Maryland
The journey begins on Interstate 68, as it cuts through Sideling Hill in Western Maryland.
Stay tuned for a full tour of Cumberland, Western Maryland largest city, and one of my very favorite small cities anywhere.
West Virginia
Piedmont, West Virginia – a town of 850 in Mineral County, in the state's eastern panhandle. It is directly across the Potomac from the town of Westernport, Maryland.
I imagine the population was greater at some point, but I could not locate a figure.
Seneca Rocks, an outcropping further south in Pendleton County, WV.
Hiking about 3,000 feet up on a ridge that separates West Virginia from regular Virginia. We're on the WV side, perhaps a couple dozen feet from the border.
Virginia
Coming down from the mountains
Into Harrisonburg, a city of 45,000
Harrisonburg seemed like a nice city, but it smelled quite strongly of dog food.
Further south
Buena Vista, a town of about 8,000 whose vistas were indeed quite buena. The much less popular town of Fea Vista is over by the highway.
The James River winds through Amherst County
Danville, Virginia. Stay tuned for a full tour of this very Thundertubby town.
We now take a detour, both in space and time. I have unposted photos from last year that kind of fit in here geographically. Remember – when traveling back in time it is critical not to touch or change anything, as the consequences could be catastrophic.
Roanoke, VA, circa 2012. Look at all the old cars and funny signs. Let's hope no one notices our futuristic clothing.
Smythe County
Mt. Rogers, Virginia's highest peak. This is around 4,500 feet or so out of 5,729.
Returning to the present day...
North Carolina
Greensboro
Winston-Salem. They get compliments on the hyphen.
The handsome Reynolds Building
Salisbury, a city of 30,000-ish in the center of the state.
The beavtiful Rowan Covnty covrt hovse
Three shifts, cranking out smells 'round the clock.
Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina. Or any Carolina for that matter.
Gastonia, a city of 72,000 located one county west of Charlotte. It's an old textile town that has seen better days, but is seeing growth due to it's proximity to Charlotte.
North Carolina woods in Gaston County
We're climbing Crowder's Mountain, a 1,625 foot peak
Gastonia, viewed from the top of Crowder's. Not really that interesting.
Charlotte, visible through the humidity. Distance is about 25 miles.
South Carolina
Spartanburg, home to the hilariously imposing Denny's corporate headquarters.
Seriously, the second tallest building on Main Street is three stories.
THE POWER OF DENNYS COMPELS YOU
The lovely South Carolina uplands
Table Rock Mountain, a 3,124 foot peak. Let's climb it.
South Carolina woods. This is my 34th state hiked in.
About 2/3 of the way up
A bit of autumn color near the top
The top. 7.2 miles round trip, and 2,000 foot elevetion gain/loss. My calves still won't speak to me.
Georgia
Atlanta. See the full tour
here.
Macon
I was quite impressed with Macon, and had a lot more of downtown to cover, but I surrendered early on account of the scorching 86-degree temperatures. I will need to return sometime in February.
Cordele, a city of 12,000 about an hour south of Macon. It bills itself as the watermelon capital of the world.
I had all sorts of exploration plans for South Georgia and Northern Florida, but the heat and sun were making it unfun. I hopped on the interstate and made tracks for my destination of West Palm Beach. The Florida Turnpike is a wonderful road for driving 85 mph and still having people pass you. There is a 49-mile stretch between exits at one point.
Florida
Geez, that's kind of an anticlimactic ending, huh?
Hmm... I was in Miami last December, but never shared the photos. So...
Miami!
...And back to New Jersey