Sunday Concord Ride (July 8, 2012)

 Before the temperatures got back up in the 100 degree range, got out on a quiet Sunday morning on the motorcycle. Thought it would be fun to get one more ride on the motorcycle before heading back to Richmond, VA. Stopped and took this photo at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Very interesting place and have had a lot of fun there at races and other events, and this is a nice place to visit. It was going to be the site of a DNC rally, but apparently that is now not going to happen. It will be the site of the fall NASCAR race, and sure to be some other events held there as well this year.  

 While I was out went also by the Concord Regional Airport and also (seen at left) Concord Mills Mall. Concord Mills is the #1 tourist attraction in North Carolina. It is a big massive thing, but I am more impressed with the beaches and the mountains-but to each their own. It is quiet at least on an early Sunday morning. Not only is the actual complex huge but there are all sorts of strip malls around it, so if you are looking for something to buy, or to eat, or just something interesting to do, chances are you will find it here. Really was a big change to the area when they built this monster a few years ago, but it has been a good thing for the area.  

Wandered down some country roads (easy to find those in Concord, before heading to Union Street. Union Street is pretty cool; lots of really old houses and its a big tree lined street. In fact the house that was built by the founder of Cannon Mills (which is now gone, but was the giant mill complex in Kannapolis for many years) is for sale. Photo at left was taken in downdown Concord. Lots of good places to eat there, and again some fun things to do can be found there. It is a lot calmer (and on this Sunday morning mostly closed for a few more hours) than Concord Mills, but pretty neat and interesting. Overall, it was a really good ride, got in before the heat got really brutal, and enjoyed one last ride on the motorcycle before I wrap things up here, and head back to Richmond, VA. Almost time to get back to work once again!
 

Back in Kentuckiana (July 1-5, 2012)

 Made a visit to Louisville and Southern Indiana during July 1-5. Like with Charlotte, and for that matter Richmond, it was still all during the period over 100+ as the heat wave continued. Took this photo of Louisville, Kentucky from the Indiana side. Many people comment about how much Richmond is like Louisville (and like me, a lot of people from Louisville came to Richmond via Concord, NC) but this is a nice photo of the city. In front of it, is a barge, still a popular way to haul freight in the area. The river is an important route, and was a big reason why Louisville was founded. 

This is The Silver Dollar, a former Fire Station (and a very old one at that). Like with Station 2 in Richmond, Louisville recycles old buildings, and in fact has a large number of them in the city. Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and also New Albany have a great many old buildings that fine new uses, as does Richmond (that is not so much the case in Charlotte, which likes to tear down old buildings and put up new ones). Anyhow, now The Silver Dollar is a restaurant/bar on Frankfort Avenue. Used to live in that neighborhood, which has grown substantially since my days there. Still saw a lot of things that brought back a lot of memories, it was a fun place to live with a lot of interesting things to see. It was as is my current area of Richmond, a great place to walk and explore. Good to see the area is doing so well.
The area changes, but not a great deal over time. Many of the new things stand out among the old, but that is nice knowing that no matter how long I am gone, can still find my way around.   

 Louisville Papa John Stadium is the home to the Louisville Cardinals football team, U of L is a huge deal in Louisville, they also have a very large and new basketball arena (which replaced Freedom Hall) on the river (and you can see a portion of it in the first photo at top on the far left). Not just football and basketball, they also have a first class AAA Baseball team, the Louisville Bats, and Slugger Park in downtown Louisville is a state of the art facility as well, and in my opinion, one of the best baseball parks in the US (at least on the AAA level). Charlotte is building a new field for the AAA Charlotte Knights-will be fun to see what that turns out to be.

