Gribblenation

If you are driving along Interstate 77 near the New River, you may have noticed a single stone tower atop the hillside to your east.  While modern Interstate traffic flies by, this over 200-year-old, 75-foot-tall stone tower was used in the early 19th century to provide ammunition for local settlers. The limestone tower, known as the Jackson's Ferry Shot Tower, is the centerpiece of Virginia's Shot Tower State Historical Park.  Built in 1807, the shot tower is a combination of a 75-foot tower and a 75-foot vertical shaft into the cliffs overlooking the Neuse River.  Lead shot was manufactured here for 32 years, from 1807 to 1839. The location of where a kettle full of cool water would catch the falling hot spheres of lead shot. To make the shot, lead from nearby mines was melted in a kettle at the top of the tower.  Then, it would be poured through a sieve, dropping 150 feet into a kettle full of cold water.  This process, and the size of the sieve, would create...

For Christmas, my wife got me a new Canon 90D Camera to upgrade from the Canon Rebel XSi I've had since 2009.   Though I have done two small items with the camera so far, yesterday was really my first chance to try it out on a trip.  It was a local roadgeek loop - I went along NC 150, Old US 52, and NC 8 on a loop to get some crossroads and take in some roads I haven't been on yet.  Fortunately, I got a lot of new surprises on the way.  If you'd like to see the whole Flickr set of 153 photos, head here . The 1924 Wil-Cox Bridge was a highlight from my trip yesterday. My first surprise was in Salisbury.  Along South Main Street, there is an Art & Graffiti Park that I found really interesting.  Established in 2018, the Salisbury Graffiti Park encourages local street artists to experiment and try out their ideas but also be able to share their work at the same time.   The park has 12 large wooden art walls and three boulders that are used t...

Welcome to my latest annual review of the progress of building I-73, I-74 and other Future Interstate routes in North Carolina. 2018 saw the completion, for the time being, of the remaining I-73 construction projects, the expansion of I-74 construction, and the establishment of one new interstate route, I-285 between Lexington and Winston-Salem. I-73 Work was completed on the US 220 widening project between Summerfield and NC 68 in December 2017, however the route was not officially signed until March 2018. Completion of this segment extended I-73 northward about 4 miles just beyond NC 68. This will be the northern limits of the route for the time being. End I-73 sign approaching US 220 freeway end north of NC 68 At the southern end of state work too was completed, for now, on I-73 (and I-74) in the Rockingham area. The first section of the Rockingham Bypass, the upgrade of 3 miles of US 220 to Interstate Standards was completed in June 2018. The project includes a new exit...

Here's another end-of-the-year summary of the progress made in completing I-73 and I-74 in North Carolina. While 2014 did not see the amount of projects completed as was the case in 2013, there was a significant milestone for I-74 and the start of additional projects for both routes which shall add to their total mileage in the years ahead. A. I-73 It was hard to top the increase in mileage the completion of signage projects in 2013 did for I-73. The route went from being signed as an interstate for 46 miles at the end of 2012 to 77 miles at the end of 2013, an increase of 40%. The route was now officially signed from I-40 in Greensboro to south of Ellerbe. Here's the Begin signage in the background of a photo of the new signage for the US 220 interchange, Exit 25, courtesy of Mark Clifton: And here's a closer view of the Begin signage itself: On the other side there is the End signage, photo courtesy of Chris Curley: There were no projects completed for I-...

On November 5th, I headed down with Chris Allen to Charleston to the roadmeet hosted by Billy Riddle. We had lunch at the well known Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street and the highlight of the tour was a close up view of the spectacular Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge. The entire set can be found here .  But before we get to the meet what about the route down.  Well it was US 64, I-440, I-40, I-95, SC 327, US 301, US 52 into Charleston. On US 52 near St. Charles was this interesting set of signs.  First, that may be the smallest Blue Star Memorial Highway sign I've seen, and secondly the Francis Marion tomb historical marker sign reads "All Rich in Iodine" what does that mean? I would love to have seen this overhead in the original button copy. Hyman's Seafood did not disappoint and i you like Shrimp 'n Grits as much as I do, I highly recommend the Carolina Delight. It's delicious! After lunch we headed over to Mount Pleasant Memorial Water...