Reporter Bill Cissna writes, “In north-central North Carolina, an age-old geological protrusion and a small community that share the same name provide a nice mix of outdoor and retail attractions for an overnight getaway.”

“Pilot Mountain has been a state park for nearly 40 years, including a scenic area along the nearby Yadkin River, which was added in 1970 and is linked by a corridor of land. For the spectacular views on a clear day, take the winding road up the mountain to a site near the two peaks…. Even the most exercise-averse should find the trip rewarding.

“For the more enthusiastic outdoors traveler, the park has much more to offer,” he continues, mentioning more than a dozen trails in varying levels of difficulty and facilities for horseback riding, canoeing and fishing, primitive camping on an island in the Yadkin, rock climbing and rappelling, family camping and picnicking areas.

“But if shopping for clothes and antiques more closely fits your needs, the town of Pilot Mountain itself (population 1,300, established 1889) sits just one exit north and three miles east of the park. Unlike many small towns, Pilot Mountain has a lively, occupied downtown Main Street.”

“We’re very proud that, though they are not all retail stores, all of the storefronts along Main Street are rented and used,” Cook’e Jessup, co-owner of Mount Pilot Antiques, told Cissna, adding. “Not too many towns can say that right now.”

Cissna also interviewed and quotes Antiquity’s Kristin Rutherford, 92-year-old clothing store owner Clyde W. Fulk and Sherie Holden, owner of Pilot Mountain Peddlers, who encouraged Georgians to come for Mayfest (on Mother’s Day weekend) and the monthly cruise-ins held downtown on the first Saturday of each month, May through October.

“If a few hours away from the urban hurly-burly is appealing,” writes Cissna, “whether you spend your time outdoors or with a credit card in hand, a visit to ‘Mount Pilot’ would fill the time nicely. Given the rural, laid-back nature of the area, spending a night at one of several bed-and-breakfasts” — he specifically mentions Dr. Flippin’s Bed & Breakfast and the Pilot Knob Inn — “or taking in a nearby Yadkin Valley winery or vineyard could expand the stay, and the relaxation.”

Atlanta is about 300 miles (a 5-1/2-hour drive) from Pilot Mountain.

The web site, ReevesTheater.blogspot.com, includes information about the 389-seat theater, which was opened in 1941, and recent articles about the restoration program.

The restoration of the Reeves Theater is an effort spearheaded by the Tri-County Citizens Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its goals are to create a lively center for the arts serving the Yadkin Valley region and to return the Reeves to its former role as the cultural center of downtown Elkin, one of Surry County’s historic cities.

This is the second-such restoration project in Surry County. In the 1990s, the Surry Arts Council acquired and restored a similar former movie theater in Mount Airy. The Downtown Cinema on Main Street shows second-run feature films, weekly Spanish-language movies and family-friendly pictures for parents and children. It also hosts live stage performances, including concerts and weekly jam sessions, and is the home of the long-running “Merry-Go-Round,” a weekly program of live country, gospel and old-time music presented by WPAQ Radio, The Voice of the Blue Ridge.

For more information about restored movie theaters, visit CinemaTreasures.org.

GPS device sellers reported holiday sales up a whopping 488 percent over last year, according to market research firm NPD Group. With GPS technology available in cell phones, vehicles and hand-held devices, geocaching is growing; more than 490,000 caches have been hidden worldwide, according to Geocaching.com.

Some of this treasure is within your reach in Surry County.

Geocaching is an interactive way for people to explore a county beyond its typical tourist attractions. Geocaching also can attract tourist dollars. This summer the city of Asheville will actively promote The Ultimate AsheCache, a site-seeing expedition in Buncombe County to find hidden treasure valued at more than $1,700.

“Adventure travel,” including geocaching, is a growing niche in the tourism industry. Half of U.S. adults (98 million) have taken an adventure trip in the past five years and they are taking their children and grandchildren with them, according to the Tourism Industry Association.

Hikers have done “letterboxing” — leaving letters or notebooks in caches to be signed by fellow travelers — for more than 150 years, but geocaching did not take off as an activity until 2000 when the U.S. military allowed civilian access to its high-resolution, satellite-based global positioning system.

The oldest geocaches in Surry County date to 2002, if not earlier. The county — already a popular tourist destination for hikers, bicyclists, motorcyclists and other outdoors enthusiasts — became a popular site for geocaches after reporter Bryan Gentry, then with The Mount Airy News, wrote an article about local geocaching in 2003.

Surry County also is an access point for the Blue Ridge Parkway with its many geocaches.

North Carolina is home to more than 9,900 active caches registered on Geocaching.com).

“We were one of their first campers,” said an experienced motor-home traveler whose other campground reviews span the nation from California to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to Arizona. “All sites have 50/30/20-amp electrical, water, sewer and cable coming soon. WiFi is also promised in the near future. Campground is set on a rolling, golf-course like setting. There are two ponds and lots of grass. There are no trees yet, but they are installing shelters to keep you out of the weather. The streets are even paved with granite. It is located just outside the nice tourist town of Mount Airy where Andy Griffith grew up and based the TV town of ‘Mayberry.’”

