[upbeat jingle] - [Narrator] Come on down the road with us as we take you across North Carolina for some Blue Ridge Parkway nostalgia, a little mountain music inspiration, and don't forget styling on Main Street.

It's all on "My Home" next.

[upbeat music] All across the state, we are uncovering the unique stories that make North Carolina my home.

♪ Come home ♪ ♪ Come home ♪ [birds chirping] [gentle music] - The Bluffs is one of the crowning jewels of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

[gentle music continues] It opened in 1949 with a gas station next door, which is now the visitors center and gift shop dual project that the government created in the aftermath of the Great Depression with a slight delay during World War II.

Once it was completed, the Bluffs was the first restaurant to open on the parkway.

My name is Cal Ledbetter, and I'm the operator of the Bluffs Restaurant.

[soft music] [upbeat music] - The restaurant was first opened in 1949, and so there are generations of folks who came up here for Sunday brunches, weekends, camping.

[upbeat music continues] - Tell me the significance of the Bluffs to you three sisters.

What is the significance?

- Our mother worked here in the '60s and since.

- Our parents would come to the park, especially on Sunday evening and have lunch under the trees.

[upbeat music] - It's just a great way to get away from the city, the hustle bustle, and see a little bit about the country and the nature that is thriving up here and take pride in this magnificent parkway.

469 miles, and we're almost in the dead center, mile marker 241 in Dalton Park.

[upbeat music continues] - My name is Merrick Francis, and I'm one of the chefs here.

We produce a lot of very good authentic food for the Bluffs.

- [Cal] We have a fried chicken, which has been very popular.

It is the same fried chicken that's always been served here.

- The fried chicken can be a long process.

I use lemon juice, then I use all my spices and marinate them for the next day.

And then when you fry it, actually all the spice just come combine.

See people enjoying food is a satisfaction to me.

- When the restaurant and the lodge closed at the end of the 2010 season, people were really disappointed.

[twangy music] - Well, we knew it had been closed because they had closed the parkway.

- We really regretted when it closed, and each year we would check online to see how it was coming along.

- There was an outpouring of interest in the community to bring back the restaurant and the lodge and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation led the call to raise money in the community.

- There started to be a groundswell of interest of trying to find some other way of reopening.

That citizen activation helped get a funding grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission as well as from the North Carolina General Assembly.

Altogether, the foundation and all the partners and communities have raised about a million dollars to make this restoration happen.

- I remember when this place wasn't occupied.

And when they started fixing it up, it was really exciting.

We'd stopped by just to look in the windows and see how pretty it was turning out.

And whenever we get company or anything, we always bring them up here, and they always love it.

- [Kevin] You feel that sense of the people who in many cases built the building, you know, their great-grandfather or their grandfather had a hand in building, you know, the trails and the steps that we're standing on or the lodge or the restaurant.

It reminds me of the kind of attention that we need to pay when we restore the light fixtures or the counter.

- These rafters and these beams are actually from timbers in the area.

The kitchen is state of the art.

The building completely restored in its original condition with the the original light fixtures brought down and put back up.

If someone were to walk in here today, and it happens all the time when people come, they can tell you where they were sitting because they can see themself in that space from 50, 60, 70 years ago.

- We donated to the Blue Ridge Foundation and I have a bumper sticker on my truck that says I helped save the Bluffs.

- It's not changed a bunch.

I can still look right back through there and see her in the kitchen.

[gentle music] - There was a waitress, a young lady who started here in 1949 as a teenager, and she worked until the restaurant closed and she worked from 1949 until 2010.

Her name was Ellen Woodruff Smith.

- [Heather] Yeah, that's cute.

I like your hair.

That's cute.

- Yeah, I had hair back then.

- [Heather] You still have hair.

- I'm Ellen Smith.

- Paul Smith.

- I met him there, and I was probably about 18, and Paul would see me and he'd say, they called me my dual name Mary Ellen.

He's say, "Hi, Mary Ellen."

I'd say, "Hmph."

He said, "I thought you was the [indistinct] girl I'd ever seen in my life."

[laughing] And then he married me.

- We remember Mrs. Allen, she's a really special person.

