North Carolina trip 2000 – fourth instalment featuring coffee

By on May 18, 2011 in Uncategorized

Thursday 8 June 2000 – 8.30 a.m. Clayton   Some notes

Left Raleigh today after two evenings with Jimmy Harkin and a lunch with Melvyn Little [ SP ].

Jimmy is Scottish, been over here nine years, busking on bagpipes on Franklin Street, Chapel Hill to attract attention to his petition for a moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina. He and Melvyn work in different branches of the Kroger Corporation, grocers and pharmacies, they’re both shop stewards in the Union. Jimmy says he’s been a member of 14 different left-wing organisations, including Sinn Fein. Melvyn’s parents are in their 50s. He limps and uses a stick, from a road accident some years ago. His parents live, retired teachers, in Puerto Rico, as his mother is Puerto Rican, his father is caucasian. Melvyn does not speak Spanish. He’s not been a SP member long.

Have been taking pictures in Clayton, it’s small like Alsager with a railway crossing (see view down the tracks to Raleigh) and a few shops.

This is the Coffee Mill where I had the first real nice cup of coffee of the trip.

Run by a very attractive woman in her 30s, it’s not been open long and is an extremely nice, small, coffee shop with a beautiful big brass coffee making machine, settee, papers, locals all calling in from 7.30 – 8.30 when I was there. She knows what they all have and serves it without them ordering. The Mule Farm Machinery Company is opposite the Coffee Mill and the big white typical house is just along Main Street on the Raleigh Road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couldn’t have left Raleigh and arrived at a better place or time. Clayton is waking up, auto-service power drills going, Brinks Security delivering money to bank.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder if there’s a B&B. Plenty of time to find out. Walking past a warehouse, fellers painting up ‘Clayton Kitchen and Bath’, Blur song drifting across to painting lot from their radio. Little library doesn’t open ’til 1.00 on Tuesdays. Hispanic shop selling posters, cowboy boots, Mexican stuff. There are two Mexican restaurants almost opposite each other. Could be a little settlement working out here.

Outside the Chamber of Commerce Bldg. facade (note Burglar Alarm) was joined by the local jewellry business owner who has lived here 50 years.

He told me a great deal about the history and local affairs of Clayton, including the new buildings, houses going up, the jeweller introduced me to Sally who works in the Chamber of Commerce and was proud to show me the old safe.

Her husband works for the CIA (!) protecting visitors from abroad so he travels a lot. She’s a Charlotte emigre who has settled here (3 golf courses attracting husband) and is secretary to the Chamber of Commerce after only living here 3 years, 9 in total. Good relations seem to be here between the old and the new. She introduced me to a banker who came in and they both laughed about the jeweller – ? – who “loves his buck” according to the banker! Sally gave me loads of leaflets and booklets on North Carolina. (Sitting back outside the Coffee Mill, in the shade).

It’s now 1030. Great conversations with these three people. Very hot in the sun but lots of shade and that good old North Carolina breeze is very cooling.

Better think about somewhere to stay. Jeweller directed me to motels area. Pittman or Evans, there’s two of those too! Is that what people do here – eat and bedeck themselves with glittering stones?

 

 

 

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