A Wonderful Weekend in Concord (April 25-27)

Headed out from Richmond on Saturday Morning April 25, down I-95 to I-85 and into Concord in the early afternoon. Nice to be home with my wife, son, and dogs.....a great visit. Lunch was at the Little Dooey near the giant Concord Mill shopping center; good BBQ and blues music in there. It is a limited chain based out of Mississippi, not really NC BBQ (no slaw on the food) but good stuff and the music is great. Spent the weekend with family and friends, what you see of the skies is the photo was how it was there, with highs in the upper 80s. Got to do some work around the house, cleaned up the cars (and happily the Neon did just fine on the road up and back), and got in a fine motorcycle ride during my visit.
Will be going back on this upcoming Friday, this time for four days! On the way down Friday plan to check out Old downtown Petersburg, VA as I will have time. Will be a leasurely trip down as Patty works till 6pm; so no huge rush to get there, and plan to take advantage with a bit of Virginia sightseeing.

GIve me the lunch, with a side order of towing...

Know how when a airliner lands on the runway, and the thrust reversers kick in and you feel like you are going backwards? Well, sort of had that feeling on I-95 this weekend.

In the context of the start of this post, lunch is of interest on Sunday April 19 which started out better than it ended. Noted in a previous visit that there was quite a crowd at the Chesterfield County Airport for the buffet. I was also told during a haircut while talking about the area that a great place to eat was at the Chesterfield County Airport. So I went back on Sunday April 19 and checked it out. Got a lot of good food for $9.75, all you can eat and beverages included. They had salads, breakfast or lunch type food (chicken, North Carolina and Virginia style BBQ) on the buffet, and it was really good. I enjoyed a few plates, also the view. I am an aircraft fan (which is how I ended up at the airport in the first place a few weeks ago) and enjoyed watching the planes land and take off. I will be coming back there again. Also enjoyed the people, was an older church sort of crowd but a lot of fun and very nice to the guy from North Carolina in the motorcycle shirt with shorts on.
After lunch headed to Chester, NC. I was headed to the City Point Unit site (was a Union supply depot in the Civil War, and General Grants HQ during the Petersburg campaign) when all hell broke loose just short of Exit 61A. All of a sudden a very loud BOOM, check engine light and it felt like that airliner landing as power dropped off. Also of concern was the continuing noise. I got the car into a nearby hotel lot on 10, and raised the hood. The spark plug wire and plug was attached still to the motor. Problem was it was on top of the motor. I attemped to repair the car, but could tell it was stripped out. Got plugs changed over a year ago, but apparently it had blown out. Found out this week again from friends at work, that this is relatively common and has happened to a few people.
Anyhow AAA towed me to a shop near my apartment, at the Firestone Auto Center at 7303 Midlothian Turnpike. Talked to Store Manager John Tate, and they got started on repairs. Required some major work to the engine, the head had to be taken off and a helicoil put in. They also did some work to the engine while the head was off. It was an expensive repair, but have to say I am well pleased with how the car runs. While wish this had not happened, the work was first rate, and the car felt like it had a new motor in it (John said they cleaned off all the 100,000 mile gunk). Sort of like lunch, would use these guys again, and appreciate the fine service given to a guy from "out of town". Got the car back on Tuesday.
Will be giving it a good test this weekend, driving back to Carolina for the weekend. Still plan to make it out to see the HQ of General Grant in a few days. Have really enjoyed exploring the sights and history of Richmond, VA over the last couple of months. I am always impressed with the people I have met amid my travels and problems here in my "part time" city.

