"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.
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The view from a scenic overlook somewhere off Rte. 21 |
|
I got to Fort Davidson in the middle of the afternoon. |
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The Fort's Earthworks are still pretty much intact. |
You can read all about the battle by clicking
here.
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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.
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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.