Greensboro NC to Mt Airy to Florence SC

Had a great evening with Pete, Louise and Char. Good to catch up and see their new house. I decided to head to Mt Airy a little north and then head back down to meet my niece Kathy, her husband Brad and their son Bradley. They live in Charleston SC but spend every other weekend at Brad's fathers camp in Florence NC 2-3 hrs north. So it was a quick hop and I of course had to make it an all day ride, so north it was. Mt Airy is the town that "Andy of Mayberry" (ask your parents) was modeled after and they are milking it still. My brother and I have been there on our previous trips and he also took his wife there this last summer. They were setting up for Christmas today and the cute Main Street was again sort of a little too cute, but hey, it's a tourist trap. I parked on main street and did not realize the Harley chose a spot with the American flag behind it (now I know why the blinker goes off every time I drive by an American flag..). You can see my new ride in all it's 103 cubic inch glory. It is actually pretty comfy to ride. the suspension sucks (hitting expansion joints is like sitting on a garbage truck full of scap metal) but the engine is smooth and sweet and the brakes (ABS) actually work really well.

I let the GPS get me to Mt Airy and then found a small 2 laner that took me south to Florence. More sort of rolling geography with lots of town past their prime. Cotton, and lumber seems to be the crops around here. Kathy sent eh address of her father-in-laws which I found easily and soon Brads dad appeared (very nice retired doctor), expecting "Uncle John", and sent me down the road (past 3 dead deer) to their hunting camp. Brads grandfather came to America without his parents at the age of 13 and made a new life in Florence. He bought a lot of land, and the camp sits on a large tract of land with a many acre pond that deer and ducks live. The camp is a warm, knotty pine classic and Brad met me at the end of the dirt road to guide me in over the 15 speed bump / water dams (the Harley did fine). We took the ATVs for a tour of the grounds as the sun went down. Kathy and their son Bradley arrived and soon Brad's dad showed up with take-out Greek chicken, rice and dessert. Everybody went to bed early to reset up for hunting ducks the next morning and Kathy and I got caught up. I was itchy to head south next morning with the cold front coming in, but agreed to go out with them in the morning to witness a swamp / duck hunt. These southern folks know hospitality for sure.