A ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway (October 19, 2012)

 Friday October 19 was a great day for a motorcycle ride, and enjoyed the time spent at Blowing Rock, NC and on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Blowing Rock is found right up NC-321 and is a great little mountain town. Kind of "touristy" and some places have prices to match, but there are also some good deals. I always like to make a stop at The Canyons (right at the top of 321) which I have found has some great food and drink prices (and a very friendly staff as well as some great mountain views. Blowing Rock is a great town to stroll the streets and check out some sights. This time of year though parking is a real adventure.   

 The Cone House seen here was a stop I visited on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is now home to a Craft Center of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, and there was a big crowd and some neat crafts to see inside the house. The house was built by the Cone Family and construction started in 1899. The house has 23 rooms and 13,000 feet of living space. Known as Flattop Mannor  it was donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1949. It is an impressive house and the view from the front porch is remarkable. Of course the word remarkable does not cover all the sights I saw during this ride.  

Seen here is the road itself, one of the great roads of America. The Parkway runs some 469 (I think that is right) from North Carolina through Virginia. It has a low speed limit which is great for seeing the sights. There are a number of overlooks to stop and see the views and a number of interesting places to stop and check out. I have ridden (and for that matter driven) some big sections of the road over the years. It is a place and area that I have (and will) come to again and again, and is easily one of my favorite places in North Carolina. I have posted some more photos to my Flickr page, and also have some on my Racing with the Wind Motorcycle Page, links to both can be found above. Fall is one of my favorite times of year, and I was very happy with the sights, smells, and feel of this fine fall day in the Blue Ridge Parkway! 

 Took a ride on an overcast Sunday to Charlotte, NC....was dry the whole ride though, and warm on a mid-October fall day. Rode out by Bank of America stadium (seen at left) in Uptown, home of the Carolina Panthers. Enjoy going by the stadium (its a bye week for the team, which is not off to a great start being 1-4 at this point) but a neat place where I have spent some very happy (and some not so happy if you count losses) with my son. Still, its a first rate stadium, and the team has had some really good seasons. Fun to see NFL football and nice to not to have to make a long drive to do so.   

 View here is near the stadium, and will be the home of "BB+T" ballpark, soon to be the home of the Charlotte Knights, the AAA baseball team, which actually has been playing in South Carolina (which is right across the border). Soon they will play in Uptown Charlotte, work has started on the stadium, and it will be up and running next season (I believe). Took a lot to get this going, there was a lawsuit by a local lawyer who wanted Charlotte to get a major league team instead. Nice to dream big, but think this is a very good start, and love AAA baseball, so it should be a good match for the city and looking forward to them playing uptown. 

Liked this, saw a number of horse driven carriages running around Uptown, and nice on a Sunday to take a ride in them. Course my horse is 1500cc's and two wheels, but still enjoyed being in Charlotte on a Sunday afternoon. Lots of people were wandering around, people eating inside and outside (at tables) in restaurants and visiting the museums. Charlotte is a fun city and I enjoy exploring it - quite a few people live Uptown as well. Got the name "Uptown" I read the other day due to the elevation of the area. At any case, it was a very good time, and I enjoyed my visit to the Queen City.   

Fall Color Near Mid October (October 12, 2012)

 Nice day, was worth a walk, and having the cell phone with me, snapped this photo at Forest Hill Park, for a change did not have overtime, and got out to enjoy the neighborhood, and see some sights of fall in Richmond. Colors are starting to appear, saw a few trees in the midst of changing from green to a blaze of colors. Peak is still quite a few days away, but the signs are there. You can also certainly feel it...it was in the 60's as I wandered the streets around Forest Hill Ave and past some of the fine houses to be found around here. I love walking in the area, always interesting things to see.

A church near here is having a fall festival, and this is a sure sign of fall. Enjoyed seeing these, and looking forward to even more in what is one of my favorite times of the year. Of course the Richmond Folk Festival is this weekend; that would be a really fun event with some great music, and they have some very interesting events this year at the fun and free event. As would figure, I will not be in town for it, though for a different fall event in North Carolina there is a NASCAR race in Concord, NC this weekend, and of course footballs will be in the air ..though not at Bank of America the Panthers have a bye week.
I was reading this morning on the Charlotte Observer web site that Fall colors are near peak in the mountains near Boone, NC (a beautiful place to visit) as well as some other areas in the mountains of NC. Have not checked in the Virginia mountains, but they can not be far behind. I hope to bring some fall leaf photos here, will certainly have my eyes open for that. Love the colors and the feel of fall.
Hope everyone has a good day and a great weekend. Looking forward to some fun adventures and great times over the next few days!   

