A little while ago, we took a trip over to Blowing Rock, NC and I mentioned the Mast General store. Residents of Knoxville know now that we have our own nifty Mast store downtown on Gay Street. It’s a great all-purpose store. You know…for general stuff.
Valle Crucis, NC is a hop-skip-and a jump away from Blowing Rock so it makes sense for us to pop in and check out what is now registered as an historical place. The original building was finished in 1883 and remained the only Mast General store until 1988 when it branched out to a 2nd location in Boone, NC. You can check out all that history stuff on Wikipedia, I’m just here to tell you how neat is it and show you pictures.
Valle Crucis is still a rural area, so the Mast is still surrounded by lots of green pastures and quaint little houses. But don’t hesitate for a second to check this place out.
As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a creaking sound. Everywhere. The floors are uneven and are sloping every way but Sunday and the floorboards creak and moan with even the tiniest shuffle. The staircase looks and feels terribly unsafe, but don’t worry. It’ll hold up 😉
Pick up some Crabapple jelly or some salsa. But no visit would be complete without a stop by the soda fridge and the candy barrels.
The Mast here in town has done a good job capturing the charm of the original, but nothing beats the real thing. So check it out some time.
Erin @ Brownie Bites says
Wow. that third pictures gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling. And I neeeeeed that old card catalog (is that what it is?) in my house.