As you have seen I like to drop a little art in on pages from time to time. I went looking for "southern rural art" and I can honestly say I did not find a single painting the captured the feeling I was looking for. There was a lot of the old south black art, there was some of food, there was some of a few buildings and towns. Nothing that said, "this is where I am going" better than my own pictures. So here are the two pieces of art that I chose as second best.
June 25- July 8
My brother in North Carolina retired
last week. He now has time and interest in doing a Scooter
Cannonball next year. He is a long time moto-cross/dirt bike rider and
also has a couple of Harley's in the barn. In order to kill three
birds (why do we have to murder the poor birds) with one stone we
decided to move Big Red north to the farm. He would have a scooter to
play with, since I have a spare at the moment, and I would have a
scooter to use in the mid-atlantic area with out riding three days to
get there. So we made a plan and he caught the Amtrak Sliver Star
from Cary, North Carolina to Tampa.
First we had to break him from the
Harley habits and teach him that you don't need a clutch to ride two
wheels. To do that we went for a ride and for the real test we went
over the Skyway Bridge and back with no trouble. We stopped in Parish
for some taco's and a beer.
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| more trains |
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| Harley stuff. We may have to cut that off. |
Day 1
Day 1 is the same as all the other
oyster tours...mostly...... with just a different face. We did the
Elvis plaque, Bo Diddleys dirt nape place, lunch at Pouncy's. The
different part was we got hit by rain and stopped at the Ouetz's Too
Oyster bar to hide from the rain for awhile. Despite their best
efforts, we refused oysters holding out for Lynn's. The Gibson Inn
gave us a dirty room at 5 in the afternoon. To make up for that they
gave us each a queen size room of our own.
Day 2
Mostly the same as the last day two for
the first half of the day. Not being a weekend the traffic on FL65
was almost non-existent and there was a light annoying drizzle. We
spent three hours in Richland visiting with Wanda and had lunch in
the next town of Preston at Mom's, a restaurant opened just for Jimmy
Carter. Mom passed last year and the children continue to spoon up a
good buffet. After a extended visit with Roger at the Richland Rum distillery and a sample, we hit the road again.
The overnight was at the Blackshear Resort at the Georgia Veterans Park on the Blackshear lake. The best part was not only was it a nice place but they give Florida residents a 20% discount.
Ba
Day 3
We left
the Blackshear about 7 and made a stop at their VA memorial. It is just a
collection of airplanes and a few tanks. We hit the highway with plans to stop
in Cordele for breakfast. It is a pretty big town but we were unable to find a
local breakfast restaurant and since we were headed for another nephew's house whose
wife works in sports marketing for Chik-Fil-A we decided we would stop there
and support her. I was stunned to find out that Scott had never had a
Chik-Fil-A breakfast.
The
mid-day stop was to be in Statesboro to visit our nephew Hal and his family.
Knowing we were coming Georgia, his wife, had flown off to Houston to work with
some sports marketing and the girls had gone to day camp. Our fillings were
hurt until he told us that Gray, his six-year-old, had told him that she could
not wait until she was sixteen and get the car keys and drive far away from
him.
Hal is
professor at Georgia Southern University in their sports department. It is a
University but if you work there you are not allowed to use University in the
title. It is a marketing plan so you will not confuse it with Georgia State
University. Higher education is now about marketing to get students. They have
taken it to the extreme in that student assistant professors for the sports
department took a group photo in the park area in front of the administration
building. In the picture were the bush's that are trimmed to form GSU. The
administration said they had to photoshop out the U before they could use the
photo.
Our free
lunch today was at Gnat's the local watering hole next to the campus. Hal told
us stories of his students, the good ones, and the bad ones. Some students
don't seem to think they should have to attend classes or arriving late is OK.
In his coaching class he asks them what do you tell your football players,
“just show up to play when you want”, “shall we hold the bus for you until
after the game has started”? All good questions I thought.
