Pilot Mountain, North Carolina
Visits to Winston-Salem, Mt. Airy, and exploring Pilot Mountain
It’s been awhile since we have updated our adventures! We’ve been busy traveling, exploring, and visiting all of our family. Hopefully we will be back on a regular updating schedule!
The first of April found us leaving Myrtle Beach and heading to Pilot Mountain, North Carolina for two weeks. Greystone RV Park is located near Pilot Mountain State Park and has awesome views of Pilot Mountain during the day and the starry sky at night.
With Greystone RV Park being so close to Pilot Mountain, I found myself exploring the park a few different times. I also loved watching the thunderstorms and clouds swirl around Pilot Mountain from our campsite! Pilot Mountain is the home to many turkey vultures - I could have watched them circling in the sky for hours and took way too many photos and videos of them. And the views from the top of Pilot Mountain were spectaular! On a clear day you can even see the downtown skyline of Winston-Salem.
We lived in Winston-Salem for a year almost 25 years ago. We had fun exploring a few areas that we remembered, but there were several areas that have changed and we discovered several more areas that we didn’t spend much time exploring when we did live here.
When we lived in Winston-Salem, we became friends with another couple and had stayed in touch with them over the years. We met up one evening for supper at The Old Fourth Street Filling Station. It was a great evening to sit outside on the patio and catchup with friends that we hadn’t seen in several years!
Mt. Airy, also known as Mayberry, was one of the areas that we didn’t explore when we lived here. I loved walking around the town one afternoon. The biggest downside to visiting in the middle of the week during the offseason is that not all of the stores were open. Some stores that were open, and I enjoyed browsing in, were Keswick Candle Company, Wyatt’s Trading Post, and Welcome Home Decor & Gifts. Keswick Candle Company is a local company that not only makes soy candles, but also has a line of body care items. I loved their variety of scents for their candles! Wyatt’s Trading Post had a unique mix of items and very much fit into the eclectic vibe I enjoy in stores like this. Welcome Home Decor & Gifts is the type of store that I love to browse, but does not fit in with the RV lifestyle of downsizing!
I also enjoyed taking a tour through the Mt. Airy Museum of Regional History. It had a lot of local history, a small area dedicated to Andy Griffith, and you could climb to the top of the clock tower to see views of the entire town.
I did take a walk to the Andy Griffith museum, but by the time I had made my way there, it was late afternoon and I didn’t want to rush through the museum before it closed. Instead I walked around the grounds and looked at the statues and murals.
Scattered throughout downtown Mt. Airy were decorated guitars. I know I didn’t find them all, but here are a few of the ones I did find -
Mt. Airy is also the home to Little Richard’s BBQ. The portion sizes were huge, the meat was very tender, the sides were good, and for under $30 the two of us enjoyed supper and had enough leftovers for lunch the next day!
Another day was spent on the grounds of Reynolda House. This was the estate of RJ and Katharine Reynolds, and while it would have been something I would have loved to explore when we lived in Winston-Salem, I do not remember knowing that it existed when we lived here. I loved walking through the gardens (early to mid April was a little early for many of the flowers, but some of them were blooming), walking through the grounds and shops, and reading through the info in the area of the house that is available without paying for admission. Normally I would have paid the admission to tour the house, but I spent more time than I planned walking around the grounds and I was running short on time. If I ever come back here, I will allow more time for the grounds and the house!
I kept seeing the signs for Horne Creek Farm along the highway and decided to check it out one day when I had some extra time. While it’s only 6 miles off of the highway, it seemed like a lot longer than that! It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, on roads that aren’t frequently traveled. I thought it was worth the time though. The historian working the day I visited was very knowledgable about the area and the families that lived there. You’re given a map of the grounds and the farm is open for self guided tours - including the house and barns. The family cemetery is also one the map, but it is one area I couldn’t find.
Lastly, just some random photos from our stay…
