Interstate often draws traffic away

As a kid, Marge Beville used to play in the red clay where Interstate 85 was being constructed behind her house in Brunswick County.

"It was the neatest, stickiest red clay," she said. "We used to slide in that stuff. You can imagine what my clothes looked like."

You also can imagine what her mom thought about what her clothes looked like.

Beville, 47, has lived and worked on U.S. 1 her entire life. Her grandparents opened a gas station on the highway in 1929, just up the hill from the Nottoway River. They added a lunch room, then a full-blown restaurant -- the Nottoway Restaurant -- and finally a motel. The family sold the motel a couple of years ago. Beville and her cousin, Matt Harrison, now operate the restaurant and the gas station.

Beville's home -- and the homes of several family members -- are clustered in a scenic setting around a pond, just off U.S. 1.

"We have our own little compound," she said with a laugh.

U.S. 1 and I-85 nearly converge at the restaurant, which is hard by U.S. 1 and no more than a few hundred yards from I-85's Exit 39 interchange. The restaurant serves a fine menu of home cooking: fried chicken, country fried steak and the like. The rolls are excellent, as are the homemade pies. It has been a favorite stop for locals and travelers for decades.

But business is down.

"I've never seen a summer like this," Beville said, noting business is off 40 percent. "I'll be honest with you, I don't know how much longer we're going to be here."

Much of it has to do with the local economy, which has bled jobs in recent years. But even travelers haven't been coming in at the usual rate.

"There are plenty of cars on 85," she said. "They're just not stopping."

A short distance south on U.S. 1 is the Warfield Post Office, a tiny building with tobacco plants growing at the front door. Postmaster Terri Glenn, who grew up in the area, said she sees a lot of hitchhikers passing by, some bicyclists, a lot of trucks hauling timber. Most of the "through traffic" opts for I-85.

Compared to the Northern Virginia end of U.S. 1, this section of road is very quiet. There just isn't much here. A few small towns. An occasional gas station or diner. Notable is Lake Rawlings, an old quarry filled by spring-fed waters that is a destination for scuba divers from all over the country and is billed as "the clearest lake from Maine to Florida."

"A lot of people who lived along Number 1 have passed away, and the children don't want to live here," Glenn said. "It's kind of sad."

Then she asked if we had eaten at the Nottoway. We confirmed that we had.

"Did you get some of those rolls?" she asked.