General Store

Ventures through the country are always memorable. Relaxation is found in these vast expanses of open land, dotted with pine-tree covered mountains and lined with winding narrow roads. There comes a point (somewhere between the time where you see the “Next Gas Station – 60 Miles” sign and when you finally hit a bumpy dirt road) that you happen across a General Store.

Rare would be understating the stumbling across a true working general store. Unkempt corners of cobwebbed deer mounts always hang high above the expired rack of Lay’s potato chips. Working wood stoves are central fixtures and should your visit be during the colder months, it will be firing. Prize catches of salmon are situated atop the racks of cheap cigars, corn cob pipes and Trojan condoms. Only two sale items remain behind locked glass – guns and wedding dresses.

Walls of general stores are lined with antique photos, housing the memories of founding citizens, stick-built homes, picturesque local mountains, and old hunting grounds. The depictions bring us back to what surely was a better place and time. No matter where you find yourself in life, enjoy the roads traveled, take in the sights, keep smiling and if you see a General Store – swing in.