My First Year in Charlotte (April 2014 – March 2015)

Written by ceddammit

Yes, it’s true. After months (maybe a year) of nothing but Colorado, I have finally purged all the photos I took during my last year in that most magnificent state. This week’s ThrowBack Thursday takes us to the Carolinas. Due to being busy with work, business travel, and the whole ordeal of moving 1,200 miles, I didn’t take NEARLY as many pictures during my first year in Charlotte as I did during my last year in Colorado. So, whereas the previous 10 ThrowBack Thursdays were each devoted to (on average) a single day, today’s post will cover nearly an entire year. Let’s start big, shall we? Well, SHALL WE? When it comes to mountain recreation destinations, in this part of the country, the big bad boy is Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Not Smokey, not Smokie — Smoky. The following pics are from a day trip to said Park on April 17, 2014.

The Smokies have forested tops. To get the full view, an elevated walkway is needed.
That’s probably the French Bread, er, Broad River down there.
Why so many dead trees? Because…
of an invasive insect; the hemlock wooly adelgid
Imagine these mountains in autumn. Or just wait a few weeks. I’m sure I’ll be sharing some autumn pics from this area at some point.
Mingo Falls (which is actually outside the National Park, near the town of Cherokee, North Carolina)

Now we fast forward to September, as we pay a visit to Ribbon Walk Nature Preserve, a 188-acre “urban forest” completely surrounded by the city of Charlotte. I took about a 2-hour stroll at Ribbon Walk and was impressed with the biomass (that’s a nice way of saying the trails were so overgrown, I had a hard time following them). Throughout my stroll, someone at a nearby house was playing simple, happy music on the flute-like instrument known to school children and annoyed parents as a recorder. This greatly enhanced the experience, as it lent the nature preserve an enchanting, Sherwood Forest kind of vibe. It was such a relaxing experience that I barely even freaked out when I startled a baby snake (probably a rat snake), and it startled me right back. I didn’t get any pics of the snake, but I did get these:

The variety and abundance of fungi at this altitude and latitude are amazing.
This mushroom is a human nipple!
You just don’t see fungus like this in Colorado.
So many varieties of fungus!
So many varieties of fungus!
Where fungus doesn’t take over, moss and lichens will.

Now, let’s fast forward again, this time to February 7, 2015. On this day, I drove all around (and a good distance out of) southwest Charlotte, just a -snappin’ pics of various stuff I’d discovered thus far in the area. Here is a glimpse of those discoveries, in no particular order:

I had to photograph this sign for the Monty Python fans out there.
I had to photograph this sign for the South Park fans out there.
I had to photograph this sign for the Young Frankenstein fans out there.
The roller coaster known as Fury 325, under construction…
…because the Intimidator just wasn’t big enough.
Taken just a block from my apartment at the time; I got to see Fury on the way to work.
Insert your own puerile comment here.
Dead gas station
Another dead gas station; this one has its pumps!
This big old farmhouse was across the street (South Tryon) from my apartment; gone now.

I finished this day with a jaunt out to the nifty little town of Clover, South Carolina. I used to drive through this town on the way to and from business engagements in Georgia and Alabama. This route also took me through Clemson, South Carolina (Go Tigers!). I guess you could say my business travel kept me going through Clemson and Clover over and over. Or you could choose NOT to say that, and instead, just look at these pictures from Clover:


Clover Presbyterian Church
Front door of Clover Presbyterian Church
Detail of Clover Presbyterian Church
This house and the next one…
…seem to be on the “right” side of the tracks…
…while this business is on the wrong side.

Right, then! That wraps it up for this week’s ThrowBack Thursday. Looks like I’ll take you for a drive on a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway next week.

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