trip - part 5, the end

Monday morning – October the 9th – Columbus Day

We got up ate a free complementary breakfast and started loading the car.

It was still very windy. I had most things in the truck and Anna started straightening out things more organized when a gush of wind whipped down on the truck lid and knocked it down with force striking her head. That was very painful.

I checked her head for blood or a break of skin. There was none, but I think it did swell. I suggested we go find an ER but she declined. She suffered with a headache the rest of the day.

We went again over to Roanoke Island – this time to seek the Lost Colony Park and the Sir Walter Raleigh Fort Park. Little did we know it was one in the same park.

In the park was a museum. The Park Ranger met us at the front desk and told us a movie would be showing at 9:30. We asked him would we have time to see the Sir Walter Raleigh Earth Fort… he said it was 200 feet down that path, if we hurried we could see it and be back in time for the movie. The fort had about the same square feet as a good size house, but not any bigger. It was just a big mound of dirt, with no insides and it had two or three opened entrances. It was designed to protect them from Spanish invaders who might stumble upon them. It was never used as a defense fort.

However, it was designed by the famous Sir Walter Raleigh and dug into shape by him and his men. He came to find a new hold on the new world for England for settlers. This he actually did, but he is more famous for putting his coat over a puddle so a female member of the royal family wouldn’t get their feet wet – which is believed he actually did not do.

We made it back by 9:25. The park ranger came out and looked at us standing there waiting. It bothered him we were just standing there. We didn’t say anything to suggest we were impatient but he was. He said, “well, I guess I could start it early – if you would go in the theater and have a seat.” – which we did.

The movie was very interesting. It told of Sir Walter Raleigh coming to America for furthering his own self-interests and that of England’s. That is when he made the earth-fort. On that voyage he brought along an artist to record things, a guy by the name of John White who made some great illustrations of fish, animals, terrain, and the Indians.

They returned to England and a trip with returned the next time with a group of settlers with John White over them. John had a daughter who married a guy named Dare. They had a daughter named Virginia Dare, who was the first English person to be born on American soil.

The settlers and the Indians first got along greatly. They were both curious of each other. Then, the old quote “Familiarity Breeds Contempt” came into play. There were a few fights and few on each side killed. The Indians decided to keep their distance.
John White had to sail back to England for more supplies and hopefully more financing, which wasn’t coming alone so good. He left the settlers there.

Two or three years later he returned to the settlement and they were not there. And that is the mystery.

On a tree is carved the word “Croatian” which was the name of a nearby island. But they were not found there either. And there destiny remains a mystery.

After the movie started several people together came in and when they realized they missed some one it they acted somewhat confused. I think they were on time like they were supposed to be… they missed the beginning because the ranger didn’t like seeing us stand around.

I heard of one theory years ago, it is called “The White Family Group”.. it is a large group of people that mostly live in the Appalachian Mountains who prefer to stick to their own kind, who intermarry and have their own distinct dialect. They have a dark shade of skin and none seem to know their origins… they kind of resemble the Gypsies of the old country.

I didn’t realize why they were called the White Family until the other day when I realized if true, John White was their first known ancestor.

Or you could just look around the settlement area – maybe if you stand still you might see something other people didn’t. Maybe they are not lost, just misplaced.

After that we hit the road going back home. In some town a “Shaw’s BBQ” sign lead me in an old part of town, I couldn’t find Shaw’s BBQ but did find a Wendy’s on the outskirts. A deputy sheriff sat at the next table and I asked him for directions how to get back on Hwy 64 West. He was friendly and told us. He went on to tell us his daughter lived in a nice house in Cumming, Georgia. And added, “Have a safe trip” – which he is probably programmed to say.

We decided to take the I-95 south to the I-20 in South Carolina and cut across that way, just as a change of scenery.

Not long after we got onto the I-95 we saw a huge outlet shopping center. We got off the exit and drove down and I couldn’t find how to enter the shopping center, but on the outskirts was a shoe shop Anna went into. I read a while and then went in myself. I asked the salesman how to get to the shopping center, he told us, and added, “You can’t miss it”.

I wanted to punch him out.

But we went by his directions and found it.

I forgot to mention at Nags Head we also went to an outlet mall and I bought a pair of shoes and Anna bought a pocketbook.

After we went to the outlet mall, where Anna bought her shoes just before we got back on the I-95 we went into a gas place. While I was filling up Anna went inside to the restroom. After I filled up and paid by credit card at the pump (which was unusual for the week) I went into the store and went back to where the restroom area and a lady was standing there. I almost opened the door but she halted me saying she was sorry, but a lady was in the men’s – she said they have been waiting a long time. I nodded, no problem. So, in a minute the woman’s door opened and a little girl stepped out and the woman stepped in. Then the men’s door opened and Anna stepped out. A black man near the door cracked up laughing. He said, “You an’t suppose to do that!”

We headed on down the I-95. About dusk we were getting tired of driving and I almost made a couple of mistakes, so it was time to pull over in a cheap motel.

