ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609280001
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FEARRINGTON VILLAGE, N.C.
SOURCE: NANCY MUENKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
As I rode into Fearrington Village, my eyes riveted on a pasture where the oddest cows I have ever seen were grazing. A wide band of creamy white hair wrapped around their middles, separating the dark chocolate coat covering the rest of their bodies. They looked like four-legged Oreo cookies!
Actually, they are Belted Galloways, a breed of beef cattle native to southwestern Scotland.
Scotland? Here in Chatham County, N.C., they were a long way from home and quite the conversation piece for folks traveling through this part of the Piedmont. Quite social animals, too. When I sidled up to the fence, they trotted over to say hello.
With this engaging welcome, I began two days of exploring Chatham County with Fearrington House Country Inn as my base.
Despite bustling development in Raleigh, Durham and other cities hugging its borders, the county has preserved its bucolic nature. Two-lane roads wind past stately forests of short-leaf pines, hickories, maples, sweet gums, poplars and oaks. The largest town, Siler City, has only 4,800 residents. People travel here simply to get away from it all.
That was my intent, too. So I sought out low-key activities like exploring the county's art studios and galleries.
Local artisans specialize in weavings, furniture, stoneware, handcrafted jewelry and other crafts. Their galleries vary from Stone Crow Pottery's homey log cabin to Sheercraft's fine jewelry showroom encased in a 1900s wood frame general store.
As I wound along country roads from one studio to another, a wrong turn led me into a mite of a town called Bynum where for the second time on this trip I saw some of the strangest creatures I've ever seen. These, however, were not alive. Wooden alligators, pigs, gnomes and other critters covered every patch of lawn surrounding the humble home of Clyde Jones.
As the story goes, when Jones went on disability after a mill accident, he started nailing chunks of wood together to while away time. In his hands, stumps and deadfall turned into giraffes stretching their necks to the sky, elephants trumpeting and horses whinnying.
Some critters are covered only with bark. Others wear splashes of bright yellow, blue or pink paint. All display Jones' signature eyeballs made from household items: plastic lemon juice squeezers, corks, softballs, film canisters, badminton shuttlecocks and plastic poinsettias, to name a few. Sporting an army helmet, a troll with long gray tresses keeps a red wooden-apple eye on the menagerie.
Surprisingly, these quirky creatures become endearing enough to purchase. But, although Jones has exhibited his folk art in the North Carolina Museum of Art, he rarely sells it. Once in a while he gives a critter away - that is, if he likes you or if you bring him attractive items to use for eyes. He's also shy. According to his neighbors, dogs and children are about the only visitors he'll step out of his house to greet. I guess I wasn't young enough.
To top off this first day, I met friends for dinner at the Fearrington House Restaurant and Country Inn, North Carolina's only AAA five-diamond establishment. Specializing in classical Southern cuisine, the restaurant accents its entrees with black-eyed peas, Bourbon sauces and other regional items. Chef Cory Mattson, a New Jersey native, has proved during his 10-year tenure that one doesn't have to be Southern-born to cook with a Southern flair. His culinary beginnings as a teen-ager, when he learned to prepare the game he hunted, have successfully migrated into his regional specialities. Our palates relished air-cured antelope carpaccio and pan-roasted breast of guinea hen with country ham.
The following day, I completed my circuit of local artisans at Lakewood Pottery where potters demonstrate their skills.
"The particles in porcelain are like fine balls," explained Jaspar Moore as he painstakingly shaped a large vase. "Throwing porcelain is like throwing cottage cheese!"
The owners of Celebrity Goat Dairy, Fleming and Brit Pfann, have also found the consistency of cheese a challenge, but a positive one. Having heard about their product, I headed out to their dairy on Mount Vernon Hickory Mountain Road.
The fact that Fleming Pfann went from a fine arts career to producing goat cheese doesn't seem so strange in this county of oddities. When she and her husband settled in North Carolina, she bought a goat because she couldn't drink cow's milk. When the goat produced more milk than she could consume, she learned how to make cheese. Now eight years later, the Pfanns have 150 goats, a thriving dairy and strong market outlets for goat cottage cheese and cheese logs.
One Sunday per month, the Pfanns host a cheese sampling, dinner and dairy tour. Goat cheese makes its way into most of the dishes served. "It creates a delicious creamy white sauce for flank steak," Fleming Pfann said.
Touring the grounds was a tickling experience because two of the baby goats escaped the pen and scampered about my feet until picked up and petted. At meal time, dozens of little ones clamber around milk buckets fitted with rubber nipples. These, doubtlessly, were the most precious creatures I had seen on this trip.
Back at my base in Fearrington Village, I searched for something to entertain me that Saturday evening. But for naught. The gift shops and bookstore had closed. Even the ice cream parlor and liquor store were locked tight. The Fearrington House Restaurant was open, but I had already eaten. The village had indeed rolled up its sidewalks.
As I walked through the inn's lobby, I spied some wine for sale. The label was odder than any I had ever seen - an Oreo cow jumping over the moon. What an appropriate way to top off this trip, I thought. With fanciful hopes of seeing a real Oreo cow jump over that night's crescent moon, I sat back and sipped the evening away
If you go
Visitors will find antique shops in Pittsboro; swimming, fishing, boating, hiking and other outdoor recreation at Jordan Lake; historic properties; organic farms; and gift shops in Fearrington Village.
Lodging prices range from a low of $26 per night in a motor inn to $50 to $95 in bed and breakfasts, such as Laurel Ridge (1-800-7426049 or 1-919-7426049) and Windy Oaks Inn (1-919-942-1001), to $150 to $250 in AAA five-diamond Fearrington House Country Inn (1919-542-2121).
For complete detailed information on Chatham County by call toll free 1-888-468-6242 or 1-888-GOCHAT.
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NANCY MUENKER. 1. Belted Galloways graze in the pastureby CNBat the entrance to Fearrington Village, N.C. 2. Fleming Pfann,
co-owner of Celebrity Goat Dairy, poses with one of the kids. 3.
Clyde Jones' lawn in Bynum, N.C., brims with giraffes, elephants and
other critters that he crafted from stumps and deadfall. color.
Graphic: Map. color.