Beechum Classic Car Museum

Driving by on a rainy morning, I saw a little museum for classic cars.

I wasn't going to stop, but then my WWKD? voice came into mind.

(My friend, Kristen, is an adventurous, loving soul who never misses an opportunity to see something neat and meet interesting people. She's backpacking through Europe right now. And when she popped into my head, I knew I had to stop and see the cars, for her sake if nothing else.)

No one was around, until I found Sonny, the owner (and incredibly hard of hearing--I'm pretty sure he didn't hear a word I said.)

Me: Hi! My name is Jessica and I blahblahblahblah could I take a look at the cars?

Sonny: Huh?

Me: The cars?

Sonny: Costs five dollars.

Me: I got five dollars.

{Hold up five dollar bill for him to see}

Sonny: Okay, let's go.

The Little White Church

Last week, I was driving through the rural countryside of Southern North Carolina in a beautiful thunderstorm. Warm, heavy rain pounded down as I passed misty rivers and wet, green meadows.

On the shoulder of the highway, atop a slight hill, I saw a little white church with a red door.

I pulled my car up the grassy drive and left it running while I got out to take some quick pictures.

It sat just inside the small clearing; tall trees surrounded the church.

As I walked across the squishy ground, my mind jumped to spooky ideas about abandoned churches and graves on the edge of the woods.

I told myself not to think like that!

 (it was the kind of place where you could really freak yourself out if you got jumpy)

Instead, I thought of it more as somebody's special place.

Headstones guarded the sides and rear of the building.

Some of the people buried here died in the late 1800s.

Most of the graves were families, lying together.

The Ledbetter family had a private, fenced-off lot in the back corner behind the church.

I peeked in the window and saw a simple room with dusty pews inside.

What a beautiful special little church to come upon in the rain.

I like to think that every Sunday, it's full of people showin up for service.

That it's a happy place

with a red door.

Walk Off The Earth

Sometimes I hear a song and feel as though the writer looked into my heart, pulled out some ideas, and then fleshed them out with expressive lyrics. Sometimes lyrics resonate deeply and personally so that I think, "Hey! That's exactly what I was thinking! You've felt that, too?? Thanks for putting that down into comprehensive, beautiful sound."

This song is one that gave me a moment like that. A moment when I wanted to write the lyrics down in a letter and send them in the mail, because they were pretty darn close to how I had felt at one time. A moment when I realized, someone else out there has been through something similar to what I've been through. Neat.

Anyway.

This cool group has now made a stellar cover of the song, and I love this video. A lot.
Be sure to check out WOTE's website or look them up on youtube to find some creative, cool indie stuff.
Super cool.
Enjoy.

Old School

90 years ago, Tryon School was built for K-12 kids in a little town outside of Bessemer City.

The land was donated by the people in this picture.

Today, it is an elementary school.

I did a show for them in a cool, old-style gym.

They have some pieces of their history on the walls.

I think this motto is awesome.

Old jerseys framed on the gym wall.

Can you imagine the fun times the high school kids

had here, years and years ago?!

We're from the country!

I love small towns. I grew up in a small town.
The first week in North Carolina, I traveled through teeny tiny towns that popped up between beautiful green hills, fields with cows and bison and horses grazing along a pond's bank, train tracks and old bridges sagging over lazy rivers, tall, straight, thick trees surrounding big white houses with columns supporting decks and wrap-around porches upon which you can always see two rocking chairs and a porch swing.
I like it that way.
I'm only frustrated that I was always gogogoing! to get to the next school and didn't have a chance to stop and take pictures of all the beauty and the history.
I've become a quick! take your phone and snap a picture of that while we're stopped at a red light! driver. And sometimes I'll just pull over on the side of the road and try to get a good shot through the windshield.
Here are some of the fly-by views of these wonderful towns.

I was OUT of gas on a long stretch of nothing but trees and road, until I came upon a little, old gas station with three pumps. It was a fun step back in time.