Fields of the Wood

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Ever see anything like this?

See: Exodus 20:2-17

Neither had I until this week.  The weather forecast for the week showed rain, rain, rain, except for Monday.  So, I took the day and went to a pretty neat place up near Murphy North Carolina.

That's where I took the photo above.  The gigantic Ten Commandments are on a hillside at a place called Fields of the Wood Bible Park.  All you have to do is go in and look around.  It is free for the asking.  (More about that later.)

The place covers some 210 acres, and includes dozens of concrete markers with information and inspiration from the Bible.  It is almost as though you are walking through that precious book as you explore here.  The place is a ministry of: the Church of God of Prophecy in Cleveland Tennessee. 

I found out about it way back in October of 2011 on the Carolina Rider Forum.  The tall guy who used to post quite a bit there, Stretch, had set it as a tag, but nobody went after it for some reason.  


Well, I finally took the time to go there.  Better late than never, I'd say.

It is 256 miles round trip, without diversions.  With diversions, it can be as long as your hind end can stand your saddle, since there are some nice curvy roads there and about. 

[So.  How do you get there, Bucky?]

I took the most direct route, using Harley-Davidson Ride Planner.  (That's the website that works so much better than Google Maps and the one that downloads your custom route directly to your GPS if you want it to.)  I wrote about how it works back in April or 2015.

Here is the route:

Click here for a Bing interactive map

Major towns and road names starting in Easley, SC, on the right side of the map:

• US-123 S, 34.0 mi
• Clemson, SC
• Seneca, SC
• Westminster, SC
• Brasstown, SC
• US-76 W, 25.6 mi
• Long Creek, SC
• Enter Georgia
• Clayton, GA
• US-23/US-441/US-76, 0.3 mi
• US-76 W, 31.2 mi
• Macedonia, GA
• Hiawassee, GA
• Hwy 17 N/GA-515 E, 1.1 mi
• Enter North Carolina
• Hayesville, NC
• NC-69 N, 3.5 mi
• US-64 W, 13.5 mi
• Murphy, NC
• US-129 S/US-19 S/US-64 W/US-74 W, 8.0 mi
• NC-294 W, 9.9 mi

Arrive at Fields of the Wood, 10000 NC-294, Murphy, NC, 28906


There are some nice sweeping curves on the road between Brasstown and Clayton and between Clayton and Macedonia.  There are also some between Hayesville and Murphy.  The rest of the roads are mostly less challenging.  There were almost no areas of less-than-excellent pavement that I saw, and the traffic was light. 

And remember that Deal's Gap, and the Tail of the Dragon are only about 58 miles from Murphy on this route. 

[What else can I see there at Fields of the Wood?]

Well, here is the entrance:

And the arch just beyond it: 

The arch and the road beyond it:

These things can also be found:

• ClimbTen Commandments Mountain
• ExperienceThe All Nations Cross, a giant cross with flags of the nations of the earth flying from flagpoles on its perimeter
• MountainPrayer Chapel
• SeeOr Get Baptized In The Baptismal Pool
• SeeGolgotha the rocky place where Jesus was crucified, having the appearance of a skull
• GoInside Jesus' Tomb where He was buried for three days before arising from the dead
• VisitThe Psalms Of Praise
• HikeThe Nature Trails
• ClimbTo The Top and Pray Atop Prayer Mountain where you can read monuments all along it with Bible passages pertinent to many of life's struggles and situations
• DeliciousBurger Mountain Cafe
• HiddenTreasures Gift Shop
• ViewEach Picnic Area
• ViewThe Duck Pond

A satellite view:

At the top of the Ten Commandments mountain, is a 30 foot tall open Bible. 

It is open to the passage in Matthew 22:37-39, where Jesus replied [to an expert of the law who was trying to trick him, asking, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"]: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  A lot of people don't know that there are many more than ten commandments, and these are two of them.

A closer view of the open Bible:  

View from the top of Prayer Mountain, looking through the trees, and across the valley at the Ten Commandments:

It is quite a hike to the top of either Prayer Mountain or the Ten Commandments, but there is a road to get to the top in each case, too.

View from the top of the Ten Commandments, showing Golgotha with the three crosses in the center, the baptismal pool at far left, and Jesus' tomb between the two:

Here is a view from the same vantage point, showing Prayer Mountain just left of center, Psalms of Praise in the center, and a light plane in its shelter at the left: 

The plane was part of a fleet of planes that was used from the 1940s, possibly through the 1960s to distribute Gospel tracts.  It was called the White Angel Fleet, and was based on the airstrip at the site.

