Great report, Joe, and great photos.  I'll have to make it back to Spruce Pine someday. 

That's an impressive Chatham Co. phantom.  Wish I could have seen the entire collection.

The feldspar mine barely visible in one of the photos is actually the Feldspar Corp. (formerly the Lawson Mine and others) mine situated above Spruce Pine.  The Chalk Mountain Mine is located to the west of where you were in Grassy Creek, and not visible from there, except by a very high tower or helicopter.

I was in the Uwharries Thursday on a project and saw some rhyolite, so I thought of you, of course.  We found some nice orchids and lilies in bloom, and fed a lot of chiggers.

Dennis

Finally got some pics of some of my "finds" from the Grassy Creek show.
Not good pics, mind you, but we do what we can.

This first piece is one I had to have as soon as I saw it. It's very far-out.
They say these are Dolomite suedomorphs after Aragonite,
but these guys are found near Area 51 in Nevada and their
circa George Jetson era spacecraft likeness, I would say,
leaves the door open for all kinds of possibilities. 
The specimen is about 2" across. First pic, top. Last pic, bottom.

And last but not least, this is another piece I knew I was going to get as soon as I saw it.
It cost me a hundred bucks but worth every peeny.
Most folks have never seen true "Fire" Obsidian and this
cab by Joseph Kerby is a perfect example of it.
Just finding the thin veil of opal-like fire in a piece of obsidian
is a hard thing to do, but it takes a really good eye to be able to capture
and isolate it like Joe has in this cab.
No way to substitute for in-hand viewing but here goes.

Fire Obsidian cab by Joseph Kerby.