CONTENTNEA CREEKSIDE AND AYDEN, NORTH CAROLINA (Mark)

I've been encouraging Cheri to spend some time shopping so that she can replace her 20+ year-old sewing machine.  She wanted to do that a few hours from home, at a place we found last year when touring North and South Carolina on a quilt "shop hop."

We had originally planned on driving from Winston-Salem to Raleigh and staying the night before continuing to the Ayden area.  Plans changed, due to the NC State Fair, and we ended up driving the extra 90 miles to Grifton last night.  We set up in the dark, and had a peaceful quiet sleep.  This morning I took a few pictures of the campground.

Looking from another direction was just as peaceful:

If you need to stay in the Ayden-Grifton area, I highly recommend the Contentnea Creekside RV Park.  Very friendly and helpful city employees run the campground, and it is so very peaceful and quiet.  The campground is surrounded by the trees, and is right next to the river, with a walking trail right outside your trailer door.

After I wandered around outside for a bit, Cheri said she was ready to venture out for the day.  First we went to visit Pricila:

Here's a picture of me, wearing a shirt that Cheri made for me, with Pricila:

If you read all the way to the bottom of the description above you may get a clue as to why we went to see Pricila . . . ICE CREAM!

Out in the middle of farmlands, about ten miles on little two-lane farm roads outside of Ayden (population 5,022), is the Simply Natural Creamery.  They have other dairy products as well, but they have made-right-there ICE CREAM!

You can look into the working portion of the dairy from the showroom.  I love how spotless everything is kept.

You can take a two-hour tour of the entire dairy cycle if you go at the right time.  (Cheri's best friend early in high school belonged to a dairy-farming family.  Cheri said she didn't hate feeding calves, but certainly doesn't need to take a tour.)

Inside, while you enjoy your ice cream, you can look at a number of farm-related memorabilia.  They have a collection of milk bottles, both old and new.  The Moye family owns and runs the dairy.  It sounds like the entire family is involved in the process.

Some old signage, with associated milk bottles:

This historic milk bottle advertises all Jersey milk.  The current farm continues this tradition with all of the products they have for sale.  If you are anywhere in the Ayden area you owe it to yourself to visit the Creamery and have a scoop, or two!

If you have one of these at home they might sell you the cream you need.

The muscle power is on you!