I remember that her husband would be in here clearing the tables while she was working.

She always such a friendly person.

- And the public, they really appreciated that place.

Boy, you can't believe we'd be out in town somewhere and they'd recognize Ellen, and they'd just stop us on the streets or anywhere.

- [Heather] I love your apron.

Is that your original apron?

- [Ellen] Uh huh.

- [Heather] I love it.

So you wore that every day?

- Yeah, huh.

- [Heather] That's neat.

Tell me about the other ladies you worked with.

Did everybody wear blue aprons?

- Yes, we were like a family, all the employees.

This is myself, Ellen Smith.

This is Eva Parson.

She was a waitress at the coffee shop.

This is Catherine Joins, and she was a waitress at the coffee shop.

And Madeline was a cashier and hostess.

We loved it there.

- When we endeavored to restore Bluffs, it wasn't just a physical restoration.

I've had more people comment on the fried chicken or the biscuits or the sweet potato pancakes, because we're not only serving the people who remember it as it was, but we're trying to recreate those memories for people who are here for their very first time.

[upbeat music] - It's great to see people just enjoying themselves and going back in time or making new memories because here there's nothing but beauty around you everywhere you look.

[upbeat music continues] [soft nature sounds] [crowd chattering] - I think everybody has a purpose in life.

A lot of people may not know it yet, but I think everybody's got a really special talent, something that they can do to make this universe a more amazing place.

Telling mystical stories, I think that's my mission, and I think that's, you know, what I'm meant to be here for in this world.

My name's Frank Hurricane.

I'm a musician, storyteller, and hiker.

I'm always on the road, but my home is the holy mountains of North Carolina.

We're almost up to the first bald up here, which is funny why those people said it was a tough hike.

It's pretty easy.

Jane Bald is like that lower one that's like shrimping kind of right there.

♪ I walked to that mountain peak ♪ So I hiked the whole Appalachian Trail over four hikes looking for inspiration for music.

That was the beginning of the big holy journeys, which then did lead eventually to touring and traveling and that kind of changed my life.

This stone right here was one of the first like epic big hikes that I did.

It was a mystic stepping stone, that's for sure.

The Roan Highlands.

This is where I gotta be as much as I can because this is where I feel the closest to how I think maybe I should be feeling all the time.

It's a very magical place, a very sacred place, that's for sure.

Hiking on the Holy Trail has taught me a lot of stuff.

You know, I realize, oh, like I can take care of myself and like do things a little differently and live a much more amazing life.

That's where I write a lot of the lyrics and the holy melodies and stuff too.

I don't really know where it comes from.

It just kind of happens when I'm out there.

It's kind of being touched by a spiritual force, you know?

And then I try to transfer that into the music.

It's about travel, it's about love, it's about stories, it's about people.

You know, I think it's really an amazing, beautiful world out there, and I think once you realize that, everything's gonna be all right, you know, then you realize it's kind of off the chain.

[chickens clucking] [Frank imitates chickens] The chicken's holy xylophone right there.

[chickens clucking] Looks like we got some breakfast for the holy day thanks to these chickens up in here.

Oh yeah.

Woo!

Holy breakfast, big chickens.

The mountains, I realized, are really where I need to be and where I feel happiest.

There's a peace, kind of, that overcomes me when I'm around and I feel relaxed.

I feel like I'm myself.

You know, around these holy parts here in North Carolina, we got all kinds of wild chickens and mystical plants.

Good stuff to eat on.

Holy Earth, thank you.

Coming from the earth, natural, this is that holy stuff.

[gentle music] The music that I make, I make to like show people I think things about the world that maybe they don't know and also share experiences, and, you know, a lot of funny stuff too to make people, you know, just like lighten up and enjoy themselves and it's about, you know, the mystical experience.

You know, I think a lot of people who make music, they just wanna, you know, blow up on the radio or get reviewed on some [indistinct] blog or something like that.

Whereas what I'm doing is a lifetime of spiritual songwriting and music, and I ain't stopping anytime soon, that's for sure.

Never stopping.

Well, I just played Knoxville last night, Knoxville, Tennessee.

