2017 Moss Motoring Challenge
Fireworks Display: Happy New Year's Eve! Every year we are invited over to a friends house for their New Year's party. It includes lots of food, beverages and fireworks. When we first got there I had them set up a ring of big sparklers around the Miata. This year because of the high winds the bonfire had to be squelched and it was so cold without it, we didn't make it until midnight. Plus they weren't so sure they could do the big finish anyway. (12/31/17)
With an Old Friend: We both have like maybe one friend left over from school days, but they live too far away. The middle years were spent in brief stints in different places due to military service, so our time in Aiken is where our old friend had to come from. Donna and I befriended Jackie and her husband John when they showed up at a Miata Club meeting with their new '95 M. So I hope 22 years ago counts as old times. (12/30/17)
Infamous Location: A monument to Thomas McKie Meriwether, the only white person killed in the Hamburg Massacre in 1876 in what is now part of North Augusta, SC. This is part of the inscription on this side: "In life he exemplified the highest ideal of Anglo-Saxon civilization. By his death, he assured to the children of beloved land the supremacy of that ideal." The wording on the other 3 side are just as cringe worthy today. If interested, the whole story is here.(12/30/17)
Water Fountain: This was, like many of today's photos, one of those we looked for all year long for just the right one, but for one reason or another we dismissed what we saw thinking that a better one would come along and then realized we were running out of time to take the photo. We almost waited too long too as several of the local ones we had as "aces in the hole" were shut off because of the cold weather. (12/30/17)
Animal Shelter (with Animal): Donna, Lucky and Lucky's owner in front of the Aiken County Animal Shelter. (12/30/17)
Greasy Spoon: The Track Kitchen in Aiken's horse district has always been a spot for owners and trainers to discuss their thoroughbred's morning workouts, but its down-home charm has attracted a following among Aiken's regular folks for breakfast. You order at the counter and they bring your food to your table, but if you get coffee you have to walk around the counter into the middle of the kitchen proper and serve yourself from a giant urn. (12/30/17)
Heroes and Villains 10 - John C Calhoun: Mr. Calhoun was born near Abbeville, SC and became the 7th Vice President of the United States under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. But he is better remembered for defending slavery and heavily influencing the South's secession from the Union, so like nearly everyone in this category, whether he is remembered as a hero or a villain depends on the eye of the beholder. (12/16/17)
Natures Giant 05 - Congaree Swamp: The Congaree National Park is the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. We used this park for one of our submissions for National Parks in our first challenge back in 2014. (12/16/17)
Sorority/Fraternity: The Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity located on the campus of the University of South Carolina. I'm guessing that the word sorority has fallen out of favor as the ZTA fraternity is for women. (12/16/17)
Haberdashery: There is a place right here in our fair city that would be classified as a haberdashery, Lionel Smith Ltd., but no sign with the word. At first we thought it was going to mean a trip to our nemesis city Atlanta, but this place opened recently in Columbia. (12/16/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1954 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup: We made a trip to Greenwood, SC to photograph a 1906 train locomotive and also stumbled onto an interesting auto repair place. This one was out front sitting on 20" chrome dubs with rubber band tires. It is either a '54 or '55 because of the one piece curved windshield. (11/18/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1986 Pontiac Fiero 2M6 GT : We made a trip to Greenwood, SC to photograph a 1906 train locomotive and also stumbled onto an auto repair place. This was one of a few cars that looks like it was still a daily driver. I'm guessing an '86 because of 2M6 GT badges on the tail. (11/18/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1906 Baldwin Steam Locomotive: From the Greenwood Railroad Historical Center web page "This specific engine, Baldwin No 29283, rolled out in September of 1906, destined for the Woodward Iron Company of Alabama for use hauling pig iron." (11/18/17)