This is a look at Churchill Downs, which over the years has grown to be one massive complex. It has been greatly added on over the years. In this photo you can see the famous Twin Spires, and some of the new additions. Believe it or not, even from a distance, this is not all of it, there is more to the left not seen in this photo.
Nice visit to Louisville, and we had a great time. Traffic is a huge mess-for years they have wanted to build more bridges, but a number of lawsuits have stopped those, and now with growth and time that has really come to roost in the city-traffic is a total nightmare. They are planning to start work on two bridges, hopefully that will happen. Some great places to eat there, and a lot of fun people, plus a lot of interesting things to see and do. The Derby City is a great place to visit, and always close to my heart!  

100+ in Charlotte, NC (June 30, 2012)

 Nice ride on the motorcycle, which I got on early on this Saturday morning, expecting temperatures to reach over 100 degrees and the heat index to beat those numbers (and as I write this, they did just that). Took this photo of Uptown Charlotte on Caldwell Street while I was out riding around the town. Like those early rides as a rule from a traffic standpoint, but on a blazing hot day such as today it was even more important. Even out in the breeze on a motorcycle, a hot breeze is a hot breeze. Had a warm engine between my legs and every so often the fan (its watercooled) would give me a hot blast.  

Still, it was nice to be out. I also made a stop to North Davidson, which is part of Charlotte, and a former mill town. I have a few more photos on my "Racing with the Wind" blog page. I like to stop at Growlers Pourhouse in Davidson, NC, but it was not yet open when I was in town, prior to 11am, and as the temperature rose to triple digits. I did get off the bike and wander around for a bit in this very interesting place and one of my favorite stops whenever I ride out near Charlotte, NC. It is a fun place to be and I had a great ride.
Read a while ago about the big storms that rolled through Richmond last night (my other home) and hope everyone there is doing ok...some 100,000 people in the Richmond area (650,000 total in VA) lost power from the storms, and are dealing with the same heat.
Off tomorrow on what will be a very interesting road trip, and look forward to sharing some photos and stories from that here.  

Gold Hill and Huntersville (June 23-24, 2012)

 Gold Hill, NC....interesting town which is a recreation of one of the first gold boom towns in the US. Gold was found in Cabarrus County in 1799, and this was another site where the metal was dug from the ground. You can see one of the old mine shafts there, plus some of the mining equipment. I went there for the classic motorcycle show, it is a favorite event of mine. I also went by a nearby R/C airfield, find motorcycles and aviation interesting, and enjoyed the visit to the town. There are also some neat shops and a nice place to eat to be found in Gold Hill, it is a nice place to take people when they come to the area.    

 These are just some of the Metrolina Greenhouses which is located on Concord-Huntersville Road. Think this is always a neat sight, and love riding my motorcycle on this road. It is amazing how the area has changed over the years, there is a lot of development in what was a nice backroad area to ride over the last few years. Still, its a fun area to ride, and Sunday was good time to do that.
Nice to get out in the early days of summer. Rather warm over the weekend, but still felt good when moving. Been a few hot days already, and a lot of warmer days coming up.  

Took this photo in Huntersville, NC. Nice town, which again has been growing by leaps and bounds. Quite an area of retail, but there is some interesting things to see too. I did enjoy the sculptures I saw (a metal working place) of some interesting items...I have some of those on my "Racing with the Wind" page, and also on the Flickr photo page.

Nice to be out and enjoyed riding in the country for a change (at least most of the time). Always get a kick out of how much this place changes in even a short time. Always something new to see when you get out in the region.

By the Water in the RVA (June 16, 2012)

 As is typical on a Saturday (well, most of them anyhow) went to Forest Hill Park to the Farmers Market there. Its a fun thing with food (including a lot of food truck and booths to purchase things to sample), but the park is also very nice. This is a view of the lake there; it was cleared off and basically re-done a few years ago. Nice place to relax and enjoy what was a very fine late June day in Richmond. Just a few days before the official start of Summer (which is Wednesday June 20) Richmond enjoyed low humidity and temperatures in the low 80's. That was a beautiful thing as well. 

