Long time ago a decade and a half after the turn of the 1900's century a young man named Hermann Freyberg hitched a ride on a steamer and began an adventure of a lifetime. An adventurer by heart, for surely as a young boy of 17 to leave the comfort and security of a home he must have been that. He traveled to the Canary Islands and from there to West Africa the Ivory coast in later years he would venture even further into Africa up to the Sahara where the Tuareg's reside and deep into the Congo. He found his way to Lamberene, Dr. Schweitzer's Mission station, exited to meet the great Medicine man, but as luck played out the great man was at this time in Europe looking for patron and sponsors for his mission.

Nevertheless he was overjoyed for just having made it so far and to get a first hand look at the operations. Dr. Schweitzer's manager from the Netherlands greeted him warmly and invited him to a German breakfast.. After wards he came away very humbled for what the station has brought to this region, in an area where there still many unknown customs, tribes of people and unexplored regions existed.

He was at times a photographer, guide for hunters & explorers of natural resources of western companies and author of children's books and his very own autobiography. Why is this important to me?....he is a distant relative of mine on my fathers side, which brings to us great pride for having dared his dream.

If you are interested in reading this book there is an English translation around Called "Out of Afrika" (no not that one) but Hermann's book was translated to English in 1935. The German version published in 1933 is called "Afrika Ruft". The photographs alone are amazing. Later in my blog I will publish some of them.

North Carolina in recent years has discovered that growing grapes can be a major source of fun and satisfaction, for the region along the Piedmont Yadkin River is well suited to grow the little fruit. They are not for grape juice, but for that wonderful sipping experience of mellowed out vintage wines. I enjoyed my first trip to Shelton Vineyards and then those followed by my second trip, third and so on....you get the picture. It's not far from Charlotte and they host beautiful Summer Events. You can stay close-by if you need to make a special celebration of it.
check them out at www.sheltonvineyards.com and sign up for their new letter so you can join them in their celebrations.

A little bit further nestled in the Blue Ridge sits Chateau Morrisette another great place to stop while touring the Blue Ridge. Prepare to stay at least over night, with so many samples it's hard to choose and you just might have to re-sample. The setting is gorgeous and they too have great events during the Summer. You can sign up for their new letter too at www.chateaumorrisette.com

I remember a few years back we went to visit my aunt in Germany and I originally hail from a region in Germany where vineyards are planted on steep hill sides and occasional lush valleys. My mother-in-law Bee was with us, sweet lady in her young eighties. Her quiet family life in WV, being and living the life of a good baptist daughter not ever having tasted wine, thought that Germans sure liked eating grapes. Her son did not keep her too long in suspense and explained to her why Germans grow so many grapes. On the steep cliff along the Mosel one needs to show great respect for the little fruit, for hanging on to dear life until ripe and finally industrious hands come along and pick them. No modern machinery here.

Thank you Dionysus.

I hope you all had a chance to take a look at the moon elipse last night. Unless you had a clear shot at the horizon for the moon rising, you had to wait a little bit in this area. I did since I live in an area with a lot of big trees, but what a great site when I finally saw it as it was climbing in the sky dark red in color. It was a little hard taking the pictures, the wind was still blowing about and it distorted some of my filming. We also did some filming through the telescope, by holding the digital camera to the eye piece, amateur filming it was but it got me some nice filming.

If you like nature and you like to go up to the Blue Ridge Mountains, then I have a great story to tell. I was reading a report in my favorite magazine about our area that post great concern, for I think most are familiar with plight of the American Chestnut tree (gone). There is another tree species that deserves our help and attention and most of us are oblivious to the heroic efforts of folks trying to save some very old trees, the Giant Hemlock (Eastern Hemlock). This group of scientists have found a grove of giant hemlocks more than 160 feet tall with a base of 13 feet and some. The sad news is that they are beng attacked by the woolly adelgid and it takes time dedication and most of all money to do what is necessary to stop the invading horde of beetles on the precious North Carolineans.

Most all of us know about the giant sequoias in the western USA and have seen pictures of visitors to the parks, so while these giants get the attention our giant hemlocks are in some quiet corner being cared for by dedicated park personnel and scientists. Probably most of us will never get to see these trees because physically it's a long hike into the grove and then our remote wilderness in the blue ridge is shrinking except for the Great Smokey National Park. If you want to see the birth place of our hemlock just take a nice weekend drive to Linville Falls and walk among some Carolina hemlocks, enjoy the cool breeze and the wonderful earthy smell around them on a warm Summer day.

If your like to read great story's about our Blue Ridge Mountains and it's people that make it special, then pick up a copy of Blue Ridge Country, or better, subscribe to it. If you wish to make a donation to this project saving our hemlocks then send your contribution to Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, P.O. Box 20986 Roanoke, VA 24018 (1-800-228-7275) and if you want to do it on-line www.blueridgefriends.org and Click the "Donate" button.

Interesting, but a recent article in our local paper stated that a major portion of our population increase comes from up-state New York, Suffolk, Queens, and Kings N.Y.

Florida is no longer the end of their destination, Cabarrus and Union County seem to be your favorites. I believe word got out that there are spacious home sites available in the surrounding counties of Charlotte. Of course I think anyone in the real estate business knew that, we show families and couples around these counties all day long. I recently was in a subdivision where 2/3 of the license plates fastened to the car and declaring who you are, were either New Jersey and New York. Okay, so some were from Florida, but I think they can be counted in as Yanks. I'm sure that originally they moved to Florida from up-state and then with all the unsettling weather and maybe a hot real estate market in prior years made their move back. The term used to describe them is "halfbacks".

So please, when you are heading down the road look cheerful and wave at us, because you could be passing a native Carolinian (Carolinius extingtus).

This is dedicated to the folks that are planning on making their move down here to the Carolinas. I know a lot of you folks are interested in Union County and we would love to have you, especially since that is my business. Waxhaw is a town that sparks a lot of interest and yes there are a few sub-divisons were you can live with a manageable mortgage, but there are those that can go over the top. It is a boom town, but it wasn't always that way.

Waxhaw still has remnents of it's former past standing , it was dependent on cotton at one time and when that industry was hit with hard times a new bumper crop of antique shops started to sprout. Downtown Waxhaw is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

If anyone has watched the movie "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou" at the end when the family walks through downtown, did you notice the pedestrian bridge over the railroad. Well, that shot was downtown Waxhaw with a little computer touch-up. The big house on the hill is not there because in reality it's a smoke stack.

I always liked Waxhaw, but what I don't like are some of the strip shopping centers, they don't blend in. Of course at the time when they were built, they were greatly needed because it was a long drive to get your groceries. Maybe one day the developers/builders will come back and do a touch-up, just like in the movies.

I'm including a link to the Waxhaw website so that all Waxhaw aficionado's can get up to speed on the towns history. http://www.waxhaw.com/