Around the World 15 - Inverness: One of the streets in a local golfing communities named for famous golfing locations. (11/18/17)
Rainbow: After over 350 miles on road running up to the NC mountains to see some fall color we were disappointed in having to put the top up for the first time all day when a line of showers showed up on radar between us and home. But frowns turned to smiles when a rainbow appeared off to our left. (11/4/17)
Nottingham: Our second stop in England to pay respect to our Hero & Villains #3 today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)
Canterbury: Our third and final stop in England today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)
Burgundy: A stop in France to sample some grapes on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)
Waterloo: Popped into Belgium quickly on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)
Lancaster: Our first stop in England today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: We have had our eye on this sign for a while as it seemed perfect, a nice big sign with the full name spelled out, not just the usual three letter monogram. But it was harder than it should have been because it is on a very busy and oddly configured corner. (10/15/17)
Tokyo: This replaces what was our favorite "Around the World" photo up to this point until we found out Mexico didn't qualify because it is part of North America. So instead of going south we went far east. (10/15/17)
Around the World 09 - Berlin: Since the wall came down in 1989, in what once was communist controlled side of the city, religion of all denominations have flourished. (10/14/17)
Roadside Oddities 05 - Galactic Empire All Terrain-Arrmored Transport: The bones of a Galactic Empire's All Terrain-Armored Transport discovered in the wilds of Cayce, SC. We didn't notice until we pulled away that there was also a X-Wing Fighter made out of the same 3/8" white tubing. You can possibly make it out in this photo by looking directly up from the orange cone. (10/14/17)
Quarry: The Google Street View showed the sign as just having the words "Cayce Quarry" filling the whole thing. Sometime since then Martin Marietta thought they should have more prominence. (10/14/17)
BBQ Joint: This place is new in town and like every BBQ joint there is, some stuff is very good and others not so much. This one wins for use because we can, once the weather cools some, walk to it because it is less than a mile away from home. (10/12/17)
Bed and Breakfast: We've never stayed here as it is right in the next town over, the bustling metropolis of Montmorenci, SC. (10/13/17)
Solar Array: Found this much larger array than our original attempt and ironically, it was right across the street from that one. (10/13/17)
Fresh Pavement: So fresh the equipment used to put it down was cooling of along the side of the road. (10/12/17)
Roadside Oddities 04 - Tractor on Top of Silo: Found this one just outside Hendersonville, NC on our way home. Probably as a form of advertising for Granddad's Apple Farm. (9/30/17)
Natures Giants 03 - Blue Ridge Mountains: Taken at one of the many scenic overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway. (9/29/17)
Natures Giants 04 - Mount Mitchell: That is not it in the background. We didn't drive to the top on this trip for two reasons, 1) we already had a 8% Grade photo and 2) the top was shrouded in clouds, so the view would have not be anything to see. (9/29/17)
Around the World 08 - Switzerland: One of the many tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. There is a really small place called Switzerland in South Carolina, it is on the state map, but there are no longer signs demoting its boundaries. (9/29/17)
Heroes and Villains 08 - Stonewall Jackson: A hero for the Confederate Army during the Civil War and now a days probably considered a villain because of it. Jackson neither apologized for nor spoke in favor of the practice of slavery. (9/28/17)
8 Percent Grade or Better: We've driven all through western North Carolina in places we knew had steep grades with no luck. We have searched Google images for 8% Grade signs and found plenty, but they were all west of the Mississippi River. Our last hope were the roads leading up to and down from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Bingo. US-60 West coming down into Buena Vista, VA. (9/28/17)
