TDW 1780 - Searching The Legends Of Natural Bridge
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Transcript
0:03
Yes, there he is.
0:03
Muffler man. Muffler man holding his
0:07
hand up at a perpendicular angle as fast
0:10
as he can. Welcome everyone. Adam the
0:13
woo here. You could assume that I am
0:15
chewing on a root beer mint, but in
0:17
reality they are the continual bag of
0:20
whounds, soothing to the throat. Let me
0:24
assure you, they really are. I never
0:25
heard of these until the other day.
0:27
These are steeped in copper kettles to
0:30
enhance the flavor. I don't know if
0:32
that's good or bad. It's my second
0:34
channel, daily vlog channel. It's
0:37
the daily woo.
0:52
Imagine the amount of eggs you could
0:52
cook in that skillet. Looks like someone
0:55
has taken a lot of time and effort into
0:57
fixing up this old roadside gas station.
1:00
Looks pretty good. Even has the vintage
1:02
gas pump out front and a Coca-Cola
1:05
bench. And keeping with the theming of
1:08
the era, the inside looks pretty sweet.
1:11
Also, old cash register and the painting
1:14
of what it looked like back then or what
1:17
it looks like now for that matter. I
1:19
really like the checkerboard flooring
1:21
and those old tires there are on display
1:23
just like it was back in the day. For
1:25
only $249,
1:27
you could get a tuneup right inside the
1:30
garage.
1:32
Pretty awesome. A lot of times you see
1:34
these old gas stations fixed up from the
1:36
outside, but this one's all done up
1:39
properly on the inside as well. It's
1:41
located just on the outskirts of Rowan
1:43
Oak, Virginia. Well done. Well done
1:46
indeed. Hopped on the interstate now.
1:48
This is I 81 and I'm headed straight
1:53
northbound.
1:54
I always try to mix up the roads I
1:56
travel on. Back roads one day, highways
1:59
another day, interstates a different
2:01
day. Keeps it fresh. Arrived now in the
2:04
town of Natural Bridge. And not only is
2:08
it the community's name, but it's also
2:11
the name of the state park. And there
2:13
really is a natural bridge in this
2:17
vicinity. This is what it looked like in
2:19
1880. I'm certain once I walked down the
2:21
path, it probably will still look very
2:24
similar to this. It has had its share of
2:27
famous visitors in the past, including
2:30
Eleanor Roosevelt and this list of
2:34
names. And I was noticing over here the
2:37
hotel I showed out front a minute ago at
2:40
one point the original building
2:43
completely burned down. That's what it
2:46
looked like before the fire. This is the
2:48
lay of the land mapwise. I was down in
2:51
Rowan Oak earlier and I drove up this
2:54
way and I am currently right there. In
2:57
fact, if you look right there very
3:00
closely next to the man with the hat,
3:03
you can see me. You have to squint your
3:04
eyes, but I'm there. I was informed
3:06
inside that it's a twomile roundtrip
3:08
hike past the bridge to the waterfall
3:11
and all the other things you want to
3:12
see. So, I got some Gatorade. Stay
3:14
hydrated. Well, Powerade got the name
3:16
confused. I'm sure that probably happens
3:18
to them quite a bit. This location was
3:22
surveyed by the one and only George
3:24
Washington in 1750 and then was granted,
3:27
the patent was granted to Thomas
3:29
Jefferson on July 5th, 1774. And even in
3:33
the very short descent down the stairs
3:35
so far, there's a lot of natural beauty
3:39
starting to rear its head.
3:41
There are trees engulfing the pathway.
3:44
Look at that one right down there,
3:46
leaning over, almost like embedded
3:48
itself in the concrete. They're taking
3:51
over the trees. They're taking over. A
3:54
miracle in stone, old as the dawn. The
3:57
arch is composed of solid gray
3:59
limestone, 215 ft high. That's 55 ft
4:03
taller. The Niagara Falls 40 ft thick,
4:07
100 ft wide, and spans 90 ft between the
4:12
massive walls. This is not very
4:15
comforting. However, here it is.