I also drove out to the Pony Pasture, which is also off of Forest Hill Drive. This is one of Richmond's most popular parks with some nature trails, and of course one of the most remarkable views of the James River as seen at left. Being as there are rapids there, it is also where kayak's and big rubber rafts are launched for trips downriver (or upriver, not quite sure). There were quite a few there getting ready to go out. Sure was a peaceful place, no one was really making any noise and was certainly comfortable and content under the trees at this point. Lots of good places to sit, and sure enjoyed being there. Nice to have a nice quiet and peaceful weekend in Richmond-always something to do here (as there is in Charlotte) but its fun to just relax sometimes and just enjoy some of nature; and to slow down and take it all in.   

Taste of Charlotte (June 10, 2012)

 Sunday on June 10 was a good day for a motorcycle ride, especially for another Uptown Charlotte event. This one was Taste of Charlotte, especially good since just the week before I went to Broad Appetit in Richmond, VA. Parked the motorcycle uptown, and walked up to the event. I did see these horse and carriages (though you just see part of the other) and this old church with dates to the 1800's. Not nearly as much as Richmond, but there are some old things in Charlotte to see, and always some interesting ones. It is a fun town, and I have a good time there.   

Taste of Charlotte has been held since 1982. The event had a lot of neat things, kids play areas, bands, giveaways (you could even get a free haircut there), all sorts of beverages (including adult ones) bands, and some great good food from both national and local places to eat. As it was with Speed Street a few weeks ago, the crowd got real big real fast. It was easy to get up the street at first, harder to walk back when I left. Checked out a few things from the local restaurants and enjoyed the sights and the sounds to be found in the area. Some of the sounds were quite different. 

 Sure there was rock and roll, and country, but also music such as this Choral group which was doing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in period costume. In fact checked out a few tunes from this group, really something different. Fun of these events is to eat things you don't get every day, and to see some interesting things. This certainly fit the bill. Both the event in Richmond and here in Charlotte were a lot of fun. Good food is a wonderful thing, and its fun to explore some different things. One thing I liked for sure about the Charlotte event...the beer lines were a lot shorter, due to there being more places to get it.

Charlotte is an NBA town, had a big basketball display (where I got to measure up my size 11 against Kevin Durant's size 18). Had a lot of hoops set up, and quite a lot of basketballs in the air. Sure the Bobcats may not be very good, but they bring a lot of talented teams to town.
It was a good day, and I had a great time. Looking forward to the next event there, and also to what Richmond has to offer in the next few days.
Thanks for visiting this page. I have a few more photos on the "Racing with the Wind" page...always fun to share interesting things of note in both of my two cities!     

Farmers Mkt, Broad Appetit, and Columbus Ships (June 2-3, 2012

 Took this photo at Forest Hill Farmers Market, on June 2, 2012. I like this event,and have a great time there when ever I go. Its a neat thing, and draws quite a crowd every Saturday. If you like food, they have it. If you like music, they have that too. If you like just some completely different things that will catch your eye, open your wallet, and bring a big huge smile to your face this will do it. Just an amazing thing to experience. 

Likewise, on Sunday June 3, went to Broad Appetit which was held in downtown Richmond. Like the above, enjoyed that with a few thousand friends in Richmond. Again there were bands, and food, this time from some 60 restaurants, as well as bands, along with beer and wine (both from Virginia and very good if I do say so myself.
Did not just greatly enjoy the event itself, but also was fun to wander a bit around downtown Richmond, which is a place which has a great deal of history, and some interesting buildings to wander past, and to check out. This is a great and fun town to walk.

Liked this a great deal at Rocket's Landing in Richmond. So it goes like this..."in 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue", and these are replica ships of two of the fleet Columbus sailed to the new world..the Nina and the Pinta. Said to be exact copies and built as the Spanish built them this was very cool to see on the James River.
We had a good time there, went to Conch Republic and had a good dinner, and enjoyed happy hour as well (which they have after four PM on Sunday). Food is pretty good and like being out near the river with a great view of the city. Nice thing was it was not hot or humid on this day. I have to say, this was a very, very fine weekend in the RVA.