East Coast 2021:
Day 11 - Columbia, SC

	Monday, September 20, 2021: We started our day just after 7:30 AM with a quick stop at the Burger King next door.
	A few minutes later, we drove past Joe's Steak and Seafood where we had gotten dinner the night before.
	As part of the Civil War Trails, we could have turned left to visit the site of Lee's Retreat. Tempting, but no.
	We were in farm country, ...
	... where one of the crops is tobacco.
	The Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail is a self-guided auto tour through the significant sites in southern Virginia where African Americans, Native Americans, and women fought for the right to an education that was equal to that of white men.
	We still had a while before we got to our first stop of the day, the state capitol building in Raleigh, ...
	... but it was on a beautiful two lane highway through the Virginia countryside.
	The road was occasionally a four-lane divided highway, but even when it was only two lanes, there was hardly any traffic.
	Even when we went through a town, it was easy driving.
	The Tobacco Heritage Trail is a Southern Virginia rail-trail that contains 25 miles of off-road trails and 29 miles of on-road trails through tobacco farm lands for pedestrians, bicycles, and horses.
	We passed over the Roanoke River, which meant that we were very near to ...
	... North Carolina, our 41st state that we've visited this year.
	We encountered our first kudzu vines a short time later. The lower half of these trees were covered in it.
	When the "hot and fresh" light is on, we stop. It's a rule.
	We saw adopt-a-highway signs with this company's name on them for a very long time.
	Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States, was born very near the present day location of ...
	... the North Carolina State capitol building. Built in 1840, it replaced the previous building that had been destroyed by fire. This view is from the south side looking north.
	And this is the view from the north side looking south.
	There was a fantastic sculpture on this pedestrian bridge that crossed Route 1, which at this point was a divided highway.
	We saw this sign for Pfizer just north of Sanford, NC. It is one of 35 Pfizer manufacturing facilities worldwide.This one focuses on vaccine research and vaccine manufacturing, so maybe they are making COVID vaccines in there.
	We saw this Biscuitville restaurant chain in Virginia and North Carolina. We didn't stop, but we definitely made a note to try it the next time we are in the area.
	Rockingham Speedway is on Route 1. It's a NASCAR track that is nicknamed The Rock.
	We were back to a two lane road, but there was still hardly anyone else on it.
	And just like that, we crossed over into South Carolina (state number 42).
	French immigrant Claudius Pegues settled in this area in 1760.
	It was interesting how South US Route 1 and North State Route 9 were going in the same direction. Was there a bend in the space-time continuum?
	This is "sit on the porch in your rocking chair" country.
	We drove by the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, which was on the north side of Route 1.
	We were really enjoying today's drive. The road was treelined and it was rare that we saw more than one or two cars going in our direction.
	There were a variety of plants off the road, like these reeds and whatever the prettier yellow flower plants are.
	We took a quick detour south of Route 1 to Bishopville, SC, to see ...
	... South Carolina's Merci Train boxcar. It was in a small park between two buildings on Main Street.
	It was in good shape, with the shields arranged differently than we had seen before.
	There was a platform built to access the inside of the boxcar, and IT WAS OPEN!
	There were interpretive displays inside that talked about the use of the 40 and 8 boxcars for troop transport, and the comaraderie that developed between the men that rode in them due to their cramped quarters.
	Here's the flag of the 40 and 8 local number 1025, which is responsible for the maintenance of the boxcar. They're doing a great job.
	One of the displays had this picture of the boxcars being readied in France for shipment to the United States. They assembled the train with the French "Train de la Reconnaissance Française" banner connected to the English "Gratitude Train" banner so that the completed train had a zig-zag pattern of alternating French and English which looks beautiful in this photo.
	The alley was decorated with soldier silhouettes and ...
	... with plaques dedicating the area to the men and women of who served in all wars.
	Debbie noticed that these iron covers in the street were from the Ford Meter Box Company in Wabash, Indiana.
	That's only about 60 miles from where we live. It was strangely touching to see something so commonplace from our home state in the south.
	It makes us both laugh whenever we see a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
	We grabbed a quick lunch at Hardees in Bishopville on our way back to Route 1, ...
	... going slowly by this very recent accident site. While we were looking at the Merci Train, we had seen and heard lots of emergency vehicles speeding by, and this is apparently where they were headed. Someone had driven their car through the front of the building next to the Family Dollar. No one seemed seriously injured, which was good, but they are definitely in violation of the "No Loitering" signs that are clearly posted on the building.
	We made our way back to Route 1, ...
	... getting right back on the road in exactly the spot where we had left it.
	Not everything in the South is a plantation.
	We'll count this Highway 1 Cafe as having the name of the road in it.
	Nature will take back what is hers if you leave it alone long enough.
	The Collins Funeral Home in Camden, SC, had a horse-drawn hearse in front of it.
	We pulled into our hotel for the evening, the Delta Hotel by Marriott just north of Columbia, SC.
	We had a fantastic room, with plenty of room to spread out our stuff, ...
	... and the first bathroom mirror with embedded lighting controls that we had ever seen. It took a little getting used to.
	The view from our fifth floor room was was of Route 1.
	The mini-fridge contained a freezer section that was completedly iced over.
	Debbie set to work with the room's hairdryer to speed up the defrosting process, ...
	... and a mere thirty minutes later everything from our cooler was able to fit.
	Tom relaxed for a while playing an augmented reality zombie shooter game on his phone. Miles today: 387. Total miles from Fort Kent, ME: 1841. Day 12 >