Wanted to toss this in, you see things like this in the Concord area often thanks to the racetrack, in this case the DirecTV Blimp which was covering the drag races at Z-Max Dragway over the weekend. It was the Four Wide Nationals and while I did not go to the race, did enjoy the sound of it (awesome, even from a distance) and the sight of this air ship in the skies of Concord. There are three racetracks within walking distance of each other: Z-Max, The Dirt Track, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Seems always to be something exciting going on at one of them at any given time.
Made a motorcycle ride to Kings Mountain Battlefield Park which is just across the border in South Carolina off of I-85 at Exit 2. The battle was held on October 9, 1780 and was a big victory over British forces (actually a lot of Tories if you are a student of history) lead by a British commander. This monument was put up by the local area. Each side had around 1,000 troops with the US forces coming from many places but especially Tennessee, Virginia and "Carolina". It was fought on the mountain with some very wooded, rugged and steep terrain, and was a very difficult battle for both sides.
The British forces had to face well protected forces which mainly shot behind trees.
This monument was put up by local cities in the area, I believe if I remember right around 1890. Thought it was very cool, and that is my riding buddy Phil sitting on the base of it there. It was a hot day.
This is the US monument to Kings Mountain, kind of a small version of the Washington Monument. As I noted, though a paved trail runs around the battlefield, it is some rugged ground, with a lot of up and down hill sections.
Herbert Hoover was there for the dedication of the battlefield, and it brought a pretty massive crowd.
There is also a small museum there at the Visitor Center, which also has some weapons from the era, and even some uniforms (uniforms are replicas).
I like the ride there, also the fact it is free is pretty cool. Nice to have historic sites such as this, and especially going so far back o the early days of the US. Like Virginia, North and South Carolina have a long history.
Finally, this is the gravesite of the British commander Col. Patrick Ferguson, who was killed during the battle on October 7, 1780 and is buried at this spot. He was wearing a bright red and white shirt and made a rather easy target according to accounts of the day.
South Carolina is a fun place to visit, and I enjoy my trips there. I don't get there as often as I would like due to my current living situation, but never have a bad time in that state.
South Carolina also has some of the lowest gasoline prices in the US. That is worth noting as well!
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