Montgomery County, North Carolina

George and I spent a cloudy Saturday in Montgomery County, and we really enjoyed it!

The drive through the North Carolina countryside en route to Troy was very pretty and relaxing. On the way, we drove through Carthage, county seat of Moore County, a county I've already visited. I made several stops in Moore County on my official visit there, but didn't make it to Carthage. It's a pretty town, and I'm sorry I didn't include it in my Moore County post.

Montgomery County Courthouse

Our first stop in Montgomery County was the county courthouse in the county seat of Troy. It's an old looking building, but very pretty, I think! It was built in 1921, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. In an era where a number of old courthouses have been replaces by more modern gray buildings, this one is a charmer.

Star Library

From there, we went to Star, which is the geographic center of North Carolina. It's a charming little town, with a downtown area that includes the Star Branch Library. The Star Municipal Building has a model train in front, near a plaque with the coordinates for the center of the state.

While in Montgomery County, I found geocaches in both Troy and Star--always fun!

What would I do differently if I were to visit Montgomery County again? I'd made sure to visit the unincorporated community of Blank Ankle, which in addition to the interesting name, sounds like a close knit community. Plus, the Blackankle Bog Preserve and Blackankle Fort sound like interesting places to visit while in Black Ankle.

Photos of our trip to Montgomery County are posted in an album on Flickr, which can be found here.

Iredell County, NC

On July 5, 2017, I visited Iredell County. I've been looking forward to revisiting Iredell County, since I moved to Iredell County just after college. I got a late start, unfortunately, so I didn't get to explore as much as I'd planned, but I still enjoyed my time there.

I took more rural route into the county, and landed first in Union Grove, where I found my first geocache in Iredell County. It turns out that Union Grove used to be home to a Fiddler's Convention, organized to raise funds for the local school, very interesting! The Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC-Chapel Hill has some materials on the Union Grove fiddler's convention, which had several names through the years. The collection is described here.

Love Valley, NC

My next stop in Iredell County was Love Valley. I vaguely remembered a visit to Love Valley from my time in Statesville, so I was interested in returning for this blog. Love Valley is an interesting little place with a western theme. There's a big sign of Love Valley town rules on the way into town. Cars can drive through the residential parts of Love Valley, but once you hit "downtown," no cars are allowed. You can walk in, or you can ride your horse in a hitch it to a post.No kidding! (This is a big horse area!) I wish I'd taken more pictures, but it really is something to see in person, if you ever get the chance. It's like stepping back in time.

Speaking of stepping back in time, I had a surprise when I decided to leave Love Valley and head for Statesville, the county seat. I plugged "Statesville" into Google Maps on my phone, and got the message, "No route found." I closed and reopened the app, same message. Next, I turned my phone off and back on, still no route found! I was worried only briefly, then I remembered that Statesviille is south of Love Valley, and I have a compass on my rear view mirror. So, I headed southward, and eventually got a Google Maps route into downtown Statesville.

First Presbyterian Church, Statesville

I enjoyed my drive around Statesville. Some things looked familiar, but other things were different, since I left in 1988, and haven't been back since. I stopped and took a photo of First Presbyterian, the church I joined while I lived there. (I remember feeling like such an adult, joining my first church away from my hometown in Alabama.) This was my only stop, unfortunately, since the day was getting on, and I still had a drive to get back home. I did drive by my first post-college workplace, Barium Springs Home for Children, in southern Iredell County. Things have changed there (both in name and in buildings), but the campus looked nice.

All in all, it was a nice visit back to my old stomping grounds! My photos of Iredell County are here.