomas, I might have had serious thoughts about marrying a relatively young woman who was already twice widowed.
Perhaps that is why he stayed in London for seventeen years and Penelope kept herself busy in Edenton. I suppose that she probably had inherited some money from the first two husbands.
One of the things she kept busy with was leading 50 women to petition King George to oppose the British Tea Act. This was the first political action by women in America, according to the sign.
That Penelope was one busy woman!
The Barker House was not always in the location by the water’s edge, and it wasn’t always this large. The first part of the house was built originally just one wing that was built around 1782. The house stayed with the Barkers until 1830, when it was sold to a prosperous businessman named Augustus Moore. He expanded the house to its current design, expanding it to three floors and eight fireplaces.
The Moore family remained in the property for well over a century until they sold the home to Haywood Phthisic, who donated the house to an organization so that it could be open to the public.
(By the way, how do you suppose you pronounce Phthisic? FF-th-i-sick? Where does the emphasis go?)
Okay, I had to look. Phthisic is actually a word, but not one I would want as a last name. It has to do with a “progressively wasting or consumptive condition, especially pulmonary tuberculosis. Click on the link to hear a sample of how Merriam-Webster says it should be pronounced.
Since the house was originally two blocks away, it had to be moved. It took three weeks to move it the two blocks. The movers placed a bottle on a window sill to demonstrate their skill. The bottle did not fall.
The website shows some lovely interior photos. If you are ever in the area, you might want to visit when it is open.
To the side of the house is what is left of the Edenton Bell Battery. In March 1862, the various institutions of of Edenton donated their bells to be melted and cast into four bronze cannon at the Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia.
The cannon were named the Edenton, the Columbia, the Fannie Roulhac, and the Saint Paul.
This 6-pounder is the Edenton, and it was poured from bell of the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse. It’s easy to read its number: 1531. The “EB” stands for Edenton Battery. It was surrendered May 26, 1865.
This is the Saint Paul, a 12-pounder howitzer, which was poured primarily from the bell of the Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. It’s kind of hard to make it out in the photo, but it is #1533. It was captured at the Battle of Town Creek in Brunswick County, N.C. on February 20. 1865.
The Edenton is on loan from Shiloh National Military Park. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out that the Saint Paul is on loan from the Old Fort Niagara Association of New York. It’s always amazing to find connections to one’s past. I’ve been to Old Fort Niagara many times, as it was only about 30 miles away from where I grew up
The location of the two remaining cannon of the Edenton Bell Battery is unknown.
The one from near my old stomping grounds gets its own photo.
What a lovely view!
At first, I thought, “Oh, what a cute little building.” Then I noticed that it was a lighthouse. It turns out that this lighthouse was another building they moved. It is the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse, and was originally where the Roanoke River meets the Albemarle Sound. It was decommissioned in 1941.
This is how it looked when it first went into service.
I continued walking along ad came across this climbing apparatus that bears a strong resemblance to a Möbius strip.
I was starting to get hungry and found a restaurant – Waterman’s Grill.
Dinner started out with a lovely salad.
The next course was something fried. I don’t remember what I ordered. I was thinking it was a fish fry. The lemon wedge on top makes me think that it might be fish, but it looks like it has some sort of gravy on top, so maybe it was chicken fried chicken or chicken fried steak. For the uninitiated, those little round brown things on the plate are hush puppies.
I’m sure everyone recognizes the baked potato on the smaller plate.
I have to admit that I was a bit put off by what they were serving in lieu of butter:
“European Style Whipped Margarine Butter Blend.” I have been to Europe a number of times and I’ve never seen anything like this. I consulted some of my genuine European friends, and they agree that this is not “European Style”.
But, all was forgiven when I got dessert, which I assume was included in the price of the meal.
As the sun sets on another day in the life of this seed courier, I head back to the hotel to rest up for the next day’s adventures.