Tugboat: We had hoped to get a Giant Human Creation of a aircraft carrier in dry dock at the Newport News Shipyard, but we couldn't get a good angle on it, but in driving around looking we stumbled on the tug boat Dorothy, the first boat produced by the yards in 1890. (9/27/17)
Giant Human Creations 04 - Giant Supermarket: After striking out in Wilmington, NC with the battleship USS North Carolina and again in Newport News, VA with the unnamed aircraft carrier, we decided we deserved this easy one in Lexington Park, MD. (9/27/17)
Place of Personal Significance: In 1975 a very attractive E3 Airman Avionics Technician and a moderately handsome E4 Petty Officer 3rd Class Avionics Technician were assigned to fix several of the same pieces of electronics at AIMD on the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. A friendship developed. After a while their shop supervisor feared a romance was building, so he seperated them, she stayed on 1st shift and he was moved to 2nd. This ironically sparked the friendship into a romance. Forty two years later, 41 of them in marriage, the romance survives enough that the two of them still willingly cram themselves and their baggage in a small sports car and drive for days on end taking pictures of themselves, their car and random objects along the road. (9/27/17)
Around the World 07 - Plymouth: The Pilgrim Fathers left for the New World in 1620 from the town of Plymouth, Devon County, England. They landed at a rock near what today is Plymouth, Massachusetts. This is Plymouth, North Carolina. Some pilgrims moved south after a couple of really cold winters up north and became the first snowbirds. (9/26/17)
Heroes and Villains 07 - Bill Gates: Hero to geeks everywhere (and now the world's poor through philanthropy) and a villain to PC users everywhere when the Blue Screen of Death appears. (9/26/17)
Heroes and Villains 06 - George Washington: During the 2015 Motoring Challenge there was a requirement to "get" 15 counties and I decided that I would get all 15 of the same name. If you start with Pennsylvania, go west to Missouri, south to Louisiana, east to Florida and north back to Pennsylvania that encompasses 18 states. South Carolina and West Virginia don't have Washington Counties, North Carolina does, but it was too far east to get on our loop that year. This year we were that far east, so... (9/26/17)
Bird Sanctuary: We were excited to find this "elusive" Bird Sanctuary sign in the town of Northwest, NC. But as we continued our week long road trip the elusive became a point of humor for us because it seemed like 75% of the towns we passed through in NC, VA & MD were Bird Sanctuaries. (9/25/17)
Favorites Revisited 04 - On a Ferry: Aboard the North Carolina River Class Ferry Neuse traveling from Fort Fisher to Southport. (9/25/17)
Natures Giants 02 - Atlantic Ocean :The Atlantic Ocean surf is just starting to get a little rough due to Hurricane Maria here at Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast south of Wilmington. (9/24/17)
Heroes and Villains 05 - Christopher Columbus: Christopher Columbus was a hero to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain in spite of never making it to the East Indies as he first proposed and it turned out he was a villain to native Americans although they didn't really know it at the time. (9/24/17)
Around the World 06 - Bolivia: If Bolivia is the next right, this must be Brazil. (9/24/17)
Around the World 05 - Mexico: Ahhh, thank you, politically incorrect South of the Border. (9/24/17)
Roadside Oddities 02 - South of the Border: We probably could have found 5 items here that we would need to fill the Category of Roadside Oddities, but that would be like shooting fish in a barrel, so we took one of the giant billboard to count as just one. (9/24/17)
Example of Irony - Thieves Market: Is this a market for thieves to sell their stolen goods or a market where you go shopping to find a thief to steal something for you? (9/24/17)
Heroes and Villains 03 - Robin Hood: A hero to the poor and a villain to the Sheriff of Nottingham. (9/24/17)
Heroes and Villains 04 - Francis Marion: The Swamp Fox was a Revolutionary War hero and is considered the father of modern guerrilla warfare. (9/24/17)
Around the World 04 - Florence: Not Italy, South Carolina. (9/24/17)
