I'll be heading down to the Eden, NC area next month, around the beginning of the week of the 16th for work. Whenever I'm traveling I try to stop by FTE friends. Is there anyone one in the area? Or is there any Ford truck related sites to check out? Something like a truck museum or a good junk yard? How about restaurants? I don't know how much time I have to spend in the area but I'm self employed so I get to call the shots and I can do what I want as soon as the work is done.

I am thinking it will take 2-3 days to do the work needed, after that I might spend an extra day in the area. This all depends on how the work goes and what I can fit into my schedule. I'll be flying into Greensboro and driving to Eden and then driving back to Greensboro.

I've never been in this area of the country so if there is anything of interest in this area please let me know.

 

Bob, I don't know how often you get out to the East Coast,but the area you will be in is just too close to the warm Gulf Stream waters not to get your feet wet...I can recommend "two" choices..

#1- head to Cedar Island, almost due east from Greenville, and catch the Ferry to Ocracoke Island..that's a great day trip.

# 2- take I-95 south to Rt40, then head east to Wilmington, go straight to Wrightsville Beach..and get your feet wet..

If you can /or have an extra day in your schedule, give either a try, bring your swim trunks. Also , in Wilmington you will find the USS North Carolina..it's a great tour with alot of good history!

Have Fun! and Good Luck!

 

Well, Charlotte is 2 hrs west from Greensboro and there you'll find Fatman Fabrications and Dennis Carpenter as well as most of the NASCAR teams home base. Along the way you should stop at Spencer and visit the NC State transportation museum where you can ride a steam engined train or take a spin on a roundhouse turntable. It's a fine museum with a lot of restored examples of all types of transportation conveyances.
1/2 hr south from the trnsportation museum is the Reed goldmine, the first goldmine in the US and now a state historic site. Go down into the mine to see how gold was mined, visit the museum and/or try your luck at panning for gold in the stream where that first giant nugget was found. NC was the home of the first US Mint (in Charlotte, now an art museum) and the largest producer of gold before the CA gold rush.
It's an hour east from Greensboro to Durham where you'll find Carolina Classics truck parts and me!
It's about 4 hrs east to the east coast's most pristine and beautiful beaches including the largest sand dune in the east, and right next door to Kitty Hawk (goes without saying what it's famous for) and 4 hrs west to the Blue Ridge mountains. There is a LOT to see and do in this area.
AFA restaurants, what kind of food/places do you like? It's not exactly NYC or LA but there are pretty decent eateries from family style down home southern fish camps and BBQ joints to several 4 star and James Beard award winning chefs (including an Iron Chef show winner), as well as all the major chains.
PM me for even more info.

 

That's what I was going to say Ax, I was just up there at DC on Tuesday, I didn't get to tour or talk much due to me having to get back to work just picked up a couple items and out the door. Also NPD is a coupple miles from DC however, there isn't much to see there.

 

Thanks guys for the suggestions, I have to watch where I go to not make it too interesting for my wife. She's not going to be able to come along and she doesn't want me to see the places she would like to see with me so the ocean is a no go. I'm just thinking of maybe an hour off the path between Greensboro and Eden. I have to fly into Greensboro, rent a car and drive up to Eden. I'm not sure how much time I will have. I have to go to a plant in Eden and help supervise the installation of a machine I wired up here in WI that was run through it's test and then I unwired it for shipment down there. If everything goes as planned I don't think it should take more than two days but, when does anything ever go as planned?

Keep the suggestions coming. I'm always up for seeing new things.

 

Hey Bob, Ax brings up a good point I completely forgot,..
The Bar-b-que joints across the South and Southeast, are like brew-pubs in England..there are 3 or 4 in just about every town..and alot of pride goes into smoking and brewing up the best Barb-b-que Sauce for pulled Pork. A Regional/local favorite is a tomato-based/vinager..you have to try everybodys! Eat a little..but often..and try them all! Some of the best will be produced in what looks like a "shed on fire" from the road..a good rule of thumb..follow your nose..LoL! If it smells good ..pull-overand look for smoke.

I understand Momma-bear at home being jealous while your splashing around in the ocean...LoL! But Hey! Ya still gotta eat right? Save the Ocean for a family trip!

 

Hush your mouth boy! No self respecting E. NC BBQ cook would ever let a tomato come near their pork! Same goes for beef. REAL BBQ is a noun not a verb and consists of roast pork hand pulled (and chopped) from a young hog that has been slow roasted over a wood fire for hours while being lovingly basted with the passed down family recipe sauce consisting of oil, vinegar and spices ONLY! No red stuff allowed!

