We had just found a seat at the Friday Night Jamboree at the Floyd Country Store when a woman leaned over to me and said “They just had a shout-out to hear where everyone is from and that boy up there dancing is from New York City. He’s not doing too bad for a Yankee.”
She was kidding of course. She laughed, I laughed. Though we weren’t on the dance floor I could feel my body moving almost uncontrollably to the music as I held my son.
Though this woman was simply joking about the young man being a Yankee what I admired most about the crowd at the Jamboree was the un-pretentiousness I sensed. Young and old, yankees and rebels, black and white, hippies and overalls, locals and tourists gathered to enjoy some of the finest bluegrass and traditional mountain music on the planet.
A family from Perth, Australia won a hat for traveling the farthest. The owner of the Country Store mentioned that Perth is about as far across the globe from Floyd as you can get and the gentleman from Perth said the they speak a variety of the English language in Perth as well.
We had heard from several people that Floyd is a great place to go to see a community that promotes its authenticity and encourages responsible development. We quickly learned that they were right.
We stayed at the Hotel Floyd which impressed me just from the design and placement of the hotel alone. It’s right in the middle of town but no flashing lights, obnoxious signs, and the color and placement was designed to minimize impact. When we went into our suite we found a bed made of local wood, local art decorating the walls, and locally roasted coffee. A booklet explained the rest of the green components including geothermal heat.
While the Friday Night Jamboree at the Floyd Country Store is something everyone should experience there is also Americana Afternoons every Saturday at noon where you can sit and eat your lunch and enjoy great music and the Sunday afternoon traditional mountain music and bluegrass jams where you can enjoy an afternoon of impromptu live jams. The store itself is a step back in time as it looks just like an old country store nearly the same as it did 100 years ago.
Numerous locally owned and operated shops and restaurants canvass the small town.
We had wood fired pizza at the Dogtown Roadhouse and caught some contra dancing at the Sun Music Hall on Saturday night.
Oddfella’s Cantina had some menu items with local ingredients an intimate dining room with a small stage and two local musicians performing.
We missed Natasha’s Market Cafe where they serve comfort food following the “SLOW FOODS” method using local organic products but we’ll catch that next time.
While most gift shops might have a shelf or two of local products the Republic of Floyd had nearly a full wall of locally made items including local beer and wine.
And there is no shortage of local artisans and places to purchase their work. The Jacksonville Center for the Arts is an amazing place occupying a restored dairy barn. You’ll find art shows, artisan studios, and art classes.
Floyd is a stop on several creative trails including The Crooked Road Virginia’s Music Heritage Trail celebrating Bluegrass, Old Time, and Traditional Country Music, Round the Mountain Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Network, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’re certainly going to make plans to explore each of these trails in greater detail.
We left looking for a place to escape to for a weekend and enjoy some music and found a destination we hope to return to often as there is much to explore and enjoy in southwest Virginia for the traveler seeking an authentic, place-based travel experience.
see you on the trail
