A Guest Post by
Patrick O'Hannigan
Morrisville, North Carolina
I am so excited to share this story with you! Longtime reader of PullOverandLetMeOut Patrick O’Hannigan who is now a friend, is also a gifted writer. When I put out the call for stories about my readers’ favorite small towns, I was thrilled he wanted to share one of his favorites, Elkin, North Carolina. You’re going to adore his take on this quintessential small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains!
Enjoy! Anna Marie
Discover Elkin, North Carolina
Elkin, North Carolina is a fine place to think contrary thoughts. You wouldn’t know that the picturesque town of about 4,200 residents along the Yadkin River in Surrey County punches far above its modest weight if you only discovered it in a Google Map while looking for day-trip possibilities. On maps, it doesn’t look like much. But light hits differently when none of the buildings around you are taller than four floors.
Savor the Flavors of Small Town N.C.
To measure Elkin’s appeal properly, try lounging on the back deck of a cocktail bar on West Main Street (Looking at you, “Fruition”). It also helps if you’re sipping something exotic while you give silent thanks for having eaten at an unexpected find like The Crazy Pig or Southern on Main.
Where 3 Trails Meet
Online and in print, ads tout Elkin as the one place in North Carolina where three trails meet, and well they should. What the marketing alludes to is that the Mountains to Sea Trail and the Yadkin River Trail converge there. Yet the pas-de-deux of those state-sanctioned trails is short-lived, because Elkin is also a waypoint on the 330-mile Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail that commemorates an 18th-century troop movement through four states. The federal trail parties with both state trails. In other words, happy hikers in the area have an unusual bounty to choose from. Natural recreational possibilities are such that the trails practically have their own union, the Elkin Valley Trails Association.
Did you know North Carolina was the hub of winemaking long before Napa Valley, dating back to the days of early settlers until the start of prohibition? Now, the Yadkin Valley is quickly becoming a well-known destination once again, for east-coast and mid-westerners who love to travel nearby and enjoy good wine. Elkin is located centrally in the Yadkin Valley Wine Region (AVA) and boasts 5 wineries within or bordering our town limits. We also have a downtown tasting room whose owner is a Sommelier (a rare find!). There are 35+ other locations you can visit within a 20-mile radius!
Live Music and More
If you’re more into live music than hiking, visit Elkin in Spring, Summer, or Fall, when the restored art deco elegance of the Reeves Theater welcomes musicians of every stripe. With the important exception of a Winter break, programming there is anchored on alternate Thursdays by The Martha Bassett Show. Martha Bassett herself is a chanteuse to be reckoned with, and has long been a mainstay of the music scene around Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
Elkin offered Martha and her partner, Pat Lawrence, a venue to produce a musical variety show that they also tape for radio broadcast. As top-tier musicians themselves, Martha and Pat do the show on Thursday nights for the convenience of the artists who make guest appearances: Bands from other states can play for appreciative audiences in Elkin and then visit Yadkin Valley wineries or make an easy drive to gigs at bigger venues in Raleigh or Charlotte on the same trip. Anyone old enough to remember how John Fogarty was depressed when he and Creedence Clearwater Revival sang about being “stuck in Lodi again,” will be reassured to learn that CCR would not have the same complaint about Elkin.
Explore Elkin
You’ll want to walk around town before sundown, so you can enjoy a gourmet burger at Angry Troll Brewing or wander through the Elkin Antiques and Collectibles Mall, which despite its name is a single building crammed to the eaves with vintage stuff. Elkin also has an art gallery, a farmers’ market, and a sparkling little sandwich shop that spells “shop” with extra letters (“shoppe”) so that tourists like me will be gently cajoled into remembering soda fountains and Sears Roebuck catalogs.
Elkin was incorporated in 1889. Its business district is just big enough to include stores along a Main Street bisected into eastern and western halves. Of course, it’s not the only thing to see in northwestern North Carolina, but it’s always worth a stop. If you’ve got a hankering to visit what local poohbahs with marketing expertise call “a cozy little trail town that celebrates an active outdoor lifestyle,” then Elkin is just what the doctor ordered.
As for those contrary thoughts I mentioned up top – well, driverless cars aren’t a thing in small-town North Carolina, and steel-and-glass construction lies thin on the ground there. Moreover, and to the town’s credit, a weekend in Elkin will cure even the most steadfast urban planner of any notion that we’d all thrive living in a “15-minute city.”
ABOUT PATRICK O'HANNIGAN
Patrick-Sean O’Hannigan is a technical writer and editor who was born and raised in Hawaii but has lived in North Carolina for 20 years. He plays harmonica, photographs hawks, drives all over from his home in Wake County, and has young adult children. His daughter forgets how old he is, and his son has been playfully calling him “Old Man” for almost a decade.
Listen on the go!
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