The
excitement for the day was when we were riding in a very rural area and a crop
duster came over. I thought about stopping to watch it but figured Scott had
seen them working before. I was wrong. At the same time, we came to a mild
right turn in the road and from the left there was merging road in Y
configuration. At the last minute, I saw we had a yield sign. The sign had been
turned at an angle making it not fully visible. Coming from the left on the
road with the right of way was a tractor trailer truck and I came to a quicker
stop than normal. At the same time, I noticed that the truck had moved over to
left lane as Scott came bouncing by me on the shoulder. Seems as though he had
not seen working spray planes before and had been looking at the sky instead of
the road when I came to a stop.
We passed
through Rochelle, Georgia. A hamlet really with no stop light. There was
a billboard sized sign in one yard from the Trump campaign and the street was
lined with American flags and small yard signs with a ribbon and
writing we could not read. When we topped a hill going into the next town
Abbeville on the horizon was their tall court house. It really stuck out
so we pulled in for a view. There we met a couple of the deputies for the
county. They told us the flags in in Rochelle were just a few of the hundreds
that were there last weekend. The remains of a Korean war veteran from Rochelle
had been returned from Korea and the deputies had escorted the remains and had expected
small crowd but, in fact, in there were hundreds of people there to honor the
veteran. Yet another reminder not to make judgements for what something
or someone looks like.
We
overnighted in Orangeburg SC, an uninteresting town. We stayed in the Holiday
Inn Express, hoping we would be smarter the next day. We needed to be smarter
as the Holiday Inn was on the wrong side of a four lane road we had to walk
across to get an alcoholic refreshment.
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| my first meeting with Officer Curtis |
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| A monument to Jefferson Davis who spent his last night in Abbeville before being captured by the Yankees |
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| The Abbyville court house hand wonderful mohagany throughout until someone decided white paint looked better. |
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| another looong straight road |
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| David, veteran, makes $13/hr standing or setting he says |
hhh
Day 4
Today we headed for Raeford, NC to see cousin James. My mother's
family were farmers around Raeford and I had spent many a summer working on
James's parents farm. Mainly in the hottest part of the summer harvesting
tobacco. In my short life as a child we went from walking the rows pulling
tobacco leaves, putting them under your arm until you could carry no more, when
you would put them in sled pulled by a mule that took it back to the barn where
the women tied the tobacco on a stick, to setting on the bottom of a big monster
machine pulling leaves, putting them on a roller chain that took them to the
top deck where the women would tie the tobacco on a stick.
The rendezvous was to be at Bojangles fried chicken. James, they
tell me, has early onset dementia but I sure cannot tell it when I talk to him
on the phone. He still has his truck but no longer drives and Scott and I were
very glad to see he was being chauffeured by cousin David. We had a great time
over fried chicken doing as all people do telling war stories and reminiscing
about the past.
After a few hours of picking over the chicken bones, we bid
farewell and headed for the farm.
We were in Scott's territory so he led. One last stop was one of
the best. The Hopewell Train museum. It has been there a long time and I never knew
about it. Scott told me that our father used to bring our 40 year old nephew
and niece here when they were just mere children. We walked around and talked
to several of the volunteers who were glad to share their knowledge of the
local train lore with us.
From there we made the short run to Hogan Farm Rd.
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| Scott explains the merits of a Vespa to the cousins |
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| Scott looking for home |
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| The boys in the barn |
Day 5
While Scott and I started the day the hot tub, Peggy started the
day in the garden.
The Angie story I have told before. Wonderful person, waitress
since she was 16, gets a shot at her own restaurant in her thirties and because
she is such a wonderful person, is super successful. Helping keep her on the
top of my list, besides her great food, is her kind heart and how she gives
back to the community that made her a successful.
Next we went to see Ruby. We have always loved Ruby because she
always, always has a positive outlook. Oh yeah, at 88 she still speed walks
five miles a day.
