Last weekend my cousin got married in Brevard, North Carolina, which turned into a fun little weekend road trip.
It wasn’t as long or as elaborate as the road trip we took to Texas for another cousin’s wedding a couple years ago, but it was still a great getaway. Brevard sits in southwestern North Carolina, roughly between Asheville and the South Carolina border. In fact, the rehearsal dinner took place just over the state line. We drove about seven hours from Richmond and broke the trip with a stop in Charlotte to visit friends Matt and Kristin. The wedding was the highlight, of course, but Brevard offered plenty of small adventures that made the weekend memorable.
The downtown Antique Mall was one of the nicest and cleanest antique stores I’ve seen in a while, and it had a wonderful architectural salvage shop next door. We spotted so many interesting things, including a collection of wooden printing press letters. They were priced at two dollars apiece; I still can’t believe we didn’t come home with a full alphabet, but we enjoyed admiring them instead.
Nearby was a rack of old skeleton keys priced at three dollars each. They were tempting — Sherry even joked about buying a whole bunch to create a giant chandelier to hang over our dining room. It’s the kind of creative idea that sounds perfect until you have to haul it home in the car.
We also loved a few small original paintings by local artists. One was a delicate watercolor of a covered bridge with a modest price tag, though it was just above what we planned to spend that day. Looking back, I wish we had bought it. Another striking piece was a larger painting of a ram-like creature; it was more than we wanted to spend, but it definitely caught both our eyes. Sometimes those are the pieces that stick with you long after the trip.
The shop had plenty of quirky items as well. A few pieces reminded us of modern pottery designers, and other items veered into oddball territory — everything from novelty figures to light-up stained glass novelties. It’s part of the fun to see things you never expected to encounter in a small-town antique mall.
I’ve always liked the texture and look of old potato sacks, and there was an interesting one at the store. Sherry thought it could be repurposed into a pillow or even slip-covered furniture; people are getting inventive with that kind of fabric. It’s the sort of find that sparks ideas even if it doesn’t come home with you.
Across the street was a thrift shop run by the local Humane Society. I didn’t get to browse much because Clara was completely captivated by the kittens, so while Sherry looked around the back of the store, Clara and I spent most of our time greeting the cats with enthusiastic, and probably repetitive, chatter. Sherry did manage to find a couple of small, dog-themed items that made her smile; too bad our dog Burger wasn’t along for the trip to enjoy them.
The only place where we actually made a purchase was the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. For five dollars we found an ornate frame that held a beautiful paper-cut design. We weren’t sure where it would go at the time, but once we returned home it fit perfectly in our hallway gallery in place of a generic picture that had been there before. We trimmed the paper cut slightly to fit and hung it; the piece added color and pattern to that corner of the wall, and the extra frame will likely get painted and reused elsewhere.
We left Brevard feeling pleased that we’d come home with a small souvenir and the memory of a lovely weekend. Even though we only had a brief taste of Brevard and barely passed through Asheville, we enjoyed the pace, the shops, and the natural charm of the area. We’d like to go back for a longer visit someday — perhaps for another family celebration.
Has anyone else taken a short road trip recently or attended a beautiful fall wedding? If you have suggestions for the Asheville area or tips for returning to Brevard, I’d love to hear them.
P.S. If you want to see a few snapshots from the wedding and some family photos, check out the related gallery on our blog.