With all due respect to the Friday Night Jamboree and its popularity, Mabry Mill stands as Floyd County’s most popular tourist attraction (although the county shares Mill property with Patrick County).

The Mill also ranks #1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s list of attractions and was even used as a backdrop for Salem cigarette commercials back in the days when tobacco companies could push their products on TV.

Like most Parkway attractions, the Mill draws most attention during the Spring, Summer and Fall months, but I’ve always liked to visit it during the Winter and early Spring, when the water in the Mill trace is diverted and the grounds are quiet.

Even now, as the grass returns to green and the weather warms, the Mill is a more a place of solitude, not tainted by the mass of tourists who will start arriving just before Memorial Day and pack the place until just after Labor Day.

In 1910, local resident Ed Mabry built the grist mill near Meadows of Dan, but the flat land lacked a stream strong enough to generate power for milling. He and his wife Lizzie began buying land to gain the water rights. It took them another four years to put together five small parcels of land and build an extensive flume system, complete with a small dam to store the runoff from rains and Spring thaws.

Mabry’s Mill used two sets of stones, one for grinding cornmeal and the other for a grain mixture fed to livestock. Mabry had many loyal customers and he complimented the mill with a blacksmith shop, sawmill and carpentry shop.

Mabry died in 1936 and his wife operated the mill until designers of the Blue Ridge Parkway chose Mabry Mill as a special scenic places to be preserved. Although the mill remains operational, it grinds meal only occasionally.

Mabry’s blacksmith shop and other parts of the Mill property form the Mountain Industry Trail, a collection that includes a blacksmith shop, soapmaking facilities and — of course — a moonshine still.

A fantastic day in the nation’s capital today. Sunshine, temperatures in the 70s. A great day to be out. When the weather is nice, the street musicians come out in force and Dupont Circle in Northwest DC is always a great place to hear some good musicians for free. Washington is more than politics, power and monuments. The city is a fascinating tapestry of cultures and interests. Those who venture off the beaten path find a city that is rich in hertitage. Those who never get off the Mall miss the real city. Pity.

When it rode the rails of the Norfolk & Western Railway, locomotive 611 was something to see, a streamlined, steam-powered monster that brought stares and a sense of awe whenever it passed.

When my mother returned to Floyd County after my father’s death, we rode into Roanoke on an N&W passenger train pulled by 611.

I was only five at the time but remember that train trip from Tampa, Florida, well. It would not be long before both steam locomotives and the passenger trains they pulled would be part of history.

Now, 611 sits in the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. People still stare in awe at the massive steam locomotive.

Built in N&W’s Roanoke shops, it reminds us of another era when life seemed so much simpler.

Nowadays, the only steam-powered locomotives in use pull excursion trains out of places like Greenbriar, West Virginia, and Cumberland, Maryland. This year, we plan to take a few rides on these trains and remember those days.

Warm weather, cold weather, rain or even snow doesn’t stop the trout fisherman who find their favorite spot on Floyd County’s many streams.

They’re out when I leave in the early morning hours and I expect to see them when the days get long enough for it to still be daylight when I return.

When I stopped on the bridge on Buffalo Mountain Road to snap this fisherman on Burk’s Fork Creek, he looked up and asked "what gives you the right to take my picture?" I thought for a second and then replied: "Because you’re fishing on my land?" He smiled back and said "oh, OK I guess."

Heading back to Arlington Sunday for our alternate week in the city when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw an awesome sight of clouds outlined by the sun. Pulling over on I-66 Eastbound on a busy Sunday afternoon ain’t the brightest idea in the world but I headed for the shoulder and pulled my camera out of the bag in the back of the Wrangler. The halo outline that had caught my attention in the rear view was gone by the time I got stopped but the sky was still awesome. Mother nature always has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Season changes are among my favorite times of the year, especially when Fall is making way for Winter and Winter is moving out of the way for Spring.

It is a time of year when the sky provides magical light shows at sunrise and sunset. Sometimes, you sit on the top of a hill and wait for Mother Nature’s show to amaze you. Sometimes, it just sneaks up on you, as this sky did.

We spotted it while walking out of the Lowe’s in Christiansburg. I get the same sense of awe when the warm light of a sunset bathes our studio in The Jacksonville Center in Floyd.

I can look out the window and see the sun setting near the Buffalo.

I saw such sunsets many, many times while growing up in Floyd County and am rediscovering them again after returning. It’s the best show in town. It runs on its own schedule and it’s always free for anyone who just takes the time to enjoy it.

Heading home from Christiansburg, along Alum Ridge Road, when we topped a rise and the full moon came into view. "Wow," Amy exclaimed. Wow indeed. I stopped in the middle of the road, pulled out a D100 with a 70-200 zoom and fired off a half dozen shots before another car came along and I had to move. A beautiful Southwestern Virginia night. Nothing more needs to be said.

From time to time, friends in the city ask the inevitable question: "Why on earth do you spend so much time down in the country?" Well, it’s the end of a beautiful Monday and this is the view outside our studio at The Jacksonville Center in Floyd. Next question.