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Virginia’s Adventure Towns: Fries – Grayson County’s Hidden Gem on the New River, with Kevin Combs and Ricky Barton (Ep 81, Pt 2) · Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!

0:01
SPEAKER_02: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a Mecca for outdoor travel and adventure.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: Virginia Outdoor Adventures Podcast is your local guide for hiking, camping, kayaking, travel, and so much more.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: Right here in Virginia.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Jessica Bowser.
0:27
SPEAKER_02: When you think of Grayson County, you probably picture some of the most iconic outdoor destinations in Virginia, such as the sweeping vistas of Grayson Highlands or the summits of Mount Rogers or White Top.
0:40
SPEAKER_02: But just down the New River lies a place that's every bit as rich in beauty and history, the small riverside town of Freeze.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: Once a bustling textile mill town, Freeze is now a quiet haven for paddlers, cyclists, and hikers seeking a slower pace.
0:56
SPEAKER_02: You can launch your kayak right into the New River, pedal New River Trail State Park, or join a ranger led history tour that brings the town's past to life.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: In the evenings, the air fills with the sound of banjos and fiddles during weekly music jams that celebrate Frieze's deep roots in Appalachian culture.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: I'm joined by Kevin Combs, a Freeze native photographer, musician, and tourism manager who shares how the town is embracing its outdoor and cultural identity.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: We'll also hear from Ricky Barton, who created the New River Float Calculator, an interactive tool that helps paddlers plan their trips.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: Ricky shares his expert tips for exploring the New River from leisurely Class 1 floats with the family to adrenaline-packed Class III Rapids.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: Along the way, we'll discover hidden gems throughout Grayson County, plus local dining and unique lodging.
1:48
SPEAKER_02: Get ready to experience a place where music, history, and adventure meet on the banks of the New River.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: This is Freeze, one of Virginia's adventure towns.
1:59
SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: Before we dive back in, let's pick up where we left off in part one.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: We had just started to explore the New River through Grayson County, talking about river access points, how to plan your paddling trip, and what kind of experience you can expect on the water.
2:17
SPEAKER_02: We also heard how this region is embracing its identity as an outdoor recreation destination while still offering those moments of quiet connection where you can be still surrounded by beautiful landscapes and wildlife.
2:31
SPEAKER_02: In part two, we'll dive deeper into the details of planning your next paddling trip.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: You'll also hear recommendations for lodging and dining to round out your visit to Grayson County.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: You and I had a blast.
2:45
SPEAKER_02: That was a lot of fun.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, I cannot wait to post the photos and videos of the trip because what it looked like when we started and what it looked like when we ended were completely different.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: Like when we first got on the water, it was early in the morning.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: The sky was still overcast, but there was this mist or fog.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: I don't know how to just I guess it's fog, right?
3:07
SPEAKER_02: That was rising above the water or just sort of floating above the water.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: And it just gave it this like mysterious beauty that you don't see often in other places.
3:18
SPEAKER_02: I don't know how else to describe it, other than it was just sort of mystical.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's really fascinating.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: And what's what makes it even cooler when you can get there early in the morning like that is to see there's a lot of local guys that fly fish.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: You get these guys in this picturesque scene where this smoke is coming up off the water, and they're just in this really slow mathematical rotation of a flower.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, wow, like off a magazine cover or something.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome, it's beautiful.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
3:49
SPEAKER_02: And and of course, you've got the mountains that are surrounding you too.
3:52
SPEAKER_02: So it's not just the beauty of the water, it's the mountains, and then that smoke over the water.
3:58
SPEAKER_02: And as we paddled, I kind of felt like I was paddling through, I don't know, it was like I was in some surreal place.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: And then as the day went on, that started to clear up a little bit.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: The sun rose a little higher, the sky cleared up.
4:14
SPEAKER_02: And by the time we were maybe halfway through this trip, it was blue skies and everything was clear and it was really beautiful, but in a completely different way.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and that that speaks also to each each section of the river.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: The topography is like dramatically different.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Let's just say that you came uh to Grayson County and spent a week in there, and you want to pick three sections, and you're you're pretty good at the paddle, right?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: So you can come into um Bridal Creek and it's this huge rock face, you know, big cliffline topography.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: That's something that you and I didn't get to experience, you know, in our our flow through there.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: But if you get up toward the headwaters, the topography is just dramatically different.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: And so all the raptors are nesting, you know, up into the rock faces.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And when you kind of get into that wilderness section of the river, that's when it gets so wild, right?
