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November 13, 2015

Beach or Bust

As I was planning my latest road trip, I had a few simple goals in mind. One, capture pics of all nine LOVE signs. Mission accomplished.

Goal #2, see three roadside oddities I’d selected on RoadsideAmerica.com and one cool town hall. Check!

Goal #3, spend the night close enough to the beach that I could watch the sunrise. That’s why I drove so far/was in such a hurry on the first day. I really wanted to make it to the beach.

There were a couple of other general goals, too. Enjoy some alone time and see what I could see. When you take time to look, interestingness almost always presents itself.

Along the road from Farmville to South Boston, Virginia.

A South Boston building that could use some TLC.

Look closely at the above pic. See anything odd? I’d just happened to park near something unusual on that street.

What are the odds of my parking by a large metal giraffe — about 15′ / 5 meters tall — simply by chance. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

I stopped at the Halifax County Visitors’ Center as I was leaving South Boston. Mainly because those places usually have bathrooms. It was actually a very nice visitors’ center with all sorts of nice displays, brochures, etc., but it was late in the day and the lady needed to be somewhere so was anxious to leave. BUT, she did ask what brought me to the area. When I told her about the LOVEwork, she told me there was one in Boydton, which I’d be passing through.

I looked for it, I did. Especially since it’s NOT on the current list and may be added soon. But I couldn’t find the dang thing. 🙁

I didn’t see a whole lot of other interesting stuff in my push towards the coast, mainly because it got dark. I did, however, drive past Virginia’s largest lake, Buggs Island Lake, also known as the John H. Kerr Reservoir. I wasn’t expecting that.

Here’s some fun stuff I saw when I reached my destination for the night, Virginia Beach.

Those fun fish were right next to my hotel, which was oceanfront. Yay!!! Gotta love traveling off-season when you can snag an oceanfront room for under $60.

I’ve been to VA Beach before, but just to visit the beach (as in sunbathe and swim), I’d never really looked around. I had no idea there’s a public art program, and that there are fun displays like the school of fish (est. 1993) scattered around the city.

And a cluster of big-ass Hermit Crabs.

I love kitschy souvenir shops. Most of them were closed, unfortunately (it was around 9:00 when I reached VA Beach). I couldn’t resist snapping a shot of this colorful display as I made my way to eat dinner.

Speaking of colorful stuff… I was tired. I wanted something quick and easy for dinner, so was happy to see a pizza restaurant that was open AND served beer. By complete coincidence, it happened to house an “oddity” I’d seen mentioned on RoadsideAmerica.com, but had deemed not interesting enough to go out of my way for.

It’s listing on RoadsideAmerica.com is titled, “Hippy Bus in Pizzeria.” Had I read the listing instead of just scrolling past it, I’d have realized it’s creator was Mark Cline, a name many lovers of large fiberglass Americana will recognize. He created Foamhenge, which I still need to visit, and “has been building fiberglass monsters, dinosaurs, and freaks for the tourist attractions of America for decades.”

It was weirdly warm at the beach — mid-70s! (mid-20s in C) — so I was able to enjoy my modest but yummy dinner on the outside patio.

Then I went to visit one of my targeted attractions… King Neptune. 🙂

I’d selected my hotel specifically with this guy in mind.

As RoadsideAmerica.com describes him…

The statue of Neptune is 34 feet tall and weighs 12.5 tons. It was unveiled along the beach in 2005. The bronze scowling Neptune holds a trident in one hand and a turtle in the other. Sculptor Paul DiPasquale also created the Arthur Ashe statue in Richmond in 1992, which is generally loathed as a work of art, but he seems to have gotten Neptune right. – See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/23107.

I was really looking forward to seeing him at sunrise, but couldn’t resist one or two quick night shots.

As for the sunrise… was it worth it?

Find out next time…

November 10, 2015November 10, 2015

Farmville, Not a Game

Until recently, Farmville was just the name of a town I’d seen on road signs. It probably stuck in my head because of FarmVille, the farming simulation social network game (I have never played).

As I was planning my trip, I did a quick little bit of research on every targeted LOVEwork location to see if there was anything interesting enough that I could see quickly on my way through. I didn’t read much about each location, just sorta browsed images of the area to see what I might see. Of course, I also checked RoadsideAmerica.com to see if anything stood out. Because, you know, if I am going to be in a certain neighborhood, I should at least know what awesome oddities are nearby.

Heading SE into Farmville on US 15 (business).

In addition to the LOVEworks, there were only four other things I noted as must sees. Along the entire 800-plus-mile route. One of those was this cool mural in Farmville, which is part of the Paint Farmville Downtown program.

I don’t know why, but I sorta pictured the majority of the route to Farmville being flat, straight, and uninteresting. It wasn’t. I was pleasantly surprised at the nice roads and pretty scenery. It helped that there are more colorful leaves on the trees south of us.

Images of the car as part of the landscape don’t quite have the same appeal as images with the bike, do they?