I've been on tour for about two weeks, playing a show every night.

Taking a little break today, but tour's been really successful and I've been up in upstate New York and PA.

I rocked the site of Woodstock '69, spiritual place, very epic.

I pulled into North Carolina today, the holy home state.

We're coming out here taking a little break at the spiritual Elk River Falls, and it's a pretty mystical spot, big waterfall on a river.

A psychedelic grandma at a diner in Hampton down the road told me about this place one time, which means it's a good spot, you know what I mean?

[guitar music] ♪ We're down on Stanley Creek ♪ ♪ And that autumn is coming ♪ ♪ Leaves are falling down ♪ ♪ And that water sure is running ♪ ♪ Look up to your side ♪ ♪ See that big old, big mountain ♪ ♪ Feel that spirit flow ♪ ♪ That holy cleansing power ♪ You know, the sound of my music is kind of like what the stuff that I'm experiencing sounds to me.

I think the finger picking has something to do with that.

You can kind of mimic the vibes of the flowing rivers and the sky and the mountains and stuff.

Yeah, it just felt natural.

[soft music] Yo, we in Asheville, Static Age Records, the holy venue.

We're coming down here to the Hurricane Mobile about to get the guitar and the merch stuff.

Gonna set up the merch table, get ready to slang some T-shirts and records and holy tapes and stuff like that.

People are starting to show up already, so it's incredible, man.

Very stoked.

Static Age is an awesome venue where when I was a much younger I would buy records, and, you know, it was an influential place in my life and now I'll be rocking to join.

What up, homie?

How you doing?

Spiritual shirts.

We got "Shrympin on the River of Love."

And then we got this, the records, tapes.

Beautiful.

Yo, Big Kev, you ready to hit that holy Mamacita's?

Ready to shrimp at the Mamacita's.

- Ready.

- Let's dog.

It's time the dog some food.

Let's get ready.

That's how we do it up around here.

Mamacita's, dog till you drop.

Pico.

Is that lechuga?

Caliente, salsa Mas, mas, la mas.

I think everything's kind of an adventure, so I like to find the special places, you know, I think everybody does, but secret holy camp spots are waterfalls, or, you know, funky restaurants, or psychedelic granny shacks.

Places where mystical things go down that your average person probably doesn't get to check out.

And then I like to, you know, kind of write that stuff into a song or tell the tale and bring that holy experience to the people that aren't able to see that themselves.

I try to like, I don't know, inspire people to like be a little more hyped about everyday things and maybe open shrimps up a little bit, hopefully, you know?

Well, if you wanted to see what I'm talking about kind of with my music and what inspires it and what gets me going, you know, you can get you a cheap tent and see who you meet, see who you run into out there in the woods.

Usually, it turns out that little things are more of an adventure than big things that people think are actually going to be an adventure.

- [Passengers] Hey!

- Whoa, whoa!

[engine roars] [horn honks] - I love that.

They found it.

- [Speaker] Now, how would you even describe your music?

- I would say shrimp and naughty blues, finger picking, shrimp folk type of stuff, storytelling.

- [Speaker] Shrimp and naughty blues.

- Whoo, how's it sounding Big Mike?

What up holy Asheville, North Carolina?

[guitar music] It's a spiritual pleasure to be here tonight, and it's nice to be back down in the southern realms of big North Carolina, Born in the holy Durham, Vietnam.

Now when you're out in those holy mountains, you're shrimping on those mystical peaks.

It's a holy thing.

I've been hiking a lot recently, and I wrote this song about some mystical hiking right up the way from here.

[guitar music] I think that success for me means just getting some people to have some fun and maybe enjoy life a little more.

I think that's my mission and I think that's the success is seeing that for real.

♪ I was there that night that old pine tree fell ♪ ♪ A big old pack of chuganauts was sipping from the well ♪ ♪ I didn't get no sleep that night ♪ ♪ Was underneath the spell ♪ ♪ But a sacred wind coming over the hill ♪ ♪ I rose up in the morning, man, feeling off the chain ♪ ♪ Look out my window and I saw that mountain range ♪ ♪ Well I know that that girl I love is living in Tennessee ♪ ♪ Know that that girl love is living in Tennessee ♪ ♪ I got keep it spiritual ♪ ♪ I got to keep it G ♪ ♪ Because I know that that girl love is living in Tennessee ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ You know, performing for people, it's incredible because I know that's like what I'm meant to do, and it's cool because when I'm playing shows, people come and they have, you know, a mental adventure, spiritual adventure of their own listening.

