- We run into a lot of people who are surprised
that there is a place called Mount Olive.
- No mount, no olives.
So how did the town come to being called Mount Olive?
For years, passengers on the train would stop
at Mount Olive and wanting to know where the mountain,
where the olives were.
Locals would look beyond the stand of pine trees and say,
well, beyond those trees is a little mountain.
And then they'd look across the tracks
and a little old tree.
They say, well, that's the olive tree and the passengers
were satisfied and went on their merry way.
- I am an artist and a chef and having designed
an okra mural for Kinston, I am now creating
a pickle mural for the quaint little town
of Mount olive.
I like to get my feels for a place.
It helps to inspire my artwork.
I'm curious to find where people learn and play
and where they socialize and eat.
These are the ingredients in a town
which give it its flavor.
And I'm all about some good flavor.
Let's see what's shaking at the corner of Cucumber and Vine.
- We're open eight to five weekdays, all right.
And so we have all kinds of t-shirts and hats
and all kinds of things with pickle on them,
including pickle ornaments.
We also have pool pickles.
So if you really want to have your own three and a half foot
size plastic pickle, I got you covered.
We actually use those and we convert that
to our New Year's Eve pickle
that we drop on New Year's Eve.
Of course, we also have pickles, the real kind,
and you can buy pickles while you're here.
We don't offer public tours of our plant,
but you can ask to see the tour DVD.
And when you do that, you get a free jar of pickles
and a visitor pack.
So we make it worth your while.
- This hot summer sun has made me thirsty for a pickle beer.
Pickle beer, you say? Yup, you heard me right.
For some people, a brewery is just a brewery.
But for the people of Mount Olive,
the RNR brewery is a prime community hangout.
- We're open Thursday through Sunday, Thursday and Friday,
4:30 to 10:30 Saturday, one to 11 and Sunday, one to six.
And every day that we're open,
we try to have a little something for everybody here.
We do trivia. We do music bingo.
We have food trucks come in.
So it gives a variety of food for the people
that live here locally and the travelers that stop by.
We're pet friendly and kid friendly.
And for folks that have RVs or campers,
we have plenty of parking.
We have power and water hookups with them.
So we really want to try to make this a place
for anybody and everybody to rest, relax, and enjoy.
- Now that my thirst is quenched,
I'm heading over to the Mount Olive Museum.
Apparently there is an old picture of a young woman
with what appears to be a pickle.
Yeah, I'm going to need to find out about that.
- One of the more interesting things that has happened
was the 1952 pickle fest [indistinct] honoring
the success of the Mount Olive Pickle Company.
And she was called Ms. Sweet Pickle.
And she was in a large plastic pickle on stage
with Governor Kerr Scott.
And she popped out of that pickle,
planted a kiss on his cheek.
And it was reported that he was a little surprised,
but pleased with the gesture.
And so we did not have another festival until 1987.
- All this talk about pickles is well, making me hungry.
And I know just the place that feeds the body and the soul.
- So I do the soul food and then tried to mix it up
with a little new, new swing in it.
It's always something different.
My waitress, they love the customers,
my cooks, they love to cook.
They really enjoy cooking and been cooking for years.
- Whatever you do do decide to eat at Mama Kea's,
you're going to love it.
And I'm not just gherkin your chain.
Having absorbed the culture of Mount Olive,
I think I finally have my design for the new mural.
Power to the pickles. Don't get sour on me now.
- For more information about things to do in Mount Olive,
go to townofmountolivenc.org.