Nowhere near as interesting as a shot of the bike.

I immediately saw a face when I spotted that building. How about you?

Heading NE into Farmville on US 15 (business).

Main Street (it was rush hour on a Friday)

I really liked Farmville. It’s definitely on my list of “need to re-visit and spend more time” places. It’s obvious that a lot of love and effort were put into renovating the downtown. Not only is it visually pleasing, there are all kinds of cool shops and eateries along Main Street, too. Oh, and a really, really cool bicycle/walking path, which is a 31-mile rails-to-trails conversion.

Check this out… High Bridge Trail State Park and/or watch the nifty video embedded below to see how the park got its name. Kudos to whoever planned/designed the park plaza on Main Street. Even the bathrooms are amazingly well done and charming. No crap. LOL.

Rather than post too many pics here, I decided to upload them to Flickr for sharing. To see more pics in and around, follow this link to my Farmville album on Flickr.

Do you find it easier to see the pics on Flickr, or would you rather I just added them to the post?

Slick’s Hillside of Concrete Statues

Y’all know I don’t usually subject my Hubby to really weird stuff that I know he won’t appreciate or enjoy, right? But sometimes, I can’t help myself. Especially when there’s something that is just SO up my amusement alley, in a location we’re not likely to re-visit anytime soon. Which is why, after leaving Mount Airy, North Carolina on our recent trip, I included a stop at Slick’s Pottery in the neighboring town of Slate Mountain. I may or may not have planned the route specifically because it passed through that particular locale. 🙂

After reading the entry on RoadsideAmerica.com, how could I NOT stop there? It says…

Along a rural road, an unexpected army of concrete warriors, animals, and Jesi crowd a hillside below a concrete statue factory. The selection no doubt varies continually, but on the day that we stopped by we saw what Americans apparently crave for their lawns and gardens: a dragon, lion, eagle, Indian chiefs, enraptured worshippers, armless Venuses, a pink elephant, an Amish buggy, and a cow up on a pole painted as a tribute to New York City. And there were many more statues arrayed in ordered battalions back from the road, up to the factory. It’s all about the latest ironic juxtaposition waiting to be photographed.

How could I pass THAT up? I would’ve been kicking myself indefinitely if we hadn’t stopped, always wondering what amazing wonders we could have seen.

And, in the end, we only spent five minutes there.

Yes, I can work fast when required.

I think he even enjoyed the visit. A little, anyway.

It really was a small hillside full of statues.

The business was closed while we were there (a Sunday morning). 🙁

Of course, when I saw the above picture of me was missing an important third component, I requested a re-do.

ToadMama with Hippo, Chicken, and Sasquatch

ToadMama with Soldier (and mooning photobomber on left)

This is actually the mooning photobomber.

I read somewhere that the four-foot-tall Sasquatch is one of their biggest sellers.

Hubby spotted the giant green rooftop ape.

Wasn’t that a fun stop? If only Slick’s place wasn’t so far from home.

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

A Whole Lotta LOVE

I know I owe y’all some other pics from our last moto-ride weekend, but I just finished a fun road trip and have to share some of those pics first.

I’m still working on that self-imposed LOVEworks scavenger hunt. You know, the one where I visit and photograph all of the LOVE sculptures around Virginia that are part of the state’s “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign? As their website says…

We’re out to prove that “love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation” in a BIG way by having giant “LOVE” artworks pop up in many different and unexpected places across Virginia.

Ever since seeing that there’s a LOVEwork in Chincoteague, I’d been pondering how and when to capture that one. Chincoteague is a town on Chincoteague Island, which is off of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. There’s no quick way to get there from here. I’d either have to head north and east through Maryland, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis or head south and east to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel near Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Either way, it’s about a four-hour drive, much of which is via highway.

Rather than re-tracing my steps, which was one option, I preferred doing it as a loop, as shown below.

I’d hoped to do it on the bike, but it’s getting late in the year and the days are shorter, not to mention colder and sometimes wetter. Since the weather was sketchy for the weekend and I wanted to cover as much ground as possible, I took the car.

Of course, I included a “few” other LOVEworks sites I hadn’t yet visited. In all, I captured nine LOVEworks this weekend — yay, me! — bringing my total captures to 36. Pretty good, eh? I only have 11 more to capture and I’ll have seen all of the big ones, assuming no other new ones get added anytime soon. Three new ones were just added to the list on Thursday, the night before my journey began.

Anyway, the trip was a complete success. I saw all of the LOVEworks I’d planned on seeing AND lots of other fun stuff along the way. My Instagram feed over the last few days is full of odd stuff, LOL.

It was a hurried, but fun, trip. The best thing about this wacky scavenger hunt of mine is seeing parts of the state and/or towns I may never have seen otherwise, revisiting places I don’t get to often, and getting to visit places I’d been wanting to see, but never had a compelling enough reason to go.