I think that that's like what the music sound is all about that I make.

It's a spiritual pleasure.

[guitar strumming] Love you!

Love you!

[audience cheers] Thank you, guys.

So beautiful.

So awesome.

Living the holy dream, that's for sure.

It's like incredible, it's insane, really.

I'll tell you what, I would be pumped if I'd seen myself, even a tiny aspect of what I'm up to these days 5 years ago, especially 10 years ago, and all the way back.

Oh, I'd be flipping my lid.

Yeah.

Blessed pimp for sure, blessed Shrimp.

I love it.

[Frank chuckles] ♪ I bet some day you'll live ♪ ♪ What you gonna do today ♪ - I am the mayor of East Market Street.

[upbeat music] They tagged me with the mayor of East Market Street because I've been here so long, I guess.

[door opens] [frog croaks] My name is John Mitchell, and I live in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The name of the store is Mitchell's Clothing and Accessories.

Yeah, try this one on.

You like 'em turned down or up?

A lot of 'em want me to help 'em because I won't sell 'em a hat unless it looks good on 'em.

You got it backwards.

I'm a salesman and the manager and the buyer and everything else, because I'm a natural.

- This man is an institution.

This store has been here since I was a child.

- You don't realize when you get to be 90 years old and you start looking back, it seemed like a dream.

I grew up in the clothing business and the retail clothing.

This store originally was started in 1939, but I started working here when I was 12 years old.

I used to come in after school and I worked with my uncle.

And then in 1962 I just bought my father out, and then when I took over, I went into high styles.

So I told my wife, I said, "Well, you want to gamble?"

And she said, "Yes."

We took a risk on bell bottoms when they first came out and Tom Jones shirts.

We were the first ones that had the high heel platform shoes for men.

So we got into that, and we started selling Stacy Adams shoes, and we've been selling 'em ever since.

I'd like to introduce you to my lovely wife, Amanda H. Mitchell, which is known as Ellen Mitchell.

We've been married 65 years.

- Right after we were married, someone knocked at my door and said, "Your husband sent you a gift," and it was a sewing machine.

Well, it's been my job ever since.

- Well, you guys are known for your hats.

- Yeah.

- What makes your hats so special?

What is it about them?

- The different styles.

They're wearing something like that.

- Okay.

And this is a trend right now?

- No, that ain't, well, all of 'em are trends, you know?

You don't know who's gonna buy what, but a lady would buy that.

We have some of the best customers in the world.

They come from Pennsylvania, from Baltimore, Roanoke, Virginia, New York, all over.

They still like that personal touch.

Never been touched by human hands.

And so you don't find that in today's market.

These salesmen today don't give you that personal attention that they desire.

- I'm not human, you know?

- I know it.

I can look at you and tell.

- I know.

- They enjoy him, they enjoy Johnny.

- Yeah, you gotta have a little bit of humor.

I mean, just the same thing all the time.

Like, people coming in here and they say, "Well, you know, you haven't changed in 20 years.

You're still the same old thing.

Obnoxious, rude."

Put it on, look in the mirror over there, see how ugly you are.

And so forth like that.

And I said, "Well, that's the way it goes."

I keep insulting them and they keep enjoying it.

And a lot of 'em argue with me.

They'll come in and say, "Well, I wear 32."

I say, "Well, you don't wear no 32."

"Oh, yes, I do.

I've been wearing it all my life."

I said, "You used to be 11 years old."

I said, "But you're not 11 years old anymore."

[upbeat music] Working at this age, I enjoy my customers.

See, if I stayed at home, nobody would ever come see me.

Yeah, because you like me.

And when it gets to the point where I don't have a relationship with my customers, I'll quit.

You know, they put up with me and they buy from me because I'm me and because its Mitchell's.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues]