Mount Airy, North Carolina
June 2012
June 2012
This summer I got to take a sweet trip to my grandfather's hometown of Mount Airy. We used to go way often, but it was just to see our family down there. I'd never gotten to see all of the surroundings. It was an amazing trip and I got to see so much!
The Granite Quarry is the largest one, and provided the granite for such things as the WWII memorial here in DC among tons of other things- so many of the churches and buildings there are made out of this granite.
We also visited my Great Grandparents' house which is now empty. It was cool to see it was still the same as it was when I was little, but really weird to see it so still and quiet.
Then, we took a trip up the mountain to visit gravesites of many relatives. I saw SO MANY old graves it was crazy, there were a lot of child mortalities which was sad to see. I was just in awe of all of the dates that started with 18- and there were even graves of confederate soldiers. Some graves were obviously hand-carved and just beautiful to see, and there were even broken ones which were equally as lovely.
We stumbled upon an Alpaca farm on our way around the mountain, and they had around 50 alpacas as well as some goats and chickens. Alpaca fur is SO SOFT IT'S RIDICULOUS. Also, alpacas are really really funny looking.
Alongside the road there was a truck graveyard. It was fascinating to see these huge tractor trailers just absolutely smashed, and I loved the wildflowers growing up in them, it really was like a graveyard!
It was nice to go in some of the little stores which had such good treats, as well as spend quality time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I definitely miss seeing them often.
As we were leaving we took one last trip up the mountain to find the graveyard where my great great grandmother was buried. It was literally on top of the mountain, and was just a few steps away where she was killed by a bull. My great grandfather, her son, ran to the house near there because it was the only one with a telephone to call for help.
Right when we were about to head home, we saw that the tire had a HUGE bolt in it, so we stopped at this little tiny shop right near where we were, and there was a beautiful classic mustang sitting outside. The mechanic that helped us restores his fathers old trucks, and took us in to see a beautiful white one which he had just restored and repainted. I wasn't glad for the setback but I was definitely happy to have stumbled upon these sweet cars. It's funny because my grandfather and I had just been looking at photos of classic old cars the night before.
All in all it was a beautiful trip and I definitely got to see more than I had imagined I would.
The Granite Quarry is the largest one, and provided the granite for such things as the WWII memorial here in DC among tons of other things- so many of the churches and buildings there are made out of this granite.
We also visited my Great Grandparents' house which is now empty. It was cool to see it was still the same as it was when I was little, but really weird to see it so still and quiet.
Then, we took a trip up the mountain to visit gravesites of many relatives. I saw SO MANY old graves it was crazy, there were a lot of child mortalities which was sad to see. I was just in awe of all of the dates that started with 18- and there were even graves of confederate soldiers. Some graves were obviously hand-carved and just beautiful to see, and there were even broken ones which were equally as lovely.
We stumbled upon an Alpaca farm on our way around the mountain, and they had around 50 alpacas as well as some goats and chickens. Alpaca fur is SO SOFT IT'S RIDICULOUS. Also, alpacas are really really funny looking.
Alongside the road there was a truck graveyard. It was fascinating to see these huge tractor trailers just absolutely smashed, and I loved the wildflowers growing up in them, it really was like a graveyard!
It was nice to go in some of the little stores which had such good treats, as well as spend quality time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I definitely miss seeing them often.
As we were leaving we took one last trip up the mountain to find the graveyard where my great great grandmother was buried. It was literally on top of the mountain, and was just a few steps away where she was killed by a bull. My great grandfather, her son, ran to the house near there because it was the only one with a telephone to call for help.
Right when we were about to head home, we saw that the tire had a HUGE bolt in it, so we stopped at this little tiny shop right near where we were, and there was a beautiful classic mustang sitting outside. The mechanic that helped us restores his fathers old trucks, and took us in to see a beautiful white one which he had just restored and repainted. I wasn't glad for the setback but I was definitely happy to have stumbled upon these sweet cars. It's funny because my grandfather and I had just been looking at photos of classic old cars the night before.
All in all it was a beautiful trip and I definitely got to see more than I had imagined I would.