Near Columbia, SC, we pulled off an exit and went to a Ramoda Inn. A sign outside said “High Speed Internet”. We went in and signed up. I asked the clerk where the computer station was and he said you had to supply your own computer.

I’ll just be damn.

We went out to eat at a place called Rushes. We came back to the motel and I noticed a lot of big 18 wheelers parked around. When we pulled around to the front of our door also a lot of pickup trucks. A lot of truck drivers type standing around talking. No women. I asked Anna, “Brokeback Remoda?”

The next morning we drove on home. We were eating lunch at Williamson Brothers Barbecue in Marietta at noon.

All’s well that ends well.

The trip - next (I forgot the chapter number)

Blackbeard...aarrgggg!

Sunday morning, the 8th, I got up early because I am a early riser. And I am addicted to caffeine. It was still dark. I took a little walk down the highway a couple of blocks. A cat walked with me meowing. I think she was saying, “Got any fish parts? “ On the left was a store opened that said ‘Bait’. I walked up to the door and a young woman, who looked sort of manly, jumped out and closed the door quickly behind her and called the cat by name and said she wasn’t going to let her in. I asked her did she have coffee and she said no. So, the cat and I did not have any reason to hang around, but the cat thought if he/she just hung out a while she could probably run in when the door opened next. I thought of Elvis’s song about a One Eyed Cat Peeping in the Seafood Store… shake, rattle, and roll.

I saw no advantage in for me to hang around with the cat so I walked across the street to an old building that was some kind of store that also sold gasoline and fishing supplies.

An old man was there working on the cash register and was telling another man standing there that he was completely confused over new computer cash registers. But they had coffee! As I was paying for my coffee the old man had me go down to the end of the counter, “that cash register is still working – it’s the old fashion kind”. Behind him was a long track-like thing with a little machine of some sort on one end – I thought it was a lathe. I asked him what that was for and he said to wrap rods. I paid for my coffee and left.

We packed and moved on more southward.

Not too far alone we had breakfast at Bubba’s BBQ. It was just so so… nothing to write home about as they say… or in this case, write a blog about.

Next door to Bubba’s was a store that sold gas. We didn’t want to be down on some lonely island with no gas station and see the that little “empty” light again. So, I pulled in and to fill up. The pumps, like the ones outside Raleigh had no place to put your credit card., so I went in. Behind the counter was a little girl about 7 or 8 coloring a coloring book. On the outside was a nice looking young man leaning against the counter watching her with pride.

I hated to interrupt their activity but I guess I needed to. I asked him did I pay before hand or what. He, very casual and relaxed, said, “either way, it doesn’t matter.” Since I was standing there with my credit card I went ahead and gave it to him and went back and filled up, amused the whole time about the laid back island life way of life.

I went back inside to sign the slip and retrieve the credit card and I told him that the people there really have their own ways…. I thought I was complementing him but he looked taken back, maybe even offended. I did some fast talking to explain how much of a pleasure it was to see people enjoying their children and not paranoid over when you pay for the gas… he seemed to appreciate that.

I guess now is a good time as any to throw in the houses of the middle class here. The mansions are pretentious mansions, I am sure they are just as pretentious and snobbiest on the mainland or there, but the middle class on the island and on the last ten or fifteen miles before the you start leap frogging over the sounds the houses are very unpretentious with many houses with junk thinks around… almost always with a old rusty boat out front…. And quiet often you would see something of a strange yard ornament of some sort. Also, not usual is to see a regular 3 bedroom size ranch house or something of that order with a two or three tombstone markers in the front yard. I suppose there are no laws against buying your dead in your front yard.

I wonder if that would hurt the sale of the house, if a tiny cemetery was in the front yard? And if someone did buy a house with a little tiny cemetery in the front yard would it be okay for them to bury their kin there? And if so, wouldn’t that confuse future family researchers?

I told Anna I needed to tell Bob of this style of living…. Mainly about the junk in people’s yards… he would fit in.

Five miles after we filled up we took a ferry ride to the next Island which was Ocracoke Island. The ferry ride, as Anna read in one of the travel brochures of the area was one of the best entrainments in the area. I don’t know how long the ride was but it was far enough where you could not see land to where we were headed. The sea fowl, such as pelicans and sea gulls flew near us, dipping down in the waters to grab a bite and moving on. On the way back we saw porpoises or dolphins. It was interesting and beautiful.

The ferry is a free service. It is part of highway 12, which I would think it would be the highway department’s responsibility to keep the travels on Highway 12 uninterrupted, but Anna read in one of the brochures that the Coast Guards keeps the show going.

Which the people who guided us onto the ferry, making sure we got in on of the our lanes on the boat and were parked only inches from the car in front of us wore khaki officer’s uniforms with the gold bars. I don’t know if they go by the same ranking as the Navy, if so, we saw at several Commanders and Captains out hand directing traffic.

We had another long stretch of a wild life refuge with water on both sides of us. In this area we came upon a parking area, a platform and a wood gate-like fence. Inside the wood fence were ponies. The sign said they are not sure where or when the ponies originated. They said they probably are the descendants of the survivals of a sinking boat tragedy in the early to mid 1700s when British settlers were coming to the area.