4:19
Holy cow. Look at
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this thing.
4:25
Wow.
4:27
That is a natural bridge.
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The name fits if ever there was one.
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Impressive.
4:37
Most impressive. I have been to this
4:39
area a couple times passing through, but
4:42
never have stopped to see this, to lay
4:45
my own eyes on this. This is incredible.
4:48
I really had no idea of how tall it
4:52
actually was. And if you could barely
4:54
see it, but there is water falling from
4:57
the top. Raindrops are falling on my
4:59
head. Well, on my hand. At 36,000 tons.
5:03
That's 72 million pounds. Lee Highway US
5:07
Route 11 goes right across the top of
5:10
it. That's something else I did not
5:12
know. I didn't realize an actual road
5:16
went across this thing.
5:18
How cool is that? There are a handful of
5:21
legends about George Washington in this
5:24
location. One of them is that he picked
5:25
up a rock from this creek and launched
5:28
it up over the top of it.
5:33
You got to have a pretty strong arm.
5:35
It's probably possible. I might have
5:37
been able to do it back in my baseball
5:38
playing days. But what do you think? Do
5:40
you think you could throw a rock up over
5:43
that archway?
5:49
Maybe. And the other is that he took a
5:49
chisel and a hammer and carved his
5:52
initials
5:54
somewhere in the surface of the rock.
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Now, I've been looking for a couple
5:59
minutes and I have not seen any hints of
6:02
where it is. He vandalized
6:06
this rock. Of course, back then it
6:08
probably was not frowned upon as if it
6:11
were today. I really want to find
6:15
where his name is. It's got to be around
6:18
here somewhere. What about you
6:19
butterflies?
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Any idea where his name is?
6:24
Point me in the right Do they have They
6:26
don't have fingers to point, but you
6:28
know, point your wing in the right
6:30
direction. In searching, I did find
6:32
something else very interesting on the
6:35
bottom part of the top.
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Look closely now. Use your imagination.
6:40
But doesn't that look like a silhouette
6:42
of Benjamin Franklin?
6:45
Seriously, in a way, it looks like
6:46
Benjamin Franklin is looking off to our
6:50
right.
6:53
Maybe it's just me, but that's kind of
6:55
what I'm gathering from that. I think
6:57
success has been achieved because of
7:00
this hint, this box surrounding. I think
7:05
those are the initials right there. I
7:06
can't get in too close,
7:09
but if you kind of zoom in, can faintly
7:12
see a GW right there carved in the rock
7:16
and some sort of plant starting to
7:18
formulate. Is that a Is that a cherry
7:21
tree?
7:44
At the bottom of these concrete
7:44
bleachers
7:47
is a podium
7:49
and off to the left is a garden which
7:52
looks to be maintained. after and a
7:55
small village
7:57
behind that fence taking us back to
8:00
1699. Over 20 years of research and
8:03
thousands of hours of labor have gone
8:06
into authentically reproducing this
8:08
exhibit. Oh, not a village. I was
8:11
incorrect. It's an exhibit, not a
8:13
village. I am currently inside one of
8:16
the thatch homes. I think this is a
8:20
wigwam specifically. I'm not certain on
8:23
that, but I think that would be
8:25
classified
8:28
as a wigwam.
8:37
Yep, it is some animal fur hanging over
8:37
this stick. Ooh, this is a skunk.
8:44
I don't want to smell it, but I'm just
8:44
going to take their word for it. Oh, a
8:46
raccoon. What the heck? A river otter.
8:50
These are not reproductions.
8:53
These are real animal
8:57
outer areas. Inside here appears to be
9:00
some sort of meeting room.
9:10
Oh, wow. That's a turtle shell right
9:10
there. What do they do with this? Are
9:12
they like take that stick and play it
9:15
like a drum or something? I'm not sure.
9:17
This is the trading post. This is where
9:19
you would come to trade off what you had
9:22
and get something else in return. And
9:23
they have a little fire going here used
9:27
for cooking and for making tools.
9:40
Not allowed to go back in here, but
9:40
there is a cave
9:43
that goes pretty far back.