Here is an aerial drone tour that takes you through some of the exhibits (without the climbing):



By the way, the free entry -- for the asking -- has some great parallels to the only way you can get to heaven and live forever after you die and leave this earth.  You must believe in your heart of hearts what the following words of the salvation prayer say: 

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.
Amen.

It is important to note that you don't have to work your way to heaven.  All you have to do is sincerely believe the words above -- it is free for the asking!  Once you do that, then you will want to do good works for others as a result. 


As I am winding down my visit, I notice that the Tennessee state line is a little less than four miles away to the west.  I have only ridden in three states so far -- South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia -- so going there would increase my state count by a whopping 33 percent.  I go for it, but I would later regret taking the extra time to dash over there and to try out a few very curvy roads nearby.  

Coming back from Tennessee, it starts sprinkling.  Then it starts to rain.  Then it starts to rain hard.  Then it starts to pour. 

Poor Bucky doesn't have his rainsuit along, either.  There is no choice but to continue. Since I am heading east, I should eventually ride out of it, but it takes an hour and a half to do so.  That's why they call them scattered showers, I believe.  I dry out mostly by the time I pull into my garage.

All together, with my little side excursions, I have ridden 302 miles, my longest single-day ride so far.  Surprisingly, I am not all that tired, even after riding in the rain.  (Maybe the rain invigorated me. Who knows?)  I am a little stiff in the legs the next day, but not bad for an old guy.

I'll tell you about the other curvy roads in a future posting.  Don't miss it. 
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Right Great Ride Routes to Remember

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Back in the middle of August, I was riding around one Saturday, and stopped at the Holly Springs Country Store for a little rest, and to wet my whistle.  As I turned into the driveway, I spotted a young man dribbling motor oil from well above the filler opening, trying to get some to go into the crankcase of his Yamaha V-Star metric cruiser. 

I stopped nearby, took off my gloves and helmet, then walked over to see if I could help him.  He had no funnel, and he was getting more oil on the pavement than into the gizzard of his bike.  I held the bike up straight for him so he could pour more accurately. 

He finished his pouring, and thanked me for helping, then introduced himself as Jay.  As we were talking, I noticed that his license tag was from Florida, and he had some luggage on the tail of the bike. I asked him about his ride today and how long he had been riding. 

He was a talkative guy, and explained the details of how he came to own a motorcycle, and why he was there today.  He said he had become interested in riding some months ago, traded his old car even for the bike, and only then took a class to learn how to ride it.  He said it sat in the garage until he took that class.  That seems smart to me.  That's what I did back in 2007.  Now carless, he rides the scooter wherever he goes if he can't walk there.  He says he has ridden about 4000 miles so far, and had never been on roads that were not flat before this trip.

He related that he had just come down from Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina, about 12 miles from the store.  It is a place I have visited many times before, at Pushpin B (Pushpin A is where the store is located):   

View Larger Map

He said that Sassafras was the last of the highest points in seven states he had visited over a period of a week.  He didn’t have much with him -- a tent, a sleeping bag, and a small clothes bag strapped onto the bike, and he said that he had spent all of $90 on lodging for the week.  

Interesting.  I wondered where these seven peaks are.  

I looked up the Seven Summits Tour on the Internet, but came up with something a lot different: Many people, extreme adventurers, think of climbing to the highest points on the seven continents when they hear about Seven Summits. 

These:

• North America’s Denali,
• South America’s Aconcagua,
• Asia’s Mount Everest,
• Europe’s Mount Elbrus,
• Africa’s Kilimanjaro,
• Australia ‘s Mount Kosciuszko, and
• Antarctica’s Vinson Massif.

For those who are less adventuresome ‑‑ and who have shallower pockets ‑‑ the seven might instead be the highest points in seven southeastern states, listed here with their elevations above sea level: 

• Florida’s Britton Hill (lowest of the seven at 345 ft),
• Alabama’s Mt. Cheaha (2,407 ft),
• Georgia’s Brasstown Bald (4,784 ft),
• South Carolina’s Sassafras Mountain (3,560 ft), 
• North Carolina’s Mount Mitchell (highest point east of the Mississippi at 6,684 ft),
• Tennessee’s Clingmans Dome (second highest of the seven at 6,643 ft), and
• Mississippi’s Woodall Mountain (806 ft).

