Saturday, July 06, 2013

Small Towns

I cannot stand living in a big city. I'm not going to sit here and list the reasons, for they are legion. Every day it is a struggle for me to just tolerate living in an urban area. So, as soon as we are able, my wife and I plan to flee the city for a rural life.

Here are scenes from some of the small towns near the place we have staked out as our probable refuge once we can leave Charlotte behind for good.

I couldn't live without a bookstore. They have a good one in Sparta.
Downtown Sparta. All sorts of cool shops.

The nearby village of West Jefferson. I have to say...West Jefferson is about as cool as it gets for a small town.

Another view of West Jefferson.

They still have a downtown movie theater and a live theater.

Carole checks out part o the wine selection at the cheese shop.

Want to escape even the small town for the wilderness? You don't have far to go. And, yes, we're talking about real wild country. This spot is at Mount Jefferson (a state natural area) where I paused to look down on the charming town of West Jefferson.

2 comments:

MarkGelbart said...

I know you prefer the mountains, but from reading that book about red wolves, I learned the Albemarle penninsula near the Outer Banks is the middle of nowhere. Aside from farms, it sounds pretty undeveloped. It has the densest population of black bears east of the Mississippi. If it wasn't such a long ride, it would definitely be on my vacation plans. It's probably a nice place to live and not at all crowded.

James Robert Smith said...

My wife and I keep threatening to visit that area of NC, but we never do. Mainly because it's so difficult to get to. We can drive to the mountains in less than two hours. But to get to the extreme sections of eastern North Carolina takes eight solid hours of driving (or more)!