Day 3 Emporia, VA to Little River, SC via Smithfield, NC

Thanks to the followers who are finding your way back to this blog after our year off. I see page visits are up although many of you seem content to lurk for now. Just a side note, comments are still off until I remember how to enable them for followers.

Perhaps Emporia isn't so boring after all. Our hotel was adjacent to a fire station and the Emergency staff were summoned repeatedly with a loud horn rivaled only by the blasts from a couple of trains.  Sleep was elusive...

Day 3 was another sunny, warm day.  We left Emporia mid morning and headed south.

Our travel plan, no more than 300 miles per day, one major mid-trip stop, and lots of short walking around stops continues to work well for us.  Off the Interstates there is a big country filled with lots of interesting people and places.

A case in point is today's mid trip stop,  Smithfield, North Carolina. This charming community deserves a several hour stop, and probably another stop on the return trip.  Smithfield was recommended to us by a North Carolina travel services guide at a highway stop on I95 just south of the Virginia border.

Our first destination was Simple Twist a great little eatery in the historic district.  BTW, our Garmin GPS didn't recognize the address on East Market Street, but with Gloria driving and some expert navigation by me we only needed to back track several times.  It was worth the confusion--the chicken corn chowder was the best ever, and the sandwiches (Roast Beast with Horseradish Mayonnaise) were excellent too.

However, the real treat while walking around town was the Ava Gardner museum. A block away from the Simple Twist was this amazing little museum dedicated to one of the first Hollywood megastars, and a local hero who grew up several miles away.

At the request of the museum staff we refrained from all but one photograph inside the museum. The Ava Gardner museum deserves its high Trip Advisor rating.  This is a very professionally organized and displayed collection of memorabilia designed to tell the story of a beautiful small town girl who rose to the pinnacle of the entertainment world.  Throughout the numerous displays and excellent documentary video, the story of Ava's life is told with the class and candor that reflect Ava's personality very well.

Perhaps the highlight of the visit was the opportunity to meet Deanna Brandenberger, the Executive Director of the museum and trustee of Ava Gardner's estate. Below is the one inside photo we took.

Deanna was very generous with her time, supplementing the otherwise excellent displays with her detailed knowledge of the story around the many panels. Her regard for the late film star is obvious and reflected in the thoughtful and artful displays.  The museum is in the midst of a campaign to fund upgrades to the museum's fire suppression systems.  We plan to contribute and hope that other fans of Ava and small town museums will too. The museum web site is http://avagardner.org .

Below Smithfield we opted to head back toward coastal Wilmington, NC on interstate 40 rather than proceeding directly south on I95 as Garmin suggested.  Numerous vineyards, eateries, shopping opportunities and parks beckoned just off the highway, but the thrill of heading toward the coast at 70mph won out. 

The trip down Rt 17 to Little River was much more interesting and we were prompted to get off the road for a quick stop to pick up some allergy meds.  All those beautiful cherry trees in blossom finally got to my nose!

We arrived at friend Ernie's house around 6:00 pm and talked well into the evening.  We'll be here for a while slowly exploring the greater Myrtle Beach area.  See you along the way.