If I could just get close enough to look in one of their eyes I think I talk the universal genealogy talk fairly good… maybe I could communicate with one of them… maybe one of them knows all the information and is responsible to hand it down to the next generation…. And here I am willing to talk the talk and walk the walk and all I can get is a snort and a “neigh”.

Eventually we came upon a little village and another ferry if we wanted to continue our journey – this time for a price. The little village had several inns and old homes that presently are restaurants… all with sea or nautical kinds of names…. Like maybe “The Ole Captains Table Restaurant”.

At a distant we could see a lighthouse. We went looking for it but couldn’t find it. We made three trips down a little narrow street that would have had to gone right by it, but didn’t see it. We asked somebody walking and they said it was “back there – you can’t miss it.” Damn them and their “you can miss it” – we can too!

One of the people we asked said we just rode by it, it is where the small little parking lot is. We turned around and looked for the small parking lot and there it was in all its tall white glory standing up with its head in a beautiful blue sky backdrop.

In this little community is a British Sailor Cemetery, where six sailors were killed defending the area, I think fairly recent – in WWII. Also, this is where Edward Teach, aka “Blackbeard” was beheaded by the British Royal Navy in 1718. I hope the cats’ ancestors weren’t near by.

We saw what we intended to see and headed back to where we came.

On the ferry ride back I talked to a preppy young man on his first day of a six day biking tour. He had a little trailer bike loaded down with his camping gear. One time he and a friend walked part of the Appalachian Trail, starting at Amecola Falls in north Georgia.

We ate lunch at Pigman Barbecue, which was okay to me, but Anna didn’t like it. It did have an interesting mural on the wall of a man with no shirt on but had a bra cooking a human-like pig tied to a stake.

Then we went back to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and got a daylight closer view of the giant lighthouse… which is the highest lighthouse in the U.S. we were told.

When we decided to go on this trip, we went to our favorite used bookstore and bought several fiction books about the area. Anna read them. She pretty much knows a lot about the Fresnel lens of lighthouses.

They had several Park Rangers on hand handing out their expertise knowledge at a cheap price.

By the way, we were told and read a number of times that off these shores there has been more than 1400 ship wrecks. That is a pretty high number. I think the Outer Banks has 4 lighthouses, which I am sure are/worth their weight in gold.

Also on our way back, with the huge bodies of water on each side, we could see people with giant colorful sail- kites hooked onto their backs that would take them high up in the air…. That looked fun…. Fun to watch, not to do – for me.

We went back to Nags Head to the Comfort Inn and got a room on the 5th floor, and paid $30 more for an ocean view. We decided it would be worth it… heck, you only live once. We enjoyed sitting on the patio outside the room and hearing and seeing the surf pound.

Also I got tied up trying to count the 7th wave – or picking out the highest wave, assuming it was the 7th, and seeing if every 7th wave from then on was a high wave. I was unsuccessful… I kept getting mixed up. I read the 7th wave theory in a book one time, I can’t remember the name of it – “Pappyon”? They also made a movie of it starring Steve McQueen and Dusty Hoffman… about a French prison in the South Seas someplace.

In the evening we went over to Roanoke Island and cruised around looking at things near the water. Some kind of festival was going on and I think another festival, musical, was going on nearby too, but we couldn’t find it. Interesting, a lot of houses with the water touching their back yards had stacks and stacks of cages. I suppose to catch crabs.

We ate at a nice restaurant overlooking the sound that separated Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks. The name of it was Sugar Creek. I had Sea Scallops. The view was really good and I thought the food was too. But why name the thing Sugar Creek? There is the bay or sound but where is the creek?

Back to the Comfort Inn. It was very windy outside. During the middle of the night I heard a noise that sounded like someone was politely trying to enter our room from the balcony. First came three knocks, that sounded definitely like knuckle knocks, then a rubbing sound like someone in the dark was searching the door with their hands looking for the door knob… then scratching…more rubbing, more knockings.. it had to be a dream – or maybe it was some of the dead from the old ship wrecks trying to get in from Harm’s Way.

More coming.

Ze Outer Banks - Part 3

Lets see …. Where was I?

Oh yeah, we were headed south on the Outer Banks Islands on Saturday October the 7th.

I did not think of it until we were there driving down that long lonesome highway, this must be what the Florida Keys are like. You could see the Atlantic Ocean on the left and on the right was a huge sound. That section we went through a huge amount of acreage was a wildlife refuge place, wild flowers, sand dunes, and those long tall plants that keeps the sand pretty much from blowing all over the place. I don’t claim to be a biologist.

At one section we crossed over a two and half mile bridge…. Which was a little scary because it was getting dark by then which made the water pitch black.

Once over the long bridge we were on Hatteras Island. Anna called on the cell phone ahead to a Comfort Inn to try and get reservations. The manager or desk clerk told her the hot water tank wasn’t working and he didn’t know how to fix it but he would give us a fifteen dollar discount. We told him we would let him know.