5:04
SPEAKER_00: And you and there's opportunities along the way just to park your boat and sit on a big cool rock and watch watch it all happen, and it's just awesome.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: Are there sections for more experienced paddlers that you would recommend?
5:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like I said, if you go back to that the New River water trail app, you can see the rapids, there'll be these little white blocks on the map.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: So the bridle creek to independent section, you know, and there's nothing in there, guys, depending on CFM, which is like the flow of the water.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: From my perspective, if you're an experienced paddler, you're not going to be anywhere out of the class two range, just depending on the water flow.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: But um, it's a great time, and it's it's there's a lot of drop.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: So people that paddle know that um they're always looking for drop.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: So that section has a good bit of drop in it.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: It's really fast, but what also happens is the waters aerates itself, so fish love it, like it's high oxygen, right?
5:57
SPEAKER_00: So all these fish are in there, and it's a great place to fish.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: It's an adventure because you've got to get out of these rapids to stop long enough to fish, and it's just really, really fun.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: Let's drill down a little bit into the new river float calculator because we've been referencing it, but we haven't actually said what it is.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: Can you talk more about that?
6:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so this calculator was born kind of out of an idea from the the tourism folks in Grayson County.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: And Tracy kind of led the charge there.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Fantastic lady, great leader.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Called me up and said, Hey, we want to do something with this river.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: We want to have a river trail system.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: We know that you know the river, we know you've mapped the river.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Can you come and help us?
6:39
SPEAKER_00: So the whole idea was to say, okay, visitors that come to the community if you're visiting for a little while, you can bring up this app.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And the app will basically give you an idea of how much time it takes to get from point A to point B between the access points.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: We also saw an opportunity to create uh like an emergency response system within the within the app so that when you got out of the river, each destination was marked with like an emergency response destination number.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: So if you were unfamiliar with the place, you could call 911 by connecting to these towers that we put in.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: So we we put in these uh remote communication towers, RCTs, that in places where there was absolutely no service, you could step out of the river, connect your phone to the tower, and then not only use the app from your phone if you wanted to continue on your trip, but you could you could call out, you could call home, you could download your pictures, you could, you know, send cool stuff to people in areas where there was absolutely no service.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: So when the flood came, it completely removed almost all the access points.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: Like it washed them away.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: It washed the gravel away, it washed it was unbelievable the the amount of damage that happened there.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: So we are refitting these towers with Starlink so that there's no disconnect whatsoever.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: You walk up to the Starlink Tower, connect, and do your thing.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: In places where there's absolutely no service, now you have an opportunity that you can connect to service.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: You know, if there was an emergency situation, or you just wanted to send your pictures to your buddy from the river when you get out.
8:16
SPEAKER_02: Fall is here, and Virginia State Parks are calling your name.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: Experience the breathtaking beauty of autumn with vibrant foliage, crisp air, and endless outdoor activities.
8:28
SPEAKER_02: From hiking through golden forest to cozying up by a campfire, there's no better place to enjoy the season.
8:35
SPEAKER_02: Capture the magic of fall with family and friends in a stunning state park.
8:40
SPEAKER_02: From the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland Gap, adventure is never far away.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: Start planning your adventure by tapping on Virginia State Parks in your show notes or by visiting Virginia State Parks.gov.
8:58
SPEAKER_02: I just want to point out that you are the creator and the builder and the mastermind behind this, right?
9:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the towers and the mapping.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: So we did all the map files, the data.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: The problem is kind of unique.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: And I come from the the coal fields of Southwest Virginia.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: So there's no service over here either.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you when you head on down below Roanoke and you're heading, you know, west, prepare yourself just to be in these areas.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: And we don't mind it down here, but we do still need to communicate.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: And in in the coal and gas field industry, there's unique ways to get that communication signal out.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: So we're able to take some of those ideas and retrofit them for the river, which was really cool.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: So we have solar-powered standalone systems that are specifically designed uh to be ultra-user friendly.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's been a great benefit for folks.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And and the Department of Wildlife Resources like them, you know, because they have been using these boat launches historically.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, the DWR on all of these boat launches, and their rules and regulations associated with the boat launch, probably something you should check out.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: And I think there probably are some links to that, but they were really appreciative to have that type of hardware on their location so that folks could, you know, still communicate.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: And I've talked to a lot of folks that have used this and they're really excited about it.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: And they actually, even local folks, didn't know where some of these access points were until we built this map.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, I had no idea that you could get out of the river right here.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah, it's a great little float.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: So I get a lot of calls about I want to go to Grayson County, I have my family, or I want to go to Grayson County, I want to go fishing, or I want to go to Grayson County just to take pictures of kingfishers.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: Where can I find them?
10:40
SPEAKER_00: Right?
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, and photographers love this river.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Lots of people paddle just to shoot.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: As this thing evolves, and I think the New River Water Trail app will evolve to have opportunities for people to say, all right, this is where most of the rafters are.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, this is a living thing.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: As it gets more and more uh use, then we'll be able to add things to this app to say, Hey, you want to shoot some rafters?
11:02
SPEAKER_00: You jump in at Bridal Creek, you go about a half mile and stop.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's lots of great birds there.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's it's designed well, it's built well, and um, it was a great idea.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Just really appreciative of the county to be able to be involved in the project.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: And uh, I'm really proud of what it's become.
11:21
SPEAKER_02: You mentioned the floods, and I just wanted to make sure that everybody understands that what we're referencing is the floods that resulted from Hurricane Helene one year ago, and you did mention that the floods washed away some of the towers.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: So, what is the status of the towers now?
11:36
SPEAKER_00: The towers are being stood back up with a Starlink upgrade.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: To back up a little bit and talk about this, I've been on river systems all over North America my whole life.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: I've floated this Grayson County section no less than a hundred times.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I love this river.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: I know every rock in the river, but when this flood came, it just completely changed the landscape of the river.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: It was a different river.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Massive amounts of sand were moved from one place to another, huge amounts of water.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: And and maybe Kevin, you could speak to this.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: And I've heard this, that there were actually campers going over the dam and freeze.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: It had brushed the sides of the river and it completely uprooted concrete slabs, and and these towers were placed on really super heavy-duty, you know, foundations, and it looked like you just took a grinder and ground them off because of the amount of debris that was picked up by this storm.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Guys, it was unbelievable.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: And it's still, if you go to the headwaters, you go to Mount of Wilson and you start floating, you can still see that you know, there's still campers up in trees, and it is wild what happened.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: A couple of the towers survived, unbelievably.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh location to be able to survive, but but most of them were washed away.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: We're building everything back.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's been kind of slow because you know, there was there was such a need, you know, even like in towns of like Damascus and uh all these other places that were that were dramatically impacted um by the storm, it was kind of confusing for a while to try to pinpoint the locations that needed the most help.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: So I feel like we're there now.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you know, it's been a year.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And you hear a lot of people talk about, oh, they didn't move fast enough.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: You just don't understand the amount of devastation.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: How do you prepare for that?
13:31
SPEAKER_00: You know, so I think that from a river guy perspective, I just wait my turn and uh and it's now.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we're building all this back, and by the spring of next year, we should have everything back up and roll.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: That would be great because I know a lot of people, especially people who want to paddle, probably might wait until the spring to plan their trip.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: The Visit Grayson County website has a specific section about the new river float calculator.
13:59
SPEAKER_02: And and also there's a QR code that you can scan if you pick up one of the pamphlets about the new river flow calculator.
14:07
SPEAKER_02: There's still some good information there, um, even if the towers aren't all in place still, but this is a fantastic idea for a lot of reasons.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure you have seen this, Ricky.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: I have seen that people are sometimes very nervous about paddling by themselves.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: And it's because there's a lot of uncertainties.
14:25
SPEAKER_02: They don't know what the landscape of the river is going to be like.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: They don't know where to put in and take out, they don't know what the flow of the water is, and they don't know where to get that information.
14:34
SPEAKER_02: And so there's a lot of uncertainty when you're out there by yourself, and it can be a little nerve-wracking.
