Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I Don't Think So

"You one of those BMW riders?" He was dressed in jeans, a leather jacket and a Harley dew rag.

"Nope," I responded and waited to see where this was going to lead.

"I just wondered, they got some big thing going on this weekend." He thought a moment, "Maybe that was last weekend."

I told him I was on my way to the Fort Davidson Historical Site. He asked where that was. I said near Elephant Rocks State Park. "Oh, it's that Civil War Thing," he said.

"Yeah, that's it." I agreed. I told him Heather, my companion extraordinaire and I had been down there playing on the rocks a few weeks before and I'd noticed signs for it. I'm into history. Heather not so much. I had a day off and had decided to ride out and take a look. I told him I was riding a "two-fifty", but didn't mention it was a scooter. "Good fuel mileage is important to me," I told him.

"Geez," he said, "I got a vintage Corvette. It drinks the gas and it uses Premium!" It seems his brother had talked him into getting the Corvette so they could go driving to rallies and such things. It sounded like fun to him and both he and his brother got Corvettes. And, it was fun for the first couple of years, but now his brother only wants to do one rally a year and the Corvette pretty much sets in the garage.

He went on to tell me it was his brother who got him started riding. It seems the brother came up with the idea of them buying Harleys. With the Harleys they could go riding with each other. It worked that way the first year. They went to Sturgis. They rode out West. But, now he has to beg the brother to go riding.

This past Spring his brother called and suggested they take up golf. "You know," he told me, "I thought about it. And, I thought about the Corvette setting in my garage. I got a ton of money in it. And, I got way over ten grand in my Harley." He paused, "I told him, I don't think so."

His phone rang. He talked for a few minutes. It was his brother. The brother had an electrical problem on his truck and needed help with it. "What'cha goin' do?" he asked me. "I guess I'll go over and give him a hand, but I ain't goin' to take up no golf!"

After he left I continued on down the road toward Pilot Knob.

The view from a scenic overlook somewhere off Rte. 21
 
I got to Fort Davidson in the middle of the afternoon.



The Fort's Earthworks are still pretty much intact.
You can read all about the battle by clicking here.

This is the crater left from the detonation of the powder magazine. It is said the ground shook for twenty miles.
I learned at the visitor's center the Courthouse in Ironton was damaged in the battle and the damage had been retained over the years. I rode over and saw the canon damage on the front of the Courthouse.

Some of the canon damage is the dark speck on the white pediment.
By the time I made it home I'd traveled a little over 250miles. I'd like to repeat this ride when the days are longer. I felt a bit rushed. Still, it was a great day.

12 comments:

  1. Great story. Sounds like the fella needs to find his own hobby. Looks like the People is expanding your days riding.

    gaw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, he really likes riding horses. I got the sense the guy was an extrovert and really liked being with people...and, didn't know how to do things halfway. I suspect he doesn't have hobbies, he has passions. I saw your Kymco over at Mike's. Hope that was a good experience for you.
      ~k

      Delete
  2. Wow! Great day! Interesting concept of following his brothers hobbies. I'm glad he wished up with the golf. Now that is an expensive sport! Interesting battlefield. I still wonder how they know those were the actual earthworks. They say that here about Kennesaw...but I wonder how they know with 100 years of tree growth and farming on them...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This site hasn't been farmed and one of the rife pits was turned into a mass grave for those who died in the battle. That kept the site safe. The interpretive center is small but does a good job of orienting one to the area. The area is an old mining area. I turned eleven when the Centennial of the Civil War was going on. It was everywhere I turned. I had a scrapbook of articles, calendar painting reproduction, and photos from magazine's like Life. Oddly, this is the first Civil War site I've ever visited...well, not counting Norfolk, but there I'm visiting my daughter.
      ~k

      Delete
  3. Interesting Story keith..sounds like the harley guy was a bit lost and easily influenced...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roger, you may be right about him being a bit lost and easily influenced. Then again, maybe he was a little more intense than his brother. I certainly enjoyed our conversation...or monolog, but I suspect I wouldn't want him for a riding partner.
      ~k

      Delete
  4. Good story. It sounds like he was supportive to his brother. Possibly a little too much.

    Interesting site. I'm not a civil war buff but still interested in history.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard, I think you got it. In his world brothers were suppose to do stuff together. I don't know if he was older or younger. He didn't mention it and I didn't ask.

      I can't say I'm a Civil War buff either, but it is all around me here. There is a ballot initiative this election cycle to return oversight of the St. Louis Police Department back to the City. It was taken over by the State in 1860 to prevent the police from being utilized by Union sympathizers. Missouri had divisions in both the Union and the Confederate Armies. Here it was really brother against brother.

      Like you, I'm mostly just interested in history. I love stopping at the historical markers.
      ~k

      Delete
  5. Keith:

    I also think you're having more fun with your 250. Less effort and increases your radius. I would think also less stressful in keeping up with traffic which makes for more enjoyable riding.

    I like history too but more in the demise of small, deserted or abandoned towns and wondering what happened to all those people and where they went

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. bob,
      The riding is different. I still probably spend more time each week on the Symba, but I go farther on the Kymco.

      I have similar wonderings as you mention when I pass abandoned homesteads out in the country, or when I see derelict houses here in the City. I wonder about the people who lived there and their dreams, and I wonder what stories their walls hold.
      ~k

      Delete
  6. Cool place to ride to. I enjoy historic sites.

    The harley/corvette guy seems like a real character. Funny how wearing riding gear will make total strangers want to chat you up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is funny about the chatting thing. A woman at the same place asked me, "Aren't you cold?" Then her husband asked me if I wanted to buy a vintage truck. Oh well.
      ~k

      Delete