Tryon, North Carolina: "The friendliest town in the South"

Editor's Note: Hello, Apopka. It's been a while. How have you been? You may be wondering why you haven't seen Denise and me around Apopka recently. As some of you know, we are in the middle of an adventure of a lifetime - experiencing different areas of the country for 12 straight months.

Yes, we packed our Hyundai Santa Fe to the gills and hit the road from Florida to destinations across America like Tryon, NC; BelAir, MD; Harrison and Friendship, ME; Sagamore Beach, MA; Ellicottville, NY; Copemish, MI; Chicago, Ill; Columbus, OH; St. Louis, Osage Beach, MO, Hot Springs, AR; Austin, TX; Dixon, NM, SanDiego, Monterey, and Napa, CA.

All in less than a year.

This is the fourth installment of Postcards. In the first three, we talked about the trip and pillars of a good community. Now, we drill down to specific cities, towns, and communities that really caught our eye. Our very first stay was in Tryon, NC. We hope you enjoy Postcards. Feel free to reach out to us through email or in the comments section on the news site or on our social media pages.

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The first leg of our Postcards from America journey was to Tryon, North Carolina. It's a small community nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Asheville, North Carolina.

Coincidentally, we were there while PBS/North Carolina was doing a feature on the town. Alan Peoples, the Mayor of Tryon, told PBS something we could confirm through firsthand accounts, and as second-time tourists to the area.

"In Tryon, you can do what you want to within reason," Peoples said while sitting inside a multi-colored 1969 VW van. "You can be who you want to. We're the friendliest town in the South."

Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples: "In Tryon, you can do what you want to within reason. You can be who you want to. We're the friendliest town in the South."

Here are a few examples that illustrate Peoples' claims.

During our first weekend in Tryon, we experienced car trouble and had to tow our vehicle to Professional Auto Services in nearby Columbus. Upon arrival, the receptionist checked me in. I noticed a Bojangles cup on her desk and told her how much I love their biscuits - and how rare they are in Florida. Without a second thought, she handed me the keys to her car and said I could drive over there.

"It's only about a mile away," she said.

Floored by her trust and generosity, I declined but thanked her.

My Hyundai Santa Fe had what I believed was a computer-related issue that activated the alarm and wouldn't allow the car to start. It also left the rear brake light on even after the vehicle was off.

I assumed it would be about a million dollars to fix.

But after about an hour, the mechanic working on my vehicle entered the waiting room and looked at the floor as he approached me like a doctor with bad news for a family. I shuddered, trying to mentally recalculate our travel budget before he gave me the amount.

"One of the sensors on your car broke," he said, showing me a tiny round object about half the size of a penny. "Even though it's a small piece of plastic, it took a long time to get to... so I apologize, but we will have to charge you for the time."

The cost? $113... slightly under my million-dollar estimate. But Bob felt obliged to apologize for any charge because of the part's size.

I smiled, paid my bill, and headed straight to Bojangles!

The first hole at Tryon CC. A meandering (and menacing) creek runs across the fairway and cannot be seen from the tee.

Later in our stay, we visited Tryon Country Club. It's a charming nine-hole layout designed by renowned golf architect Donald Ross in 1916.

And like its region, it's a hilly, beautiful piece of land situated in a valley that Ross masterfully carved a golf course into. There is a meandering (and sometimes menacing) creek that finds its way onto four of the nine holes. On the first hole it runs across the entirety of the fairway, but cannot be seen from the tee. I've played a lot of Donald Ross courses across the southeast, and although the technology of golf equipment has made many of them shorter than they were intended to be played, their character and beauty remain unchanged like a classic Model-T or a '69 Mustang.

Iconic cool.

We visited Tryon CC only to learn it was a private club with no daily green fees. I've been a golfer since I was 12. I know that private clubs tend to be "private" in dealing with public golfers, so I didn't push the pro beyond his first response. But while I was striking out, Denise struck up a conversation with Moose Penfold, also with us in the pro shop, who turned out to be the Chairman of the Board at the club.

"Why don't you set them up as guests this month under my membership?" Penfold said to the pro - after knowing us for all of five minutes. So for the rest of our stay, we played and practiced as guests, paying modest rates for the golf course and driving range.

We were again stunned at the hospitality and utter kindness of the Tryon residents.

The Town of Tryon operates under a Manager/Council form of government with an appointed Town Manager, who is in charge of the day-to-day operations. The Town Council consists of a Mayor and four council Members who serve as the policymaking body for town government. And even though Tryon only has a small population of approximately 1,600, it offers a wide range of amenities, like a fire and police department, garbage pickup, and parks and recreation.

The Tryon Daily Bulletin has been the voice of this community for almost 100 years. Known as "The World's Smallest Daily Newspaper," the Bulletin was established in 1928 by founder Seth Vining Sr., who quickly took on the title "Curb Reporter" for his wanderings in search of the "triumphs and daily doings" of the ordinary people. Vining was an editor, salesman, and printer, so the townspeople took up writing the stories.

Both in print and online, The Tryon Daily Bulletin is a community gem and one of the best small-town publications we have encountered since we began our journey.

Downtown Tryon.

The Bulletin's offices sit in the center of a flourishing downtown far beyond most towns its size. Although it's only a couple blocks long, it includes charming shops, restaurants, bars, theatres, arts, entertainment, a good helping of historic buildings, and a history museum.

It's also nationally recognized.

As a Main Street America Accredited Program, Tryon is considered a leading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities that share a commitment to creating high-quality places and building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. All Main Street America Accredited programs meet a set of National Accreditation Standards of Performance outlined by Main Street America.

But not one to rest on its laurels, Tryon is already set to improve its downtown area.

Tryon is currently undergoing a downtown revitalization program focusing on economic vitality, excellent urban design, and historic preservation.

Like most of North Carolina, the area which Tryon now occupies has its roots in ancient Cherokee lands, originally part of the Cherokee hunting grounds of Western North Carolina. Archaeological evidence dates indigenous peoples' occupation of the site to the end of the last ice age, more than 11,000 years ago. Successive cultures occupied the river valleys. Semi-permanent villages appeared in the area by about 8,000 BC.
They later developed towns with a democratic political structure, developing religion, domesticated crops, pottery, and skilled, powerful archery. The culture developed, cultivated vegetables, and hunted and fished. Each historic Cherokee village had a peace chief, war chief, and priest.

In the 1800s, Tryon became a "railroad town" by constructing the rail line between Spartanburg and Asheville.

In the early 1900s, numerous authors, artists, and jet setters began selecting Tryon as their getaway and, in some cases, as their home. Some of Tryon's more famous "residents" included author F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, actor William Gillette of Sherlock Holmes Thespian fame, Grace Coolidge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge, and Kenneth Lackey, one of the original Three Stooges.

Nina Simone. The High Priestess of Soul and a Tryon native.

It was also the home of Nina Simone, "The High Priestess of Soul."

Simone was a singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Primarily known as a jazz singer, her music blended gospel, blues, folk, pop, and classical styles. No famous singer was more closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement than Simone.

Simone was born in Tryon and began her musical career there.

Tryon is a town that utilizes all of its attributes - small village charm, a flourishing downtown, rich history, arts, entertainment, great dining options  and a stunning natural environment. It's a great place to live, or to visit. Our little cabin in the woods was the perfect beginning to our journey.