As I ride around the Upstate of South Carolina, western North Carolina, and eastern Georgia, I sometimes spot unusual sights along the way. Some of these are simply new to me, but others are strange and out of the ordinary.
Here are a couple of recent examples, all from the same day of riding:
1.
This is a photograph of the sign for the Amsterdam Hotel in Duluth Minnesota. I just popped up there to see the sign the other day. I'd say the prices are certainly reasonable, with running water, telephones in all rooms, and a bath for a bit extra! ...and it is just half a block from this sign.
The approach:
Surprisingly, it didn't take all that long to get there from home.
Now the truth of the matter.
In actuality, the sign is quite nearby -- about 12 miles from my house, in fact.
[What? Please explain, Bucky ]
Well the sign is really located in Greenville South Carolina (about 1177 miles from Duluth), and was painted on an old manufacturing building around 2007 for the movie Leatherheads, shot, in part, in Greenville.
The movie is set in 1925 Duluth, and is a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America's nascent pro-football league. Dodge Connolly (played by George Clooney) is a charming, brash football hero who is determined to guide his team, the Duluth Bulldogs, from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star and war hero Carter Rutherford (played by John Krasinski) to join his ragtag ranks.
Here is the movie trailer.
The hotel sign is located within view of the Swamp Rabbit Rail-to-Trail, but you can go right up to it as I did at 111 Welborn Street between Willard and S. Hudson Streets.
This is a picture of the Vance Hotel in Statesville, NC that was used in the movie to represent the Amsterdam.
Elsewhere in the movie, Clooney rides his 1918 Indian motorcycle up to the 1924 Poinsett Hotel which is still open in Greenville.
Interestingly, the 1918 Indian motorcycle is not vintage, but rather a custom-built electric-powered replica. It was fabricated in El Segundo California at Customs By Eddie Paul. Why electric, you ask? The Leatherheads script required a functional vintage-looking motorcycle that could be ridden and operated by the actors during recording of dialogue. Thus the need for a quiet motor.
Leatherheads Links:
2.
The next odd sight is the head of a bear, also in Greenville -- and not in the zoo, by the way.
Here it is.
Looks like a bear's head, right? Looking right at you. Snarl on his mouth. Rounded ears. Right?
Take a closer look.
Now do you see it? It's a bear. Correct?
Actually, it is a burl on a tree on Richland Way which parallels Richland Creek. About here on this map: 34.850730, -82.383861
The bear from a different angle.
Looking right out of the tree, he is.
In the creek nearby, there are a number of concrete footings for a railroad trestle that stood here from 1886 to 1991.
You have to look over top of the lush kudzu growing along the bank here to see the footings at this time of year.
The trestle that once sat on the footings served the former CSW railroad, and looked like this. The railroad right-of-way paralleled Traxler Street, visible to the east on the map cited above.
The Swamp Rabbit Trail may be extended on the former railroad right of way, requiring a new bridge to be erected across Richland Creek ravine to replace the wooden trestle.
So, there were two odd sights today, both in the city of Greenville.
What kind of odd sights have you seen in your two-wheeled travels?
See more Odd Sights I've Seen by clicking "odd sights" here or on the left side of the page.
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