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In the PILOT Today – Great Article! – So Much To Love About Southern Pines
Filed Under (General Interest) by admin on 20-10-2011
Maybe it’s the glorious October weather that has blessed us lately. But it feels like time for another “things I love about Southern Pines” column.
So here goes. Things I love about Southern Pines:
The presence everywhere on town streets of quaint, one-of-a-kind, sometimes eccentric old homes, some of which started out a century or more ago as boarding houses or winter homes, but which now offer the exact opposite of a cookie-cutter subdivision look.
The ubiquitous sight of layers of russet pine straw, which softens the landscape — and, at certain times of year when the wind is blowing just so, sometimes bundles itself into weird, moving shapes that make you think there’s a dog in the road ahead.
Speaking of dogs: Taking our aged but still spry Kelci for a nice, long, bracing walk around the perimeter of the lake in Reservoir Park on a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon — and, as usual, stopping to chat with fellow strollers or runners or bicyclists we happen to know.
Venturing into the underbrush along the Reservoir trail to check out the subtle color changes now transforming all those sassafras saplings — which, uniquely among tree species, always display three distinct leaf shapes: one-, two- and three-lobed varieties, all on the same tree.
Dropping by for lunch at the Ice Cream Parlor and, here again, almost always running into someone you know — in addition to amiable young proprietor Anthony Parks.
Taking in a cool, can’t-see-it-anywhere-else movie at the Sunrise Theater downtown — and maybe enjoying a glass of white wine and a candy bar (yes, they go great together) while doing it. For those of us who banded together to rescue the theater all those years ago, just driving by at night and seeing the lights on and realizing that some kind of entertainment is being offered inside is enough to bring a lump to the throat.
Feeling a sweet-scented breeze in my face as I coast my bicycle down the Connecticut Avenue hill, wearing a silly helmet while on the way to work on a Saturday morning.
Being able to leave my office for a head-clearing stroll up to and along Broad Street — perhaps pausing on a bench, as I’m now doing, to whip out a piece of schmaltzy writing on the notes app of my iPhone.
Running into our outgoing (in more ways than one) mayor, Mike Haney — who never, it seems, met a person he didn’t find a way to like. He’ll be a hard man indeed to replace in that position.
Strolling through the Farmers Market in Downtown Park, checking out the peaches and tomatoes and okra and comparing notes with other patrons there while a live and local bluegrass band or solo guitarist plays in the background.
Talking with the wonderfully helpful ladies at the Southern Pines Public Library — who, if they don’t have the bit of information you’re looking for at their fingertips, know where to get their hands on it quick.
Savoring a plate of spicy lasagna at Vito’s, a pancake special at Mac’s, or a Bell Tree Burger with blue cheese sprinkles and a side of whole fried okra pods. (I know I’m leaving out some other cool dining establishments. Forgive me. Maybe next time.)
Hearing (and feeling) the distant, rhythmically throbbing thump-thump-thump of a rock band playing at a wedding party under a tent on the grounds of the Weymouth Center, or at a First Friday evening in the downtown.
Walking along the street near our home and encountering a heartbreakingly graceful and delicate mama white-tailed deer with two half-grown fawns, who curiously regard us with bright eyes and cocked ears for a few seconds before turning and effortlessly vaulting a fence and vanishing on their way to who-knows-what destiny.
Awakening to hear the lonesome, somehow comforting horn blare of a freight train rumbling through town in the middle of the night — or of a passenger train making its 7 a.m. stop at the beautifully restored downtown depot.
Yep, there’s a lot to love about Southern Pines.