Around the World 03 -Iran: Donna spotted this awhile back when traveling through Augusta, GA in our OTM and earmarked it for next time we were back this way in the Miata. Well, we were back this last Saturday. (9/16/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 2017 Fiat 124 Spider: A co-worker has had this Fiat 124 Spider for several months now and this is its normal parking spot, but this morning she was early enough, and I was early enough and we both had our tops up, so that I could get an uncluttered photograph of the 2 of our cars. (7/24/17)
Charity Car Wash: Our Miata Club had a photo scavenger/road rally event yesterday and the end point was a Sonic Drive-In. A local high school's Navy JROTC was holding a car wash in the back of the parking lot, so while we waited for everyone else to finish up the rally, we took advantage of the service. (7/15/17)
Around the World 02 - Damascus: It is a lot greener than I thought it would be here in Syria. (6/24/17)
Orchard (Peach): Our original intent was to catch one of the large local peach orchards in bloom earlier this year, but by the the time they were peaking we had a two-day deep freeze roll through, killing the blossoms. Well, not only the blossoms,, but the future fruit as well. One farmer we talked to said he lost around 90 percent of the fruit from his early trees. I beleive him, there was nary a peach to be seen on any of the trees behind me. (6/17/17)
Inside A Barn: The MMC drove in the Ridge Peach Festival Parade last Saturday and on the pre-drive to the town of Trenton, SC we passed right by this old barn. We marked the spot to come afterwards and get a photo. Old-timely filter added for effect. (6/17/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1947 John Deere: A slightly non-traditional paint scheme adorns this John Deere tractor as it prepares to ride in the Trenton Peach Festival Parade. The owner told us he is pretty sure it is a 1947, but it maybe a '48. (6/17/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1927 Ford Model T: Every year in October the small town of Olar in South Carolina hosts a Model T’s festival. Olar has a special connection with Ford Motor Co. because of Henry Ford’s relationship with C.F. Rizer, an Olar native, in the early 1900s. You can read about it in this Charleston newspaper article from 2011, (6/10/17)
Around the World 01 - Denmark: We used a Denmark picture before in the challenge, the first time is was for the “Letter D†in our first Challenge in 2014. This time it was for the “Around the Wold†category. (6/10/17)
Huge Pothole: I was thinking about maybe trying to photoshop some fish in the water, but gave up after it turned out to be more work than it would have been worth. (6/7/17)
Lumber Mill 2: When taking a picture of the sign, you really can't get a feel for the place, but drive down the road and turn around... (5/28/17)
Lumber Mill: When taking a picture of the sign, you really can't get a feel for the place, but drive down the road and turn around... (5/28/17)
Scrabble Scramble 03 - Jacqueline: While zipping merrily along GA 150, north of Appling, between the thriving metropolises of Winfield and Phinizy, we drove right by a street called Jacqueline. My navigator totaled up what that was worth and called for a U-turn. (5/28/17)
Parade: Coming up on Turn 8 mid-pack with our local Miata Club taking a few parade laps at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. (5/6/17)
Boat Launch: Lake Monticello near Jenkinsville, SC provides cooling water for SCE&G's V.C. Sumner Nuclear Station and some fishing for local anglers. (5/6/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 2005 Chevrolet Corvette : Unlike last week's ASCO parking lot find, the 1979 Camaro Z28, this Corvette is daily driven by my cubicle neighbor Carlos. (5/1/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 : This very sweet Camaro belongs to an Engineer a couple cubicles away from me here at ASCO. It has 55,000 original miles and he inherited it from his uncle who bought it new in 1979. (4/28/17)
Heroes and Villains 02 - Pat Tillman: As you can see from the Historic Marker sign, the town has no relation to Pat Tillman the ex-NFL player the Army tried to make into a big hero after dying in Afghanistan in April 2002, but a subsequent investigation revealed that he was actually killed by friendly fire. No matter how Pat Tillman died, he is still truly a hero who gave up a lucrative pro football career to defend our country in the uniform of our Armed Services. (4/2/17)
Toll Booth: Cross Island Parkway on Hilton Head Island - Opened in 1998 so the the rich folks who live in Sea Pines Plantation don't have to creep along the 6 miles of congested US-278 from the head of the island to their homes on Mizzenmast Court. Toll cost (and subsequently the photo cost) $1.25. (4/2/17)