We drove into the little community the Comfort Inn was in. There were a couple of other motels so we decided to take a chance on a independently owned motel. We picked “Lighthouse View” Motel. As we checked in I asked about computer availability and got a “no”. This was an old motel. Our unit had a back porch with chairs – which I thought was nice.

After we looked at the room we walked across the street to a restaurant that looked like a bum’s paradise restaurant – the kind you would think Jimmy Buffet would hang out at. We were magnetized by the sign that said “Live Music.”

There was a screened in deck and an inside. The waiter, a slim guy with blond hair met us and asked us did we want to sit on the deck or inside where the live music was. We said inside where the music was. He led us inside - which was very small. I doubt if they had over five small tables. The only available table was one with the singing entertainer on one end, and we could sit on the other side of the table. Sharing the table with a person singing? That didn’t look very comfortable. We changed our minds, we wanted outside.

Outside on the deck was nice, you could still hear the music but you didn’t have to interrupt him singing to pass you the salt and pepper or anything.

Anna ordered crab cakes, which she loves good crab cakes, but finding them just right has always been a challenge – not many places know how to make good crab cakes. But this one did. I ordered Mahi Mahi (?) which was also very good.

The only other occupied table four young men were sitting. They were neat and preppy. Our waiter, the blond guy, seemed very interested in their conversation. By what I overheard I gathered they were school teachers and came there that weekend to surf. The blond waiter was older than they were, but I could tell he was intimidated – yet he was a them-wannabe. He asked them questions about their hobby and he told them good places to go to surf or whatever they do.

Back at our table he briefly told us he lived there all his life and loved the living next to the sea life and all. He said his family settled there in the 1600s.

Wait! I don’t think the 1600s would be correct; maybe the early 1700s would fit better. But who am I to throw a wet blanket on him? Besides, he might know something I don’t…. and I certainly don’t want him throwing a wet blanket on me neither.

Off in the distance it was lightening. At times a bolt of lightening would go sideways – which I didn’t know lightening would do that, high up, go sideways, but it did. We asked the waiter about it and he said it was called something, which I didn’t retain.

I forgot to mention we noticed on the island that a lot of vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks had a contraption on the front bumper that carried their long fishing rods. Some, got creative and had flags, such as college flags, American flags, and yes, even the Confederate Stars and Cross flag flying on the end of their rods. This was a fishing community.

Back at the motel, sitting on the back porch, we overlooked a man working under a light at a high table. He was cleaning fish. Then, I noticed in the dark grass all around him were cats. We counted five or six. All but one were yellow and white… and the exception one was black and white. At times the guy would throw a fish head or a tail out on the yard and cats would run and grab at it.

From up someplace elevated we could see the rotating beacon of a lighthouse. It was the Cape Hatteras Light House. We decided to get into the car and follow the beacon. We turned down a lonely road and could hear the water pounding up against the ground someplace in the dark. We got to a big parking lot. It was very dark, we could see the light beacon high up in the air, which seemed by itself up there going around and around.
Being that nothing but darkness kept our visibility to a few feet remind us of the Blair Witch Project.

Then, for a spit second the sky lit up by a charge of lightening. The giant black and white spiral circled Lighthouse stood in front us like a giant. Scary!

We went back to our motel. By the time we got there, another man was cleaning fish for the cat audience.

More later.

Outer Banks Adventure - Part 2

The next morning we got up and got on our way down NC Hwy 64.

Not far from Rocky Mount I noticed a Tyson Road. Of course that perked my interest because that is my middle name and also a family name of my ancestors. After thinking about it, the area just south of there in Greenville, North Carolina, was pretty much infested with Tysons around Revolutionary War times. In fact, one of the local Revolutionary heroes married a Tyson, who was a daughter of one of my ancestors and he and she are buried in a special place near an intersection on 10th Street in Greenville.

I noticed the land was getting flatter and a lot of cotton was grown and unpicked. It looked like it was time to be harvested. Also, near river beds rice was being grown and also something I couldn’t identify – it had bright yellow type leaves.

We crossed over either two or three very wide sounds. From one sound we landed on Roanoke Island, which was one of our main destinations. That is where the Sir Walter Raleigh Fort was and also the Lost Colony. But this time we just barged through. We had other things on our mind.

The first little town on the Outer Banks Islands was Nag’s Head.

We had two things in mind we wanted to see. The Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk and to have lunch at Dirty Dick’s Crab Restaurant. We thought both places might be interesting. Anna and both love crab – well, we love crab cakes more than we do trying to break open those spiny looking things with knots on them. I always make a fool of myself when I try to crack those things open. We both ordered po’boys. I ordered mine with shrimp and Anna ordered hers with oysters.

We thought for what it was it was too expensive. Thirty bucks plus for a two sandwich and Diet Coke lunch?

We rode around looking for the Wright Brothers Memorial. We rode up and down the two parallel roads several times.

Finally, I stopped and asked two “good old boys” sitting around outside a grocery store. Before I got to ask them a black lady asked them for directions for a certain area and they gladly told her. Then it was my turn, they did the same. I think they enjoyed giving directions, it gave them authority, they were just like E.F. Hutton Company, when they spoke, people listened. After they told me the landmarks close by they added, “You can’t miss it.” And I added to myself, “I already have – twice.”

