Old Country Store

I am blessed that my business travels often carry me to out of the way rural corners of the Old Dominion. I prefer the old two-lane highways to the cursed interstate anyway, so this suits me fine. So many folks miss the true Virginia because they speed by it every day on the interstate. One of the many benefits of driving the back roads and byways of Old Virginia is coming across the country stores that still dot the landscape. I came across one such store this morning. Pictured here is “Anderson’s Grocery” in Avon, Virginia. This old store sits on a rural road just off Route 151 in Nelson County and is representative of so many of these nostalgic, community oriented gathering places.

When stopping in this morning, the proprietor was leaning against the rails outside on the front porch, talking with another local about nothing in particular. The smell of a fresh rain was heavy in the morning sunshine and I couldn’t resist stopping in because of the “homemade pork barbecue” that was advertised on a sign outside. I confess my weakness for this delicacy. It certainly lived up to the advertisement—delicious!