All of these high points have roads to or nearly to their tops, so you don't have to turn up your pacemaker to get to any of them, and you can leave your hiking boots behind.  For someone who has only previously ridden on flat roads, he has certainly gotten a dose of twisties by now, traveling to these places and in between.  

I have visited Sassafras Mountain many times, and Mount Mitchell is easily accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have been there twice on the bike. 

This route might be a good way to get to these seven high points in the most expedient way.  

View Larger Map

I calculate about 1450 miles going this way, avoiding most major four-lane highways.  

Anyway, back to talking with Jay. 

I also noticed that his jacket had an embroidered logo, “Florida Free Rides,” so I asked him what that was, thinking maybe it was a biker group.  He explained that he owns a company by that name in Clearwater Beach Florida.  They have a fleet of electric carts that ferry people from hotels to attractions and back for free.  He says he makes his money by selling the advertising space on the sides of the vehicles, and his drivers make theirs through tips from happy riders. 

That is Jay at the back of the cart pictured here:

Jay continued the conversation, recounting some of the places he had been so far on his trip, that he had had trouble finding some of the high points, and his adventure of riding the Tail of the Dragon.  On the latter, he said that he had no trouble going the speed limit there, but others were much faster than he. 

He observed that, "In Florida, you get a ticket if you speed, but in the mountains, your penalty is a trip off the edge of a mountain."  

True enough.  I reminded him that we do use the sides of our tires here in the mountains, contrary to those riders in, say, Florida.  He thought about that for a moment, looked down to examine his tires, and said that he now realized that very fact. 

Here is another, shorter route that takes in the highest point in Kentucky, Black Mountain (4,145 ft), but skips Florida (its high point is only a relative pimple, you know), Alabama, and Mississippi:


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This route is about 628 miles. 


And if you skip Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and leave just South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, you get this route:


View Larger Map

420 miles: A long day, but doable for many.


Maybe I could try it some time, or split it into two days to include some signtseeing along the way.

What do you think?  Do you have a Right Great Ride Route to Remember?

Other Info of Interest:

• Southern Six Pack  
• Seven Southern Summits  
• Seven Southern Spring Summits

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Quiet Parks and a Winter Route

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Last time I went out for a ride, I looked at Google Maps to find some new places to go.  Since it is winter, I usually don't go north into the mountains -- might be ice or sand on the road.  I don't need to be slip sliding around. 

Instead, I look for sights that are new to me in the other three directions.

I pick out three parks, generally south of home, Sadlers Creek State Recreation Area, Hart State Park, and Tugaloo State Park.  By the time I complete the route, I will have gone into Georgia and circumnavigated the major part of Lake Hartwell, shown here in a satellite view, and found a highway with some nice sweepers: 

© Terra Print

The three rivers that form the lake are the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca. It covers 56,000 acres, about 88 square miles.  

It is a little cold again this morning -- 28 degrees -- but I can handle it fine if I dress right, and it will warm up later. 

I start out on US-178, the road that, to the north, is a favorite of motorcyclists around here.  In the direction I am headed, however the road is very mild.  There is not much traffic this morning, so I can move right along and enjoy the sights.

I find Sadlers Creek and go in.  There are a few boat trailers, parked, so there must be some fishermen and recreation seekers about.  Not where I am, though.  It is quiet and there is no human in sight.  The water level is low, due to the recent dry weather, so there is a lot of normally-submerged area at the edge of the water.

This would be a serene place to enjoy the view and maybe drown a few worms. 

I snap a few pictures of my trusty steed.

From the shore. 

It would be pretty in the fall here, I expect, but probably not as quiet. 

There is a fine picnic pavilion on the water with this entrance forming a frame for the focal point of my photo, my silver Ninja.

They even have a basket of various balls and rackets for visitors' use.  How thoughtful. 

I don't take them up on using them today.  .


Next up are some more mild roads, and then to Hart State Park, for another pic of my baby.

This time, I spot a speedboat out on the water, near the far shore.   No skier behind, though.  Must be wimps, since the temperature must be way up into the 40s now. No telling what the water temperature is, though. 

No other people around.  Again, quiet, but a nice place to sit and watch the water and wildlife.