Mayberry Campground earned 10 stars out of 10 on the review posted Oct. 28.

Benny East developed Mayberry Campground specifically for recreational-vehicle travelers attracted to northwest North Carolina and Surry County’s many attractions, including the Mayberry connection, but also the Yadkin Valley Viticultural Area’s vineyards and wineries, old-time and bluegrass music (country singer Donna Fargo also is a native), Pilot Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the sprawling N.C. Granite Corp. quarry and the home of The Original Siamese Twins, Eng and Chang Bunker (campground visitors can walk to the White Plains Church and see the Twins’ gravesite).

Fourteen RV sites already are open with full hookups. More are planned. The campground also has sites for tent campers. Rates are $25 per night for RVs and $15 for tenters.

Additional services and facilities are coming.

“We are very excited about our future plans,” East writes on the campground’s web site. “We are planning on building picnic shelters, playgrounds for the children, a horseshoe game area, volleyball, campfire pits. Our campground is going to be somewhere you can come camp with us and never leave the grounds; everything you need will be right here! We will have a general store with all the basic necessities, propane, firewood, etc. We also will be offering wireless internet and cable TV. We are also planning on building a swimming pool with a Jacuzzi. If you want to sit back and relax, then you need to come to Mayberry Campground to visit.”

To reach Mayberry Campground from the Interstate 74-U.S. 601 intersection, turn onto South McKinney Road, go approximately 1/8 mile and take the first left onto Rustic Village Trail.

The campground’s address is 114 Byron Bunker Lane (at Bunker Road), Mount Airy, NC 27030. Its telephone number is (336) 789-6199. E-mail: mayberrycamp@embarqmail.com.

The first result of this collaboration is a portal web site, BlueRidgeHeartland.com, commissioned by the North Carolina & Virginia Regional Tourism Board on behalf of the Northwest North Carolina/Southwest Virginia Regional Tourism Initiative. The initiative’s seven counties in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the city of Galax, are cooperating to promote regional tourism as a means of economic improvement for the counties and the region. Professional Networks Inc. of Galax created and maintains the web site.

The regional tourism initiative’s goals are:

1. To provide the region’s citizens with new and improved employment opportunities in the tourism industry and in the many businesses that provide goods and services to this sector of the economy.
2. To assist tourist-oriented businesses in advertising to national and international tourist markets.
3. To increase the tourism cash flows into the regional economy and the local economies.
4. To increase the tax revenues of the member local governments in order to lower the overall tax burden for the citizens of the member governments.
5. To build regional, national and international awareness of the natural beauty of the area and its opportunities for wholesome, family-oriented tourism.

The group soon will launch a marketing campaign to promote the region’s attractions including its scenic beauty, musical heritage and wineries.

“It’s a very homogenous region. There’s the same history, the same people and the same common geography,” said Dr. Jim Harrell Jr., chairman of the initiative. “The more you get into this, the more promise you see that it has. If we get this going and push the wine region, the music, outdoors, crafts, scenic beauty and laid-back relaxing lifestyle, we can get a whole lot of people to stay here for a week.”

Harrell, a Surry County commissioner from Elkin, leads a steering committee made up of representatives from Galax and the seven participating counties: Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin, Alleghany, Stokes, Grayson and Carroll. Each county contributed $7,500 to the effort.

The organization also will apply for a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant and for funds from other sources.

The regional tourism initiative’s members and tourism partners include:

Alleghany County, NC
http://www.alleghanycounty-nc.gov/ – Alleghany County Government
http://www.sparta-nc.com/ – Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce

Carroll County, VA
http://www.carrollcountyva.org/ – Carroll County Government
www.visitvirginiablueridgemountains.com – Carroll County and Historic Hillsville

City of Galax, VA
http://www.ingalax.net/ – Galax City Government
http://www.visitgalax.com/ – Tourism Department, City of Galax

Grayson County, VA
http://www.graysoncountyva.com/ – Grayson Area Information Network

Patrick County, VA
http://www.co.patrick.va.us/ – Patrick County Government
http://www.visitpatrickcounty.org/ – Tourism Department, Patrick County

Stokes County, NC
http://www.co.stokes.nc.us/ – Stokes County Government
http://www.visitstokesnc.com/ – Stokes County Economic Development

Surry County, NC
www.visitsurrync.com – Surry County, another a new portal site, with links to the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce; the Mount Airy Visitors Center’s site, VisitMayberry.com; the Elkin-based Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce; and a new site for the town of Elkin, ElkinNC.org.

Wilkes County, NC
http://www.wilkescounty.net/ – Wilkes County Government
http://www.wilkesnc.org/ – Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce

Yadkin County, NC
http://www.yadkincounty.gov/ – Yadkin County Government
http://www.yadkinchamber.org/ – Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce
http://www.yadkinvalley.org/ – Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce

Regional Partner
http://www.blueridgehost.com/ – Blue Ridge Host (A Tourism Host Organization)

The North Carolina & Virginia Regional Tourism Board has its offices in the Surry County Government Center, 118 Hamby Road, Suite 329, Dobson, NC 27017.

