OK, the travel bug has been nibbling at me quite a bit lately, so when last week's weather forecast predicted three consecutive days of no rain and temps in the upper 50s to lower 60s, I jumped in the truck and headed east! I love playing tourist in my own state, so the NC Year... Continue Reading →
North Carolina Year of the Trail
I still have a few things to post about from last month, but I figured I’d catch y’all up on 2023 and introduce you to a fun new initiative here in NC. Believe it or not, “North Carolina Year of the Trail” is a designation for 2023 established by NC House Bill 554. Yep, an... Continue Reading →
Birmingham Adventures Part 2: Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I headed east into Birmingham proper from the vintage motorsports museum to the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. Not just one statue or building, this monument encompasses about four downtown Birmingham city blocks. Multiple landmarks associated with the American Civil Rights movement are located within this area, including the A.G. Gaston Motel which served as... Continue Reading →
Birmingham Adventures Part 1: Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
Welcome to 2023! If this new year is anything like the last, I’ll have lots to blog about! After returning from my epic retirement moto journey, I didn’t stay home for long. I made a return trip to Louisiana for a couple of weeks in October, then headed back in December for the Christmas and... Continue Reading →
2022 Retirement Moto Trip Wrap-up
States Visited:NC, VA, MD, PA, NY, MA, NH, ME, VT, OH, IN, KY, MO, IL, MI, WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC Now that it’s over, it feels like the whole trip was just a dream! This cross-country journey was something that had been manifesting... Continue Reading →
The Only National Park in South Carolina
I knew as I left Tuskegee that I was within striking distance of my home in NC. Though I was ‘smelling the barn,’ I wasn’t ready for the trip to end just yet. Plus, there was one more park to visit along the way, Congaree National Park, and it just happens to be the only... Continue Reading →
17,000 Years of Continuous Human Habitation
Across the Ocmulgee River from Macon, GA, lies the ancient grass-covered mounds of Ocmulgee (pronounced oak-mull-ghee) Mounds National Historical Park. After having lived in Europe for a few years and walking through historical sites centuries older than my home country, I have an appreciation for the history of ancient cultures. I had heard about age-old... Continue Reading →
The Civil Rights Trail, Part 2: Rosa Parks and Tuskegee
With eleven sites listed on the Civil Rights Trail, Montgomery was an excellent place in which to stage for continuing my American history lessons. Unfortunately, with limited time, I was only able to take in one more site – the Rosa Parks Museum. As someone who believes in “social, economic, and political equality of the... Continue Reading →
The Civil Rights Trail, Part 1: Selma to Montgomery
As I’ve been asked what it’s like to take a trip of this magnitude, one of the answers that pops into my mind is “life changing.” Not in a ‘find yourself’ kind of way; with almost 55 years of living an eclectic array of life experiences, I don’t consider myself lost, or confused about who... Continue Reading →
M…I…crooked letter, crooked letter…I…crooked letter, crooked letter…I…P…P…I
You can laugh, but you know you learned how to spell Mississippi that way! Still feeling content after quality time with my family in Louisiana, I headed towards more family, this time in Mississippi. My Aunt Ruth and Paran Wayne ('Paran' is Cajun French for Godfather) moved from Louisiana to Mississippi a few years ago,... Continue Reading →