Anyway, here they are, in order of capture.

farmville_love_small — Farmville LOVEwork

south-boston_love_small — South Boston LOVEwork

VA-Beach_love_small — Virginia Beach LOVEwork

newport-news_love_small — Newport News LOVEwork

norfolk-lafayette-park_love_small — Norfolk (Lafayette Park) LOVEwork

norfolk-airport_love_small — Norfolk International Airport LOVEwork

cape_charles_love_small — Cape Charles LOVEwork

chincoteague_love_small — Chincoteague LOVEwork

If Chincoteague (pronounced like shin-cuh-teak, said quickly) sounds familiar to some of you, it’s because the town is known for the Chincoteague Ponies. The ponies and the annual Pony Penning Day are the subject of Marguerite Henry’s book, Misty of Chincoteague. It was one of my favorites as a kid. The ponies are actually on neighboring Assateague Island, which I’ll explain later. Chincoteague deserves a post of it’s own.

One of the coolest things about the Chincoteague LOVEwork, which I first visited Saturday evening, is the welcoming committee that greeted me.

You’ll need to have your sound on to appreciate this quick video.

I enjoy seeing the diversity of these sculptures/art pieces. Which of these nine is your favorite? I’m sort of partial to Farmville, with Cape Charles and Chincoteague tied for a close second. But, really, I LOVE them all. 🙂

November 6, 2015

More “Big 60 Ride” Pics

I’m woefully behind on blog posts. Hubby’s birthday ride feels like it was ages ago. Jeez.

I’ll spare you the lame excuses. And, because there’s a backlog, I won’t bog this post down with commentary. Basically, we woke up on Saturday, packed up, ate, and rode. It was a glorious day.

I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I could have. It was a beautiful area. Truly.

We were very close to the VA/NC border. I have no idea which state this was in.

Barn Quilt on a Hardware Store in West Jefferson, NC

I don’t make Hubby stop much, but I knew we HAD to stop in West Jefferson to see the giant cows at the only cheese factory in NC. I’m glad, too. The town is adorable. It’s on my list of places I absolutely must re-visit.

I actually chose our lodging for the night because it was within easy walking distance of this BBQ place, which had great Yelp! reviews. We weren’t disappointed. The food was delicious.

Mount Airy, NC (Any Griffith’s birthplace and inspiration for the fictional Mayberry)

We were going to visit the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, but we were hungry, I was a bit chilled, and daylight was waning. It’s another place we must re-visit.

I did pop into the visitor’s center to see if their bathrooms worked and was quite tickled to see this mini-LOVEwork with a cool pig in the foreground.

Mini LOVEwork at Bedford’s D-Day Memorial … suh-WEET!

Next up… the other place we HAD to stop. Hubby wasn’t thrilled, but it was early in the day and we’d just eaten breakfast, so he humored me.

Here’s a sneak-peek.

Doesn't he look happy? — Doesn’t he look happy?

That’s love.

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

Charity Highway

There are pros and cons to using a helmet camera while riding. One of the cons being that you end up with a TON of images to sort through, which takes time. That’s why some of my images never get viewed by anyone other than me.

Yesterday, as I sorted through pics captured on October 18, the last day of Hubby’s birthday weekend ride, I came across a series of shots showing Virginia’s Charity Highway.

It is definitely one of my favorite stretches of road enjoyed that weekend. The 21 or so miles from Woolwine, the western end of VA-40, to just before the town of Ferrum were the best. We only went as far as Rocky Mount, so I can’t tell you whether the other end of the highway is good or not.

Like many roads, that “highway” got its name because it passes through the town of Charity. The posted speed limit was 55 MPH, but it was so curvy, I can’t imagine being able to maintain that speed for long.

That section of VA-40 parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). It would be a great alternate route on days that the BRP is fogged-in, too darn crowded, or you just need a change of pace. Remember, the 45 MPH speed limit on the BRP is strictly enforced.

When riding, I am often amazed at how little traffic uses many of the back roads we enjoy. Some folks have even asked, after watching another of my slideshows/videos, if we even have traffic.

The answer is yes, we do. I just usually omit slides/video segments where I’m stuck behind some other vehicle. Who wants to look at the ass-end of a car or truck?

This time, I decided to keep it real and include ALL of the 330+ slides from that stretch of road. Images were captured every 5 seconds, so it’s about 28 minutes of ride time condensed into a slideshow that’s 3:28 in length. You’ll get to see all of the traffic we encountered and the annoying sun glare as well as the road and some pretty nice scenery.

The slideshow is relatively quick. I added music, so you may want to mute your speakers if you’re watching in stealth mode.

For you map lovers, here’s a link to GOOGLE Map: Charity Highway, ~21-mile portion of VA-40 between Woolwine and Ferrum, Virginia. I have no idea how long those links stay active so, if it’s broken, just open GOOGLE Maps and search for Woolwine, Virginia.

I hope you enjoyed the slideshow.