Seagrove
Where art becomes an escape in more ways than one
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“Making memories” has long been a catchphrase of family travel. But those words can become more of a rallying cry when you have a chronically ill kid. “I’m all about making memories,” declares Kansas City, MO, mom Jayme Ambrose. “That’s my biggest goal with her,” she says of her daughter, Callyn, who’s spent more than a decade on chemotherapy in the wake of a diagnosis that has left the 14-year-old visually impaired and arthritic, among other challenges.
Seagrove, a short film named for the eponymous North Carolina town, recounts one such memory-making mission—albeit to an unexpected place: the reputed pottery capital of the USA. To be clear, there’s generally nothing surprising about wanting to experience this part of North Carolina—all rolling hills, bucolic farmlands and towering woods—but an art and artisans’ enclave might seem an odd choice for a visually-impaired child. That is, until you get to know the child (and potters) in question, as you will over the course of this beautiful tale.
What to do
along the way
Other local favorite shopping stops range from the Seagrove Pottery Gallery, where you can also find glassware and basketry—to Seagrove Orchids, where the flowers are as beautiful as the pottery you’ll want to place them in.
Whether you want to learn—or simply shop—you can spend time with the same potters Callyn did. Head to Thomas Pottery, The Triangle Studio, Studio Touya, Jugtown Pottery, the North Carolina Pottery Center and Eck McKanless Pottery.
15 minutes south of Asheboro, in the idyllic countryside of central North Carolina, sits a town like no other: a spot known around the world as the handmade pottery capital of the US, with no fewer than 50 pottery shops inside a 20-mile radius—and reportedly, the nation’s highest concentration of working potters, part of a centuries-old tradition in this clay-rich region. So dedicated is Seagrove to pottery, in fact, that even Mayor David Fernandez is a potter.
Ready for more?
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Seagrove
Watch some North Carolina stories, then
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This story is part of North Carolina’s Firsts That Last
film series. See more stories here.
Seagrove
Between pottery stops, refuel at Pups and Mugs. Whether or not you’ve got any four-legged friends in tow, you’ll want to try the stellar pastries here. More to the point, it’s the only café in town. And when you're ready to rest up for the next day's pottery tour, stay at either The Duck Smith House Bed & Breakfast, where Jayme and Callyn did (and where the pottery in the backdrop of the film was gorgeous)—or go for a rustic-chic cabin stay at Getaway Asheboro.
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When Jayme heard about Seagrove, she thought it would make the perfect getaway for Callyn. Though the visual arts may seem a counterintuitive pursuit for someone who struggles to see, this remarkably creative teen has long considered them a mental escape, especially during chemo. And because clay is a particularly tactile medium, the idea that Callyn could “experience the craft with people who were obsessed with it” was—in her mom’s estimation—reason enough to go. Needless to say, mother knows best. The potters who mentored Callyn engaged with her not just creatively, but also emotionally, as if to underscore that this region really is—as it’s known—the heart of North Carolina. On a sweet side note, Callyn’s uncle Josh, is the director who lovingly captures this whole experience on film. Clearly, creativity runs in the family.
about the journey
watch
her story
what
to do
This story is part of North Carolina’s Firsts That Last
film series. See more stories here.
WATCH THE FILM
Watch some North Carolina stories, then
start planning your own adventure.
Ready for more?
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Making Waves
coming soon...
coming soon...
Making Waves
Ain't No Mountain High Enough