Roadside Oddities In Natural Bridge Virginia - Backroad Trip Into North Carolina / Forgotten History
Road Trip Thru Virginia April 2023
Transcript
0:03
welcome everyone Adam the woo here as
0:03
the recording of this it is Wednesday
0:04
April 12
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2023. I am standing in front of this
0:08
pink Cadillac at the pink Cadillac Diner
0:13
and
0:15
Motel I am heading southbound today
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into North Carolina but first I have a
0:21
few things to do in this neck of the
0:23
woods of Virginia
0:26
it has been many years since I've been
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to Natural Bridge Virginia not only some
0:31
historical stuff some very interesting
0:35
natural
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things Brit you know the bridge has made
0:40
it is natural it's not it's not man-made
0:42
but there's also some wacky roadside
0:44
attractions here
0:46
so I'm gonna check that out
0:47
before continuing Southbound on this
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road trip I'm inviting you to join me
0:53
it's good to have you
0:56
still haven't bought these sunglasses
0:57
since I broke the last bear shall you
0:59
now you can't really step foot in these
1:01
parts
1:03
without
1:05
acknowledging and embracing the work of
1:07
Mark Klein
1:09
who a lot of the roadside
1:11
Novelties are created by him and I
1:14
believe this looks like something he
1:16
would have done this Johnny Appleseed
1:24
I've always said to myself if I was to
1:24
open a Roadside Attraction somewhere
1:26
someday he would be probably the guy
1:29
that I would contact uh to build
1:32
you know a beacon off of the off of the
1:35
road
1:36
drawing in look at Johnny Appleseed here
1:38
with the Apple
1:40
got the pot on his head
1:42
holding a tree apple tree
1:45
I guess that's an apple tree starting to
1:47
bud just a little bit there
1:50
a very content
1:52
and happy Johnny Appleseed here
1:58
so I've got to see a lot of his work
1:58
today while we're around this place is
2:01
not open at the moment but it's known as
2:03
the Gaylord Downey cabin
2:07
built in 1860 on North Mountain
2:12
it is a tasting facility for it looks
2:14
like
2:15
cider like hard cider
2:29
so in 2016 it was moved
2:29
from this spot built pre-1860 and was
2:33
moved here
2:35
to where it stands now
2:38
and a little onlooker there saying hello
2:41
to all the traffic driving by
2:47
I think of Johnny Appleseed always think
2:47
of the no FX song oh wait
2:50
contemporary Johnny Appleseed I think is
2:52
the name of it but
2:53
I thought that was like around the back
2:55
I thought that was like a
2:57
like the nozzle
3:00
of a watering pot but it's not
3:08
nope it's not what I thought it was I
3:09
don't know what the heck that is very
3:11
Scenic Countryside out here
3:14
this is the road that heads into Natural
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Bridge Virginia
3:18
but I'm standing outside
3:20
of the Enchanted Castle Studios
3:24
where a lot of the stuff around here was
3:26
created in fact look up top there
3:30
was a wizard
3:56
scientist up top here now the gate is
3:56
open but there's a sign here so I'm not
3:58
gonna go walking back in there looks
4:00
like there's a few people in there doing
4:01
some work there's some dinosaurs over
4:04
there
4:05
you got some tikis out front here
4:21
sleepy teepee sleepy Tiki
4:21
and then back in there there's a train
4:23
train set
4:24
man there's a treasure Trove of goodness
4:26
back in there
4:34
oh
4:57
it's got all the flowers down here on
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the ground
5:10
the name of this town is named after a
5:10
bridge that is naturally made
5:14
pretty cool
5:19
in fact I believe George Washington's
5:19
name is carved and described in the
5:22
bridge itself
5:23
if I remember correctly
5:30
all right this kind of stinks because it
5:30
is mid-week
5:32
dinosaur Kingdom 2 is only open on
5:34
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 to 5.