14:40
SPEAKER_02: So putting in place a system like this that is full of information can hopefully help a lot of people feel more comfortable about paddling on the new river.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and each tower was co-located with a really great sign.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: And you know, we spent a lot of time on that signage, and it was basically trying to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who had never floated.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And I have guys, you know, I own a kayak rental company, not on this river, but other rivers, and I have seen some crazy things happen, right?
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Like just get your keys.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: That you know, a little reminder at the bottom.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Hey, bring your keys with you, you know, or you have a dry bag, you know, just just a few little minor things.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And most importantly, you know, always in river safety.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Where are your wear your life jacket?
15:26
SPEAKER_00: Where is your life jacket?
15:27
SPEAKER_00: It's very, very important.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: This is the new you never knew.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: Right?
15:31
SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Come look at it, come visit it, give us a call, you know, we'll help you.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll go with you, you know.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: It's exciting, and I'm excited for this thing uh to roll on out.
15:44
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15:52
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16:02
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16:10
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16:16
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16:24
SPEAKER_02: Speaking of gear and where to rent, there's not a whole lot of locations for gear rental, but there's maybe one, right?
16:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when I when I go stay there, I stay at um New River Campground and Canoe, I think it's just outside of uh of Independence there.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: So those guys are have always been awesome.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: And I have snorkeled in front of that campground.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh snorkel that river.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole snorkeling thing that happens too, guys.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: That's we we I can spend all day talking about it.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of people snorkel that river for very specific reasons.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: They have cabins there, they have campsites there.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: I think you probably bring a camper there also.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: But I think there's another one also uh outside of freeze, Kevin.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
17:08
SPEAKER_01: That is correct.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: There's one below Freeze, about two miles outside of town, New River Outdoor Adventures.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: And they rent bicycles and river craft.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you can get boats at the place that I stay at.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: I of course, you know, I bring them on most of the time, but they have canoes, they have kayaks, yeah.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: There's and they're good people.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: New River Outdoor Adventures, which I think is about a mile outside of Freeze.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: Also good to note that they rent bikes too.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: So if you're looking for bike rentals for the New River Trail, that's an option.
17:38
SPEAKER_02: And I think they may do shuttles as well.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: Getting a shuttle is a game changer because it means you can ride so much more of the trail and not have to worry about, okay, I better turn around and head back now before I'm too tired.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: You know, so you get to see more of the trail.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: Those are great options.
17:54
SPEAKER_02: And then Ricky, do you have any other quick safety reminders or tips um for folks who are new to river paddling?
18:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so if it's just you and you come down, you brought your boat, of course, you'll need a shuttle back to your car.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't tell you how many miles I've hitchhiked back to an access point, you know.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: But there are companies uh like this newer campground and canoe that do shuttles for boats.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: So when you show up, you got your own boat, throw it in the water, give them an ETA with the calculator.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: You know, this is what time I think I'm gonna be landing here.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: If you guys can stop and pick me up, pay me back to my car.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of folks will uh come in two vehicles, which you know it's all right.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: But if you just want to have a solo trip, then always wear your your PFD.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: And and sometimes you want to bring an extra paddle, you know.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: If you're in rough water, people lose their paddles all the time.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, and use the resources that are available, guys.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: This is a great app um that we have here.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: It's got a lot of great information on it.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: And if you click into each uh one of these points on the app, you can actually get into the data sets.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, this is river left, river right, how you want to portage around these different things that are in the water.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: But also don't forget that the Department of Wildlife Resources out there, and they've got a great um little section dedicated to the Grayson County section in the river, also, and probably more descriptive on uh the wildlife of the of that of that area.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: So very, very good.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Use all the resources that you can, but come see us.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: Since Freeze is an adventure town, people are gonna want to know where to eat, where to stay, and to recharge.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: So let's share some travel tips.
19:32
SPEAKER_02: After a long ride or afloat on the river, everybody is looking for good food.
19:37
SPEAKER_02: And Freeze, I learned from experience, has some really good food options.
19:41
SPEAKER_02: Kevin, where do you recommend grabbing a bite in Freeze or nearby towns?
