Sassafras Gap to Big Mill

Conditions were perfect for travel on Saturday morning.  Fog had drifted in overnight, and instead of drifting away it remained all morning, glowing brighter and brighter as we loaded up our trusty Honda CRV.  We took a picture of the walkway to the back door as we sometimes do when we are going to be gone for some time.  It will be interesting to see how green everything becomes in three weeks, the hostas breaking free from the ground and spreading along the rock wall.

By the time we reached Brevard the fog had mostly burned away, and sunshine broke through across the long stretch of I-40 through Raleigh to Rocky Mount.  We stopped for a picnic lunch somewhere near Hickory, and then had a light supper in Rocky Mount.  It is always a relief to escape the heavy traffic of metro Raleigh and head relentlessly east on quiet four-lane roads, and finally on two-lane roads through that flat Eastern North Carolina landscape, marked by falling-down houses and toppled tobacco barns and big flat fields.  We arrived in Williamston at the Big Mill (see previous post) early enough to talk to Chloe, the proprietor of this remarkable little B & B, and to wander around the grounds and take some photos.

It is a photographer's dream!  Old trucks, the original farm outbuildings filled with tools and license plates, now transformed into a first-class B & B recently featured in "Our State" magazine.  Our room was just perfect - the Pack House suite, renovated last year, originally a shed behind the Corn Crib where tobacco was packed.  The interior was decorated with Chloe's signature Mexican tiles and plates and pictures by Georgia O'Keeffe on the walls.  We especially loved the curved lintels above the doors!

We strolled outside and found ourselves greeted by two cats, who immediately began wrapping themselves around my trouser leg.  The one called "Raisin" took up a position right outside our door, and seemed determined to get inside; I supposed she had often insinuated herself into the hearts of cat lovers staying here and perhaps even found herself sleeping on their bed all night.

And then we took one final walk before turning in, out under the hundred-year-old cypress trees, to gaze across the big empty fields, newly plowed and waiting for soybeans to be planted, where a gorgeous sunset glowed behind the long-leaf pines.