12. Guilford County -- Greensboro -- 4/14/06
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilford_County%2C_NC
Yo yo yo! It's time to get this show on the road! This past weekend, I got up to 61 counties with the help of one of my good friends from college, Jim. He's from Guilford County, and so I dedicate this post to him, since I did this county by myself. This goes out to all you krazy Guilfordites out there as well!
So, ladies and gentlemen, after my fabulous stop in Graham (and driving around in circles...I had to pull out my GPS to get out of there), I hopped on I-40 and headed on to Greensboro. I had never been to downtown in Tha Boro, and I thought it would be a little intimidating. But, it wasn't. I liked the street signs down there. I forgot what they look like, but I remember thinking, hey, they're pretty cool (kinda like how peanut butter/chocolate ice cream is cool...in both taste and temperature).
I pulled into an alley-like road in front of the courthouse, and tried to take a quick shot before the folks standing to my left smoking got a chance to ask what I was doing. I hopped back in the car, and was on my merry way.
Guilford County used to be known for the traffic jams as both I-40 and I-85 traffic funneled down the same tiny highway that runs through the city (named Preddy Blvd., it looks like it was a nice blvd at one time that they decided to run an interstate through. As a matter of fact, the onramp I used to get back onto the road took me through a neighborhood--not as a ramp, but as a neighborhood street--where I practically made a right turn onto the freeway). Now, they've split the two interstates apart a little farther east to ease traffic through the city. Man, it helps! Greensboro was halfway between Asheville and Fayetteville growing up, so that's neat-o. Speaking of "neat-o", O. Henry is from Greensboro. His stuff is CRAZY. I got a compilation book of his work from the library last summer, and man, that's some interesting bathroom reading.
I learned in one of my Geog classes that Greensboro is prone to water problems because it sits at the top of a watershed, so all the water runs away from it, and in small quantities since all of the nearby rivers are just starting their journeys. Whoops.
Guilford County also contains High Point, which calls itself the "Furniture and Hosiery Capital of the World," and is the highest point on the Charlotte-Goldsboro RR. The RR ran into the old plank road that went to Fayetteville...that's one thing I find so funny about Fay...Fay decided that the plank road was a better investment at the time than the RR, which is why it took Fay so long to get off the ground and get a RR (and later an interstate). Anyway, High Point has a bi-annual furniture mart which attracts tons of people...though it has threatened to move to Las Vegas (BOO!). Las Vegas is NOT a town or county in NC, and therefore is lame. Well, ok, it could be cool (so I've heard...never been!), but furniture belongs here! Besides, there's a huge chest of drawers here, too, which goes nicely with the large chair in nearby Thomasville (Davidson County).
The courthouse looked good for being near in a Revolutionary War battle in 1781. Oh? This isn't the same courthouse? And the old "Guilford Court House" was in a different spot? Well, then. Then what was that guy doing wearing a red coat then? Huh? Didn't I smell tea and crumpets? Yeah, the rebels got pretty crushed in Guilford. Maybe next time. Hold your heads up!
So, ladies and gentlemen, after my fabulous stop in Graham (and driving around in circles...I had to pull out my GPS to get out of there), I hopped on I-40 and headed on to Greensboro. I had never been to downtown in Tha Boro, and I thought it would be a little intimidating. But, it wasn't. I liked the street signs down there. I forgot what they look like, but I remember thinking, hey, they're pretty cool (kinda like how peanut butter/chocolate ice cream is cool...in both taste and temperature).
I pulled into an alley-like road in front of the courthouse, and tried to take a quick shot before the folks standing to my left smoking got a chance to ask what I was doing. I hopped back in the car, and was on my merry way.
Guilford County used to be known for the traffic jams as both I-40 and I-85 traffic funneled down the same tiny highway that runs through the city (named Preddy Blvd., it looks like it was a nice blvd at one time that they decided to run an interstate through. As a matter of fact, the onramp I used to get back onto the road took me through a neighborhood--not as a ramp, but as a neighborhood street--where I practically made a right turn onto the freeway). Now, they've split the two interstates apart a little farther east to ease traffic through the city. Man, it helps! Greensboro was halfway between Asheville and Fayetteville growing up, so that's neat-o. Speaking of "neat-o", O. Henry is from Greensboro. His stuff is CRAZY. I got a compilation book of his work from the library last summer, and man, that's some interesting bathroom reading.
I learned in one of my Geog classes that Greensboro is prone to water problems because it sits at the top of a watershed, so all the water runs away from it, and in small quantities since all of the nearby rivers are just starting their journeys. Whoops.
Guilford County also contains High Point, which calls itself the "Furniture and Hosiery Capital of the World," and is the highest point on the Charlotte-Goldsboro RR. The RR ran into the old plank road that went to Fayetteville...that's one thing I find so funny about Fay...Fay decided that the plank road was a better investment at the time than the RR, which is why it took Fay so long to get off the ground and get a RR (and later an interstate). Anyway, High Point has a bi-annual furniture mart which attracts tons of people...though it has threatened to move to Las Vegas (BOO!). Las Vegas is NOT a town or county in NC, and therefore is lame. Well, ok, it could be cool (so I've heard...never been!), but furniture belongs here! Besides, there's a huge chest of drawers here, too, which goes nicely with the large chair in nearby Thomasville (Davidson County).
The courthouse looked good for being near in a Revolutionary War battle in 1781. Oh? This isn't the same courthouse? And the old "Guilford Court House" was in a different spot? Well, then. Then what was that guy doing wearing a red coat then? Huh? Didn't I smell tea and crumpets? Yeah, the rebels got pretty crushed in Guilford. Maybe next time. Hold your heads up!
posted by Charles @ 7:50 PM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home