Real Kato Blog: Small Town, USA: Part 1

I spent this weekend in Elkin, North Carolina.

Elkin, North Carolina, is Amy's home town. Here are some statistics about Elkin:

* * *

Population and size:
About 4100 people. The town is 6.3 square miles. For comparison, Manhattan in New York is about four times the area of Elkin, with 374 times the population.

Number of people that Amy knows:
About 4100. Seriously. Everyone knows everyone, and where they work and whom they've married and whom they've divorced.

Number of Asians encountered in Elkin, besides me:
2. Possibly Filipino. They worked at the Chinese restaurant. This is an overwhelmingly (80%) white town. We were at a restaurant Saturday and I was the only non-white person in there. I had to resist the temptation to say in a loud voice, "BOY, THERE SURE ARE A LOT OF WHITE PEOPLE HERE."

Number of bowling alleys, ponds, or anything else you might have more than one of in your town:
1.

High school mascot:
The Buckin' Elks. Yeah, their school sign got vandalized a lot.

* * *

We drove up Saturday, and Amy and I went to Stone Mountain. It's a mountain made of stone. Get it? As opposed to most other mountains, which are made of cottage cheese.

We went hiking to the waterfall. Along the way we saw a colorful beetle. We thought that it would make a good monster in a cheap science fiction movie. Look out, Amy!

The falls themselves were nice. We met a guy with an Afghan hound there. The Afghan desperately wanted to stay there in the cool water and nuzzle Amy, instead of going home with the guy who made him hike for two miles to get there.

I climbed the rocks a bit.

Then I found you could get to that same spot by taking a trail next to the falls. But what's the fun in that?

I did my part to rescue some trees that were in distress:

Coming next: binge drinking with Amy's friends, and driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway,

Permalink 8 Comment

Posted by Ken in: life, travel

Comments

Comment #1 from John C (Guest)
2006 May 29 - 3:34 pm : #

So how is binge drinking with Amy's friends different than your normal binge drinking?

Comment #2 from maggie (Guest)
2006 May 30 - 5:17 pm : #

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle (or auntie). PLeased you didn't say what was on you r mind about all them white folk cuz I'm not so sure they'd appreciate the gesture.

Nice photos and yeah...I'm pasty white too. But not from North Carolina. Never been there, actually.

Comment #3 from Phil (Guest)
2006 May 31 - 1:58 am : #

Is the Elk Inn still there in Elkin? And does Amy know Paula Nance with whom I went to high school? Just wondering.

Comment #4 from Ken (realkato)
2006 May 31 - 7:24 am : #

John, Phil: All will be revealed shortly.

Maggie: No, no, I love white people. Some of my best friends are white people. But they kinda all look the same to me. ;)

Comment #5 from Amy McConnell (Guest)
2006 May 31 - 8:40 am : #

I do know Paula Nance. I went to Elkin High... She has red hair right? Ahh, the Elk Inn famous since 1983.

Comment #6 from olafandy (Guest)
2006 Jun 1 - 2:36 pm : #

One day...one day I will learn to read your web site without drinking anything. Alas, today is not that day...

Comment #7 from Phil (Guest)
2006 Jun 6 - 12:30 am : #

Hi Amy -- Paula is ~38 now (we went to NCSSM together for end of high school). Very sweet, and about 5'2" with lovely curly hair and a family friendship with Jesse Helms.

Comment #8 from Amy McConnell (Guest)
2006 Jun 6 - 1:18 pm : #

Phil, were both her parents high school teachers with 1 younger sister?

Comments are closed for this post.

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