Nearby, there is a boat ramp with this important road sign on the way to it: 

I didn't keep on going into the drink.  [Pretty smart of Bucky, don't you think?] 

After I leave Hart, but before I reach Tugaloo, in Georgia. I cross the bridge over the Savannah River with a nice view of the Hartwell Dam a little to the north.  Since 1963, this dam has generated quite a lot of clean hydropower. 

A little road west of the river crossing leads to the powerhouse.  Being an engineer, I can't pass up this opportunity to see some engineering on a grand scale.  Just before reaching the powerhouse, I stop and take my bike's picture. 

 
When I get closer to the powerhouse, I see a sign that says that photographs are forbidden.  Oops. Well, nobody seems to be ready with the handcuffs just yet.  Maybe I was further away when I took the picture than they care about. 

There is a little place to camp and have a picnic along the Savannah River downstream of the dam.  The riverbed is very rocky, with rounded-top lumps sticking above the water's surface, like a multitude of bald heads grouped together.  The dead end road along the river passes under the road I came in on, US-29.  A guy riding a Monster and wearing a race suit passes me on this little road as I am taking the pictures, but he seems to be in a hurry and doesn't stop to chat.

Here is a photo from near the top of the dam, looking downriver toward the 1958 highway bridge, taken on my trip to Lawrenceville Georgia in 2009. My current location is on the other side of the river, beneath the bridge.  Downstream of the bridge is Lake Russell, another large, man-made lake. 

The river is lower today than back then, exposing more of the lumpy bald heads.

The view from under the bridge I had passed over a few minutes earlier:

I don't see Monster guy again.  He is probably tearing up the roads somewhere way ahead of me. 


Next up is Tugaloo State Park, Georgia.  I couldn't find many picturesque views, and, again, there are no people around.  I guess it is too cold out.  There is a nice picnic shelter, and a playground nearby. 

(Before you comment, there were no handicapped people there, and I only stayed a minute.)

I spot a road hazard nearby. Can you see what it is?

Look closer:

Acorns.  Lots of them.  Like ball bearings.  Even a car might be in trouble here.

I avoid the hazard, though.

Now to the highpoint of the ride today.  A road on the way back home.  It is on this map, between Pushpins D and E. 

View Larger Map

It isn't very twisty, but it is a 15-mile series of sweepers that is enjoyable to ride, like a shorter version of my earlier posting about Sweepers, Galore!  This surface is clean, and in good condition.  It makes part of a good winter route.  I will have to build on it some time.  There isn't much traffic, and I like the free feeling of guiding my two wheels through the curves.  Another road that is all sweepers is the one that leads to Whitewater Falls, my first trip there is described here. 

I think this is one of the ways I most enjoy my scooter.  I like a few tight twisties in the mountains, but I am not that fast there, a little error could be a big deal, and there are certainly many hazards that could cause trouble around the next bend. 

At the other end of the road spectrum are the almost straight roads.  They are not technical enough, and it is easy for the mind to wander -- not a good thing in any case. 

I enjoy my 182 mile ride today, especially this curvy part. Yes, the sweepers are the best for me.  How about you? 
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Wandering

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When I am out riding, there are times I try out roads that I have spotted on a map somewhere, or that I turn onto at whim to see where they go and what is there.

Sometimes I find little or nothing.  Other times I find some gem that I had not expected.  These things can range form natural to manmade, and everything in between. Since my head still has lots of room to take in new things, I thought maybe yours might too. Come along with me to see some of the sights I have discovered in the last couple of years riding the bike. 

Just a couple of weekends ago, I went out on some familiar roads, but stopped to get a better look at something I had literally passed right over -- Toxaway Falls.  Toxaway Lake is dammed up to provide municipal water and recreation, but just below the dam is a waterfall of some beauty.  The only thing is, the road crosses over the waterfall and makes it hard to view.  There is also no public access from below the falls.

This is what the road and bridge above the falls looks like, facing toward the east on US-64.  There is a parking lane on the north, or dam side, of the road, but there is only a narrow place to park the bike on this side of the road.  Also on this side you can walk between the concrete barrier and a fence to get a better look at the falls below without worrying about being hit.
This is what you see close to the bridge.

This vista is downstream.

Pretty.
According to Rich Stevenson on the NCWaterfalls website, Toxaway Falls "spills and slides over some very colorful bedrock in a 240' change in elevation before the river disappears into the forest. In 1916, the dam gave way and Lake Toxaway came gushing down the gorge, stripping away the dense vegetation and exposing the bedrock along the falls and below." There are some very nice photographs and videos of the falls on Rich's website.  There is also a sweeping panorama of the falls at the Highlands Newspaper website. 