Fun in the RVA (October 6 2012)

Started my day at the James River Farmers Market, always a favorite event - and saw this biker riding in to it, and got the photo with the event in the background. Always some good food there (to take home or to eat from the booths and food trucks there) ...and a Triumph Triple is always a cool thing to see (and to hear) early in the morning. As a biker I appreciate the history of this old British company which has come back from the dead (after a short production pause) and love that outdoor market in the RVA , so this was a win-win, and a good preview to the next event in my day.

Drove next to Colonial Harley-Davidson in Price George, Va for their Open House where I checked out the people, new 2013 Harley-Davidson's,  and all sorts of cool bikes at the dealership. They had a lot of fun events going on there, good food, and even some military booths (Ft Lee is very close to the dealership) in what was typically a big time Harley dealer event. Don't ride them, but sure enjoy some of the things they put in. I did make a stop at nearby Commonwealth Powersports which is a Suzuki, Yamaha (Star), Kawasaki, Honda and now Victory Motorcycle dealership (the last added not too long ago) . Nice time at both places.

Went next to Libby Hill Park where I went to the Second "Hogtober" in the park. View here is of the James River, Richmond was named for this view (Reminded the person who named the city of "Richmond on the Thames" in London) and is a wonderful place in the Church Hill area of the city. Church Hill is one of the oldest sections of the city, and one of my favorite parts of the city. Old houses, some cobbletone streets, gas lanterns (and they work) and some really good places to eat and drink are hallmarks of the section of the city. I have spent a lot of time there, and will be spending even more in the months to come.     

They had a lot of good bands there, such as River City Band seen here. It was a bluegrass band and they were really good, liked the music they put on and along with some friends we enjoyed the music. As with most events a good selection of Virginia beers where on hand, and I had good time checking some of those out. The food was also outstanding, some good local BBQ places had food for sale, and enjoyed a small plate from Extra Billy's BBQ. This was the second year for the event and they had a really good crowd, and larger for the second year over the first one for sure.      

Got a kick out of this band - Chrome Daddy Disco, which was a good Rockabilly band (and love the Elvis like outfit worn by the lead singer) and to me they were the best band of the event. I also enjoyed music from "Long Arms" which played between River City Band and Chrome Daddy Disco. Other than food and beverages the event was free, as usual for such events met a number of really friendly people - I am always impressed with how friendly Richmond people are here, and how much they love their city. They should, Richmond is a fun an happy place to be. I am looking forward to visiting this event again in 2013!
Another great day in Richmond, as fall gets ever closer. I have some more photos on my Racing with the Wind blog page, and photos on my Flickr Photo Page.Thanks for visiting here!

Last Day of September 2012 (September 30, 2012)

After what can only be described as a tough day at work on September 28-29 (two dates cause it started at 11AM Friday, and ended at 1:34AM on Saturday) and a rainy drive to Carolina which was sometimes impressive, it was a good Saturday on the 29th to rest. My wife Patty and I did enjoy a good dinner at El Amigo in Kannapolis; nothing like a good Mexican dinner and a big Mexican beer to put the smile back on your face, especially when spent with the one you love.

I did get out on the motorcycle on a sunny Sunday September 30, and rode out to what was once known as Cannon Village. Took this photo of the motorcycle in front of The GEM Theater which is located near the NC Research Center. It is very old, and has a long history, but is now the home of some very reasonable movies and also some inexpensive snacks. For those in Richmond (though not as ornate) much like the Byrd in Carytown. I did not go to the movies though on this Sunday morning, but enjoyed being in that area. Also much like Ashland, VA trains run through the town, its just a nice place to visit.
Was not what you would call an eventful weekend in Carolina for us, but enjoyed just relaxing at home with family, visited a friend while out on the bike, played catch with my good dogs, and just basically did a whole lot of nothing. I think the old Seinfeld show was right - sometimes that is a beautiful thing indeed!    

Ashland and Kings Dominion (September 22, 2012)

 A really nice day on the first day of Fall 2012. The last weekend I was in Richmond, battled a bug that has been going around the area, but over that, and went to a company event at Kings Dominion. Spent some time in Ashland, VA - saw these ladies working some spinning wheels at the Farmers Market there, and thought it would make a really good photo (and so it does). Nice city, enjoyed the sights there, it is a college town, and so saw a lot of people on bicycles, and like how the train tracks run right through the city. Very nice place to visit and I enjoyed my time there before the event. 

