A Fall Trip Along Virginia Highway 8

My friend, Ernie Kale, and I met in Greensboro early in the morning on October 10, 2011, to begin a multi-day photo safari into western Virginia. The first leg of this trip began as we left Hwy 220 at Stoneville, NC, followed NC Hwys 770 and 704 to Virginia HWY 8, sometimes noted as the Old Salem Highway on signs. We had no plan other than to make it to Floyd, Virginia and then make our way down the Blue Ridge Parkway. We like just to explore along the route and turn down interesting roads. This route is full of old barns, tobacco barns, and interesting stores and farms. The Akers General Merchandise Store is in Woolwine, VA. I have published pictures of the store before, but we also took picture of the old homeplace that sits behind the store. We believe that the store has been vacant for 30 years or so. The two covered bridges included here are two of the three remaining covered bridges in Virginia. There is only one remaining covered bridge in North Carolina (the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge). The McCullough Farm in Floyd County was a particularly wonderful find. We found a neighbor, David Martin, who knew the owner and called to get us permission to go on the propery. The homeplace is over 100 years old. The off-white house and red tree made our day.