5:36
now the last time I was here five six
5:38
seven seven years ago
5:40
give or take this had just opened
5:43
I think I was here within the first
5:45
month of it being open now it's called
5:47
dinosaur Kingdom 2
5:49
because the first dinosaur kingdom here
5:51
in town
5:52
was moved over here
5:55
the other one closed
5:57
and a while later
6:00
Mark Klein opened this one dinosaur
6:02
Kingdom two I've done a walk through it
6:05
here before but it's been half a decade
6:07
ago since I was in town and none of this
6:09
was out front this is really been built
6:12
up considerably since those days
6:16
they have an Extinction Junction fossil
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mining
6:20
they got this really cool old it's like
6:23
a front of a train station ticket booth
6:31
there's also a safari zoo behind me on
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the other side there that's where all
6:31
those animal noises are hearing on lots
6:34
of animal noises coming from over there
6:36
and take a look at this really large
6:39
elephant
6:53
I would imagine he created this as well
6:56
pretty much anything that's like kind of
6:58
a wacky roadside
7:00
you know item like this why would they
7:02
go to anyone else
7:05
except Enchanted Castle Studios
7:07
I'm gonna go look around over here at
7:09
the dinosaur store these little monkeys
7:18
one right there looking off in the
7:18
distance
7:19
and there's another one over here looks
7:21
like eating a Pop-Tart or something this
7:23
is a really clever idea for a trash can
7:43
I could have a double meaning but it's a
7:43
very unique concept for a dinosaur park
7:47
it's more or less
7:48
the soldiers going up against the
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prehistoric creatures
7:58
it is not your typical dinosaur bar got
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a little water tower peeking up there
7:59
called Extinction Junction got an
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airplane in the side of the fence
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just incredible
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all these fiber I guess they're
8:11
fiberglass sculptures
8:13
this robot missing an arm
8:15
with all the wires popping out of the
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side
8:25
you got King Kong here holding a part of
8:25
a plane
8:27
you got this dragon
8:42
look at this
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oh wow and then in the distance there's
8:45
Frankenstein oh Frankie coming out of a
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chicken torso
8:50
of course they See No Evil Hear No Evil
8:53
say no evil
8:55
monkeys over there
9:09
you know what I believe this
9:09
was from the old foam Henge so foam
9:12
hinge
9:13
was a creation made out of foam
9:17
to look like Stonehenge
9:20
but it was here in town and it was moved
9:23
elsewhere
9:25
so it's not in
9:27
this area anymore but I believe this
9:29
wizard was part of foam hinge
9:33
in fact I visited there
9:35
five six seven years ago when it was in
9:37
town before it was moved
9:39
and I recall this wizard
9:41
if memory serves me correctly
9:45
wow hello there
9:53
an elephant
9:53
see what the sign says
10:02
Merlin Castro a mold I created directly
10:02
from the face of Jamie Jordan of
10:04
Waynesboro Virginia on February of 2007
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two days after his passing
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and just shy of his 60th birthday
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it was his request to have him create a
10:15
lasting image of him
10:23
a nice homage
10:23
to Jamie Jordan so don't quote me on the
10:26
fact that this was from foam hinge but I
10:28
think this was from foam Edge
10:42
wow silhouetted out a little bit from
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the angle of the sun I know this is kind
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of horrifying
10:48
I mean not the
10:48
not the banjo playing Dragon here
10:53
this
10:54
it's like faces in the neck of that
10:57
horse-like creature and faces on the
10:59
chest
11:21
how you doing
11:21
the heck is that noise
11:23
these really are the type of things I
11:25
love to see when I am on a road trip
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what the heck was going on here I
11:29
thought this is so far Natural Bridge
11:30
Safari
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I don't know but I love this kind of
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stuff these wacky Roadside Attraction
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items on the side of a road that's why
11:40
they're called roadside this is the kind
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of stuff
11:43
that I love look at this
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for posterity see if I can get it good
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baby
11:55
all right gotta move on kind of see some
11:57
historical stuff and some natural stuff
12:00
here at Natural Bridge I wish this was
12:02
open but it's only open two days a week