19:46
SPEAKER_01: So in Freeze, there are a couple of really good options.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: You have uh the Freeze Dam Steakhouse, which um has recently been sold to a uh Mexican chain called Tlaki Paki, but it retained the steakhouse character Freeze Dam Steakhouse slash Tlaki Paki Mexican restaurant.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: You go in, you get two menus, you get the steakhouse menu, and you get the Mexican menu.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful place to eat, and it's in a very nice location.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: You can look outside and see the town of Ferries, you can see the river.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: Another option is the Windy River Cafe, which is right next door to the Freestand Steakhouse.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's more home cooking style, uh, hamburgers, that type of thing.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: Outside of town, there are a couple of options.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: There's a deli at where the New River Outdoor Adventures is, and a place called Lilay.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a deli type place.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: In independence, there are several options.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: You have uh a Mexican restaurant, you have Angie's Sip and Taste, uh, there are several restaurants within Independence.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: And then on the western end of the county, you have, I think it's the Whistlestock Cafe, and then there's a restaurant at the corner of 58 and 16.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh, and you have the Grayson Hollands General Store and Inn, which is a wonderful place to eat, and they have some lodging opportunities there.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: The Railroad Market Cafe at White Top is a wonderful little place to eat as well.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: I think one thing to note is this these are small towns, and so like most small towns, a lot of these places have limited hours.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: So I went up to White Top once and I got there late.
21:30
SPEAKER_02: It was kind of late in the day.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to do sunset, and so Railroad Market Cafe was already closed, but I hear it's excellent.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: So if I go back, I'm gonna make sure that I get there.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: And then Grayson Highlands General Store and Inn, if you've ever been to Grayson Highlands State Park, you probably drove right past this.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: It's on 58, right?
21:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a unique and cute little place.
21:51
SPEAKER_02: It's been there for a long time, but it's got new owners.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: And so I popped in and I got to talk to the owners and and they cater a lot to Appalachian Trail through hikers.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: So they get a lot of hikers coming through the area, and then, of course, people to coming to and from the state park.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, but you could they've got rooms upstairs that you can stay in.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: It's it's very affordable, it's very economic.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: That's a fun place.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: In independence, there's also a lot of options.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: I hopped into Angie's cafe and pub, not once but twice, because I was so incredibly impressed with the place.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: Angie is the owner, and then she sat and talked with me for a while, and she's from Florida.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Like she's a professional chef, and her family was looking to relocate, and they were trying to just decide where they were gonna go because Florida was not her thing.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: And they ended up in Grayson County.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: They had no ties to the place, and they just decided that Grayson had everything that they wanted, and she opened up the cafe, and here's this incredible restaurant that serves high-quality food.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: She had so many vegetarian options on the menu, which is why I went back twice because that could be sometimes hard to find in a small town.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: And and the staff was welcoming and friendly, and I loved it.
23:09
SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot going on in independence.
23:11
SPEAKER_02: Almost Famous Coffee was another place I popped into that was really great.
23:15
SPEAKER_02: Right next door is frosty monkey ice cream.
23:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so if you're on a diet, stay out of that place because what they have going on there is dangerous.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: I can't remember the name of what I actually got.
23:30
SPEAKER_02: It was like a chunky monkey something or other, but it was like this huge Sunday and it's huge.
23:35
SPEAKER_02: It's so much ice cream, and it's the fudge and the brownies and the peanut butter and the cookies and the Reese's and all of the things and the whipped cream and the cherry on top.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: But oh, that place was so good.
23:47
SPEAKER_02: And I'm addicted, so I will be going back without a doubt.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: But there's a lot of food options, and all of those are on the Grayson County website.
23:56
SPEAKER_02: So I'll link all of this in the show notes so people can have easy access to all the food options in the county, too.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: So let's talk about places to stay.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: I think again, Grayson has some really unique options that you won't find elsewhere.
24:11
SPEAKER_02: Kevin, can you talk about some of them?
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's start with Freeze.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Freeze is a, as I said before, a former mill town.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: So there are several renovated mill houses here that are just charming.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: Some of them have views of the river.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful places to stay.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: You can find those on our website, freezeba.com.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: Also on Airbnb, a lot of them.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: You also have the Washington Inn, which is a hotel type situation.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: There's also a condo here in town.
