Mayberry and Appomattox

On Friday morning I continued north to Mount Airy, NC.  This is the town where Andy Griffith grew up, and it has many Mayberry-themed attractions for tourists.  There's an Andy Griffith museum, with a statue of Andy and Opie going fishing; you can also see Floyd's barber shop, Wally's service station, the Sheriff's office, and Walker's soda fountain.

NASCAR references abound in NC and Virginia.  Here's a look at the Martinsville, VA, speedway.  One town, named for Confederate General Jeb Stuart, had a street named for the Wood Brothers NASCAR team.  I've also passed near the track at Charlotte and the old one at North Wilkesboro.

In the afternoon, I saw the Appomattox Court House national historic site.  In the McLean House, Lee surrendered to Grant, effectively ending the War Between the States.  The house and room (as well as the remnants of the little stagecoach town) are kept as close to their condition on that day as possible.  There's a little cemetery nearby where 15 soldiers (mostly Confederate) who died in the days before the surrender are buried.

In Lexington, Virginia, the campuses of Virginia Military Institute and Washington & Lee University sit side-by-side.  Stonewall Jackson taught at VMI, and Lee became the president of then Washington College after the war.  He's buried in a beautiful crypt in the Lee Chapel on campus.  I was an hour too late to go inside.




At a rest area stop in the Shenandoah Valley, I got a beautiful shot of the Virginia mountains.

Thursday: SC and NC

The first day of this road trip began at home and ended at Kannapolis, NC.



I visited the Congaree National Park near Gadsden, SC.  This is the nation's largest collection of 150-plus foot pine and cypress trees in a floodplain setting. They have facilities for camping, water sports, and hiking, including an extensive boardwalk in the forest.

I saw lots of squirrels and lizards, a couple of red-headed woodpeckers, and this guy, who was camera-shy.






From Congaree, I traveled to the Charlotte, NC area.  I saw two Christian sites, the headquarters of the Bible Broadcasting Network and (at least the entrance to) the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Library.  Unfortunately, it was late in the afternoon and there wasn't really a good photo opportunity.

Just down the road in Kannapolis, I visited the park where NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt is honored with a huge statue.  He was clearly revered in this area.

So, what's up with this DEGREE ?

My studies for the last 15 months with Norwich have included ALL of American History.  It has been very intensive with regard to reading and writing--just look at all the books I've read and written about!

And, believe me folks, I have read EVERY PAGE of most of those!!

The topic of my capstone project is John C. Calhoun.  I will be making a roundtable presentation about my research at the residency, and I will be hearing about the work of other students.  We'll also have a GRADUATION CEREMONY, even though I won't actually finish for about eight more weeks.

Today I've been packing up.  The trip begins in the morning!!