Scrabble Scramble 02 - Mizzenmast: While spending the weekend on Hilton Head Island we looked over the map to find some high scoring street names, this one stood out. To get to it we had to drive right by the entrance to the Harbour Town Golf Links where in a weeks time they will be holding the RBC Heritage, a PGA Tour Event. (4/2/17)
Giant Human Creations 03 - Giant Egg Water Tower: This water tower is shaped like an egg because of the amount of egg farms located around Newberry, SC. Not nearly as famous as the upstate's Peachoid for good reason, an awful lot of water towers are fairly egg shaped anyway. (3/18/17)
Roadside Oddities 02 - Harry's Grill Collection: Another must see spot in Hendersonville, NC. How many "oddities" can you spot in this photo? (3/19/17)
Roadside Oddities 01 - Re-purposed Ferris Wheel: A Ferris Wheel re-purposed into an advertisement for a steel recycling business in Hendersonville, NC. (3/18)
Food Truck: The county of Henderson, NC does not allow food trucks to operate there, so we were surprised to see one along the road outside of Flat Rock. They can't sell food there, but nearby Buncombe County which includes Hendersonville welcomes them. (3/19/17)
Famous Road - Blue Ridge Parkway: After getting denied access to the Parkway to get to Mount Mitchell (road closed because of ice), we had to try again closer to Asheville to get a sign. (3/18/17
Example of Irony - Old Fort Arrowhead: Arrowhead Monument in Old Fort, NC. From Wikipedia: "The landmark was unveiled to a crowd of more than 6,000 people on July 27, 1930, by Marie Nesbitt as a symbol of the peace achieved in an earlier century between pioneers and Native Americans." I find it quite ironic that the peace was achieved by forcing all the Native Americans out of their homes and sent out west to live on reservations a hundred years prior. (3/18/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1965 Ford Mustang: Although in this photo the stripe on the Miata and the color of the Mustang look similar, the stripe is blue and the Mustang is teal. The paint doesn't look 50+ years old, but it looks like that was a stock color for the car called Tropical Turquoise. (3/18/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1990 Mazda Miata: This car belonged to the boyfriend of our next door neighbor’s daughter, but he sold it when he went off to college. Today in a random parking lot we saw it again, when we pulled up next to it to take a photo we realized the new owner was sitting inside. We chatted a bit and told him what we were up to and he even volunteered to hold the Challenge poster. (2/11/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1990 Mazda Miata: This car belonged to the boyfriend of our next door neighbor’s daughter, but he sold it when he went off to college. Today in a random parking lot we saw it again, when we pulled up next to it to take a photo we realized the new owner was sitting inside. We chatted a bit and told him what we were up to and he even volunteered to hold the Challenge poster. (2/11/17)
Windmill: Totally decorational windmill in front of a subdivision over in Evans, GA. (2/4/17)
Giant Human Creations 02 - Thurmond Lake: Thurmond Lake is the largest Corps of Engineers lake east of the Mississippi River. The lake encompasses 1,200 miles of shoreline, 70,000 acres of water and 80,000 acres of land. (2/4/17)
Dam: The J. Strom Thurmond Dam (or as it is still defiantly called in Clarks Hill Dam) on the Savannah River. We almost used this spot for Location Filmed for a Movie in 2015 as it was used in The Hunger Games, but it is literally a blink and you miss it moment. (2/417)
Bait Shop: The Herring Hut is a staple of the South Carolina side of Lake Thurmond for all your fishing needs. (2/4/17)
Bail Bonds Office: Before they finished building the new Aiken County Detention Center bail bonds merchants were setting up shop right across the street. This is the nicest looking of the bunch. (2/4/17)
Planetarium: In the same building as the observatory at the University of South Carolina Aiken they also have a planetarium that holds two shows every Saturday night. (2/4/17)
Observatory: The University of South Carolina Aiken has their very own Observatory. It houses a 16 inch, Meade LX-200GPS, Schmidt-Cassegrain, catadiaptric telescope that is open to the public. (2/4/17)
Solar Array: A local Heating and Plumbing place will gladly hook you up with your very own solar panels. (2/4/17)