Map.

Another interesting thing I stumbled upon a few weeks back was a meeting of the Dixie Jewels Insulator Club at the World of Energy at the Oconee Nuclear Station.  I know people collect all kinds of things.  I, myself, for example, can be accused of that, owning three player pianos, and a huge number of paper rolls to play on them.  The Dixie Jewels, however collect electrical insulators.  Like these. 

And these.

As I was perusing the treasures, I spotted an insulator with some points on the skirt (or petticoat, to be more correct in terminology).

Do you know their intention?  Well, the Hemingray Company, doing business between 1850 and 1970, patented the design on May 2, 1893.  The points allow rain water to drip off more readily.  Interestingly, when I got home, being the dutiful husband I am, emptying the silverware basket in our dishwasher, I found that it has points on its bottom for the same reason -- to make the water droplets fall off so they don't land on your kitchen floor.  I would never have thought about it without having discovered it by accident looking at a bunch of antique glass insulators.
...now if they were collecting piano rolls, I'd understand that...

Map. 

There are quite a number of gravel roads in the areas I ride, some of which I have written about.  (Search for the word "gravel" in the box at the upper left of the screen.)
One road that I recently discovered, White Cut Road, is cut very sharply into the terrain.  The angle of repose of the cut, in civil engineering language, is almost vertical. 

The soil and rock here must be very stable to allow this.  It is not a big thing, but I found it interesting.  The road is quite passable on the street bike, but it is narrow, so watch for the infrequent oncoming traffic.

Map. 

Here is a very odd structure a found.  I first spotted it from across a railroad track, visible on the left of the photo, when I was wandering around near Piedmont, SC.

Looks like a super-size playhouse to me.  It encompasses a twin-trunked tree, has an enclosed space elevated above the ground, and it has an open observation deck above that.  It would be the best treehouse around -- if that's what it was.  It isn't.  It overlooks a cemetery!
Why, I don't know.  I asked a maintenance guy who was nearby, and he just said it was to be able to overlook the cemetery.  You can certainly see the extent of the graves here, and you can see this tiny and peculiarly pointed-roof stone building. 

It was once the cemetery office.  All this is at the Resthaven Memorial Gardens.  The map below reveals a giant cross, best visible from the air, that is located just to the right of the pointed-roof building in the photo above. 

Map. 

This is a little memorial to a church that once stood here, the Whitmire Methodist Church. The building is long gone, but this stone memorial and the cemetery across the street remain. 

From a history of Salem Methodist Church:
"In 1913, the Whitmire Methodist Church closed its doors and united with the Salem [SC] Church. In the 1950s, the congregation decided to once again use the Whitmire building. After a few years, they decided that the Salem location was the best place to be and went back. In 1956, under the direction of Homer Griffith and James Whitmire, the old building was torn down and replaced." 
The church site is only a little way from a gravel road I followed last year called Winding Stair or Cheohee Road. 

Map.

The guy who owns this land also collects things -- mostly automobiles and automobiliana, by the looks of it. 

The car under the Coca-Cola shed says "SHERIFF PATROL" on the hood, and sports a gumball machine light on top.

Map.  

Not far away, on Banks Road is Brown's Forest.

...or "BROWN'S FOR-REST" as they put it. Must be a great place to retire. I hope to do that some day. 

Up just beyond the Blue Ridge Parkway on NC-215 is this bridge.

It is picturesque on its own, but there is a nice view of cascading waterfalls just above it.

There is a place to pull off the pavement on the far side (north) of the bridge in the first picture, so you can walk around to various vantage points.
I hear that the road has been repaved there recently, but there are sections with heavy gravel on the road between the Blue Ridge Parkway and north to US-276.
NC-215 is usually clean south of the Parkway, and makes a nice extension of the twisty US-178 between SC-11 and Rosman, NC.  

Map. 

Some of you who ride custom bikes and choppers might recognize the logo on this building. 

It is the shop of Redneck Engineering.  They sell anything from parts to complete bikes, ready to roll out the door.  I visited there one day, and found that they were working on various frames and bikes, and they have displays of their wares arrayed on a mezzanine around the periphery the shop.  The tattooed guys working there were a bit intimidating, by the way. 