 This is the Train Station and Visitors Center in Ashland, VA. While I was there an Amtrak train made a real quick stop there. I also got to check out Ashland Coffee and Tea - read about that a great deal, not only is a very cool coffee shop has a big area for bands (and some notable bands come though there. I enjoyed walking around a bit, got some really good photos, it was one of those places I had heard a lot about. I think they call their city "The Center of the Universe"....kind of bold, but I could see why the locals love it. Its the kind of place you want to visit, and would be a very fine place to live from what I saw.   

 Anyhow, got out to Kings Dominion - nice to get to go on the company dime; they paid the admission and also gave us some park bucks for dinner. I love the rides, I have always been a huge fan of roller coasters, and this one is one of the biggest I have ridden; the Intimidator 305. The ride (looked this up on Wikipedia) is 305 feet tall (taller than the observation deck at the parks Eiffel Tower) and hits a top speed of 90 mph. At times, it exerts a force of six G's; quite the ride for a fan of aviation though the theme is racing and it is named for NASCAR racing legend (and resident of Kannapolis, NC) Dale Earnhardt. It was a real event to ride this coaster which is one of the best I have ever ridden. In fact the park has something like 14 coasters, and I rode quite a few of them during my visit, as well as a number of other rides. During my visit the big Windseeker Ride was shut down due to problems with it (none resulting in injury though at other parks. Many of the rides are at other parks; this ride can also be found at Carowinds near Charlotte, NC.       

In addition to Kings Island (near Cincinnati, Ohio, another sister park) Kings Dominion has a 1/3 replica of the Eiffel Tower in France. Nice ride to the top and a good look at the view from the Observation Deck of some of the rides and the view of the Virginia countryside. This trip was my second visit to the park, and as with the first trip had a wonderful time. Love to walk and that is a good thing, as you do a lot of walking. I also enjoyed the "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit there, felt sort of like I was in the movie Jurassic Park (though they moved, they did not walk, but did move and made dinosaur type sounds, very cool). Nice way to enjoy the first day of Fall, and a great time in Virginia. Of course, it did not feel much like fall, was rather warm actually (but sunny so no complaints); and expecting some fall weather tomorrow which will be really cool (both actually and in my opinion - I am ready for fall to be here, one of my favorite times of the year!).

End of Summer in North Carolina (September 15-16)

 Got a motorcycle ride in on September 15, which was a beautiful day. I have some photos on the motorcycle page (Racing with the Wind) but here is another view of the UNCC Football Stadium (Known as McColl-Richardson Stadium) which will be the site of the school's first football game on August 31, 2013. As I noted will seat 15,000 (can be expanded to 40,000) and is part of a massive building program the last few years at the school (which is The University of North Carolina at Charlotte-should mention that I think). Very impressive school just outside of Charlotte, NC.

 Went to the Concord Regional Airport to see the Memphis Belle. B-17's flew mostly against Germany (some use against the Japanese) in World War II, and out of some 12,732 built, only 13 still are in flying condition. 4,735 were lost during the war, and they had a crew of 10 on each one. The planes were built by Boeing Aircraft and the latest models had 13 machine guns, but fighter and flak took a toll on the planes during the war. The real Memphis Belle still exists, but is in non-flying condition, this one did not serve in the war, but did fly in the movie "Memphis  Belle" a few years ago. 

I ride a lot, and often see groups of the Patriot Guard Riders (saw this group in Concord, NC on Sunday September 16). The group began in 2005 to prevent disruption of military funerals by Westboro Baptist Church, and now has 220,000 members. They attend military funerals (when invited by family members) to prevent protests as well as Firefighter and Police funerals. They also do volunteer work at Military hospitals, greet returning troops, and assist military families with financial difficulties. I think any way you can look at it, they are a great bunch of motorcyclists. I plan to join this group when I am done with my time in Richmond, VA.
This will be my last visit to North Carolina in Summer of 2012, which officially ends on September 22 this year. It has been one wild summer, one of the warmest and certainly one of the most humid. I am looking forward to fall (in fact the last couple of weeks have been a nice preview in my book). First day of Fall will be spent this year in Richmond, and I am looking forward to some great times in both places in the upcoming weeks. There is a lot of fun events coming up this year this fall, and I will bring some of them here to you!