9:51
1806 was the year this was first
9:51
discovered. I'm sure it was stumbled on
9:53
way before then, but that's when it was
9:55
documented. And just standing here, it's
9:58
a lot cooler. There is a very cool
10:00
breeze coming out from there.
10:13
Snakes.
10:13
Have to be snakes.
10:28
Asp
10:28
very dangerous.
10:31
You go first. Where you going, little
10:34
beetle? Looks like he's doing a little
10:36
burrowing. Trying to get down to the
10:39
ground or you just trying to move that
10:41
stick?
10:47
I think he's collecting stuff
10:47
or he's just drunk. One of one of the
10:50
two.
10:58
If you look closely, you can see some
10:58
little fishies swimming around in there
11:01
barely. They're going a little too far
11:03
under the surface to really get a good
11:05
look at them. But you can, however, get
11:08
a good look at this.
11:16
A magnificent waterfall careening down
11:16
the rocks.
11:23
Very soothing just to sit here and
11:23
listen to.
11:31
I enjoy a lot of different things. Some
11:31
are man-made, some are natural beauty
11:34
like this. And of both of them, the most
11:36
relaxing of the two definitely are these
11:40
type of places. He likes being in the
11:42
water just cooling down. It's a little
11:46
warm out here, so I can't blame him.
11:48
Refreshing. Definitely glad I stopped
11:50
off here this time. It used to be $22
11:52
admission, but they've lowered it to
11:54
eight. I think a different organization
11:56
has taken over the premises since last
12:00
time I passed through. And if you're
12:01
worried about the falling rocks,
12:04
they do supply some headgear. I didn't
12:06
see anyone wearing these, however. I
12:08
probably would have got some strange
12:10
looks. I look more official in this,
12:12
right? Yeah, I would have just been more
12:15
official. Did you have a good time out
12:17
here, Mr. Raccoon? I did. I did have a
12:21
good time.
12:24
Are you glad you didn't get your skin
12:25
torn off and hung from that stick? I am
12:29
glad my hair and skin are still intact.
12:37
Oh
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yes, I am.
12:53
I am still currently on state park
12:53
property, but that only happened very
12:54
recently. A few miles closer into town
12:58
is where the state park used to end, but
13:00
it expanded out. And in doing so, they
13:03
forced Mark Klene, the creator of what
13:06
once was here, to remove his precious
13:10
foam hinge. Last time I came through
13:12
months and months and months ago, I took
13:15
some drone shots, some aerial shots to
13:17
document this amazing attraction. I had
13:21
to pull over to see if it's gone. My
13:23
hunch, my calculations were correct, and
13:26
it has been completely removed, erased.
13:31
from existence. Right there is where the
13:33
wizard would have sat. You can still see
13:37
where he was placed. It's kind of sad in
13:39
a way that it's gone. Rumor is it was
13:42
moved to a different location, but I
13:45
have not confirmed that just yet. Either
13:48
way, it is very odd to not see it in its
13:53
normal home. This is where it always was
13:58
looking over the mountains.
14:01
So beautiful.
14:03
Rest in peace, Foam Henge. At least
14:06
from your original spot. Wow. Here's
14:09
where they were. Here's where they were
14:12
placed into the ground.
14:16
Remnants of foam hinge.
14:22
If you want to see what it looked like
14:22
back when it existed, look up the Daily
14:24
Woo 1498. That's 1498. And I don't know,
14:30
those might be
14:38
almost fell in that hole. This really is
14:38
a beautiful area to be cruising along
14:40
through.
14:42
Trees, mountains,
14:45
beautiful weather, sky.
14:53
That guy passing me. Whoa. He had a hard
14:53
hat.
14:54
He went looking for George Washington's
14:56
initials, too.
14:57
You want to say it this time, Big the
14:58
Foot? You want to say it this time? Come
15:01
on, say it. Don't be shy,
15:04
man. He never want He never wants to say
15:06
it.
15:09
Say it.
15:12
All right. What about you, Cree? The
15:14
vlog is over.
15:18
Thank