I think the mix-up partly was because there are two communities that seem to overlap each other, one is called Kitty Hawk and the other is called Kill Devil Hill. I still think the Wright Brothers complex is in Kill Devil Hill.

The Wright Brothers Memorial Park looks to be about as bare and about three times the size of a football field. It has a huge sand dune on one end with a tall monument erected, and also on the grounds are two auditoriums, two replicas of the building in their little camp which one was their barracks and one was a hangar, then the museum.

A park ranger gave a humorous witty talk to a crowd of us about the Wright Brothers endeavor. Before they decided on Kitty Hawk they had written the National Weather Service wanting to know what sections of the country could meet their requirements – such as strong winds, and I forgot what all. Chicago came in first, which would have been closer to them, they lived in Ohio. They nixed Chicago because the World’s Fair had just been there and that caused the population to grow. They wanted a place with not many people. Kitty Hawk, with a population of 230 qualified.

The brothers went to Kitty Hawk (or Kill Devil Hill) and set up their operation. They would assemble their air plane, lug it to the top of the big hill and run down, when they felt they were going fast enough one would hop on and glide, with the wind’s help.

It took many trips up and gliding down – each time, they would modify, alter, or adjust something. And it took several years. Once or twice they were about to give up and their sister insisted they keep trying. I wonder if she ran their bicycle shop in their absence? Each year they would go down in the summer and come back in late summer.

Sometimes, to modify the plane they would have to take the contraption back to Ohio, which would take a couple of weeks.

One year – I think it was in 1903, they tried it with a motor which made a propeller spin. They modified and modified which took them up mid December, and they did it. They made the first man made flight.

They tried it three times, each time improving a little. I think the longest and most successful flight was being airborne for just over a minute, maybe two, and traveled about the length of two football fields.

That doesn’t sound like much but considering it was man’s first flight and it was just a little over a hundred years ago and see how far aviation has come, it is amazing.

In fact, it amazes me of the leaps and bounds humans made in aviation by WWI, which was less than 20 years away – by then they were doing aerial dog fights. We made a big advance in ways to kill people… even you could toss bombs out of planes onto a population – wow! If that isn’t progress, I don’t know is.

I should have been there that day in December they went airborne. If I was there they would have been able to stay in the air and go much further. I have the unique ability of twisting my torso and raising one leg they causes physical things being hurled do good things. Every time I have been to a bowling alley I can twist and turn and raise my leg in a hawk’s position and get the rolling ball to make a strike. Of course, that is when I’m watching someone else play. When I played the few times I played, I pretty much control a dud of a ball as it lazily find its way to the gutter on the side and smoothly and quietly rolls down.

One of the park rangers was a little female. After talking to her a while she let us know she wasn’t happy with her rate of pay and being only a part time. She also said even the highest paid rangers there are paid at a low rate of pay, lower than other federal employees – which their job requires a college degree – which just isn’t fair. I felt for her, but if she loves her work of educating slobs like me, who won’t retain it very long anyway, I guess the personal satisfaction in it is worth something.

One thing checked off our mental “to do list” on the Outer Banks.

As we were looking for the Wright Brothers Memorial driving slowly I noticed that their were many houses. Many giant houses, one after another beach front property. On and on. Each big house was surely worth over a million – by the real estate ads in a local paper we picked up the houses were going for over a mil each… where do all these people get their big bucks?

But, to keep us lowly working class people from rebeling and rising up they throw us a bone with a little meat on it – ever so often, probably every half mile or so there would be a small public parking lot and a trail and wooden steps leading over the sand dunes onto the beach.

We took advantage of the freebie and walked down and enjoyed the beach.

Okay, for now we were through with the Nag’s Head area. We got into the car and headed south down the long series of islands.

More to come.

Our Outer Banks Adventure - Part 1

We use to travel fairly often, but not anymore. We keep our travels rare. And because of that, we are fascinated at details we see when we do.

We left for our trip Friday morning, driving up the I-85 through the Georgia, South Carolina, and partly up and across North Carolina, until we reached Raleigh.

On the news we heard of a chemical explosion or burning near Raleigh at Apex, NC. The news said something about a chloride or chlorine cloud looming over Apex and the citizens were told to evacuate. We were headed straight to that poisonous cloud, according to the news.

Being that we live in a modern world with modern gadgets Anna called AAA on her cell phone and asked them about an up-to-date travel advisory for that area. The lady told us that it apparently was safe, no keep away advisory had been suggested – so, stay on course, which we did.

Near Raleigh we were to take to 40 or the 440 or both, which I think is their perimeter, and turn off of NC State Hwy 64.

I remember Hwy 64, we are old friends. Earlier this year we drove from just north of Young Harris, Ga., to Franklin, NC on Hwy 64.