Map. 

Right down the street is the Moo-tel.

Actually, this is the Dalton Ranch.  Hospitable folks -- if you are a cow, I'd guess. 

Map. 

If you need to stop for a few minutes of prayer, this little chapel might be a good place. 

Despite that fact that it is very well kept, it is a bit off the beaten path.
This miniature golf course is right up the street.

Both are near this view.

Do you recognize it?  That is Lower Whitewater Falls just left of center, viewed from the Bad Creek Pumped Storage Facility overlook.  .
The chapel and golf course are a little beyond the overlook, on a gravel road. Don't be going too fast past the overlook -- the gravel road is on the right at the next left hander, and there is a gate across the paved road after that. 

Map.  

Pushpin A is the chapel, B is the golf course.  Scroll around the map and note the very large houses on this neck of land.  Maybe it is not so out of the way after all!


I went to Maulden South Carolina in May of last year and found a couple of unusual sights.  One is this log cabin.

It is the Gosnell Cabin, about 200 years old, now located at the Mauldin Cultural Center.  The style of the cabin probably indicates that it was begun by an Indian and finished by a white man.  It originally had a dirt floor, but was later jacked up and a wooden floor added.
Its original location was in northern Greenville County, near Poinsett Bridge, completed in 1819.  The cabin was used as the construction headquarters while the bridge was under construction.  The site of the cabin was later to become Boy Scout Camp Old Indian.
The other interesting thing I found that day was that a model train show was going on in the former school there.  This fellow was closely inspecting the displays. 

There were hundreds of scale miles of trackage, and thousands of railcars.  I happened to see a fellow rider, Dan and his young son there that day.  The kids really seemed to enjoy the activities.
They have the show every May, put on by the Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club and the Atlantic Coast S Gaugers.  How many of you are old enough to remember when S-gauge came out?  (It was in the 1930s, but became the more realistic two rail instead of three in 1946.) 

Map. 

You know that there are redwood forests in the American west, but did you know there is one in Greenville South Carolina?  There is. 

It is on the campus of Bob Jones University.  It is, in fact, a Dawn Redwood, given to the university by General Chiang Kai-Shek of China in 1952.  The Dawn Redwood is the least tall of the redwoods, growing to about 200 feet (60 meters) in height.

Map.  

Believe it or not, this is a tire store.

Looks very tropical, don't you think?  Here is a closeup of one of the murals. 

On second thought it looks a little 1950s.  This fine artwork is found at Ed Allgood's Tire store.  

Map. 

If you can't go on without some pink plastic flamingos for your yard, here is the place: Get Flocked.com. 

You may recall that I collect and restore player pianos.  These instruments, most popular between about 1900 and 1929, are operated pneumatically, and a paper roll with perforations tells the instrument what notes to play.  Some of the music they produce sounds very mechanical, but others are uncannily realistic sounding -- to the point of your not being able to tell that a real pianist is not playing.
The fellow who owns the 1927 Lake Lure Inn, is a collector of such instruments, and some of them are displayed in the lobby of the hotel.

This instrument likely provided background and dance music for an early 20th century dance hall, possibly in Europe.  It contains a piano, organ pipes, and drums.   

The instrument below sounds a lot like the one at the inn, except that it does not have drums. The one in the video contains a piano, several ranks of pipes, and a reiterating xylophone. 

Here is a photo of a grand piano that plays like a human.  It is called a reproducing piano, and was built in 1926.  This one (similar to one at the inn) happens to be a Knabe brand, and it plays Ampico rolls.

The drawer beneath the keyboard slides open to load the paper roll.  It can hide in the closed position either when playing automatically or when the piano is being played by hand.  You can see and hear a piano like this here.  It is amazing what they did back then with purely mechanical workings -- no electronics whatsoever. 

Map.  

There aren't very places where you would see a sign like this one.

It is placed on a road that ends in a boat launch into the Lake Hartwell visible behind it.  I found it when I went down to Lawrenceville Georgia for a class.  Apparently, the transition between the road and the ramp is not distinct enough and some people have driven right into the lake.  Fortunately, I heeded the sign and stopped in time to avoid a bath. 

Map. 

Well, we have covered a lot of territory already.  There is more to come, but that's it for now.

See if you can visit some of the same spots and enjoy them as much as I did.  Maybe you can visit all of them in one day.  It is possible. 
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