North Carolina is strange state politically. The voting has been
gerrymandered to keep extreme right-wing politicians in office. They work hard
to keep the voting roles skewed also to the right and make it hard for many
voters to vote. You have to buy all your liqueur from the state. Jesus is their
master, or so the hypocrites say. So, I was stunned when we went to the regular
old grocery store and Scott got a sample of the craft beer and walked around
the store drinking it while we shopped. They even had a beer holder on the
cart.
Dinner was Scott, Peggy, and me meeting our former sister-in-law
for dinner. He left her be we have not.
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| Peggy in the garden |
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| Angie's parking lot at 9:30 |
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| Ms. Angie. Glad I caught her out back to say hello. |
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| shopping drunk and they even give you a cup holder!!! |
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The ever smiling Ms. Ruby.
Drinking and driving in the grocery store
Day 6, 7, & 8
We headed to the mountains and Horses Gap off the Blue Ridge
Parkway. The family has had a small place there for over 40 years and before
our parents died the 4th of July was a family reunion. That has gone
by the wayside and this 4th it will be just Peggy, Scott and me. The
small community has picnic based around the annual meeting for the road committee. Always exciting. The roads are gravel with no state support
and everyone thinks their road should get more care but seem to forget they did
not pay their road dues. The pendulum has swung back this year from the crazies
to those who want work as a community and get things accomplished.
Scott, Peggy and I had a great time. They road around some in the truck and I rode
around on Fred.
On Monday, after the picnic on Saturday, I saddled up and
headed south Fairview just outside of Ashville.
|
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| nothing better than bologna and wine on the deck |
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| Scott cooks a mean breakfast |
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| I guess if Fred quits I can ride one of these home |
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| That makes made head spin |
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| Lunch on the Parkway |
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| sight of a great old stone hose that burnt a few years agon |
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| the lights even melted |
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a 4th tradition we did not make this year
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| Despite telling Garmin time and time again "NO DIRT ROADS" it still can not get it. |
Day 10 4th of July
This was a day of catching up and fixing stuff. Rich is not a wrencher. Vicki’s car battery was dead so we pulled it
and took it to the Auto store and left it for diagnosis. Then we meandered back
into downtown Asheville to pick up Rich’s hat that he had left at the
restaurant last. I think the area around Asheville is beautiful but I am not as
enamored with the downtown. Great
museums and restaurants but the place gives me a homeless fell. Back at the
auto store we picked up the battery and though we had tried to kill it they
said it would live. After it was back in the car I moved on to the motorcycle,
but in the end it was more than I wanted to attack on the 4th. Vicki served us four great meal’s and we
called it a day. Rich is a mild diabetic but has a serious problem as most have other contributing factors, like weight, smoking, etc. He has none of that and on the medicine he has lost 40 pounds and is now down to 137. Diabetic diets mainly make you loss weight so Vicki and the doctor have come up with a diet that gets Rich off the medicine but maintains his weight or hopefully has him gaining some. It is not a easy task, but she does a great job and Rich is work hard at it too.
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| breakfast |
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| lunch |
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| dinner |
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| we both have the same yoga instructor |
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| he can not fix them but he can grow trees in them |
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| the two projects |
Day 11
Rich went to play golf and I was on the road shortly after
7. I had the Blue Ridge and most of the
other roads to myself today which made for a great ride.
I rolled into Chattanooga mid-afternoon and checked into the
ChooChoo Inn. It is the old train station and old Pullmans converted into rooms
with an attached motel. It is one of the most expensive hotels in town, so when
I saw that the toilet in my room was falling through the floor I was a little
distressed but figured it was only one night and it was pouring outside.
Chattanooga has a free electric bus service that I used
around town and when the rain let up I walked from the river back to the
ChooChoo. I found a great pasta
restaurant right around the corner. It is small and has wonderful atmosphere and
there were no tables available even at 6:30 so I went to the bar and even that
area was full. I met Matt the bartender and met the owners though only briefly.
Matt was swamped but still took good care of me. The meal was excellent. Almost a 10. By the time I had finished my
meal the bar had emptied and Matt and one of the waiters who was born and
raised in St. Pete had time to visit.