So, we went around the loop and did not see Hwy 64, but did end up on a street with a lot of savory characters standing around. I turned around to head back to about where we got on the 440 or the 40 and somehow ended up in downtown Raleigh. We went into a Day’s Inn and a lady Indian (Eastern) got us a local map and highlighted the way we should go from there… she said turn right out of the parking lot, turn left, and then turn left again. And then she said, wait! Here is better way, turn left on that street, but instead of turning left on that street turn right, then up to some numbered hwy and turn left.

Wait! Wouldn’t that put me going the exact opposite direction that her previous instructions. “Yes!” She nodded happily.

As we were getting in the car I told Anna I should have asked her can we bring her back anything, because we were surely be back confused.

Then Anna studied the map the lady had given us and figured out how to get to the 440.

And we took a little driving tour of the Wake Forest College-town area. Rocky had a friend that went there, and I had a first cousin’s future son-in-law to go there on a basketball scholarship.

It was pouring down rain from the time we arrived at Raleigh for the rest of the evening.

We were going down Highway 64 East I saw a new light on our new car’s dash I haven’t seen in action before: It was saying we were of out of gas.

Anna navigating studied the map the Indian lady gave us and figured if we turned on the next exit and went about two miles there is a business area, and a business areas should have a sparkling new big many-pumps convenience stores right?

Wrong!

It has an old unpainted shack with two antique Pure gasoline pumps. It had nothing electronic about it. The numbers rolled a little wheel and there was no slot to put your credit card. It had been a long time since I dealt with a pump like that it took me a while to get it going… I had to give the card to the big man behind the cash register.

When I finished I went inside to sign the charge. I stood in line behind 3 or 4 black workers and one tanned blond with tight-ass designer jeans on. Boy, she had a deep voice! By her talking to the big guy behind the counter, the way he flirted and so, I figured she was a waitress in a bar. She bought a pack a cigarettes – that accounted for her deep voice. All the black men bought cigarettes too. Cigs were his best selling item.

We drove as far a Rocky Mount, NC. We got a room at a Holiday Inn and walked next door at Texas Steak House for dinner.

At Texas Steak House we were told there was about a 15 minute wait. Okay, that is fine. In the waiting area were two couples talking. I figured out the two men like to fish and they had a lot to talk about, fishing around the Cape Hatteras. They also went to the same church. Then two couples left, one couple a few minutes before the other couple. They too went to the same church. Must be a big church.

The younger man of the two were telling the other man about somebody retiring at 49 where he works. He said he was retiring with 30 years service. They young guy said, “Imagine that! That means he worked there since he was 17!”

I looked at Anna. Later we said we hoped he didn’t work in the accounting department or a cashier.

Another installment soon.

The Hunters Went and Came - In That Order

We returned from our little jaunt through North Carolina concentrating on the Outer Banks.
I only had about 5 minutes of computer time available while visiting several motels, so I will have to tell you our North Carolina trip in installments.
First one coming up.

Looptie De Loop!

Here we go on a vacation. Looptie De Loop!

The first picture is me, you can see part of ball cap sticking out, behind that tree.

The second picture is me crying and frantically looking at a map and in the background a giant prehistoric creature bellowing and trying to push the car over with its beak.

And that is when the camera broke.

Seriously folks – I don’t know if I will be able to make any blog entries in the next several days or not… I have all the addresses and passwords to do so, if we stay in a place that offers computer use.

So, you may see some on my blog tonight or tomorrow. If you don’t hear from me by Wednesday or Thursday I probably went to take a shit and the hogs ate me (yeah yeah, I know, I know, I stole that line from “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.”)

James Marion Prance (1857-1935)

This is Anna's great grandfather. Two or three entries ago I presented a picture of Mrs. James Marion Prance (Mary Jane Pannell) working on her back porch. James was a large land owner of the area and as you may guess by the picture a cotton producer.

I might have shown this picture before. It is in the Cobb County section of The Vanishing Georgia Project.

Packing - Too Many Options

When one doesn’t travel often it is an endeavor to pack – that one, being me. Today I have been off and on been picking out things to pack.

I think I probably have too many options taking up too much space.

And I might have too many books packed. I brought Stephen King’s book “The Tommyknockers” that I am reading and another book that I am reading David McCullough’s “1776”. Also, I packed the manual to my camera to piddle with, maybe I might learn something new it can do.

And lastly, a notebook. Why a notebook? For notes of inspiration or profound thoughts? No – you serious? To make calculations? No. To draw pictures? No. Then why a notebook? See? That is what I mean by a too many options.

Mary Jane Pannell Prance

This is Anna’s great-grandmother, Mary Jane Pannell Prance (1853-1927). She married James Marion Prance and they had six children.

Mary Jane’s Pannell family lived on Sandy Plains Road, just down the road from the farm I buy my honey at. What used to be their driveway is now Parnell Road which goes into a subdivision.

I think a county clerk or street namer made a mistake. I think they intended to name the road after the name of the family that originally lived there but one of the n’s was mistakenly taken for a r, so it was named something completely different.

What Will Tomorrow Bring?

Tomorrow we plan to leave for the Outer Banks. Will we actually go?