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on the weekends incoming alert
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I've stated this before so forgive me
12:09
but these round bales of hay are
12:11
underneath this little awning here and I
12:12
I feel like they're here
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you know just because I've heard these
12:17
are going to be outlawed they're going
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to Outlaw these round bills of hey
12:19
because horses and cows aren't getting a
12:21
good Square meal
12:29
again my apologies and why this town got
12:29
its name and probably the biggest
12:31
tourist attraction
12:32
in this neck of the woods
12:35
the hotel up top there Natural Bridge
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Hotel I got the sign here this is a very
12:39
interesting building it says private
12:41
there but it's like on the side of the
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embankment here
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Bridge
12:54
through these doors and I've never even
12:56
noticed this before but there's an
12:58
unnatural Bridge
13:00
that goes underneath the road that's
13:02
nice
13:04
over to the hotel never stay at that
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hotel
13:07
and maybe one day
13:09
no plans to cherry blossom trees
13:19
there used to be a wax museum
13:19
that closed many many many many years
13:21
ago
13:22
I wish I could have gone to it and I
13:24
wonder if the wax figures
13:27
are still over there inside that
13:29
building I'll walk over there first so
13:30
here's an artistic rendering of the
13:33
bridge itself there view from the cliff
13:36
quote unquote and here this could be a
13:39
photo
13:40
this is well let's say this now that's
13:42
another artistic rendering date but
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dated back to 1852.
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but this
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wax museum I believe is right inside of
13:52
here it's just an empty building now
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are the wax figures in there do they
13:57
awake at night and walk down
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to the Natural Bridge
14:02
be interesting if there was a wax figure
14:04
George Washington in there that George
14:06
Washington went that went down there and
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looked at his inscription in the Natural
14:10
Bridge as a wax figure
14:12
I might be thinking a little too hard
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about this
14:29
it almost looks like it's now used for
14:29
offices
14:30
taking a look in the window
14:53
this is the second one of these love
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photo ops that I've seen the last two
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days yesterday I was at humpback Bridge
14:59
and there was a tree that made the V
15:01
and they put the Lo and E around it made
15:04
out of different items this one is just
15:07
like made out of wood and they painted
15:09
the bridge right there and there's an
15:11
eagle for the v a rock for the E and A
15:14
Waterfall for the L
15:20
okay that's like
15:23
a little information center it's huge in
15:25
here
15:35
and they are pumping in sounds of
15:37
crickets and Wildlife and birds and
15:40
Forest noises in here I like it
15:42
there's a horse over there I was
15:44
painting on the side says in Wilderness
15:45
lies the hope of the world
16:01
lurking in the shadows
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it's the high five bear
16:11
give a little high five bear
16:11
how you doing buddy
16:13
good to see you
16:15
give me Paul this is a really cute shirt
16:17
official picnic basket inspector
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clever very clever I have paid my nine
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dollar admission I'm gonna go down these
16:30
stairs
16:32
so it's nine dollars and like they gave
16:34
me a little ticket they have to show to
16:36
someone as I start going down I think
16:37
it's about a third of a mile it's not
16:40
too far down to the Natural Bridge oh
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what's down here
16:47
that was a fake tree here oh and you
16:47
could walk through the fake bridge right
16:50
and not to overuse ever all three jokes
16:53
that I know
16:54
but this is a beekeeper's attire
16:58
say it's a real
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yeah you know the rest you know
17:02
you know oh my goodness oh those were
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bees
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and up their butterflies
17:07
a bunch of butterflies up there look at
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those
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I thought there was like an infestation
17:13
of bees their butterfly beautiful
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butterfly
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check this out so it's 1926 this tablet
