Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 029 August 2013 | Page 20
A Trip To The Taps
4,000 Feet
Above Sea Level
VisitNC.com - Bill Russ
H
alf the fun of a road trip is
getting there. Which means
that the other half is being there.
Both sides of the adage prove true
on an excursion from Hickory to
Lenoir and Blowing Rock, where
folk art and folk heroes fill the
space between beer stops.
Hickory delights in craftsmanship,
and it shows in the city’s sites and
beer. Stroll through Union Square,
the delightful downtown hub, and
artistically rendered benches will
catch your eye: dogs with adopt-me
eyes, jazzy figures, wild animals in
“hidden picture” style. The Union
Square seats are part of the citywide
“Art on the Bench” project saluting
the region’s furniture heritage. Stop
to sample beer craftsmanship at
the Olde Hickory Taproom before
tracking more benches, including
one at the Hickory Museum of Art,
home to an innovative hands-on
Southern folk art gallery.
Hickory Boulevard’s famous “20
Miles of Furniture” leads to Lenoir,
home to an extensive outdoor
20
sculpture collection. There, Howard
Brewing celebrates its first birthday
and celebrates with a intriguing
releases: General Lenoir’s Old Ale,
made from the Revolutionary War
hero’s handwritten recipe.
William Lenoir settled in Historic
Happy Valley, which travelers can
explore from the route to Blowing
Rock. Follow blacksmith Dean
Curfman’s highway markers along
N.C. 268 past Fort Defiance
(Lenoir’s house, built on the site of
a frontier fort) into Daniel Boone
and Tom Dooley territory. Download a music-filled podcast about
the Tom Dula legend for the road,
which takes you to Laura Foster’s
grave (visible from the road) and
Whippoorwill Academy & Village,
which preserves Dula artifacts
and an art collection depicting
his life. Whippoorwill Academy
also displays a replica of a cabin
Daniel Boone shared with his wife
and eight children in the 1760s. It
includes rocks from the original
chimney.
Dashboards and Saddlebags The Destination Magazine™