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| Picture by Kolohe |
The Collettsville Cup House is located about four miles north of Collettsville, North Carolina, in a lightly populated area. Since the Cup House is not located on a major roadway, our GPS unit took us on a scenic route of the area, using dirt roads that wound around the valleys and along various streams. (Note: If interested in visiting the house, ask about road conditions before leaving town because several roads in the area were closed due to flooding and destroyed bridges. A GPS unit is helpful in finding the property (35.958690 -81.710188). There is no GPS signal in the area, so load maps before leaving town. Return by same route.)
The Cup House is not an official tourist attraction, but it is definitely an interesting stop for people visiting the area. It is estimated that there are over 20,000 cups and mugs decorating the exterior of the property.
We wanted to learn more about the collection and tried to find the owners, but they were not home when we stopped by the property. As we were leaving, we visited with a woman that was walking her dog down the road and she said that she did know the owners personally, but it was her understanding that they had both been elementary school teachers for 38 years. The mugs represent gifts they received from students for every holiday, e.g. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Teacher Appreciation Day, etc.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Even the workshop and guest quarters were decorated with mugs.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
In 1818, George Powell's log cabin in the community of Lenoir burned down, and rather than building another log cabin he replaced it with a brick building. Mr. Powell was a superstitious person; so when constructing the house, in the attic he built a large keyhole-shaped opening as an exit for witches and evil spirts to leave the property before going down into the lower living portions of the house. It must have worked because he never had any witches or evil spirits attack his home.
In 1966, the property was purchased by the Trinity United Methodist Church and the house was demolished. Over the years the house had become known as "The Keyhole House," so the church salvaged the keyhole and used it as a planter in front of their new building. The keyhole is still keeping witches and evil spirts away.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
While we were in Lenoir, we had to stop by Hannah's Bar-B-Q Restaurant for lunch. Hannah's is known throughout Caldwell County for their pulled pork sandwiches and home cooking. Along with our sandwiches they served some of the best onion rings that I have ever tasted.
While we were waiting on our food, we had time to admire the collection of pig figurines that decorated the walls of the restaurant, along with the Ten Commandments posted above one table.
Located just down the street was an Icey Freeze that had a number of awards posted in their window. We were really full after our meal at Hannah's, but we forced ourselves to have an Icey Freeze.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
