From Richmond to Charlotte (Sorta) to the NC Outer Banks-March 2026

Spirituals in Richmond

I had been invited to be a panelist for a discussion of spirituals for the 2026 Society for American Music (SAM) annual conference in Richmond, Virginia, so I decided to add a side trip to the Outer Banks of my home state, North Carolina. It would be only my second visit to the area, when my mother and I made it as far as Buxton, NC, in 2017. Shortly before the trip was scheduled to begin, I saw a Facebook notice that the American Spiritual Ensemble (ASE) was scheduled to perform in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Sunday after the conference.

As the departure date neared, however, two events caused me to debate whether I would complete the trip as planned. First, I got an email notification that a different conference had just experienced numerous confirmed cases of COVID. While I had gotten my annual COVID vaccine a few months ago–despite the discouragement from the current regime–I wasn’t comfortable attending SAM events in the hotel enclosed spaces. Then I looked at the weather forecasts for the areas I wanted to visit and became concerned about the heavy rain and cold temperatures projected. With gas prices already rising, I couldn’t justify making the drive to Charlotte solely for the concert without the other activities included.

I left the DMV Thursday morning around 4:30 a.m., carrying only my presentation since I planned to drive back immediately after the 8:30 a.m. panel ended. (BTW, did you know there is a Bojangles in Ashland? Of course, I got a country ham biscuit!!) Attendance at the discussion was small, but those present were clearly interested in the topic. After the introduction by panel moderator Petra Meyer-Frazier, I began by singing the first verse of “Give Me Jesus”-a dangerous thing for me to do that early in the morning with no warmup, but it seemed appropriate for the moment–then I talked about some of the websites and other Internet activities I’ve done over the 30+ years of researching the spiritual. Kathleen Abromeit, whom I have worked with for years–especially on my second book– then gave a presentation on her new book on indexing spirituals. Finally, M. Roger Holland II discussed his work with The Spirituals Project and led attendees in singing several spirituals. The meeting ended after several audience questions were addressed.

I ran into an attendee whose research interest in Harry T. Burleigh meant our paths had crossed a few times previously (in fact, Lynne was one of the organizers who invited me to speak at their Burleigh Society’s tribute program in 2017. She invited me to dinner after the conference sessions ended for the day so we could catch up on each other’s work. I happily agreed, delaying my return by several hours and intentionally missing the Baltimore Symphony Concert scheduled that evening. It turned into a very long day, but at least I got back home before the rush hour began on Friday morning.

Spirituals in Charlotte

As mentioned above, I decided not to go to Charlotte for the ASE concert, so I put the ticket I had purchased up for grabs on my Art of the Negro Spirituals Facebook group. Fortunately, no one took me up on the free ticket because a colleague, Darryl Taylor, contacted me to say he would be singing with the group. This is hardly the first time that I changed my plans, so following through with the impulse to throw a few clothes in a bag and drive the Silver Bullet (SB) over 400 miles to Charlotte early Sunday morning wasn’t entirely unexpected. And, yes, I also planned to go to the Outer Banks, despite the expected rain and cold weather.

I had to gas up once along the way and immediately saw the effects of the Trump war of choice with Iran. I had previously purchased gas in the DMV for $2.89/gallon just before the war started. Now, the price had already risen to $3.42/gallon, and I fully expected that the price would rise further before the trip ended–which it did, indeed, reach $3.79/gallon by my next fill-up three days later.

Anyway,…

Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte was a beautiful edifice. I took a few pictures of the exterior and the Sanctuary.  Some are included in the gallery of photos below.

Most of the concert was spirituals set for chorus by composers including W. Henry Smith, Moses Hogan, Roland Carter, Johnie Dean, M. Roger Holland, II, and Hall Johnson, or solo voice. They ended the program with three popular works. Songs were performed a cappella or with piano and/or drum.

I had not heard ASE in a live concert before, so I was curious how an ensemble made mostly of professional solo vocalists would sound as a group. It was a pleasure to hear how well their voices melded as a group, as well as to get to hear some of them perform as soloists. I would definitely go to hear them again, especially if they present closer to the DMV (hint, hint).

While I knew or recognized a few members of the ASE, I didn’t know most of them. I had planned to get a picture of the ensemble at a point when they were not singing, but I got so involved in their performance that I forgot until it was too late.

As it worked out, I got something even better. David introduced me to Everett McCorvey, the music director of ASE, after the program was over. We talked for several minutes, then we posed for a picture. Then, a number of the ASE came over, introduced themselves, and stood with me for several pictures. What astonished me was that McCorvey and members of the ASE were familiar with my work. Such a pleasant surprise!