Both nice guys.
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| Vicki working with antique Japanese silk |
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| they have a lovely house and gardens |
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John C Campbell school. Vicki teaches here and is bringing Vicki this fall for classes. The two have collaborated on projects, Vicki 1 dong jewelry and Vicki 2 doing the fiber and have won some pretty prestigious awards. Fiber Vicki is highly sought after for teaching her art |
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| lunch in Murphy |
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| '54 Ford with a "54 Ranger camper. |
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| Glen did the restoration on the Ford and the Tbird |
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| the pullman room |
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| the rotten cieling |
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| the collapsing bathroom florr |
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| it was great to turn 21 |
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| dinner |
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| Matt the bartender. He gave me lots of Grappa |
Day 12
OMG!!!! I awoke about 5 and found welts on my body and………a
bed bug latched to my thigh!!!!! I was
not really awake and thought it was a tick but had to google it and confirmed
it was GD bed bug!! I packed as quickly as possible, which did not take long as
almost all my stuff was in closed zip-loc bags. Vicki and I had joked about bed
bugs last night when I told about the falling in toilet and I had actually
searched with the flashlight, but I was to learn and read, they are not that
easy to find. Once everything was loaded I marched up to the front desk with
the dead bug. No need venting on the night clerk and she promptly refunded my
money.
The day got better. I headed south to Richland where I was
going to spend the night with my niece and daughter but just had lunch instead
and continued to Albany GA. First stop was Lowes for bed bug spray. Wanda had
given me some black trash bags to stick stuff into. I took everything to the
bathtub and sprayed it all and then sealed in the trash bags. I took all the
clothing that had been exposed in the ChooChoo flea bag and washed them twice
and dried them on hot. I feel comfortable that they are safe now.
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| the front desk rapidly refunded my money at 5:30 am |
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| In Tallapoosa GA I came across a large new memorial park. It had monuments for everything |
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| all those name plates along the side I believe are for those that served |
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| for the female soldiers |
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| for soldiers of the war between the states |
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| for 911 |
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| more bed bugs for the choochoo inn |
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| I had a great visit with 79 year old Ms. Patterson. She was chopping the bushes out of the fence line. She had a beautiful front yard she maintained by herself since her husband passed away last December. She is one of those people you can not admire and respect. |
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| She let me photo the last one she was hacking down today |
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| "can open" sounds like the graves have doors or people stop by regularly to look in the graves |
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| never seen this one before |
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| this Marks on the way to Albany and I always stop in for pecans. Today I added a great tasting peach. |
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| I threw everything in the tube and began the de-bugging process |
Day 13
After a great breakfast included in the hotel deal, we headed to Douglas to see how Tom and XP-82 project is doing. It is starting to look like an airplane now. Tom and I almost got into a political conversation, but dodged that bullet and talked about is bucket list. He is in his mid-70's and has two things left on the list. Fly a Bearcat fighter, that he will buy when they sell the XP, and to eject out of a airplane. That last one is a little curious and he will have to go to Russia to get it done.
We left there mid-morning and realizing I would not make it home comfortably I headed to Cedar Key. Gary welcomed me into the Dockside only to inform me that the owner had upped the weekend prices by 30%. I stayed but will not come back as I vote with my dollars. He agrees as he only had four rooms occupied at the new prices when with the lower prices he would have been almost full for sure.
Since Dockside does not have a ice machine I walked across and had some even more than expensive frozen drinks but they were worth it. Dinner was at Tony's where by chance I ran into my mailman and his girlfriend from St. Pete.
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| crossing into FLA we clicked over 10,000 miles |
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| the extra shot probably contributed to the high price of the drink |
Day 14 July 8
Since the boys had closed the coffee shop for the summer there was no need to linger in Cedar Key, so we where up and on the road early arriving home before 10.
Another great trip!!
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| A double rainbow welcomed me back to St. Pete. |