The Horror of Comcast...Part II

Nothing to set the morning off like the monthly Comcast bill. Mentioned the saga in a couple of previous posts. Well, got my bill today, and once again it is a mess. Basically, I had gotten the service which was on a COD basis on February 16 (all new installations are that way, fine with me). Got a bill about a month later for the installation. Told them it was COD, had the service, must have paid. Checedk with bank...no payment on it. So I stop the check, and write a new one. Problem solved right? No. First check posts on 3/10, the February 16 check posts on 3/11. In a communication thought I was getting a credit for my stop check fee, turns out it was for their returned check fee, which was caused because they lost the first one (taking a total of 23 days to post a check and sending a bill prior to that counts as "lost" to me).
As a friend suggested, who has also had problems with them (third friend did finally get his worked out after "a few" phonecalls) wrote the corporate site. Dealing with the local office he told me was like slamming your head into the wall. I see his point. Looking forward to the perfect business relationship; I send them a check each month, and they provide a service. Actually, the service itself (knock on wood) has so far been pretty good.
Anyhow, while in Louisville, came back to find that two people died in my apartment complex while I was gone of apparent drug overdoses. News said they were dead in the apartment for some 36 hours. I guess considering that, things could be worse. Checked out some local blogs today, some good stuff out there in the Richmond area. I do enjoy reading them, and they have been pretty informative on the local things of note in the area.
Getting in some overtime this weekend on Saturday, will be doing a bit of exploring this Sunday. Still an interesting place to check out, and get a lot of goodsuggestions of things around town to see. Do need to check on some good local places to eat; like when in an area to get outside of the chains and get to some places with "local flavor". Not a food critic at all and will not be doing reviews of food places, but interested in what people find good in the town. One place I am going to check out this weekend is the food at the Chesterfield County Airport. At a previous visit to the airport (just to see it while out exploring) saw that was packed on a sunday. My barber in talking about the town, also said it was a good place to eat. Will have to see what its all about. Nice place though....a buffet with planes to view; think that would be right up my alley.

Louisville Over Easter

Visited my home town of Louisville, Kentucky over the Easter holiday, photo at right is of Louisville, Kentucky taken from the Indiana side of the river. The two states of Indiana and Kentucky are divided by the Ohio River. I lived there for many years and still have family and friends there that I miss a great deal. Visits home are very special.
Louisville is a city much like Richmond in many ways. The Ohio River is one such thing in common; both being river cities. Louisville is a mix of older buildings and newer ones. I think that size wise they are close in area (though I have not checked to be exact) and also in population. Louisville is also a minor league sports town, though they have built the baseball stadium downtown that is being discussed in Shockoe Bottom (its a first rate ball park) and still have the AAA team "The Louisville Bats". Like with Richmond, they have had mixed success with hockey teams over the years. College sports (U of L) dominate the scene there.
Like Richmond (and unlike Charlotte) the city likes to re-use old buildings. For instance the old Reynolds Aluminum factory is now condos, and many old warehouses and stores are put to other uses. Many of the buildings in Louisville are very old but are still used today.
Louisville also shares a road....to get there from Richmond I got on I-64 West which runs (though some amazing sights in Virginia and West Virginia) straight into Louisville, Kentucky. This weekend is the kickoff to the Kentucky Derby Festival with "Thunder Over Louisville" being held this weekend. That is a huge air show and fireworks display held on the banks (both sides) of the Ohio River. It is always one of my favorite events though I don't get to go every year including this one. There are a host of events (many if not most such as Thunder...free) held up to the running of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. If there is ever a good time to visit the city, that period would be among the best.
It was great to be back, but also good to be back in Richmond again. Looking forward to checking out more of the sights of this fine city as well over the next three years. Richmond is a very interesting place as well. Have seen much of note here, and have only scratched the surface of this city.

Carolina Weekend/Next Up Louisville

Great weekend visit in Concord, NC with my family. Drove out Saturday morning on a beautiful day. Took a breakfast stop at Ft. Lee, nice town from the quick look I had of it. Smooth ride down the road though was tired from an extra long night at work (almost 11 hours). Got to Concord around 11am. Did make a short stop before getting home at RideNow; a big motorcycle dealer in Concord (its where I purchased my bike in 2005, though under different ownership). Saw a riding buddy there, and they were having Victory Motorcycle demo rides. If I was not so worn out, might have taken one.
Great weekend with Patty, my son Robby and the dogs. Dogs were really happy to see me, played frisbee with them a lot; they love that. 70s and sunny all day. Not a real active day though; watched "Marley and Me" Saturday night.
Sunday nice. The typical morning routine; Charlotte Observer, a dog walk, breakfast, and the Sunday morning motorcycle ride. Was a great ride, was warming (got up to 77 during the day) and nice to be out in the country for a while. Patty and I went out during the day to Memorial Gardens, to the grocery, and also did some yard work. Nice to have a yard to work in, don't do yard work at the apartment.
Got back to Richmond Sunday night around 1am. Again another nice drive in the night, with no problems. Interesting drive coming up, four day trip to Louisville this weekend. Dad, my brother, my son, his wife and the grandkids are all there. Also good to be back in Louisville; grew up there. Like Richmond a river city (the Ohio instead of the James), mix of old and new buildings; quite a few interesting things to see and do. Patty coming here Thursday night (will see her after work) and we are leaving for The Ville Friday morning. One thing about this Richmond transfer; getting in a lot of highway miles.