Gribblenation

On June 5th, Joe Babyak and I took a trip out to Mount Airy, NC.  We went to check out 'Mayberry'.  Little did we know that the trip would be full of 20th century American nostalgia! The route: I-540, I-40, NC 66, NC 89, US 52 Business, NC/VA 103, VA/NC 8, I-40, I-840, US 70 and local roads home. For the flickr set from the entire trip, head here . NC 66 is actually a very nice and surprisingly twisty drive.  There are also a lot of classic rural and roadside finds on the winding route through Forsyth and Stokes Counties.  Here at the intersection of Beux Mountain Road a old country store turned pool hall still has this classic old Gulf sign. From there it's a brief drive to Rural Hall and the small town on what was once US 52 has a few treasures of its own.  From an old train station - that can use a little touch up work... ...to what may be the best find of the trip.  This Pepsi-Cola ghost sign may be one of the oldest still viewed withi...

The final part of our Western North Carolina weekend took us on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to Boone.  This stretch of Parkway is about 100 miles in length, but it took us over eight hours to travel.  Why?  Well keep reading and find out! For the entire flickr set (55 photos), head here . The Blue Ridge Parkway is known throughout the world for its incredible views and our first photo stop at the Lane Pinnacle overlook is no exception. Stops like these wasn't what took the most time on this trip - it was three hiking stops we made this brilliant Sunday.  The first of such was at Craggy Gardens.  The Craggy Pinnacle Trail is a 0.7 mile trail to the top of Craggy Pinnacle.  And once you reach the top, the views are breathtaking. In the photo below, the road you see off in the distance is Interstate 26 near the Tennessee/North Carolina State Line. So with the return hike, our total was 1.4 miles for the day so far. From Craggy Ga...

Usually wayfinding signs for towns and cities have a little bit of flare to them - something that is unique to or is specific to the city.  The City of Asheville takes a different approach to theirs. This sign is rather bland.  Black with white lettering - yes a nice ornamental top, but other than that nothing much to it.  However... ...the back of the wayfinding signs is where the real design is showcased.  To the right of the pole, a stained glass window like design with numerous colors.  To the left, a quote from various notables like Carl Sandburg, Thomas Wolfe, or John Muir, just to name a few.  This certainly adds a lot more interest to the sign than directing you to various landmarks. Asheville also has smaller more pedestrian friendly wayfinding signs - similar to those old crossroad signs with arrows pointing in all directions - at numerous street corners throughout downtown.  Like this one in Pack Place: Asheville certainly fou...

The second day of Maggie's and I trip to Asheville was a day at the historic Biltmore Estate .  It was my first time to the famous Vanderbilt home, and had been on my 'to do' list for sometime. My photoset from the Biltmore is on flickr . Maggie has her own blog entry from our trip and it's here. We arrived soon after the estate opened and headed to the home for the main tour.  For the main tour, you have the option of taking an audio tour or walk through at your leisure.  The audio tour costs $10 for a set of programmable earphones that accompanies the guide book.  We both paid for the audio tour and it is worth it if you are a first time visitor.  The tour can take anywhere from 2-3 hours to walk through the home.  You go through three floors of the house and photography is not allowed inside the building. If you want to see the Biltmore home more in detail, there are a number of additional tours you can take on.  One of the more popular t...

With Interstate 376 replacing PA 60 from US 22/30 outside of Pittsburgh to Interstate 80 in Sharon, there was some concern on what a short five and a half  mile section of former PA 60 from I-80 to Business US 62 would be.  A detached PA 60? No. A Business Spur I-80 or 376? Not that either.  Instead the state came up with a never before used route designation, PA 760 .  Highway 760 has recently been signed and Joe Gerard was kind enough to send along some photos to myself and Jeff Kitsko. Prior to the designation change, PA 60 ended at Business US 62 in downtown Sharon.  Here is how it looked around 2001 in a photo from John and Barb Bee. Nearly a decade later, it looks like the US 62 shield is the same, but the PA 60 sign has been replaced with its new designation, PA 760. End and Begin for PA 760 and Interstate 376 are now found at the interchange with I-80. So it looks like I need to get to work on updating this page , pronto.  I haven't tou...

Maggie and I traveled to Asheville for our one year anniversary.  The trip on I-40 was uneventful except for the rain that followed us from Mocksville to Black Mountain.  We stopped at Shell's BBQ in Hickory for lunch.  it's about a five minute drive north of I-40 Exit 126, but it's worth the detour. (Directions head north from I-40 about 3 miles to Springs Rd NE, turn right, Shell's is about 1/4 mile on the left.)  You have to have the Cherry Vanilla Lemon (Sun Drop) Float; it's amazingly good.  And the prices are very reasonable. Sadly, the rain was too hard to get any photos of the old diner and some of the old Pepsi-Cola signs around the restaurant.  From Shell's, we got back on I-40 and headed to our hotel in Asheville. After checking in and relaxing from the drive, we headed out to Pisgah National Forest .  We were going to take the Blue Ridge Parkway to US 276 but concerns of possible slides had the parkway closed from NC 191 to US 276....