The "Waltons", Barbeque, and a visit to "Harry Murrays"

With our trip to Virginia we had planned a stop at "Waltons Mountain" which is actually in Schuyler VA. The home pictured above is the actual home of Earl Hamner the creator of the Waltons. Both Jeanette and I are big fans of this series and to visit this place was very enjoyable.

There is a museum housed in the school that Earl Hamner attended. It has all of the furnishings of the Walton TV home set up in their respective rooms. They even have the Baldwin sisters "recipe machine". It's an actual still that was confiscated locally in the mountains. No samples of the "recipe" were available.

Ike Godsey's store. This is the site of the original store, unfortunately it burned down several years ago.

The Walton living room. Original furnishings.

Some local color in the form of barbeque. This gent was fixing some pretty good stuff. He told us he starts about 2am with the smoker, and lunch is ready at 11am. He had pork shoulders, ribs, and some awesome sausage. All of his meats are local, as is another prime ingredient the wood that fires the smoker and imparts a flavor like no other.

I wish I had a couple of these now. By the way he operates right on the street in what looks to be an old fire house.

Right next to the barbeque place is another local establishment that is known world wide. "Murray's Fly Shop". I spent some time in there talking to Harry Murray who is very knowledgeable about fishing Virginia, especially Shenandoah National Park.

The fly shop is fully stocked and very neat as well as organized. While shopping he was with me telling me a books worth of information about the fishing at SNP.

One of the things I was truly impressed with was the wall of photographs of Shenandoah. These were taken at various times of the year and at many locations in the park.

I couldn't leave with out a purchase. The autographed book is wonderful. A great deal of info in it, with some side notes. The maps are the best resource for fishing as well as hiking the park. A few patterns from his shop. Mr. Rapidan, peacock caddis, and a sulphur dry. These flies were very well tied. And a hook file. This file is so very well thought out. It has three sides and all that is needed is 3 draws against the dull hook and your ready to hook and hold.