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Day -2: May 31, 2005 |
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Day -2: May 31, 2005 |
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I had a lot of ground to cover so it was interstate almost all the way.
Exceptions were US-35 through parts of Ohio and West Virginia and US-52 in
North Carolina but even those consisted mostly of divided four lane. But
it wasn't all ugly. In fact nearly a couple of hundred miles was on I-77
through West Virginia and that goes through some mighty fine country.
Sorry for the crappy through-the-dirty-windshield picture but maybe you
can get some idea. Several times a good shot would appear but would be
gone before I could get my mind made up to stop. So my only stop (and only
decent pictures) were at an official scenic overlook at the Bluestone
River. Besides a good look down on the river, the little park provides a
nice view of the CH Charlton Memorial Bridge. A plaque describes the
exploits of the Korean War Medal of Honor winner for which it is named.
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I knew about this little gem, about a half mile off of I-40 in
Winston-Salem, NC, from RoadsideAmerica.com. In the 1930s, the Quality Oil
Company built eight of these stations and this is that last of the lot.
Preserve North
Carolina has restored the building and is using it as an office and
tourist information center but no one was there today. It's at 1111
Sprague Street and is fairly easy to reach from exit 195.
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I checked into my motel near the Raleigh I-440 loop then headed into the
downtown area. The state capitol is here and, about a block away in Moore
Square, so is this lovely acorn. Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks. I
have to think that Avis's current ad with the giant walnut was at least
partly inspired by Raleigh's big nut. If you look carefully to the left of
the acorn, you can see the sand sculpture shown close up in the next
picture. I had actually planned on dinner right across the street at
Greenshields Brewery and Pub but the brewery was bare. From their
website I
learned that "Greenshields will be reopening soon in the
Triangle!". I don't know where the Triangle is but I bet they'll miss
that acorn. I found an able substitute in Pub Tir Na Nog on the east side
of the square. The picture shows just a small fraction of the impressive
collection of solid wood mismatched four top tables.
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