Picnic on the Parkway: Work First!

My maternal grandfather insisted on doing chores first. All work had to be completed before any fun or rest. This rule served him and his descendants very well. To this day, even though I’m retired, I feel compelled to finish my chores before sitting down to read or watch TV. My mother (Carrie) shared the following story from her childhood which illustrates her father’s insistence on work first.

Some context

My maternal grandparents were Wiley Thomas “Tom” Snyder (1892 – 1988) and Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder (1900 – 1992). They owned an 86-acre farm on Pleasant Home Church Road in Millers Creek, Wilkes County, NC. They raised five children born between 1922 and 1934.

Tom and Nora with their five kids, about 1935.
Back row: Tom and Neil (with puppy).
Front row: Nora holding Ralph, my mom Carrie holding Bette, Mozelle.

From their home, they could watch the Civilian Conservation Corps construct the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Local men, including relatives, were hired to work on the road. Construction started in 1939 and was suspended in 1942 for the war. Using old newspapers and websites about the Parkway, I verified that the section of the Parkway nearest to Millers Creek was completed by August 1940.

 

Wilkes County is in red, in northwestern North Carolina.

The story

One summer day about 1940, Tom asked his wife and children “Would you like to drive up and see the Parkway tomorrow?”  Of course, they said “Yes!”  So, the next day, they got up extra early. They completed their regular chores (milked the cow, fed the chickens, horse and pigs, gathered eggs, washed up, etc.) and made and ate breakfast. In addition, they made a picnic lunch. Nora killed, cleaned, plucked, and fried a chicken, baked a cake, and made more biscuits. Tom and the older kids boxed up tomatoes, pickles, honey, water, plates, glasses, and napkins. Finally, they loaded up the car and Tom drove to the Parkway.

From Pleasant Home Church Road, they took NC highway 16, a very steep and twisty 12.8 miles to the intersection with the Parkway at milepost 261.2. 

They rode along the Parkway for a while, admiring the new road and the scenery.  After a while, Tom asked “Is anybody hungry?” Of course, they said “Yes!”  So he pulled over and they ate lunch. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway is the red road.
The Snyder home place is in the "NC Eastern Section."

During the drive, they probably stopped at the Jumpinoff Rock overlook at milepost 260.3, just north of the intersection with NC highway 16. (Per legend, an Indian maiden jumped off these rocks.)  From this overlook, you can see the Snyder home place in the valley below.

Jumpinoff Rock sign by J Sedg on Flickr

After lunch Tom said, “It’s time to go home for evenin’ chores.”  When they got home, it was only 9 a.m.!

I guess they had time to relax and have fun until evenin’ chores!

The rest of the story

Carrie died on May 11, 2001, age 75, at Wilkes General Hospital in North Wilkesboro. She requested cremation. After a memorial service at Pleasant Home Baptist Church, we decided to spread her ashes on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Jumpinoff Rock Overlook. She loved her childhood home and the Parkway so the family agreed this would be the ideal spot for her ashes.

Jumpin Off Rocks overlook by Mike Twekesbury.
If you know just where to look, you can see the home place on Pleasant Home Church Road.
This is a beautiful final resting place for Carrie's ashes.

Sources and photo credits

• Carrie told me the picnic story on 27 Dec 1999.
• Map of North Carolina highlighting Wilkes County, David Benbennick, posted 12 Feb 2006; in public domain; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_North_Carolina_highlighting_Wilkes_County.svg : accessed 17 Apr 2026.
• Google map: accessed 19 Mar 2026.
• Blue Ridge Parkway map, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Federal Highway Administration, America’s Byways, https://fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/bywaysp/byway/2280/map : accessed 17 Apr 2026.
• “Blue Ridge Parkway,” Wikipedia entry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway : accessed 19 Mar 2026.
• Blue Ridge Parkway Timeline, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, https://brpfoundation.org/about/history-timeline/
• “Construction of the parkway,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/blri/learn/historyculture/construction.htm : accessed 19 Mar 2026.
• North Carolina Certificate of Death, no. 097-60-217 (2001), Carrie Mae Disher’s death on 11 May 2001; Wilkes County, North Carolina Register of Deeds, Wilkesboro.
• Photo: “Jumpinoff Rock hike” by J Sedg, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ephemerama/3175154587 : accessed 19 Mar 2026.
• Photo: "Jumpinoff Rocks Overlook" by Mike Tewkesbury is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.). https://openverse.org/image/e727b5c9-203f-491a-b51d-039e47b57cf9?q=jumpinoff+rock+blue+ridge&p=1  :  accessed 19 Mar 2026.