Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 28

A young couple, at left, strolls through downtown Spartanburg. The Big South Fork Scenic Railway, at right, offers a round-trip ride through
Kentucky from Stearns to Blue Heron.

We close the day with a succulent supper: a plate of fried green tomatoes
and an entrée of shrimp and grits at
Cribb's Kitchen.
railroad spread out in seven, different directions."
In the afternoon, we take the
highway to Croft State Park, a forested oasis offering 50 miles of
trails and a fleet of jonboats on a
165-acre lake.
"There's great fishing," park
ranger Jay Reese says. "During the
summertime, when you're out here,
and it's nice and calm and clear,
early in the morning, you can literally see them sitting on top of the
beds and a lot of the points - the
bream. And, of course, you'll see the
bass playing around, too."
We close the day with a succulent
supper: a plate of fried green tomatoes and an entrée of shrimp and
28 BlueRidgeCountry.com

grits at Cribb's Kitchen. Inside this
lively nightspot, we also hear a
young band performing '70s songs,
like Roberta Flack's "Feel Like
Makin' Love" and Rufus's "Tell Me
Something Good."
On Sunday morning, John smiles
when presented a platter of pictureperfect pancakes at the Farmers
Table, a hip restaurant on East
Kennedy Street. Then, for lunch, we
go retro at the Beacon Drive-In,
ordering a perch sandwich and a
half-gallon of must-taste tea.
Established in 1946, the Beacon is
casual - and comical. The staff of
this restaurant uses a unique language - with phrases like "Call it!"
(to place your order), "With" (for

mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato)
and "A-Plenty" (for a sandwich piled
with fries and onion rings).
As the afternoon warms, we start
walking and, in minutes, cover a mile
on the Mary Black Rail Trail near the
center of town. Then we play a game
of looking for markers on the
Spartanburg Music Trail, including an
honor for the Marshall Tucker Band.
Ultimately, we take the highway,
once more, and find the Greenlawn
Memorial Gardens of Spartanburg.
There, the staff hands out maps
showing the final resting places of
three Marshall Tucker musicians
who played "Fire on the Mountain."
I see where guitarist George
McCorkle and bassist Tommy
Caldwell lay at rest. I also stand in
awe above the grave of the late, great
Toy Caldwell. This thumb-picking
guitarist was the chief songwriter
and musical mastermind of the
Marshall Tucker Band; he suffered a
fatal heart attack in 1993. Yet his
music lives on, and so does Marshall
Tucker. That group, today, remains
on tour behind original lead singer
Doug Gray, who later tells me on the


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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015

Sweet Summer Weekends & Overnights in 7 States
The Great Divorce: Virginia-West Virginia
Swimming Holes for Summer: The Photoessay
Grand Hotel Comebacks of Western Virginia
SUP in the Mountains?
Northern Shenandoah Weekend
A Home in, on and from the Mountains
Far Beyond Sweet Tea: Great Restaurants of Upcountry South Carolina
From the Editor / Worth a Click
Mill Creek Stories
The Hike
Creature Feature
Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Festivals & Events
Country Roads
Mountian Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 6
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - From the Editor / Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Mill Creek Stories
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Sweet Summer Weekends & Overnights in 7 States
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 21
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - The Great Divorce: Virginia-West Virginia
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Swimming Holes for Summer: The Photoessay
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Grand Hotel Comebacks of Western Virginia
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - SUP in the Mountains?
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Northern Shenandoah Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - A Home in, on and from the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 52
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 54
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Far Beyond Sweet Tea: Great Restaurants of Upcountry South Carolina
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 60
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 62
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Mountian Garden
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - Cover4
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