The Loop Turns Warrenton's Main Street Into a Lake Gaston Night Out

For five years, Darrin Moore gave the same answer whenever someone asked what kind of business Warren County needed: a shuttle. He had even mapped out a route. Nobody took him up on it, so he started one himself. The Warren Record reported that his company, Lake Loop Shuttle Services, LLC, was expected to start running no later than Nov. 7. Most people call it "The Loop."

On a map, Warrenton looks like a long drive from the lake. On The Loop, Warrenton is where the night begins and where it ends.

Two Warrenton stops hold the route together

According to the Warren Record, each loop starts at Locorum and finishes at The Sneaky Penguin at Mill Hill, and then the next loop starts. The Loop's booking page lists these current stops, in this order:

The Shopping Center stop is on the booking page but not in the route the Warren Record first described. Moore has also said the stops "are subject to change."

The idea grew out of Locorum. Moore was a part-owner of the S. Main Street distillery and cocktail bar from the time it opened in 2021 and now owns it outright. He told the Warren Record that a lot of Locorum's customers come from the Lake Gaston area, and that they say they would visit Warrenton more often if not for the drive. "They didn't want to have the long drive at night, or if they had a cocktail," he said.

So The Loop is aimed at a specific problem, and the timetable shows it. The middle five stops line Littleton and the Eaton Ferry Road corridor near One Eyed Jack's, which used to be The Pointe. Each pass through those stops leads back to Madison Street and S. Main. Moore put his goal plainly to the paper: "My main motivation for the service is to increase foot traffic in Warren County and Warrenton."

Warren County Tourism Manager Cherie Nielsen told the Warren Record the same idea from the county's side: "visitors do not follow county lines." She said The Loop gives local businesses a chance "to welcome customers who might otherwise stay in one area."

How a night on the van works

The Warren Record printed this opening schedule:

Thursday matters most for planning. The last loop leaves two hours earlier than on Friday or Saturday, so a Thursday trip from the lake into Warrenton needs a set time to head back.

These are the fares the paper reported:

• Single ride: $10
• All-day pass: $20
• Friday and Saturday all-day pass: $35

Two single rides cost exactly as much as a day pass, so anyone riding out and back gets every extra stop free with the pass. The weekend pass costs $5 less than two separate day passes. The live booking page doesn't show prices yet, so check catchtheloop.net for current fares before you count on these.

Some details come up once you're at a stop:

• You can buy tickets ahead of time at catchtheloop.net or buy them the same day on the tablet in the van, if seats are left. The van holds 14 passengers.
• You don't call for a ride. "If you have a day pass, you don't call for us, just wait at the stop until we get there," Moore told the Warren Record. Riders wait outside each location. Moore is working on live tracking, and for now he plans to call the stops when he can.
• The van only goes to its scheduled stops. "We won't take people home," Moore said.
• Sunday through Wednesday, the van is available for charters. Moore hopes to add airport and train station runs later.

The first stop is getting a next-door neighbor

The van picks people up at 142 S. Main St. Right next door, at 140 S. Main St., Ken and Debbe Speer planned to reopen Nonna's Café on Nov. 1 in the former Duke's Meats building. The Warren Record covered the reopening plans. Nonna's first opened across the street in late 2017. Debbe told the paper its last day was St. Patrick's Day 2020, when they served corned beef and cabbage.

The new Nonna's opens on the same days The Loop runs, plus Wednesday. The Speers' plan calls for opening Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Pasta Night on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m.: pasta, salad and bread. The Loop's Friday service starts at 4 p.m., so riders coming from the lake can get off at the first stop and have dinner next door. Breakfast will include homemade breakfast sandwiches, with Nonna's French Toast now and then. Doughnuts, bagels and croissants will come from Jenny Cakes at the Lake, and Lake Gaston Designs is making the sign. Antique vendors will fill the back of the café.

Opening dates for small restaurants can move, and the Speers said they would restart the café's Facebook page soon. That page is the place to check current hours.

The last stop is a few blocks away. The Lake Gaston Chamber's directory describes The Sneaky Penguin at Mill Hill as a small-batch brewery and taproom with an outdoor stage that hosts live music. Locorum, for its part, advertises weekly karaoke on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. That's a night the van runs charters only.

Reasons to come downtown before dark

The Loop's Saturday service starts at noon, so a lake visitor can spend an afternoon in Warrenton too. A new museum gives them a reason. The Plummer Hook & Ladder Fire Museum at 119 E. Market St. recently held its grand opening. The Warren Record's account says the restored Warrenton Fire Department siren, called the 5:30 siren, sounded just before the ceremony began.

The Plummer Hook & Ladder Company was chartered in 1868 as Warren County's first fire department. It later became the Warrenton Fire Department, which merged with Warrenton Rural Volunteer Fire Department in 2004. It is recognized as the longest continuously serving African American volunteer fire department in North Carolina. At the opening, Natalie Rodriguez, interim director of the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, called the museum the first of its kind in the state.

The company's first fire apparatus is on display. It's a wooden hook and ladder wagon custom-made by a local carriage-maker who was one of the company's charter members and later its chief. It's on permanent loan from the North Carolina Museum of History. A 1938 Ford fire truck is there as well. Museum president Jennifer Franks called this a "phase one opening." Future plans include museum-quality display cases and restoring that 1938 engine. The Warren County Tourism Development Authority has also given the museum $10,000 for a history video.

The Town is also working on the after-dark side of downtown. On Oct. 22, 2026, it announced a $60,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant. Combined with Town matching funds, the grant will pay for a permanent downtown light display with rotating visual content. The Town says Warrenton will be the first municipality to create a permanent pixel-mapped light display, and that the display is meant to draw tourists and visitors. The announcement gives no installation date.

Dates between now and Dec. 12

• Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Warren County Farmers Market Holiday Market at the Warren County Health Department, 544 W. Ridgeway St., with vendors, family activities, holiday music and Santa, according to the county calendar.
• Saturday, Dec. 12, 1 to 4 p.m.: A Christmas Open House at the Plummer Hook & Ladder Fire Museum, 119 E. Market St., according to an event listing that names the museum as host.
• Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 p.m.: The Warren County Christmas Parade, organized by the Warrenton Rotary Club and the Town of Warrenton, according to the Town's 2026 parade entry form.

Dec. 12 is a Saturday, and The Loop runs from noon that day. That makes it the season's first good test of whether lake visitors will come into town for a museum open house in the afternoon and a parade at night without driving.

At Pointe Realty Group, our Littleton office is right in the middle of The Loop's route. We spend our days going back and forth between Main Street and Eaton Ferry Road, so we're glad to see the two connected after dark. If you're wondering how a town-and-lake lifestyle could work for you, Meet Our Agents. They're happy to talk it through over coffee at one of the stops.