DMV: The local SCDMV office. (2/4/17)
Train Station: A re imagined reconstruction of the train station that existed near this site back at the turn of the century. They built it with half donations and half public funds with the promise of increased tourism dollars. It houses a small museum and acts as the city's "Welcome Center" all the while perhaps losing money on just the electricity needed to keep the lights on. (2/4/17)
Synagogue: We drive by a dozen Baptist churches regularly. The two Presbyterian ones we see quite often and the one Catholic church in town has a nice Chocolate Festival we go to that supports their school, but never really knew that we had our very own synagogue here in town until we needed a picture of one. (2/4/17)
Dance Studio: Now that I am home looking at this picture I realized I should have stood over on the left and tried to emulate the dancer's pose of the sign...(2/4/17)
Natures Giants - Hitchcock Woods: The first bit of the sign reads: "Hitchcock Woods, one of the largest urban forests in the United States, is an area consolidated between 1891 and 1898 by Celestine Eustis, Thomas Hitchcock, and William Whitney." We are listing this as Nature's Giant at the insistence of my wife. I thought it should be a Giant Human Creation because the forest was always here and man is the one who surrounded it by urban. Is it nature or nurture? The age old question. (2/4/17)
Log Cabin: This sits just down the hill from the Aiken County Museum, right next to a little red one-room school house that might have come in for a destination a couple years ago if we knew it was here. (2/4/17)
117 Years of Transportation - 1935 Ford: Found in the parking lot at work this morning. The original owner of the car retired and at first I thought he came back to work again. But in reality he sold it to another co-worker who just doesn't daily drive it like the first person. It has a regular SC plate on it now, but the original owner had a vanity plate - 19FORD35. When I first saw it, I asked if he bought that year car just because that plate was available, he said, "As a matter of fact I did." He wanted a '32 but all the permutations of vanity plates were already spoken for. (2/1/17)
Destination - Billiards Hall: Edgefield Billiard Parlor - Although there are pool tables inside, like its counterpart in Aiken, this place is better know for its hamburgers. (1/28/17)
Destination - Fork in the Road: Amazing, now that we're looking, just how many things we thought were forks in the road, aren't, and how many there are actually around. (1/28/17)
Destination - Community Garden: A stumbled upon destination while driving between two planned ones this morning. (1/28/17)
Heroes and Villains 01 - Strom Thurmond: Famous for being the only senator ever to serve at the age of 100 and infamous for running for President 1948 in the Dixiecrats, the short-lived segregationist political party. (1/28/17)
Scrabble Scramble 01 - Chinquapin: Chinquapin Street in Batesburg, SC is worth 26 points. There is a guy sitting in the BMW in the background with a phone to his ear, I'm guessing he is the Realtor waiting to show a potential buyer that house. (1/28/17)
Destination - Moose Lodge: The "Moose Family Center" sign outside Moose Lodge #462 in Cayce, SC reflects the fact that it also houses the Women of the Moose Chapter 1528. (1/28/17)
Destination - Crane: After taking several disappointing shots of these two cranes building a hospital addition from the side parking lot and getting ready to give up, I spotted a multi-level parking garage. (1/28/17)
Giant Human Creations 01 - Busted Plug: The World's Largest Fire Hydrant was unveiled in 2001 by Columbia, SC artist Blue Sky. It originally had a fountain of water at its base to complete the image of a hydrant accidentally backed into by a (giant) car. (1/28/17)
Destination - Telephone Booth: You can't actually make a call from this telephone booth in front of the Hampton Inn in northwest Columbia, SC, it's filled with plants... (1/28/17)
Destination - Road Closed: At breakfast out we learned a road was closed due to a water main break. So we headed back home that way, but we couldn’t get too close to the action because of traffic cones. Didn't matter, we couldn’t have gotten any points anyway because the thoughtless crew out in the freezing weather and calf deep in gushing water didn’t bother to erect a Road Closed sign. No worries, I knew they were still working on the York Street railroad bridge, so we detoured (pun intended) over there. (1/8/17)