17:23
commemorates the fact of Natural Bridge
17:25
was surveyed by George Washington
17:27
about 1750 A.D and was granted Thomas
17:31
Jefferson
17:33
1774 A.D
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very historic that's going to be a
17:39
little bit of an incline down some
17:40
stairs to get to it which means going
17:43
down a lot of stairs hey well not stairs
17:45
but a lot of Hills means you got to come
17:47
back up the hill after you get done with
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the bridge so I'm gonna get some steps
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on Cascade Creek looking back up Cascade
17:54
Creek you missy beautiful exposed two
17:56
foot deposits tan and buff color
17:59
deposits of calcium Carbonite layers of
18:01
the same type of limestone
18:02
that form the bridge passes along the
18:05
trail in the creek
18:06
so this
18:08
very beautiful Creek is like kind of a
18:10
makeshift waterfall well not makeshift
18:12
it is a waterfall
18:15
and it kind of goes from that angle and
18:17
then
18:18
also here continues on down the hillside
18:21
a couple of Fallen trees here which
18:24
almost looks to be
18:26
I guess you're well
18:28
no they're gonna say maybe they've like
18:30
converted kind of into rock over time
18:31
they might be petrified
18:34
yeah I don't know maybe not no not
18:36
petrified but kind of look like it
18:55
now when you get to the bottom of the
18:55
incline you have to show your receipt
18:57
here or purchase another ticket I got
18:59
the ticket at the top show the receipt
19:05
to continue on
19:05
so some sort of all-terrain vehicle
19:08
underneath there
19:19
this is even a seating area that you can
19:19
just sit and bask in the glory
19:21
of the Natural Bridge
19:24
that is really incredible honestly
19:32
and comparatively it's pretty easy to
19:32
get to I've been to a lot of
19:34
you know different parks and same pretty
19:37
amazing things like this a lot of them
19:38
require a lot of hiking this is pretty
19:40
simple no climbing is allowed on the
19:42
Rocks either no rock climbing
20:20
quite a bit of shade underneath this
20:20
thing
20:28
just gotta find George Washington's
20:28
inscription in here
20:46
not only is there a lot of shade
20:46
because of the archway it's a nice
20:49
little breeze on a bit of Gusty through
20:51
here creates like a wind tunnel
21:06
a highway goes directly overhead the
21:09
highway goes over the bridge not just
21:12
some little
21:13
small driveway or back road Lee Highway
21:17
U.S Route 11 passes directly over Hood
21:21
215 feet high 40 feet thick 100 feet
21:25
wide
21:26
Arch contains 450 000 cubic feet of Rock
21:30
72 million pounds
21:34
okay I had to look pretty carefully to
21:37
find the George Washington initials that
21:40
are carved in the side but just keep an
21:42
eye out it's about 20 feet up from the
21:45
water level and there's a box drawn
21:47
around it it's kind of like right under
21:49
the arch itself
21:52
there's a a box amp a lot of people have
21:55
carved their name in there from back in
21:56
the day
21:57
but according to Legend George
21:59
Washington who surveyed this area carved
22:01
GW in the size see if I could do that
22:03
it's going to get a little grainy when I
22:06
zoom in but
22:08
see what happens
22:34
gotta wonder if old George was up there
22:34
with the hammer
22:40
like a railroad spike or something
22:40
carving his name
22:42
I guess it'd be too difficult to type
22:43
the whole word out George Washington has
22:45
a lot of carving so just the initials
22:46
worked GW
23:04
I just love stuff like that so cool it's
23:04
also an urban legend that George
23:07
stood at the base of this and threw with
23:11
his own human arm
23:14
well he didn't have a robotic arm but he
23:16
threw a rock over this
23:18
from the ground level standing here
23:21
and launched a pebble or a rock
23:25
over the top of that
23:31
possibly completely over landing on the
23:31
other side but even if someone could get
23:33
it up there
23:35
they uh should be playing uh playing a
23:38
sport what okay this is kind of cool so
23:40
over here where the initials are there
23:42
is a survey marker down here as well if
23:45
you look closely so it has Washington
23:48
DC's name on there as well and it also
23:51
says GW 1750
23:55
from information report damage vertical
23:57
control marker National geodetic survey
24:01
but it has the GW
24:04
on there as well
24:10
good thing I was like paying attention
24:10
when I walked out of here I didn't
24:12
I didn't realize that's right next to
24:14
the GW that's inscribed up on the wall
24:18
fascinating stuff history is
24:40
all right gonna continue on
24:40
South through Virginia my eventual goal
24:43
tonight to get into North Carolina
24:46
commuting on down the road a bit
24:48
I noticed this
24:51
this old refurbished golf station
24:58
do love a
24:58
refurbished golf station or any sort of
25:01
piece of Americana that is fixed up and
25:03
made it look like it did back in the day
25:05
fact they have some of those old-timey
25:08
gas prices up here
25:10
golftane 27 cents a gallon good golf 29
25:14
no Knocks 33.
25:17
this is really well done
25:25
whoever did this to the heck of a job
25:25
that good golf gasoline look at that
25:28
you got the three different gas pumps
25:30
here as well
25:39
as well as Cruise Master wiper blades
25:39
arms and refills
25:41
that is beautiful looks to be in the
25:44
same spot
25:45
where the original one was you see even
25:46
the slab there for the gas pumps
25:50
old Mountain Dew
25:52
logo there and it's in uh
25:56
it'll ticker your innards which was
25:57
their or their original slogans
26:01
got some old Coca-Cola bottles Bunny and
26:04
Rich bread
26:10
RC Cola
26:10
Pepsi Coca-Cola
26:13
yeah very very well done Sunbeam
26:16
bread thermometer on the Side Golf
26:18
thermometer
26:20
and off in the distance next to that
26:22
Self Storage classic truck alert
26:25
my rental car reflection on the window
26:27
carried on a ways
26:30
probably another 20 30 40 miles give or
26:33
take
26:34
I'm always on the lookout for old video
26:36
stores this one so happens to have a big
26:40
satellite well
26:42
medium-sized satellite dish out front
26:44
fact it was called the satellite place
26:49
the satellite place and video store
26:53
so it was a combo you could get your
26:55
satellite on
26:56
and you could rent some VHS videos
27:00
a little relic of the past
27:08
they play some video store
27:08
there's a restroom around the back of
27:09
the door is a jar
27:11
it took all forms of credit card
27:14
discovered MasterCard even have the CBS
27:16
and ABC logo across the side and the
27:21
sign States
27:22
the satellite store the satellite place
27:25
you can see the lettering is kind of
27:27
falling off
27:28
oh yes look at this they have the night
27:31
deposit box
27:48
yeah it brings back some serious
27:48
memories of the video store rental dies
27:50
and this is looking in between the two
27:53
bars and the glass
27:55
I don't remember boys being on these
27:57
windows but back to your trip
27:58
quote as well there's also a fish up
28:00
there on the Shelf I see a lot of
28:02
satellite stuff but I'm not really
28:04
seeing any video store stuff I'm paying
28:06
this out you can see the reflection here
28:08
I thought I'm stuck between the bars
28:11
camera is stuck between five of the bars
28:14
there we go this way
28:17
I might have got a little
28:18
might allow it'll get a little bar paint
28:20
on my camera I didn't see any videos on
28:23
that I was hoping to see some VHS in
28:25
there but didn't see any just saw some
28:27
satellite stuff
28:29
no VHS
28:31
well they probably clear the VHS out
28:37
Mike's on though even during the day
28:49
need a little road trip snackage
28:49
so stopped off at Circle K
28:51
got a Polar Pop
28:53
they have cheer wide
28:55
yeah since I'm getting into cheer-wide
28:56
territory I figured heck it
28:58
go with some cheer wine instead of a
29:00
Coca-Cola or Dr Pepper
29:03
and also I think these are my favorite
29:04
road trip snacks
29:06
quality since 1932. but sometimes I'll
29:09
get sometimes you'll find just the
29:13
special request Rye chips so I got those
29:15
as well and I'll like kind of mix them
29:17
in
29:18
with the other bag and something for the
29:20
old well I would call it the Sweet Tooth
29:22
but something also to nibble on as I'm
29:24
cruising along
29:25
Circle K blue sharks
29:28
tasty chewy and naturally
29:31
fat free price of gas for Diesel's 381
29:34
but unleaded here was 315 not too bad
29:38
and I was noticing the employees inside
29:40
their shirts set their shirts stated
29:43
we have the fuel to get you there no our
29:46
fuel will get you there that's their
29:48
slogan for their gas I would really hope
29:50
that's true
29:52
most gas stations
29:54
fuel will get you there
29:58
I think I just gurgled up
30:00
a little bit of my cheer wide I forgot
30:02
to swap it
30:07
their fuel will get you there that's a
30:07
weird slogan I hope so I also have just
30:10
passed over the North Carolina line so
30:12
out of Virginia
30:14
and into North Carolina now
30:16
I have driven through and pulled over
30:18
into quite an amazing town called
30:20
Yanceyville
30:22
this place is like stepping back in time
30:26
you got the fire department over there
30:33
take a look
30:33
at the courthouse or the city hall
30:34
building there
30:42
look at this place the department store
30:42
watlington's over there
30:44
it's like something you'd see
30:45
you know in the 80s like something you
30:47
could picture in stranger things even
30:48
being bought back
30:50
the courthouse was erected
30:53
right after these events
31:08
never been
31:08
to this town before
31:11
one thing I noticed when I was pulling
31:12
into this little town square
31:14
that really Drew my attention is
31:16
probably one of the most amazing if not
31:19
the most incredible relics
31:22
when it comes to a movie theater
31:24
that I've ever seen
31:26
right over here still has the Marquee
31:33
that is a beautiful
31:33
old theater Relic
31:41
I'm also noticing this
31:43
there's this metal door here but then
31:45
there's also this old
31:47
storefront it says do not block door
31:50
loading and unloading
31:52
yeah that theater that is something else
31:54
that Marquee very run down
31:57
but really picturesque when it comes to
32:00
classic Americana theater that have seen
32:03
better days I've got a blue gummy shark
32:06
on my steering wheel now
32:13
you're the captain now blue gummy shark
32:13
okay the shark is not behind the wheel
32:15
anymore
32:16
I am I I ended up eating consuming the
32:19
shark
32:20
here at this intersection are a couple
32:22
of stores that have seen better days
32:25
there's this one and then directly
32:27
across
32:29
is another store as shown here
32:32
probably was pretty thriving at one
32:34
point people making a little pit stop
32:36
there and
32:38
getting what they needed on the travels
32:39
this is Cedar Grove
32:42
this is the Cedar Grove North Carolina
32:44
post office here
32:46
also a satellite in front of there as
32:48
well
33:00
CH Pender grocer
33:00
is closed
33:05
I always like these towels that just
33:05
have one light
33:06
there's just one blinking yellow light
33:08
over there
33:23
both people that are stopped with the
33:23
light are staring at me
33:24
as if they've never seen a camera before
33:26
but I probably just wonder why I'm
33:27
filming these buildings
33:29
this is an auto and tractor repair place
33:49
and there's a random cinder block
33:49
cinder block
33:51
right here
34:07
not even a red and green light just
34:07
yellow
34:20
think how many people how many families
34:20
back in the day got through groceries in
34:23
you see an empty building like this and
34:25
sometimes it doesn't really cross your
34:26
mind and then you really dig deep into
34:29
the
34:30
into the brain you start to realize this
34:32
was a
34:33
thriving place
34:36
and probably one of the few places
34:37
within miles of here at one point
34:39
where you could get stuff that you
34:41
needed and goods and food
34:44
now it's close I have reached my hotel
34:46
for the evening
34:48
have both my bags bringing an extra
34:50
water up there a suitcase that's gonna
34:52
do it for today I'll see you in the next
34:54
video the Vlog
34:55
I'm in North Carolina the Vlog is over