On Saturday, I returned to two nearby towns for different reasons. In Holly Springs, I wanted to check on the progress of the Town Commons development construction in the downtown district. Plus, the town had its weekly farmers market. And Apex had an intriguing collection of shops in its historic downtown, so I swung by that town after finishing in Holly Springs.
The Rusty Bucket (the outside of which is featured in the lead-off photo) was one of the stops in
Apex, and across the street, at the Salem Street Pub, I lunched for the first time, electing to try its "My Wife Said It Would Never Sell" burger (first photo below) -- cheddar cheese, bacon, peanut butter and honey on top of a ground beef patty. It was tasty -- although I wasn't thrilled with the sticky fingers it left me with at the end of the meal.
The mural you see in the second photo below is on a back wall of the eatery.
As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog on a mobile device. Full galleries of my visits Saturday to
Holly Springs Farmers Market and
Apex can be found via the links provided in this sentence.
Photo geek stuff: Most of the images in this post were taken with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens equipped with a polarizing filter. A few interior shots in Apex were taken with the camera in my iPhone X. For all compositions taken with the 6D, I bracketed three exposures to allow for melding later in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. The composition leading off the post was taken with a low shutter speed to convey motion because the brightly colored balloons were spinning quickly from the effects of a slight breeze.
On a corner of an intersection in Apex's downtown merchants' district, the town has made a sort of garden out of its free-book rental service (above). The photo below is a closeup of the J.C. Knowles "ambassador" sign you see in the background of the full perspective shot above. J.C. Knowles is a publisher, writer and retired auctioneer who is designated as the town's official ambassador.
Above: This outdoor display along Salem Street wasn't there when I first visited the merchants' district several months ago.
Above and below: These novelties were on The Rusty Bucket's shelves on my visit Saturday. The sauce above piqued my interest (I didn't buy any though), and I had some fun with the picture of the bottle below. If you're familiar with the "toejam football" phrase from the gobbledygook lyrics of John Lennon's "Come Together" song (The Beatles "Abbey Road" album) ... well, I sent this picture to friends and told them I finally figured out what "toe jam" was, but I that I was now even more puzzled about what a football had to do with it. OK, so maybe not comedy club material, but still ...
Above: Mister Rogers was an important figure in my kids' early development years. I would frequently watch his show with my kids in the morning. I don't think any of my kids looks in on my blog, so I don't mind sharing that I probably will return to this store and pick up this book to give to at least one of them for Christmas this year.
An interesting confluence of signs and decor along Salem Street (above), near the Peak City Grill and Bar, and the elegant doors of the Peak City Grill and Bar (below), which a judge ordered closed in January because of financial mismanagement.
Above: The eye-catching exterior of a house along Salem Street on the first block south of the merchants' district.
Most of the photos I shot at Holly Springs Farmers Market were of the musical entertainment outside the cultural center. The photos above and almost all of the ones below are shots of the Holly Springs Community Band. The final two photos are proof that I actually did stroll through the market area.
Next up: Town Commons, Holly Springs
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