24:42
SPEAKER_01: It's a more contemporary looking uh facility, and it rents to larger groups of people.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: Also, you have the Freeze New River Trail RV Park, which, if you have an RV, wonderful place to stay.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: Very well kept campground, and it's just beautiful within the town freeze.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: Go out into Grayson County.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: You have Riverview Cottage in Independence, uh, Dream Rock Silo, which is near independence, and it's just an amazing place.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: It's out it's very remote as far as uh where you feel you are.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty close to independence, but it's just a beautiful little spot.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: And as I mentioned, Grayson Highlands General Store, they not only have a store, but they have some lodging facilities.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: Plenty of lodging opportunities within the county.
25:31
SPEAKER_02: Yes, plenty.
25:32
SPEAKER_02: I got to stay at Riverview Cottage in Independence, and that's a very nice house that is literally right on the river.
25:38
SPEAKER_02: And this is what I love about when I get to go to small towns.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: The owners of the house also live very close by.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: So I got to meet the owner, and she explained to me that she grew up in the house that I was staying in.
25:51
SPEAKER_02: And then they later built a house next door for their family, and her son and daughter-in-law built a house on the other side.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: So the family's all very close by, but they had this house left over that nobody was living in.
26:05
SPEAKER_02: And so now they rented on Airbnb.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: So when you stay there, you're staying in somebody's home.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a full-size house, it's got a huge garage, and then in the garage, they've got bikes that you can use, they've got tubes that you can take down to the river, there's a grill, there's a second refrigerator, there's lawn games, like all that kind of stuff.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: Of course, you've got a full kitchen, you've got nice bedrooms, nice bathroom, there's games to play.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: So if you've got a rainy day, there's a there's a covered porch.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: There was a chicken coop right outside my window.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: So that was kind of fun.
26:39
SPEAKER_02: And you've got views, you've got views of the river.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: So every morning I would make coffee and then I would go sit in a rocking chair on on the front porch and listen to the birds and watch the water go by and and look at the mountains.
26:53
SPEAKER_02: And and same thing in the evening.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: I would sit out there with the drink and watch the sunset and and look at how beautiful the mountains were with the setting sun.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: So that was really nice.
27:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I've been told that Dream Rock Silo is an old like farm or a barn, and they actually converted the silo into like living quarters.
27:15
SPEAKER_02: Is that right?
27:16
SPEAKER_01: That is right.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh it is this built around the silo and a barn, and the owners are in construction.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: They have handcrafted so many little features into the uh building that it's just wonderful.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: A wonderful place to stay.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: Little surprises that are available to guests.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: It's a great place for someone to come propose to their significant other, and the owner works with the the proposer as far as setting up a situation where maybe a puzzle that has to be solved or uh a scavenger hunt.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: So they're they're very uh very open to that type of thing.
27:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it looks amazing online.
27:59
SPEAKER_02: I think that I was actually supposed to stay there, but it wasn't available during the time that I was going to be there.
28:05
SPEAKER_02: But I was lucky to be at Riverview Cottage.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but this this whole idea of staying in a barn silo, it was really, really intriguing.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: So if anybody ends up staying there, I'd love to hear what their experience is like.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: And I I might also add that, you know, for people like me that carry your house on your back sometimes, there's a lot of support infrastructure for that in Grayson County.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: You know, you just want to come and bring your tent.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of opportunities to set up camp.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's it's like so welcoming to the to the hiking group and to the adventure, you know, generally.
28:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would absolutely agree with that.
28:42
SPEAKER_02: Do either of you have a favorite season to get outdoors and freeze or grayson?
28:46
SPEAKER_02: Like, when do you think is the best time to visit?
28:49
SPEAKER_01: I I would hate to choose because summer is just wonderful because it's cooler up here.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: The air is just more refreshing than it is in other parts of the world.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh, winter is wonderful.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: It's a kind of a winter wonderland at times.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Fall you have the beauty of the leaves turning, and then the spring you have the beauty of the new growth coming out.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: It's almost like fall in that the trees exhibit different colored leaves as they're coming out.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: It's really more when it's available to you to come, I think, than when is the best time to come.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: From a river user's perspective, usually you're kind of directed by the water level, right?
