STUART, VIRGINIA (Mark)

It was a beautiful day with huge cloud formations and blue sky in between.  It was also quite warm and muggy, but it is North Carolina, so you would be surprised if it weren't.  We were doing one of our favorite things:  Cheri had the atlas in her lap and I had the steering wheel in my hands.

The first town we stopped in was Stuart, Virginia.  I had already decided to stop and make a few photographs when Cheri spotted this business:

As I got my camera out, she headed toward the quilt store.  I decided to start at the visitor center, as they had a welcome sign on the side of the building.  A  staff member saw me lining up a photograph of the welcome sign on the side of the building and we ended up talking for awhile.

Patrick County is named for the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Patrick Henry. The next county over: Henry County.  Patrick County originally was part of Henry County before it split off . . . in 1790. 

​On the lawn of the courthouse is the historical marker, I believe all courthouses in this region have these.  Patrick County has about 18,000 people in the entire county.  Stuart is the County Seat.  

​The old courthouse sitting on the top of the hill.  The town is arranged on Main Street, down the hill from this spot.  

​Standing in the middle of Main Street looking down the hill, you can see the town is only about two blocks long.  Traffic was fairly light so standing in the street to line up the shot was fairly easy.

​From a flower box outside one of the businesses:

I really like the texture on the center of the flowers.

Someone had a good idea for a time in front of their shop:

This splash of color really caught my eye:

The State motto is "Virginia is for Lovers."  You see quite a few of these LOVE signs done in a number of different styles.  This one is in front of the Library:

As I was taking the photograph of the LOVE sign by the library I could hear off in the distance the sound of kids swimming and splashing in a pool.  The song "That’s the Night That the Lights Went Out in Georgia" was playing, and for a minute I was transported back to 1972.  Turning around I could just make out the corner of the municipal pool in the distance.

(Did you know the comedian Vicki Lawrence sang the version of "Lights Went Out" that went to #1, at the same time she was on the Carol Burnett Show​?)

Cheri swore she only bought three small pieces of fabric and maybe that was true; the truck did not seem to be riding too much heavier on the suspension.  We were ready to wander to the next place.