All last week I was camping at Raccoon Holler. I was there with a few of me friends.....LOL.....79 of them to be exact! Raccoon Holler was the site of the 5th Annual Blue Ridge Rally and my camping buddies came from 14 different states and Canada. We had perfect weather, food enough to feed armies, and fun off the charts.
Friday afternoon, on our way back from a wine tasting at Thistle Meadow Winery, two car loads of us stopped in Laurel Springs to check out two things.....a 1965 Scotty Gaucho sitting by the side of the road for sale and a crazy collectibles shop across the street called Woody's.
I had seen this poor little Scotty one other time and wondered if it was still there. We all got out of the car and checked her out...so much water damage, so many dents and tears in her skin, such a foul smell.....so sad. Just driving by and glancing at her, you would never know what pitiful shape she was in. I don't know how much someone is asking for her, but $100 would be pushing it.
We walked across the street to Woody's and the first thing I saw was a very cool sign on the screen door.
We were greeted by Linda Lee, long-time owner and quite the character. I asked her about the sign on the door and if it was for sale by any chance. She said it had been on the door forever and it had a little Woody the Woodpecker on it. She went on to say that she never considered selling it.
We browsed through all the rooms loaded with stuff from floor to ceiling, but I couldn't get that sign out of my mind. I was looking for a funky little lamp to put on SplashT@B's countertop and even though I saw a lot of them, nothing really struck a chord with me. As I was about to walk out the door, Linda asked if there was anything else she could help me with. Once again I mentioned that sign. She hesitated and said, "I paid $20 for it, so I would have to have at least $25." I played it a bit coy and said, "Well, I guess I could do that."
She rummaged around for 10 minutes or so looking for a screwdriver. But she found one and we got the sign off the door. It turned out to be solid brass and oh so cool! Back at Raccoon Holler, I propped it up against my bulletin board and it was perfect for BRR Headquarters.
On Saturday morning, Becky and I went out exploring, not looking for anything in particular, just wandering around. At lunchtime we arrived at the Todd General Store and stopped for a bite to eat. The old store had shelves up high that were lined with old tins. On a whim, I asked the owners if they had an old 1920's tin with Campfire Marshmallows on it. Guess what? They did and I scored another another bargain!
I have to give credit to my good T@Bbin' buddy, Sandi from Cape Cod, who brought her s'more supplies in this same tin every night to our campfire. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find one so easily. Thanks for the inspiration S4!
The last photo I want to share with you is of a cute little camper I spied as we were coming down the hill towards the Todd General Store. I think it's related to Sharon Lambert's "Gypsy Wagon" in Tennessee.....maybe a tiny cousin!
So that's what I found last week while in Ashe County with all my Blue Ridge buddies! Good camping karma for sure!!
