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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

BlueRidgeMike

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About BlueRidgeMike

  • Birthday March 15

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    http://mecurtis.blogspot.com/

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Brevard, NC
  • Interests
    Two Lane Traveling
    Hot Rods & Muscle Cars
    Genealogy
    Hockey

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  1. I'm not sure which one she was looking at. It's much more about the adventure rather than the amenities anyway. We're planning on paying a return visit to Wigwam Village #2, perhaps as soon as this weekend. Elegant it ain't, but it's definitely fun.
  2. Sweet! Funny story - your picture put this thread at the top of the list, and I hadn't seen it before. I saw that Denny was looking for routing info and a deep discussion ensued with Jim and Dave. So I dug my Clason atlases out, opened Google maps on my computer, then spent about an hour following the 1925-26 routing and plotting it on the current map. Then as I was about to respond I looked at the date and realized the discussion had taken place almost 7 years ago! Oh well, better late than never.
  3. Yeah, Sharon told me about a Hotel in Nevada she wants to stay in. When I asked her what brought that about, she held up your book. I think between the map on the LH website and your book we will be good to go. Maybe the northern part of the Dixie Highway this summer too. Mike
  4. Denny, Mine came yesterday. Thanks, and congratulations on a job well done! I'm also impressed by the turnaround time. I barely got mine finished for Christmas for a Route 66 trip I took with Sharon in 2011.
  5. Hi Denny, Thanks for the link. I think one of the problems with the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway is that it seems to have truly existed in some states but may have been the historic equivalent of "vaporware" in others. Then these side routs like the Biloxi, MS to Fairview, KY didn't help. I recently drove the section between Hopkinsville and Fairview, KY. I didn't go up in the monument (don't even know if you still can) but back in the 1970s I was stationed nearby at Ft. Campbell, KY and this was part of US-68 at the time. We drove past here frequently and I went up to the top of the monument back then. I notice that Google has it labeled as the Jefferson Davis Road, and they call the current US-68/State Highway 80 the Jefferson Davis Highway/Russellville Road.
  6. Hi Dave, Geographically speaking, North Carolina consists of the mountains in the west, the ocean in the east and the flat center. The Jefferson Davis Highway runs through the flat center. The route travels through much of the state in low population areas. All of the towns mentioned in my earlier post are small until you reach the Chapel Hill - Durham area, which combined with Raleigh, constitutes a major metropolitan area. I did notice that much of the US-15 section had a Jefferson Davis Highway sign attached to the US-15 sign posts; I didn't notice that signage on US-1. More recently, we drove sections of the JDH through South Carolina on a trip to Augusta, Georgia. I haven't had a chance to investigate it yet, but I think the JDH and the Carolina Alignment of the Dixie Highway share some roadway along Broad Street in Augusta. At some point we will try to drive the NC section again when the weather is a little better, giving us more opportunity to explore. Mike
  7. A couple of weekends ago we took an overnight trip with Monte Carlo #2 to follow the Jefferson Davis Highway through North Carolina. Beginning at the South Carolina border we traveled north, following as much as possible the original alignment of US-1 to Sanford, then US-15 to the Virginia border. Based on a combination of a 1925 Clason's Atlas, a 1926 Rand McNally Atlas and a series of Jefferson Davis Highway monuments, the route appears to travel through the following cities: South Carolina State Line Rockingham Marston Southern Pines Cameron Sanford Colon Pittsboro Bynum Rigsbee Chapel Hill Durham (Beginning here, the atlas refers to this as the Bankhead highway heading into VA) Northside Creedmoor Hester Tar River Oxford Stovall Bullock Virginia State Line We were intending to identify the locations of all the known JDH monuments along the route, but it was a rainy, miserable day so we only found a couple. We backtracked to Durham, where we spent the night, then followed old US-70 which was the routing of the Bankhead Highway back to Greensboro. From there we split off and headed back home. Even with the weather it was an enjoyable drive. Mike
  8. I was able to share the first half of the trip with Denny and some of the others, but must live vicariously through his posts for the second half. Mike
  9. There is definitely something lost with the replacement of names with numbers or letters. It reminds me of a previous conversation with Cort on this forum regarding the movement away from car names to exciting monikers like MX-6 and G35. With respect to the highways I understand the reasons for the change, but I'll always prefer the Dixie Overland Highway to US-80. Mike
  10. Denny, if we see you on the side of the road on the LH we'll be sure to stop. Hope you'll do the same. Mike
  11. Yep, that's what I'll be driving unless something drastic happens between now and then. I have been giving it a good workout in preparation for the LH tour. I drove it on a 2,200 round trip to the Jefferson Highway conference in Olathe, KS with a sidetrip through Missouri on Route 66. Then we did our loop on the sourthern Dixie Highway. Last weekend we did a 400 mile day trip to northern Georgia. The car is doing what it is supposed to, at least for now. I hope you are able to bring the Valiant.
  12. Denny - I look forward to seeing you on the Lincoln Highway in a couple of weeks.
  13. Well it took a while because I have been busy Dixie Highwayin' and other highwayin' this year, but I finally made it down to Florida to snap the 10th and possibly last of the Robert E. Lee / Dixie Highway monuments placed by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Here are the images, ordered from northernmost to southernmost. One is on the Eastern Alignment, one is on the Western Alignment, and the rest are on the Carolina Division of the highway. There may be others, but thus far no one seems to know for sure. Franklin, Ohio - The only one of the 10 on the Eastern Alignment, and the only one in the North. TN/NC State Line - As you drive from Newport, TN to Hot Springs, NC you will spot this monument on your left as you cross into North Carolina. Hot Springs, NC - Just before making a sharp left and driving downhill into the town of Hot Springs you will spot the largest of the 10 monuments on your right. Marshall, NC - Marshall used to be a one street town, bordered by rough mountain terrain on one side and the French Broad River on the other. This monument sits in front of the Madison County Courthouse in the middle of town. Asheville, NC - In the heart of Asheville in Pack Square sits the next monument, dwarfed in the shadow of the Vance Memorial obelisk. Fletcher, NC - The next monument can be seen on a busy commercial stretch of US-25, right in front of the Calvary Episcopal Church. Hendersonville, NC - The next monument is hard to find if you don't know where to look because it no longer sits on the Dixie Highway. The highway ran down Main Street in Hendersonville, and the monument once stood in front of the historic Henderson County Courthouse. For a reason unknown to me, the monument was moved and rededicated in 2008 to Church Street which runs behind the courthouse. This may have been done to follow what once was the location of the re-routed US-25. NC/SC State Line - As you leave North Carolina on Old US-25, look to your left and you will see the last monument in the state. Greenville, SC - The last monument on the Carolina Division of the Dixie Highway can be found on Main Street in Greenville, though technically it is a block or two north of where the highway actually intersected with the street. Bradfordville, FL - You will be driving a long way before seeing monument #10. The Dixie Highway follows the Carolina Division to its intersection with the Eastern Alignment in Waynesboro, Georgia. You will then continue on to Jacksonville, Florida where you will leave the Eastern Alignment and take a connector to Tallahassee, where you will pick up US-319 and begin heading north on the Western Alignment of the highway. As you approach the Georgia border you will make a U-turn on the divided highway, heading back south about 8/10 of a mile. A pullout on the right holds the location of the 10th monument.
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