Mayor's Place = Great decision.

Day 78 - 7/3/10
Started hiking at 8, and within a 1/2 mile I had to take off my shoes
and switch to my crocs because the shoes were hurting my ankles so
badly. I ended up alternating between the two the rest of the day,
trying to see if the pain was something I could get used to. It
doesn't look that way, so I might need to get my boots back. We'll see.

I didn't stop until 7.2 miles into my hike when I made it to High
Point shelter. I ate lunch, more flatbreads with PB & Nutella, and a
Twix or two. I got comfy in the shelter, and ended up laying down to
enjoy a chapter of The Hobbit, so all in all I had about an hour break
there. The trail really flattened out after that, and I even went
through some farmlands that were reminiscent of Pennsylvania and
Virginia. It would have been some really nice hiking, but wouldn't you
know it poison ivy decided to start showing up everywhere. It's very
mentally straining trying to dodge and avoid every leaf and vine that
hangs down. So that made the next 7+ miles a bit harder then I'd have
liked.

I made it to Lott Rd. around 3:15 and walked into Unionville where the
Mayor's place is. Except now it's called "The Outhouse". As I was
trying to get my bearings in town I saw Legends of the Fall walking
down the street, so I stopped and talked to him. He gave me the
lowdown of the town and the Mayor's, then headed up that way. I said
goodbye then went to general store to get some money from the ATM so I
could stay there. It's only 10 bucks, but I had no money on me. When I
was in there I got a soda, and also talked to the lady working there.
In my book it said you could camp out at the park in town, but she
made it very clear that hikers could not, and would be arrested if
they did. I didn't even ask about it, she was the one who brought it
up, which I guess was good to know, but sort of strange too. Almost
hostile.

After I got some cash I walked up to the Mayor's, and the first guy I
met was Butch. Dick "The Mayor" Ludwick wasn't actually home at the
time, so Butch gave me the lowdown on the place. Here you get laundry,
2 meals (dinner & breakfast), a shower, 1 free beer (each one is 50
cents after that), all the free soda you could want, and all for only
10 dollars. Crazy good deal. I dropped my stuff off in the basement
bunkroom, then took my clothes upstairs for laundry. They threw that
in for me, then I went for a shower. Since I had taken off my hiking
clothes to be washed I had nothing to wear, but they have bathrobes
you can use, so I put one of them on and walked outside to join
everyone else. I felt funny being the only one in a bathrobe, but this
place makes you feel you're instantly at home, so it was all good.

Outside is where I met Bill, an 80+ year old man who cooks and helps
run the place. It's tough to describe this guy. He's hilarious,
vulgar, generous, amusing, and so much more. He does this thing too
where if you say a 4 or more syllable word you have to pay him a
quarter. He tried to get me to slip up for the longest time, asking me
all sorts of crazy questions, but he didn't get me...yet. There were
also a few section hikers here, a mom/daughter team just out to do 50
miles or so. They are starting tomorrow, and decided to stay here
because the daughter actually hiked some of the trail in '08, and
wanted to go back through the Mayor's place again because she liked it
so much. Her trail name is Hotpants, and so her mom is Momma Hotpants.

I had a really nice time hanging outside with everyone, and eventually
switched to some real clothes when my laundry was finished. The Mayor
showed up a little later, and with him was his fiancé. They were both
really nice and welcoming, wanting us to feel like this was our home.
Soon after they showed up Bill had dinner ready, which was a great big
meal of chili, rice, corn, coldslaw, and watermelon. Really good food.
After that the Mayor left, but not before telling us about a video we
had to watch. Butch put it in for us after he had gone, and it was
just a litle something to keep us going, to motivate us along the way.
Really nice gesture and meaning behind the whole thing.

When that finished up all us hikers, Pony, Legends, Hotpants & Momma,
and I sat outside and talked about trail stuff for a solid hour and a
half, right up until 10. Now I'm trying to rush this so I can get to
bed. I didn't nearly do justice to how amazing the Mayor's place is,
but to be honest it's just something you need to see and experience to
understand. I'll end with this, which is something all the guys here
said to us. "We think you're all stupid for doing this. But we admire
you even more."

Total miles: 1335.9