An Evening in Valdese, North Carolina

During our 2007 trip to North Carolina we stopped at one of my favorite little towns from my mission called Valdese. I had spent about 6 months in this area and fell in love with it. Valdese sits at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and was settled in the late 1800’s by the Waldenses which was a religious group that had immigrated to the United States from Northern Italy. The town of Valdese is very small (only 5,000 people) but it has a lot of character. We had spent the day traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway and had just come down from “the mountains” after visiting the beautiful Linveille Falls. We pulled into Valdese in the late evening and the first place we went was the beautiful McGalliard Falls which is a large waterfall that sits right in the middle of town. After enjoying this area we went and had dinner at the cute little “Myras Little Italy” restaurant in the center of town. After getting stuffed we walked across the street to “Myras” which is owned by the same family but serves ice cream, etc (I had frequented this spot during my mission). We got a shake to share and then walked up the cute little main street just as the sun was starting to go down. We eventually made our way to the beautiful Waldensian Presbyterian Church which sits right in the middle of town. This old church has beautiful surroundings including a little park with a fountain. Lindsay and I sat at this park to finish our shake and to watch the sun go down on this cute little southern town. Eventually the day came to an end and we headed back to our hotel in Morganton, NC. However, strolling through Valdese on that warm summer evening is something we will never forget.