The long-sought recognition — work on the application began three years ago — may make tax credits available for renovation and restoration work. Being on the National Historic Register can enhance property values and stimulate tourism, too.

Elkin Main Street Manager Teresa Howell said the Gwyn Avenue district was one of the city’s first residential neighborhoods.

Gwyn Avenue resident Jeanna Snider told the Elkin Tribune that getting the area placed on the National Register helped generate a sense of a pride among home owners.

“It was really a way to clean up Gwyn Avenue in a sense,” Snider told the newspaper. “The town was worried about Gwyn Avenue’s future, and this was a way to do that and bring residents together.”

The town hired Laura Phillips to do the necessary research for the National Register. She studied 154 separate properties along Gwyn Avenue from North Bridge Street to East Market Street; on Spring Street west to the Church Street intersection; on Church Street from Market to North Bridge streets; and on North Bridge Street from Spring Street to just past Ridge Street.

Howell said being in a National Historic Register district means homeowners may qualify for a 30 percent tax credit on investments that protect their property’s historic value. She said homeowners must spend more than $25,000 on qualified renovations in a 24-month period and satisfy other legal requirements including preapproval of the renovation plans.

The Downtown Elkin Historic District, the former Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital building at 230 Hawthorne Road and the Richard Gwyn House at 350 W. Main St. already are listed on the National Register.

Nearly 20 buildings and districts throughout Surry County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“The Yadkin Valley is like a treasure hunt,” Kim Myers of Laurel Gray Vineyards told Southern Living writer Annette Thompson. “Each winery is as distinct as its owner’s tastes.”

Thompson’s article continues, “Fog settles over the sleepy river valley in early morning, creating a striking November scene. The last few clusters of bruised purple grapes cling to vines, a treat for the birds more than the winemakers. Sound like France or California? Think again. This is North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, home to some of the South’s finest vines and most creative winemakers….

“Some reside in plush châteaus with dozens of employees, while others are so small you meet the proprietors at the tastings. Welcoming first-timers and sophisticates alike, all the stops are hospitable.”

The featured wineries, along with some of their recommended wines, include Grassy Creek and Elkin Creek vineyards in Elkin and Shelton Vineyards in Dobson.

The Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003. The Yadkin Valley AVA in northwestern North Carolina encompasses an area of approximately 1.4 million acres. It includes all of Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties and parts of Davie, Davidson, Forsyth and Stokes counties.

The Mount Airy Tourism Development Authority’s board of directors commissioned a redesign of the popular World Wide Web site — it drew 110,000 unique visitors in August and September — to emphasize the area’s historical, musical and recreational attractions in addition to Mayberry-themed sites and events. The original web site put more emphasis on Mount Airy’s connection to “The Andy Griffith Show” (actor Andy Griffith grew up in the city).

The site uses Flash to cycle through various photos of Mount Airy attractions. Another page contains a quick guide to the “Top 10″ sites and destinations. One link lets people book hotel and motel rooms online and another provides a Trip Planner. Another feature lets visitors send personalized e-mail postcards to friends. The site’s calendar lists upcoming throughout Surry County. A directory of businesses includes places for dining.

The Tourism Development Authority spent $5,200 for the site redesign by Galax, Va.-based Professional Networks Inc. The authority receives its funding from a local hotel-motel occupancy tax. Jessica Icenhour is the director of tourism. Rich Kunkel is the TDA’s chairman.

To place events on the VisitMayberry.com web site, call or write Icenhour at the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Mount Airy, 202 N. Main, Mount Airy, NC 27030, (336) 786-6116 or 1 (800) 948-0949. Or e-mail tourism@visitmayberry.com.

There are myriad reasons for shorter vacations, according to NewsLink, the weekly e-mail newsletter from the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s tourism website, VisitNC.com. The bigger workloads that have accompanied productivity gains are making it harder for employees to get away for long stretches. Also, the large number of dual-income households mean it’s more difficult for couples to schedule time away together.

“Work habits are the driving force,” said Peter Yesawich, chairman of Ypartnership, a travel-research and marketing company. “When you ask people why they don’t take all the vacation time they are entitled to, or they take shorter vacations, they say they can’t get away from their jobs.”

The trend spans a generation. Spikes in fuel prices and the trauma that followed the 2001 terrorist attacks led to sudden downturns in travel and shorter trips. But the winnowing of the average vacation length has been more gradual and shows no sign of reversing.

Dr. Suzanne Cook, the Travel Industry Association senior vice president of research, said the trend toward shorter trips is glacial but significant. It has altered the way Americans think of time off, turning what was once a long weekend into the typical vacation. “It’s hard to even imagine how vacations can get much shorter than they are now and still resemble vacations,” she said.

Cook said destinations that want to continue drawing longer-staying, bigger-spending travelers should study their demographics. The working-age population isn’t likely to begin taking longer trips, she said, but retiring baby boomers with savings and free time are a good market to pursue.