I would have loved to have spent more time talking about Negro spirituals with folks who shared a common interest in the music, but they had to be tired from the long day, and I had planned to start my drive east towards the Outer Banks because I was too hyper to rest at that time. I found a Cookout drive-thru and got dinner, then pointed SB east.

Update: I got an even better surprise later when I discovered that the concert had been recorded! I’ve added it below. Enjoy!

The North Carolina Outer Banks

I’ve tried several different GPS setups over my decades of trippin’, from the TomTom (a separate gadget that functioned solely as a navigator) to various GPS apps on my phone. Recently, I switched from Waze to Google Maps and used this trip to test its effectiveness. I actually like the types of road turns, etc., that I got from Maps, which seem easier for me to understand than Waze, but I don’t know why it opted for Route 74 to Route 64 from Charlotte to Nags Head, rather than the 35-minute faster I-85 route to US-64. Waze regularly suggested alternate routes due to road conditions, and it’s possible Maps was doing the same, but it makes me go “hmmm….”

I reached the North Carolina Outer Banks late Monday morning. The Outer Banks Scenic Byway is a 138-mile roadway that runs from Whalebone Junction to Cedar Island to the south. Since I had already driven the northern end of the byway and was concerned about the weather turning bad, I turned south onto NC-12.

The drive was fairly quiet, not surprising since the busy season hadn’t started yet. I had found an audio tour app that provided information about the sites along the way. This included two of the lighthouses that dotted the Outer Banks, the Bodie Island Lighthouse and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. I was disappointed to see that the one at Cape Hatteras was fully encased in scaffolding, but I did get a better view when I visited it in 2017.

I made good time along the way, reaching the Hatteras Ferry Terminal just in time to get transport for SB and me to Ocracoke. I took several pictures during the ride  across Pamlico Sound so that I could show the route on the Piwigo photo map of the entire excursion, located at https://singin1.click/piwigo/index.php?/category/Richmond-Charlotte-Outer-Banks-March-2026.

By the time I reached Ocracoke Island, there was no ferry scheduled to go to Cedar Island. What I didn’t know until then was that the weather forecast had been updated to add a tornado watch. No ferry would depart Tuesday morning, and there was some doubt whether the weather would improve enough for the afternoon ferry to be in service.

I drove around the island, getting pictures of local sites, including the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse. A few of the shots are below.

Afterwards, there was nothing I could do but settle down for the night. I checked the Web for a local restaurant that had a pretty high rating. I selected Jason’s Restaurant because the reviews said that local residents were loyal customers.  That evening, their special was flounder, which I ordered blackened, and added potatoes, collards, garlic bread and Cheerwine. The service was very quick and courteous; the waiter even escorted me down the slippery wooden ramp (they really should consider putting something down there before someone falls). The only downside was the price, which was higher than suggested on the Web, yet the price was worth the experience.

The storm was over by sunrise, but the temperature had dropped considerably, as had been forecast. Other than patches of standing water in the streets, I didn’t see any damage. I drove to the ferry terminal and waited for the 1:30 (I hoped). Fortunately, there were two ferries leaving that afternoon, each loading cars, trucks, even RVs and a dump truck for the 2 1/2-hour journey. The ride was uneventful–a really good thing in my opinion–but I did take pictures along the way.

Heading Home Via the Chesapeake

While there was a more direct route back to the DMV from Cedar Island, I intentionally directed Maps to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and Bridge. Somehow, I had never driven it and had heard that some folks found the ride to be challenging. I reached the toll entrance to the tunnel just after 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and I really hoped to get some pictures on the bridge. There were emergency pull-offs along the way, but I didn’t feel comfortable sitting in any of them very long, even though the traffic was pretty light for what I’d have expected during morning rush. I took a picture or two, then drove to the next pull-off.

Finally, I saw a construction site just before the tunnel entrance and was able to pull into a spot where I could sit and not obstruct anyone. Despite the distracting fencing, I got numerous shots of the sunrise, plus a boat in the distance that approached and finally crossed over the tunnel. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

The rest of the drive, including crossing Chesapeake Bay Bridge towards the Beltway (I-95) and home, was uneventful. I got home just after 11 a.m. and dragged myself to bed for a couple of days of recovery. On Friday, I took SB to a station for gas, which was surprisingly still $3.79/gallon, and ran her through the car wash to get rid of the accumulated pollen.

Some of the pictures I took from the trip are below:

A map of the trips is below: