651 - Mabry Mill
Today I tried Cheerwine for the first time.
…and it blew my entire world apart. Part Cherry Coke, part Dr. Pepper, all flavor. How have I never tried this before?
I even worked at a candy/soda store one summer back in college. I’ve literally stocked hundreds of these bottles on shelves, blatantly assuming it was just another craft soda some dweeb in South Carolina had cooked up.
Now a bottle was glistening in my humid hand, and I was sitting on the porch of an old country store somewhere in the middle of Virginia. It was pouring rain out, and an orange cat curled up next to us while Alara and I enjoyed our afternoon snack.
We washed the soda down with some salted cayenne pretzels, taking in the wet, breezy air from the cover of the sunshade.
You know, I mind as well give this place a shoutout because it was pretty unreal. It was called the Poor Farmer’s Market, and it somehow has 600+ 4.8 star reviews on Google despite being in the middle of nowhere.
But I can see why. The whole place has an absolute vibe. Made entirely out of wood, this larger-than-life country store feels exactly how you’d expect an old timey Appalachian pit stop to look.
There’s buckets chalk full of fruits and veggies for sale, bins overflowing with grains, every cast iron pan you could ever imagine, knives, hand-carved figurines, old candies, shirts, hats, soda, a full-blown deli with counter service, and pretty much everything in-between.
And it’s right down the street from one of the most photographed places in all of Virginia- Mabry Mill. Or as I’ve been calling it for the past six months, Marby Mill. It just has a better ring to it.
We were waiting for the rain to die down before we headed over, because it was actively dumping out. But honesty? There was no rush.
But you know what? Let’s rush because I just told you everything you need to know about this place. Once the rain slowed to a drizzle, we headed over.
Honestly, the best conditions you could ask for at a woody mill:
“However You Pronounce It Mill”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1000 ~ 29mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/200s]
Colors pop so much harder when they get a little water on them. Just a lil’.
I walked down the path and lined up this shot of the wheel. Because what’s a mill without a spinning water wheel:
The story behind this place is that it used to be the equivalent of Home Depot in the early 1900s. It utilized the power of two creeks to spin the wheel, which generated enough energy to mill corn, power a blacksmith shop, and saw various things.
Not a bad hustle, if you ask me. Especially if that country store was still poppin’ back then.
I ended the shoot with this photo:
I really enjoyed that composition. It feels like a dark vibe. Mysterious. I liked that.
Next stop- the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was time to snag some last minute bangers of the hills before the sunset crept in.
Until next time. 🫡
