Ms. Miles home away from home. 
Moose and Jackalope. 
Unexpected.
What do a mounted moose head, extensive arrowhead collection, cigar box guitar, and antique croquet mallets have in common? Nothing, except for one place in the universe. Maybe one place in the entire multiverse. A place where you could find all those things and get a ham sandwich.
I read about a place that advertised celebrity ham friers every Friday night. That was enough to get me to plan a visit to Fulks Run Grocery. I traveled to Fulks Run, Virginia, and met Ron and Peggie Turner. There was more there than I expected.
It took me a few minutes to get oriented when I first walked into the store. A few people were there browsing. They were shopping for Polish pottery, local history books, and ham broth for soup making. I looked at a white and light blue Polish pottery honey pot. I would never in my life use a honey pot myself, but it was so beautiful I got it to give as a gift. As I walked through the store, I got stuck, mesmerized by the history covering every wall in the place. I enjoyed reading what was put up there, piecing together a story.
The first chapter in the story was about someone (most likely a kid) collecting arrowheads. There was an advertisement for the Turner Ham House with pictures of Turner family moments. I saw antique croquet mallets that I believed went with a regulation croquet field behind the store. Did I mention there was a regulation croquet field behind the store? I had no explanation for the gigantic mounted moose head and a small jackalope right above the bottled drinks. I didn’t want to guess that story; I wanted to hear the legend from someone who witnessed the moose first showing up there.
I wanted to hear the story from someone who had told it a few times. A good story gets better with each telling. When I first visited Ron and Peggie, they were busy running a business. My plan now is to go back and talk with them about the store’s connections to family history and its place in the community. It would be nice to sit for a few minutes and talk about the first bottle of Dr. Pepper the store sold in the ’50s or the finer points of cigar box, electric guitar making. If you would like, visit the website for Fulks Run Grocery. What would you ask them?