On the road, Summer 2023

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Wasn't there also some apartment building near all of that whose address was his batting average...? Something like that.

There's actually two things with ties to his stats. District 356 is named after his career batting average. His house that is the museum is 356 Field Street, referring to the same career batting average. This apartment building alludes to his highest season batting average.

[xzmattzx]

Border signs

[xzmattzx]

Continuing home, I stopped at Kings Mountain National Military Park. The Battle of Kings Mountain took place on October 7, 1780, and is considered by some to be the turning point in the Revolutionary War, since the British had

The battle is most notable for being the only battle in the Revolutionary War to be fought between Americans. No British fought in the battle; the battle was between Patriots and Loyalists, all from the backcountry areas in the southern states, including some from across the Appalachians in what is now Tennessee.

Many of the small stone monuments in the park mark the spot where a Patriot leader fell. A handful of these same stone monuments are dedicated to people in general from the battle.














The second-oldest battlefield monument in the United States is this engraved stone on the left. It dates to 1815.





This monument, commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, was dedicated in 2016 to the three known Blacks that fought on the Patriot side.



1880 centennial monument





1909 obelisk







Monuments to foreign enemies are rare on US battlefields, but this one dedicated to Col. Patrick Ferguson, of Scotland, sits at the spot where he died. It was dedicated in 1930, to reflect the friendship of the two nations.

[xzmattzx]

Finally, pictures from North Carolina and Virginia as I finished my way home.


This is the view on I-85 after entering North Carolina from South Carolina.



Charlotte



I tried to get a good picture of the medians in North Carolina, most of which had nice flowers along each direction.



Random highrise in the middle of nowhere



Apparently this was the largest lager-only craft brewery in the United States.



Durham



Falls Lake



Virginia border



Virginia has the best highway rest stops from an architectural standpoint.



If you want your picture at the border without stopping on the Interstate, they give you the chance at this stop I was at.



We'll finish things off with a few pictures of South Hill, Virginia.

[xzmattzx]

Well, it's taking me quite a while to post pictures of my travels for the summer. It's early August and I just got done with Memorial Day weekend. The next weekend I went to Cape Cod. These pictures are just from the drive up and back; you can see the Cape Cod pictures HERE.


This was about when the smoke from the Canadian wildfires was beginning to show up in our area.



On the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the border between Delaware and New Jersey has been painted on the lanes. It's been a few years since they did it, so some spots are faded or been replaced with a new surface.



West Haven, Connecticut



New Haven, Connecticut



If you've ever driven on I-95 in Rhode Island, then you can't miss the Big Blue Bug as your go through Providence.



Providence, Rhode Island




Some pictures from Cape Cod are here.

The Providence River



Connecticut border



New London, Connecticut





This place in West Haven is a great place to get pizza (or apizza, pronounced "ah-beetz"). Their spicy shrimp casino pizza was named one of the top 10 pizzas in the US at the Daily Meal.



West Haven, Connecticut











White Plains, New York



Trenton Thunder Ballpark, home of the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League.



This sign used to be in New Jersey, where the Interstate crossed over US Route 1, but now it's in Pennsylvania, where the connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and New Jersey Turnpike crosses the old I-95 alignment.



Philadelphia skyline pictures









The very top of a couple skyscrapers in Wilmington can be seen from I-95's bridge over the Schuylkill River.

[xzmattzx]

Later in June, I went to visit my brother and his family in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. There was a new independent minor league baseball team in Frederick, Maryland, and because I had submitted a name, they sent me a free ticket to the day that the team would announce their name. They had been playing with no name, complete with a question mark on their hats and jerseys, until then. The team has since revealed their names as the Spire City Ghost Hounds.

The game was rained out, so after I arrived in Gettysburg, there was nothing to get ready for. So I changed my plans and decided to explore Hagerstown, which I had never been in before, and decided to check out their baseball stadium under construction, which would host a team that would be a rival of the Ghost Hounds. Their name has been revealed to be the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.


A Strasburg Railroad train running through the Lancaster County countryside.



On my way to Hagerstown, I decided to check out Catoctin Mountain Park, a unit in the National Park System and where Camp David is located, but it was still raining too much to do a little hike.



A log house west of Catoctin Mountain Park.



Hagerstown









The stadium site has been cleared, as of late June. They say it should be ready for the 2024 season.





On the way back to Gettysburg, I drove through Catoctin Mountain Park, and just to the south is Cunningham Falls State Park. The namesake falls are a short hike from a parking lot.








THE NEXT DAY


Gettysburg Battlefield



Gettysburg







Abbottstown, Pennsylvania



My brother's family, and my sister's family, had tickets to ride Thomas the Tank Engine at the Strasburg Railroad (the same as the first picture). I didn't have a ticket, since I was not sure if I could go when they had to buy them, but I stopped by, since it was on my way, and took pictures from outside the train when they left. I was told by my nephew that this Thomas was "Party Thomas", hence the splashes of paint. Percy and Mavis were there as well.

















Lancaster County farmland



An old farmhouse



The Gap Town Clock was built in 1892, and is located along PA Route 41. It is apparently unique in the United States as an extant roadside clock.

[xzmattzx]

I went up to our family cottage in Port Colborne, Ontario, for Canada Day weekend. It's become a semi-regular tradition now for me to go up for Canada Day. I like seeing the patriotism that Canadians have by attending their Canada Day festivities. Rural Ontario may have more American-like patriotism than other places in Canada, like Quebec,


This little trip will be broken down into sections. We'll start with the drive up.


The smoke from those Canadian wildfires was still around, and was pretty thick. It was thick even in Delaware, and it was smoky air the whole way up.

[Wigs]

Appreciate the road trip content

[xzmattzx]

I celebrated Canada Day in Port Colborne during the day, and Fort Erie at night. I'm going to jump out of chronological order here.


















There was a bald eagle there, not for Americans, although I like to think so anyway.



Fireworks were in Fort Erie.

[xzmattzx]

For those of you familiar with the Buffalo/Hamilton/Toronto area, our family cottage is by Sherkston Shores Resort. On holiday weekends, the place gets completely packed with teenagers now. They get dropped off nearby and jump a fence to get in. Many people in Sherkston don't like it because the kids are unregulated and come in without permission. Someone was stabbed one weekend in the commotion with the big crowds. Anyway, for Canada Day, girls in Canada bikinis wearing red plastic cowboys hats was generally the attire for the holiday.

[xzmattzx]

July 2 was a cloudy, misty, and rainy day. So instead of beach time, I used the day to explore and to a mini pub crawl around the area.


First up was the South Coast Cookhouse in Crystal Beach. Their wings are probably the best on the Canadian side of the Niagara River, and are right in line with the best in Buffalo.



Some scenes from Crystal Beach













On to Niagara Falls. I drove through the little hamlets of Stephensville and Snyder.







Next up was Doc Magilligan's, a proper Irish pub inside a regular hotel building.





Scenes from Niagara Falls















My last stop was Counterpart Brewing Company, which I was told was the best brewery in the Niagara Region. You don't see wuite as many trendy brewpubs in Canada like you do in the United States, but this one was on par with a lot of places I've been in my travels. The beer was very good, too!



A little more of Niagara Falls







And back to the family cottage for a swim, even on the dreary day.