Skip to main content

An Eastern North Carolina Ramble

Yesterday was the first official roadtrip with the new camera. Two weeks ago, I bought a Canon Rebel XSi. I'm enjoying it thoroughly so far!

Joe came up from Wilmington for this ride through the Northeastern Part of the state.

Route: I-540 - US 64, US 64 Business, US 264A, NC 33, US 17, NC 308, NC 11/42, NC 111, US 264, I-540.

For the entire flickr set over 80 photos: Go Here.

The first stop was a walk around Bailey, NC which the main part of town sits on the opposite side of the tracks from US 264A. There is a great old abandoned Feed Mill here.

IMG_0033

IMG_0036

Bailey is home to a short NC 581 truck route because of a railroad underpass on NC 581 that is only 8'6" high.

IMG_0042

Outside of Wilson on US 264A - Was an unbelievable old gas station ' Save On Gas'. The station has most likely been abandoned for years. But fortunately, the old sign and some of the neon tubing is still there.

IMG_0046

I'd love to see how that sign looked lit up at night.

S

IMG_0053

The next stop was the town of Farmville, and we walked around there a bit. US 264 had ran through Farmville years ago, but the town has been bypassed not once but twice. US 264A follows the first bypass to the south...while the US 264 freeway runs to the north. NC 121 now runs on part of the old alignment.

IMG_0057

This was the second old neon 'BEER' sign found on the trip. There is another on US 264A in Bailey.

BEER!

Downtown Farmville isn't a bad place.

IMG_0067

IMG_0076

And unlike US 264, US 258 still runs through it.

IMG_0077

Now on US 17 in Chocowinity, there is this rare sign for WITN-TV. WITN is an NBC affiliate and the sign outside its studios dates from the mid-late 1970s. This is the era when NBC used the stylized 'N' and abandoned the peacock all together.

IMG_0094

Never thought I'd see one of those again.

US 17 is two lanes north of Washington to Williamston - and offers a view like this in Old Ford.

17 North

Finally, near the end of the trip, Joe spotted this 'sign' find. Another old black on white crossroads signs. This one is actually for a church. Good News Church.

IMG_0114

A fun trip...and the camera got some good use and practice just in time for the Labor Day trip to Michigan.

Comments

Eddie Wooten said…
Indeed, Farmville is not a bad place at all!

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...