HELENE ANNIVERSARY
A year ago Helene swept through the mountain valleys of Western North Carolina and flooded the center of Swannanoa, put the River Arts District of Asheville under water and washed away the upper part of Marshall and flooded the first floor of every restaurant and store on the Main Street of Marshall. Today was the celebration of Marshall’s resurgence. There are still many empty boarded up buildings in Marshall, but many of the buildings crucial to the life of the village have been rebuilt and most of these are now more attractive than they were before.
Star Taco. Where there was the Main Street Cafe there is now Star Taco. The Star Diner across the street with the green and yellow antique car parked in front was washed out by the flood as was the Main Street Cafe. The Main Street Cafe was the old traditional Marshall, the Star Taco the new upscale Marshall aimed as much at tourists as at locals as are all of the new stores and restaurants opening up on Main Street.
Star Tacos had a soft opening on Saturday, offering two free tacos to everyone who would stop by. After my two free tacos I walked down to the Presbyterian church where I had a free pork barbecue with Cole slaw and sauce on a bun.
Penland’s General Store. Penland’s was where people shopped for practical clothing and vegetables in the old days when Marshall was a shopping hub for Madison County. Penland’s was completely washed out by the flood with all the wares encased in mud and the walls and floor needing to be replaced.
But here it was again, not the old Penland’s but a new Penland’s still with a great selection of Carhart working man’s clothes and vegetables but also a selection of books and women’s clothing and pottery, aimed at both traditional folks and the new tourists, who after a year, are coming back to town.
There is an ice cream shop with delicious and weird flavors, a comic book store, Chadd’s tattoo shop, a vinyl record store. Asheville is hopping.
Then there are brand new shops replacing the old. The most attractive to me is the Honey Hole, about ten booths by various venders with all kinds of antiques, the store in which which I found my red acrylic chair.
And there was music. A raucous, deafening rock band with three young musicians in Zumas and music at Zadie’s.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 