Chloe Klingstedt

3 weeks ago | ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells

A bus from South Stokes High School sits in front of Mitchell’s Butchery. Inside the shop, a group of students crowd around the butcher table behind the meat coolers. Before them lies the culmination of their class project: half of a pig carcass. Most of the kids are dressed in jeans and boots. A few live on nearby farms. Some are on the livestock show team. Still others are part of Future Farmers of America (FFA). By now, they’re used to working with animals.

1 month ago | ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Lauren Eberle |Brad Campbell |Mark Kemp

In the shadow of Hanging Rock State Park, trees look like green cotton balls covering the landscape’s slight hills and valleys. After driving along NC Highway 311 for several miles, the road unravels into Walnut Cove’s Main Street. There, a blue awning drapes over a black-and-white sign: “The Milk Bar,” it reads, flagging down famished drivers. Owner Debbie Sorrell strolls in, waving to customers waiting at the ice cream bar at the front of the shop.

1 month ago | ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Lauren Eberle |Brad Campbell |Mark Kemp

Before the hills of the Piedmont grow into the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 40 minutes southeast of Lake Lure, Forest City is Rutherford County’s big draw. Downtown, Main Street splits around a median filled with trees, flowers, benches, and a fountain. On one side of the street, nostalgia awaits at Smith’s Drugs of Forest City, a classic soda fountain spot that serves up milkshakes, sandwiches, and burgers cooked on the flattop.

1 month ago | ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Lauren Eberle |Brad Campbell |Mark Kemp

With just a slight turn of the steering wheel, a trip down U.S. 221 Business transitions into Marion’s South Main Street. The outline of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the city’s welcome sign matches the slope of green in the rearview mirror. On the right, the Blanton House Restaurant & Venue — a Greek Revival home turned fine-dining restaurant— is an eye-catching landmark that greets visitors, some coming from Lake James State Park about 25 minutes away.

1 month ago | ourstate.com | Chloe Klingstedt |Lauren Eberle |Brad Campbell |Mark Kemp

The Yadkin River keeps drivers company as they head east along NC Highway 268 toward Elkin. The waterway flows parallel to the town’s Main Street, meandering at a peaceful pace, much like the folks who traverse the sidewalks. A signpost’s arrows point the way to shops in town and signify that Main Street is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which converges with the Yadkin River State Trail for paddlers, as well as the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.