Just 15 min east of Eden (wasn't that a movie?) right on the NC-VA state line on the hwy to Danville VA is Virginia International Raceway (VIR) one of the finest road race courses in the US. On any given day if it isn't a race day, you might find a F-1, Indy car, Superbike, or NASCAR driver or two practicing and testing.

 

LoL!

Pardon me,..Did I say Tomato?....LoL!

I like'm all! The Hotter ..the better! ..add cold Frosty and I'm good to go! Cairo is my favorite, ...

Bob, Ya gotta try the barb-b-que! LoL!

 

OK, that's enough!! I've already slobbered my key board full. Just kidding, I'm a BBQ fan but I'm a northerner and we put tomatoes in our BBQ and Chili. I know that's sacrilege in the southern parts of the country but that's how it is up here. When I get down there I'll make sure to have my handlers take me to some out of the way BBQ joint to taste the local fare. My wife watches the Food Channel and the DDD show always goes to out of the way places to find the most interesting food. When we travel as a family my wife and kids won't even consider stopping at a place that looks like it wasn't built in the last five years and has the newest design. If I leave it up to my kids we'd eat at McD's and P Hut everywhere we go, that's no fun, I figure you have to have some adventure in your travels. I must admit though, I've pulled into a few places that I strongly regretted and family reminds me.

I thought by posting this question here, and relating it to trucks, I'd get a lot of good suggestions and you guys haven't disappointed. Keep 'em coming. I got about two weeks to plan.

 

E. NC is one of the few places that uses a white vinegar basting sauce rather than a tomato based sauce and what we call BBQ others call pulled pork. Shreaded roast pork served on a plate with a side of hushpuppies, fried chicken, butter beans, slaw, and/or brunswick stew. If you want it to go it may come on a hamburger roll with a generous topping of slaw. We do use tomato sauce on ribs and smoked meats like beef brisket or chicken tho. If you go to an out of the way BBQ house, be sure you use y'all (pronounced yallllll, all one stretched out syllable, not yah-all or ye-all or worse youse-all) in every sentence, order "sweet tea" (all tea here is with ice, so no "iced tea" orders please!) to drink, and call the waitress "sweetie" otherwise you Yankees might just get run out of the place on the wrong end of a shotgun!

 

Just thought I throw up an update on my trip.

Well, it wasn't quite as planned. My customer wanted me down in Eden for the entire week, Monday through Friday. "Great", I thought, there isn't much to do, we got everything done before it left here, just tie up a few loose ends because I was told the construction electricians rewired the entire machine. I just had to tie up a few loose ends. I'll be done by Thursday and have Friday to goof off. There was a lot more work involved than I was lead to believe. I ended up flying in Monday afternoon, left here at 5:30 am my time. Got to the motel by 5 pm. Started working Tuesday morning, doing 10+ hour days, and 16 hours yesterday. The job was on a conveyor systems so in order to get from point to another I had to climb stairs, go over the conveyor and climb down another stairs, had to do it many times a day. It made for a very long day. Not to mention this plant is HUGE! It was about a 1/4 mile to walk from my project area to the other side of the plant and then another 1/4 to my car. I sure got my exercise for the month. My dogs were barking by the end of the day.

Didn't get to see anything except the inside of the plant and my motel room. Asked around about any good BBQ joints and no one could recommend one. They all said the best places were in Greensboro, about an hour drive, none in the in the Eden area. I left this morning getting home around 4 pm my time. Just too damn tired to do anything.

 

People who don't travel on business think trips like yours must be a lot of fun, eating out at nice restaurants, etc. Not my experience, it's usually just like your trip. But at least it pays, and it is a nice change of pace.

 

Ross,

I agree, I talk to a lot of people who travel for work. It sounds nice, like you said. They travel all over and brag about the places they've been. I'll let the people who talk to these guys, and envy them in on a little secret. The inside of most factories look the same, most are dirty and loud. The inside of all motel rooms do look the same but it really doesn't matter because the most of time you spend in them you have your eyes closed. One more thing, usually if you're working on site some one wants the job done yesterday because every day it's costing $$$$ to not have the equipment up and running. That means long hours. I usually go into the plant when it's dark and come out when it's dark. The pressure only adds to the fun.

 

Sorry we didn't connect, but I know what that's like you never get paid enough for the time you spend. Employer's don't believe you might have some personal projects you'd otherwise be spending your off time doing, or that you might have a family you'd like to spend some time with rather than staring at cheap motel room walls and eating by yourself, so they never compensate you for those hours. I'd guess they roll up the sidewalks in Eden (highly unlikely it lives up to it's name) early in the evenings like most of the small towns around here.

 

flashback f-100s 29150wagonwheel rd. reidsville n.c.27320 336 421 3979 not far from eden have fun