By Corky Guenther
Sandy & Bobby Cox planned a driving trip to Shatley Springs on Thursday August 23rd. Priscilla and I had appointments early in the morning and so were unable to meet the group at the usual starting point in Lenoir. From there they traveled north on NC268 a wonderful LBC North Carolina Byway toward Wilkesboro that Priscilla and I travel often when returning from there. Our plan was to meet and join them in Wilkesboro and toddle along to the restaurant. As sometimes happens, the best laid plans of mice and men and in particular those of Corky Guenther occasionally go astray. This was one of those times. We checked with Sandy and arranged to meet them at the junction of US421 and NC16. We were, apparently, just exactly too late. We found a dearth of LBCs at the Exxon convenience store and figured that we had arrived early so I went in and got coffee while Priscilla kept watch. No LBCs came along and by the time we finished our coffee, it was clear that we had missed the group so we headed north on NC16. This road climbs the escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains winding across its face and rises approximately 2000’ to the intersection with the Blue Ridge Parkway a distance of 13.4 miles if you are a crow. If you are in an MGTC it’s considerably further and much slower than that crow. It is however a great drive.
Shatley Springs is actually a spring named for Martin Shatley who owned the property. Mr. Shatley claimed that the water from the spring cured him of a terrible skin disease and the spring became known for its curative powers. A small resort with cabins built in the 1920s surrounds the site and there is a locally known restaurant which was our destination for lunch served family style or individually from a menu. We arrived to find our group’s LBCs parked but no friendly faces in sight. We walked in to the restaurant and saw lots of tables but no familiar faces. When we asked we were directed to go “all the way to the back”. It turned out that we were only a few minutes behind as the group had only placed beverage orders.
Lunch completed, we headed back down the mountain and most of us followed to the Cox’s for beverages and homemade desserts prepared by Sandy. The strawberry pie caught my fancy. As is usual if you feed us we’ll hang around, talk and tell stories for hours. And so we did. Until about 5:00. It was a terrific day and our thanks to Sandy and Bobby for planning it.