On Saturday, I got to do 2 fun things.
No, make that 3 fun things.
Although, if you include sleeping late, that would make 4 fun things.
Fun Thing #2 - Disappearin' Railroad Blues
After sleeping late (fun thing #1), I drove down to the Outer Banks,
but on the way, I met up with my friend RAD to take some pictures.
It was a gray & dreary day.
Again.
We ended up at Bob's Fishing Hole on Rt 168, just north of the NC line.
I had remembered cypress knees all along the edges of the water.
Trouble is, we really couldn't get to a good place to shoot the cypress knees,
but there was a very nice set of train tracks there.
Part of the Chesapeake & Albemarle RR.
I don't think these tracks are used any more.
Or, if they are, it is only rarely, since the rails are rusted.
But it makes me feel more than a little sad and very nostalgic for a different era.
An era before the interstate & the solitary automobile, before the impersonal & efficient jet.
An era where the journey was as much of an adventure as the destination.
Now, here's what I want you to do.
Play the video below, and while the music plays, slowly scroll through the pictures.
If you want to read about the song and the real "City of New Orleans" train, you can do that too.
Fun Thing #3 - Happy Birthday To Rosie
I left the train tracks and continued my journey south.
My friend Rosie Hawthorne (not her real name) has a birthday this week,
so a party was in order with some friends, relatives & neighbors.
On the way there, I stopped along the beach road to take a peek at the ocean.
Ahhhhh, that's more like it.
This is what an Atlantic winter should look like,
not this, like it was the previous weekend . . .
Poor Rosie even made some of her own party food,
although she would say it wasn't really her party.
Saturday was also the birthday of one of her party guests.
Surprise!
There was music and fun
and even a little groping.
(some of you will get the reference of the sunglasses on the backs of their heads.)
More than once, evidently.
And Rosie with her faaaaavorite gift.
(Sorry, another inside joke.)
Fun Thing #4 - The Muse's First Comedy Club
My brother runs a writing school downtown, The Muse,
which he founded with a friend.
It is linked on the right.
Saturday night they had their first graduates of the comedy writing class
perform their stand-up routines.
It was very enjoyable.
The school regularly holds readings for their students in all genres.
If you are in the area, check it out sometime.
I was beat.
Really, how much more fun could I have squeezed onto one day?
Although, if you include sleeping late, that would make 4 fun things.
Fun Thing #2 - Disappearin' Railroad Blues
After sleeping late (fun thing #1), I drove down to the Outer Banks,
but on the way, I met up with my friend RAD to take some pictures.
It was a gray & dreary day.
Again.
We ended up at Bob's Fishing Hole on Rt 168, just north of the NC line.
I had remembered cypress knees all along the edges of the water.
Trouble is, we really couldn't get to a good place to shoot the cypress knees,
but there was a very nice set of train tracks there.
Part of the Chesapeake & Albemarle RR.
I don't think these tracks are used any more.
Or, if they are, it is only rarely, since the rails are rusted.
But it makes me feel more than a little sad and very nostalgic for a different era.
An era before the interstate & the solitary automobile, before the impersonal & efficient jet.
An era where the journey was as much of an adventure as the destination.
Now, here's what I want you to do.
Play the video below, and while the music plays, slowly scroll through the pictures.
If you want to read about the song and the real "City of New Orleans" train, you can do that too.
Fun Thing #3 - Happy Birthday To Rosie
I left the train tracks and continued my journey south.
My friend Rosie Hawthorne (not her real name) has a birthday this week,
so a party was in order with some friends, relatives & neighbors.
On the way there, I stopped along the beach road to take a peek at the ocean.
Ahhhhh, that's more like it.
This is what an Atlantic winter should look like,
not this, like it was the previous weekend . . .
Poor Rosie even made some of her own party food,
although she would say it wasn't really her party.
Saturday was also the birthday of one of her party guests.
Surprise!
There was music and fun
and even a little groping.
(some of you will get the reference of the sunglasses on the backs of their heads.)
More than once, evidently.
And Rosie with her faaaaavorite gift.
(Sorry, another inside joke.)
Fun Thing #4 - The Muse's First Comedy Club
My brother runs a writing school downtown, The Muse,
which he founded with a friend.
It is linked on the right.
Saturday night they had their first graduates of the comedy writing class
perform their stand-up routines.
It was very enjoyable.
The school regularly holds readings for their students in all genres.
If you are in the area, check it out sometime.
I was beat.
Really, how much more fun could I have squeezed onto one day?
8 comments:
Thank you Dear Ticky for joining us.
I loveth you. :)
And what do you mean by
Rosie Hawthorne - "not her real name?"
Yeah, and my real name is 'Red Rose'.
Ah, trains - just the thought of them takes me back to the train from Hinsdale to Chicago when we were kids. That rickety, old train track bridge was the best, too. Remember the train trip from Chapel Hill to Florida when we were kids?
Even though Roanoke started out as a train town, there's nary a train now that stops here - you have to drive to Lynchburg of all places. Sooo sad.
If more freight was moved by train, there wouldn't be so much craziness on the highways, either.
Oh, yeah, and Happy Birthday, Rosie (or whoever you are)!!
Sista G and Rosie,
You are ignoring the fact that Rootie Tootie/Tickie Tockie (or whatever alias she's currently known as) has clearly violated the statutes regarding train trestles. And I have a witness that will swear she conspired to induce others to follow her bad example. I'm shocked at the casual, apathetic attitude exhibited by your little group of scofflaws.
I may need therapy for guilt resolution, as I am quite the sensitive lad. And I was, once again, denied muffins. ;-)
Happy Birthday, Rosie.
RAD
RAD - I challengeth you to produceth said witness. But I totally plead mea culpa on the missing muffins. Plus, I like being a scofflaw.
Sista - the train trip was back to Chapel Hill from Florida to escape the bed-wetting menace. Funny though, I don't remember it at all. But the bridge in Hinsdale is indeed the best. I got some pictures of it when BS & I took our trip.
Rosie - I loveth you too.
I loveth you, Rootie-tootie fresh 'n frootie!!
I guess I was so traumatized by having to sleep with the bed-wetter that I must have old-timer's memory mixup about which direction we took the train from (uh-oh - dangling preposition...).
Thanks for posting the pictures of the comedians!
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