29:33
SPEAKER_00: You can't some some places fall a year, they lose all their water.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: So you don't get a great opportunity to float.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: But when you get on the new in fall and the leaves are on the water and it's like you're cruising down this big beautiful carpet, right?
29:47
SPEAKER_00: With all these man, it's something.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: I've never I've never been down that section of the new river in the middle of winter 'cause I'm way too Hawaiian to be out there whenever it's cold like that.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: But But man, right now and like the next three weeks, and then like you said, in early spring, I love spring, summer, and fall.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, because you can get down the river in so many places that that I've experienced in my life, you know, you can't because of the the river levels.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, love fall.
30:18
SPEAKER_02: Kevin, for someone who's never been to Freeze, what do you hope they take away from their first visits?
30:23
SPEAKER_01: I would like for people to take away the importance of Freeze to early country music and even modern music.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: Understand how what has happened here over the years has influenced country music, rock, blues.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: I think all forms of m music were influenced by the actions of folks in those early years in the 1920s when they uh took those steps to bring attention to the music here in Freeze.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: And in southwestern Virginia as a whole.
30:59
SPEAKER_02: Ricky, since you float the New River so much, what's your takeaway?
31:04
SPEAKER_00: From my perspective, paddling into this this beautiful wild place, and because I've done it so much, you would think that after the the 64th trip down the river, that I still wouldn't get this feeling of man, there's there's a great adventure in front of me.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's this great adventure in front of me.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: I know it.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm gonna see something beautiful.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm gonna experience something beautiful that never goes away here.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: The takeaway is that when you come and you experience this place, when you come the second time, you'll never put your feet in the same river twice.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be something different every single time.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: It's the same feeling for me, and take it.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: For me, I've like I said, I've floated over a hundred times.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: No matter where I put in in this system, it's like, all right, let's go, let's lock it in.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: This is gonna be a great adventure.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: I know it.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: So it's like awesomeness on repeat, you know?
31:56
SPEAKER_02: Okay, how can listeners connect with each of you?
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Kevin, let's start with you.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm tourism director of the town freeze, so um they can connect with me through the town's website, which I mentioned freezeva.com.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: That's f-e-s V A.com.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm also on Facebook uh as uh have a personal profile page and a page for my photography, which is Kevin Kevin Combs Visual Storyteller.
32:25
SPEAKER_02: I didn't know you had a Facebook page for your photography.
32:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm following that right now.
32:31
SPEAKER_02: Your photos are fantastic.
32:33
SPEAKER_01: And thank you.
32:35
SPEAKER_02: Actually, Kevin, was it your photos that were flashing on the screen during the jam session?
32:40
SPEAKER_01: They are.
32:41
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, I loved that.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: Well, I I do video presentations for the first uh hour or so that were open during jam night um from about five till six.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: And then when there are too many people in the room to really hear what's going on, I start doing my steel photography.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: I have a over 2,000 images that flash on the screen during um the three hours or so of the jam session, and they show all aspects of life and freeze, uh, the new river, and even southwestern Virginia.
33:18
SPEAKER_02: And you have not just images of nature, but you have images of buildings, of people, of events happening, of wildlife.
33:27
SPEAKER_02: And when you pair that with the music, it's really moving.
33:31
SPEAKER_02: It really makes you feel like you're experiencing a place.
33:34
SPEAKER_02: It's beautiful.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: So I hope that everybody who visits Freeze gets to experience that too.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: We invite you there.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: Ricky, how can listeners connect with you?
33:43
SPEAKER_00: Go to our website, it's oactrips.com.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's links there for connection.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm a little hard to track down sometimes.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: I'll spend uh a lot of time on the road.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: I work in the carbon credit space with biochar and things like that, also.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: So uh this is for me, this is passion work and uh would love to share it with anybody that I connect with.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: And and thank you so much for having me on here.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: You are so very welcome.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: Thank you to both of you for sharing your passions for the town of Freeze, for Grayson County, for the new river, and our beautiful outdoors in Southwest Virginia.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: I hope to see you, both of you, in the town of Freeze and on the river in the future.
34:23
SPEAKER_02: Adventure on.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Adventure on.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: Adventure on.
34:28
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34:44
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35:08
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35:09
SPEAKER_02: Until next time, Adventure On.