Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Bates Pondside: You’ll Check In, But Never Check Out by PITT DICKEY What is the best thing to do when it’s 95 degrees in Fayetteville? Go upstairs, set the air conditioner on stun and sob quietly until the fi rst week of November when it fi nally cools off? Nope, that’s for sissies. Our Kiwanis group hopped on Amtrak and headed to sunny Charleston, S.C.: The land of shrimp and grits. The land of batchelorettes frolicking in roof-top pools. Charleston has it all. It’s an easy three-hour train ride to Charleston. Amtrak stars a bar car providing adult beverages and pretzels. Trains are far superior to airplanes. No cranky TSA workers personally groping or irradiating the passengers. You keep your shoes on. The seats are comfortable and suitable to the human body. Unlike an airplane, two people can actually pass each other in the train’s aisle without exchanging bodily fl uids. We stayed in downtown Charleston at a quaint little bed and breakfast converted from a motel. I highly recommend the Bates Pondside Inn on Meeting Street. The proprietor is a delightful chap named Norman Bates. Norman, as he insisted we call him, is extremely knowledgeable on local attractions. He is so kind he wouldn’t hurt a fl y. Norman is an exceptionally devoted son. He spoke frequently and lovingly about his mother, Mrs. Norma Bates. Unfortunately, we never actually got to meet Mrs. Bates. From what Norman told us, she is a lovely woman and a genteel daughter of the South. In addition to being a congenial host, Norman is also an accomplished taxidermist. He is deservedly proud of his fascinating collection of stuffed dead animals. Norman gave us excellent personal attention. We were the only guests staying at Bates Pondside Inn except for one lady who we never saw during our entire stay. We saw her name on the guest register when we checked in, a Ms. Marion Crane. Ms. Crane came down to do some banking business and spent very little time at the motel. Curiously, Ms. Crane parked her car in the nearby pond in water that came up to the roof. Parking in the pond allowed Ms. Crane to stroll through the elegance of Charleston without the hassle of street parking. Norman explained that Ms. Crane was from Boston and followed a New England tradition of leaving her car in a pond to keep the engine lubricated. Those madcap Yankees, what will they think of next? Our room was a timeless triumph of understated Victorian serenity. The Bates Pondside Inn was built before air conditioning. It has a unique ventilation system consisting of holes drilled into the walls concealed behind paintings. These hidden holes allow a cooling cross circulation of the breeze from the Cooper River. The design of the ventilation system is so subtle we didn’t know the holes were there until we spotted light coming from behind a picture in the bathroom on our second night. We pulled the picture aside to see the source of the light. Much to our delight, we saw Norman’s eye peering back from the adjoining room. He explained that he was setting up an arrangement of gardenias next door so that the sweet aroma of summer fl owers would drift into our room through the ventilation holes. That’s the kind of personal service you just don’t get anymore. What a thoughtful host! The only minor problem that we encountered during our stay at the Bates Pondside was quickly resolved. Our bathroom did not have a shower curtain and the shower’s drain was clotted. A quick call to Norman and he fi xed the shower in a jiffy. He explained the previous guest had very long hair which had blocked the drain. He was so concerned we enjoy our stay that he even brought over some very expensive scented bath soaps to encourage us to shower frequently to enter the magical world that is the Bates Pondside Inn. In a world troubled by Congressman Anthony Weiner’s underwear tweets from the darkside; John Edwards’ indictment for payments to his baby momma; and Sarah Palin’s revision of Paul Revere’s ride, it is gratifying to know that the unique hospitality of the Bates Pondside Inn offers a respite from our harried work-a-day world. The mission statement of the Bates Pondside Inn says it all, “Check into the Bates, and you’ll never check out.” PITT DICKEY, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomingweekly.com Take a Walk on the Wild Side at Better Health’s Outdoor Adventure Auction by STEPHANIE CRIDER There is no shortage of generosity in this town when it comes to supporting the many nonprofi ts that serve the area. Individuals and businesses alike step up to offer cash, donate auction items and volunteer man-hours on a regular basis. To their credit, the nonprofi ts are creative, energetic and enthusiastic in their endeavors, making sure that each event is enjoyable and entertaining — a unique experience for their supporters. Better Health is certainly no exception. On Thursday, June 23, join Better Health at Campbellton Landing for an Outdoor Adventure Auction. “The concept was developed by one of our board members at the time, Bill McFayden,” said Better Health Executive Director Judy Klinck. “He is an avid outdoorsman and this is something that had not been done in the area before by a small nonprofi t. It sort of caught on, and we wanted it to be something that the whole family could enjoy.” which happens to be the North Carolina state fi sh,” said Klinck. “We also have such things as teeth whitening and items from local gift shops. Then we have a trip to a Blowing Rock mountain cabin that has been donated. I happen to have stayed at this cabin before and it is very nice. That would be a lovely thing for someone to bid on. We hope to have a beach house as well.” The bluegrass band The Foggy Creek Boys are going to perform. They are a volunteer group that sings bluegrass and gospel and they perform exclusively for churches and charity events like this. “They perform at no charge, and this is the only kind of work they do,” said Klinck. “They are very professional and they have been performing for more than eight years so they have a nice repertoire. It is really very good of them to give this gift to the community.” A turkey hunt in St. George, S.C., is only one of the many items up for auction by Better Health at the Outdoor Adventure Auction on June 23 at Campbellton Landing. Now in its third year, this bi-annual event offers some impressive auction items as well as a fun-fi lled evening featuring music, food and children’s activities. Although a lot of the auction items are in the hunting and fi shing and outdoor category, as the theme suggests, Klinck promises something for everyone. Some of the auction items and events are here in Cumberland County, but others are not, like the deer hunt in Darlington, S.C. “We have a turkey hunt in St. George, S.C., we have two fi shing trips — one is at Baldhead Island and one is in Morehead City for the giant red drum, 8 UCW JUNE 15-21, 2011 The event runs from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. No need to purchase tickets in advance. Adults are $10 at the door and children of all ages are free. There will be food and beverages available, a 50/50 raffl e and a clown to entertain the younger attendees. Tickets for the raffl e can be purchased in advance and you don’t have to be present to win. All proceeds benefi t Better Health. Visit the website at www. betterhealthcc.org or call them at 483-7534 to fi nd out more. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Associate Editor. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 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