Mark's Photo Travels

About a month ago, I made my annual trek up to Henderson County, North Carolina to buy some apples and do a bit of exploring along the way. This year, much like my recent trip to Renno , I decided to revisit some of the places I've been to before to see what, if anything, has changed. Staton's Grocery Staton's Grocery is located just south of Tuxedo on N.C. 225 (Old U.S. 25) near  the intersection with Green River Road . The store was built in 1920 by Ulysses Staton who also operated the store until his death. His wife, Effie, then operated the store until her death in 1981. The building later used as an antiques store, but is currently unoccupied. My first visit here was in 2012 , and looks much the same except the Dr. Pepper sign once above the left window is now gone. Tuxedo Community Store Continuing up N.C. 225, the old Tuxedo Community Store building  sits across the street  from where the Tuxedo's textile mill once stood (now the site of Tuxedo Park)...

I recently got in touch with long time friend Eric Cunningham to see if we might find a day to go exploring. I haven't been on an adventure with him since 2015 when we went to see Spider Tunnel Falls . He suggested we start at  High Bridge , what's now a pedestrian-only bridge over the Green River in Henderson County, North Carolina a few miles east of Saluda. High Bridge and Lake Summit High Bridge, also known as the Green River Bridge, carried traffic on U.S. 176 between 1927 until 2001, when a new bridge parallel to it opened. High Bridge then became open only to foot traffic. We walked past the barricades onto the bridge. Plaques on both ends commemorate the construction of the bridge. The Green River was far below, but even from the bridge it's easy to see the river is aptly named. At the far end of the bridge on one side is a steep path leading down to a service road down below, and on the other side is a less steep but longer path down to a service...