The weather forecast for the Outer Banks: Friday 70% chance of rain; Saturday 80%; Sunday 40%; Monday 40%; Tuesday 20%; and Wednesday 20%.

I remember another time we were undecided if we should go to the South Carolina coast because the weather fore cast was 100% rain. I was young and foolish then, now I am old and foolish – we went and we didn’t see a drop of rain. There was an overcast the whole time, which was fine with me, when photographing, colors (to me) come out better on overcast days than sunny days.

We might change our direction. We haven’t been to Asheville in a while and I wouldn’t mind doing some cemetery snooping in Burke County, NC, which was at one time infested with Hunters, back before the U.S. was the U.S.

And then again, we just might stay home.

Time will tell.

Ridley Kin Folks

This is my late grandmother Frances Viola Ridley Petty (1885-1968). She was my mother’s mother. She was born in Murray County, Georgia, spent the last ten or fifteen years here in Marietta, and died at a nursing home in nearby Paulding County.

I am bringing her up because of her name and the location she was born, Murray County, Georgia. Murray County, is a mostly rural farms. The two counties, on Murray County’s east border are Whitfield and Catoosa.

In Murray, Whitfield, and Catoosa Counties Ridley family members are all over. You might say the area is riddled with Ridleys.

This evening my sister called me and told me to turn on the A & E channel. They were doing a story of Alvin Ridley of Catoosa County, Georgia.

Just by name and location he has to be a relative… just exactly where on the family diagram, I don’t know yet. Alvin Ridley was arrested in the late 1990s for keeping his wife captive and starving her to death. She didn’t see daylight in 30 years.

Alvin was an eccentric recluse who was a TV repairman. It seems that TV repairman and being a recluse would not go hand in hand as a living arrangement, but that was him. One day he called 911 saying his wife had quit breathing, and with no emotion what so ever said slowly, “Please hurry.”

He lived in Ringgold, within almost a walking distance of the Chickamauga Civil War Battlefield, which was the 2nd largest Civil War battle fought, Gettysburg being the first.

Everything looked wrong. Nobody in town even knew he was even married for starters. Being eccentric didn’t help – there was junk and scribbling all over the place, where the wife had written things on the walls or on sheets or papers or whatever… she wrote all the time. She even wrote summary of TV shows – who the stars of the show were and so on.

Well, what it boiled down to was, just because you and your wife are reclusive and eccentric doesn’t mean foul play. The jury felt he was innocent.

He is an interesting relative I would like to know more about. The next time I am in Dalton/Chattanooga area I might drop by and visit Alvin. But again, he might not open the door.

Maybe I could bring an old TV with me telling him it needed some work.

Gotcha!

My son Adam called me and said he and his girlfriend Tiffany ran the same traffic light with the camera that Anna and I ran. Actually, he was under it as it changed but Tiffany was right behind him, so she was caught a couple of split seconds while it was red. Enough , for a ticket I’m sure.

I got the boot for Anna’s ticket because it is in both our names and my name is first, so I get the ticket. As for when I ran it, if you remember my blog entry on that, I plainly ran it, but a orange or yellow truck was directly on my tail, where if I stopped for the light he would have hit me in the rear-end.

So, I looked up Anna’s ticket and the ticket was March the 16th and I sent the fine in on March the 27th. I sent it in a day after we received the ticket so, we received the red-light ticket ten days after the offense.

Probably two months passed since I ran the light with the orange or yellow truck on my tail. So, apparently, he blocked the view of my plate, but not his. Pardon me while I find a piece of wood to knock on – wait, my head will do.

After Adam and Tiffany ran the same light Adam told me he has been doing some timing with his stop watch. There are only two red-lights in Marietta that has cameras ready to catch offenders. He said that one of them, the one we all ran, changes about 1.5 seconds quicker than the other lights that he timed do.

I wonder if our bodies, after years of experience, have a pretty good idea how long a green and warning yellow light are supposed to be? From our body-clocks we feel fairly certain we can make it. Then we don’t.

By the way, those two red-lights has generated over a million bucks in revenue in the form of traffic fines and probably saved many lives – each of the two lights we are talking about has had several deaths – but with people aware of the cameras the death toll has been cut to either nothing or almost nothing.

Ask Sister Mary Martha

Ask Sister Mary Martha I discovered is a very good blog site.

This is one of the funniest blogs around. It is evidently by a real nun who has an extremely heaven-knows-no-bounds wit. she is a riot.

She is unpredictable but has a strong set of principles.

I came across her blog one day when visiting Michael’s Silly Humans blog, which also is another good site, and thought I would check out the people making comments on his blog and there was Sister Mary Martha.

At first I thought it was a joke but the more I read the more I enjoyed it. And I am not even Catholic - or anything else. Uh-Oh, she might even convert me - I will do almost anything for a good laugh.

By the way, this posting serves two purposes: (1) to point you to a good funny blog and (2) for me practise my linking. Hopefully, I did it twice here. As usual, it is all about me.

Meredith's Blog

This morning on The Today Show Meredith Vieira announced she was starting a blog and we could read it.

