AYDEN, NC, AND MORE WINDSOR (Cheri )

Yesterday we stopped at a local coffee shop before answering the call of area quilt shops.  The owner has a sense of humor, or at least a strong point of view.

Mark and I have each utilized the second adage over the years when it came to politics, but not at the same time.

Mark did back in the 1980's.  The thing is, I thought that I had convinced him until I decided it was a good practice maybe 10 years ago, then realized "hey, wait a moment!"

One of the shops we went to today was in Ayden, NC.  Two things about a nearby coffee shop caught my attention.

)First:  You know you're in an agricultural area when the coffee shops start serving breakfast at 4:30.

Second:  Somebody was playing with our minds.  I didn't take a picture of the second sign, located about 10 feet away, but it said that breakfast begins at 5:00, not 4:30.  Many questions come to mind.

The full name of this establishment was "Andy's Grill and Recreation," because behind the customers at the counter, there were a number of pool tables.

We didn't get any pool in during lunch, because we went to a place around the corner, which served a pretty full offering of fried side dishes, including but not limited to:

• french fries,
• sweet potato fries,
• batter-fried pepper jack macaroni & cheese bites,
• fried pickle chips,
• fried mushrooms,
• buffalo chips (can't interpret that one for you),
• onion rings,
• fried okra, and
• pretzel fries (this one either).

(I had to use "including but not limited to" because that is good lawyer language, which I don't have much opportunity for anymore.

By the way, have you ever thought on the difference between a "coffee shop" and a "coffee house"?)

We saw cotton fields ready to harvest, or just-harvested, everywhere in the last couple of days.

Since both of us grew up in agricultural areas, we have a pretty good idea what most of the crops that we see are, but there is one that has stumped us.  We're thinking either soybeans or peanuts, but need a helpful farmer to stand out by the road so that we can ask.

Mark found this in Ayden while I was shopping:

He asked some firefighters who were cleaning their rig outside the station around the corner about the sign.  The thing was, not only did they not know the explanation, but they hadn't noticed the sign!

I found this on the other side of the corner when we came back after lunch:

All I can do is guess, because the billingsleyatelier.com website isn't functioning, but the company is (or was) located in Ayden, so I think it's the sculptor's inside joke.  (Very inside, if you're depending upon the firefighters for elucidation.)

We missed the Ayden Collard Festival by about a month.  Unfortunately the local collard receipts can't be stored here, due to bank consolidation in the last 100 years.

Relying upon raves from travelers from points as far away as New York State, we tried to get some barbecue in an old gas station tonight, but they were closed.

Re-use of vintage gas stations is a big there here . . . a topic we'll delve deeper into another time.

We've been in Windsor, NC for the last few days, and have totally appreciated the campground we're staying in.

This was the view from our dining table in the Jacksonville area:

(It turns out the RV Park was immediately adjacent to a boat-storage facility.)

This was the view across the way here in Windsor:

Quiet, small, with a couple actually camping in a tent.  There are even treehouses that overlook the small river.  Next time we're here, hopefully we can have some of that barbecue.