I wonder what she will put in it? Her person thoughts, regrets, whims, and what she had for dinner?

I suspect she will put in her blog what NBC wants you to know about her life. Forget about any negative thoughts or anything politically incorrect. In fact, NBC will probably tell her she needn’t bother worrying about little details like that, don’t worry, they just might happily write it for her.

Of course we bloggers are not going to put anything on our blogs that we don’t want anybody to read. Hopefully, we use a little discretion and judgment when we decide what we want to share with potential every person in the world with access to the Internet.

I would be more likely to read Meredith’s blog if I know she is speaking of candor – like on the first one, let loose with some profanity because she can’t get on-line or something just to spur that she has feelings and her own opinion.

Of curse that could be planned to by the NBC writers and the ideas people too.

The Petty Bunch and a Hunter Again

This is another Petty grouping picture c1938. There are some interesting things in it you can not see unless you know the people. This is before my mother and father married.

I don’t know who the lady on the left is but the next lady is Lois, who was unrelated but also came from North Georgia to work in the mill. Years later I would meet Lois – she became Anna’s mother’s cousin-in-law, she married Marie’s cousin Toy.

My mother’s brother Tom is the 4th from the left. As usual, he is making a statement in front of the camera. On his left is his wife Mary Jo who is a couple of inches taller than Tom. She called him “my Little Tom” – she looks amused that he is showing off for the camera (or her).

To Tom’s right is the youngest of my mother siblings. Next is my mother’s mother and next to her is Herbert Hunter. Herbert Hunter? I wonder why Herbert slipped in the there? He was on the other side of the family, the Hunter’s side. And next to Herbert are mama’s youngest brothers Leonard and Roy.

The picture was taken in front of a house my mother and sister rented on Washington Avenue across from the National Cemetery when they first came to Marietta from North Georgia to work in a mill.

Post Office Blues

A postal story:

A couple of friends I worked with were always saying they were not afraid of management. I didn’t see any reason to doubt them, they did their job and a little more, which we all did.

One day while I had my earphones on working I heard a supervisor screaming in a loud voice. I turned off my music to hear better – after all, nosy is nosy. A supervisor named Vince was shouting at a female carrier calling her a slut and a whore and he was going to be on her, she might as well start packing her bags – she was leaving.

I asked my two co-workers what that was about and filled me in on the details, which I forgot now, it has been at least seven or eight years ago. But I do remember it was all his fault – she stood up to him when she was being falsely accused.

Later the carrier asked us each if we had heard Vince shouting at her and I said I did. The other two, which heard more of it than I did said they didn’t hear a word.
She asked me to put in a letter what I heard, which I did. I did not write down the details the co-workers told me, because I didn’t hear that part. That part was hearsay.

The letter I wrote was the last straw. I didn’t know he had a history of things like that from the other branch he worked at. I think he was forced to retire early (Supervisors rarely get fired).

He went on a drinking spree and had a stroke.

Once before he retired he visited two female carriers at their home. He was heavily under the influence. He told them they were living in sin as lesbians. Then he passed out on their couch.

His wife was/ is a high position in region office, which may not had anything to do with his actions, but again it might – if it allowed him to get away with so much.

I think he thought he was a good person trying to do the right thing. Tch tch.

Birthday Boy A Day Later

Rocky's birthday was Sunday and we could not get the Falcons to postpone their game a day so we had to postpone our dinner.

We all met at Chicago's Restaurant this evening, which was his choice.

The food was good and the conversation was also good.

The next person in our little Birthday Dinner club is my sister in mid-November. I think I ate enough tonight to hold me off until then.

Chicken Little Was Right

Very soon now, it won’t be long, there will be a big ozone hole directly above Metro Atlanta.

Many people have been waiting for this. Every year in Metro Atlanta outside burning is banned between May the 1st and September the 30th. On October the 1st the restrictions are off, and piles of grass clippings, limbs, foliage clippings, and whatever can be burned. That is probably in unincorporated, or outside city limits, in our case. So, in the next few days there are five months worth of stuff to burn.

And whoosh! Thar’s a hole in the Ozone layer.

Buzzing about Bees

Here are a few facts I recently read on Uncle John’s Daily Tear-Off Page-Day Calendar about bees:

Honeybees are not native to North America. They were introduced from Europe in the 1600’s by the Puritans.

I wondered how they transported them? Well, of course by boat, but if the queen bee decided to escape and roam the boat to look around she would have the whole hive swarming right behind her- it would have been an interesting site, not to mention a ship being shifted off course. Maybe the orginal destination of the Mayflower was Nova Scotia and things went astray.

Different bees have different “dialects”. A German bee cannot understand an Italian bee.

From something else I read or saw on TV that a bee dances to communicate. So, maybe a German bee wants to dance the polka and the Italian bee wants to do one a hot Latin dance ball-room dance.

Bees use ultraviolet vision – a special vision that allows them to see which flower has the largest amounts of nectar.

Ah shucks, that an’t nothing. Many human have that ability, but instead of nectar their ultraviolet vision seeks out the people with the most money.