Lovable North Carolina Landmarks-- Part 3: World's Largest Strawberry

WORLD'S LARGEST STRAWBERRY

ELLERBE

This self-proclaimed "Fruit Wonder of the Highway" was added to the Berry Patch produce stand in 2003, complete with a stem.

Since then, it has offered ice cream made with wooden Amish churns, and homemade local products.

Although this shop is shaped like a strawberry, we don't recommend trying to take a bite of the building.

Nearest Highways:  Interstate 74, U.S. 220.

--RoadDog

Lovable North Carolina Landmarks-- Part 2: Truck Stop Lighthouse and Eiffel Tower Replica

TRUCK STOP LIGHTHOUSE

KENLY  A seaside sentry stands watch over travelers who stop for gas or a meal at the Kenly 95 Truck Stop.  The 65-foot-tall version of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is "a symbol of hospitality for truckers and travelers alike.'

Find another replica of the Hatteras Light to the northeast, in Wilson.

Nearest Highway:  Interstate 95.

EIFFEL TOWER REPLICA

FAYETTEVILLE:  Enjoy a piece of Paris in the South, where an 80-foot-tall version of the Eiffel Tower sits within driving distance.  Built in 1963 to advertise the nearby Bordeaux Shopping Center, this little monument is a one-twelfth scale replica of the original.

Nearest Highways:  U.S. 401 Business, U.S. 301

Light My Tower.  --RoadDog

Lovable Landmarks in North Carolina-- Part 1: Big Red Rocker and Tail of the Dragon

From the July 2015, Our state magazine "Lovable Landmarks" by Alexa Dysch.

BIG RED ROCKER

MAGGIE VALLEY:  Looking for a place to sit.  the owner of Country Time swings has the place for you.  He built a, 11-foot-tall rocking chair, plus steps for those who can't hoist themselves up to it.

So, kick back and relax.

And, don't worry about kicking too far back because, for safety reasons, this rocking chair is stationary.

Nearest highways:  U.S. 19 and U.S. 276.

Of course, we have an even bigger one on Route 66 at the Fanning Outpost in Missouri.  Just saying.

TAIL OF THE DRAGON

DEAL'S GAP

Motorists who are riding the twisted section of U.S. Highway 129, with its 318 curves in 11 miles of road, can mark the occasion by stopping on the cusp of the Tennessee line and admiring the dragon sculptures that represent the danger and thrill of the area.

Nearest highway:  U.S. 129.

Well, Rock My dragon.  --RoadDog

Final Points On the Map-- Part 7: Point Roberts, Washington

Occupying a geographical oddity, residents of the peninsula that is home to Point Roberts, Washington (pop. 1,314), must drive through Canada to get to the rset of the U.S. mainland by land.

The unincorporated community, known locally as "The Point" rests on five-square miles of U.S. soil because it is south of the 49th parallel which consitutes the Canada-U.S. border.

The peninsula is twenty miles south of Vancouver, Canada, but has its own U.S. post office and even zip code, but is not physically connected with the rest of the nation.

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ended a long-standing border dispute but created this quirk on the map. Living in Point Roberts can be challenging. Public school students in grades 4-12 are transported daily by bus into Canada, around Boundary Bay and back to the U.S. for classes in Blaine, Washington (pop. 4,6840. Navigating international checkpoints, especially in this day and age, can be very frustrating for residents needing to get somewhere fast.

At the same time, however, some Point Roberts citizens consider their situation like living in a gated community.

Interesting Places. --RoadDog

Points On the Map-- Part 6: The Southernmost Point

A painted concrete buoy, erected in 1983, at the corner of South and Whitehead streets in Key West, Florida (pop. 24,649) marks the southernmost point in the continental United States. It draws nearly a million visitors a year-- almost all with cameras.

Key West Mayor Craig Cates, 60, likes to say: "We could make a lot of money for the city if we had a dollar for every photo."

Actually, cartograophers list Ballast Key, a privately owned island in the Florida Keys, as the official southernmost point, but Key West gets the public honors with its stunning ocean view and the fact the buoy is just 90 miles from Cuba.

The buoy sits right where a Western Union cable once connected with Cuba. A nearby plaque commemorates Cubans who have drowned trying to escape Castro's Cuba.

We used to stay at the Southernmost Motel right close by that buoy.

The buoy reads: The Conch Republic (with logo)
90 Miles to Cuba
Southernmost
Point
Continental
U.S.A.
Key Wesy, Fl
Home of the Sunset.

No Doubt, Those Sunsets Are Outstanding. --RoadDog

Points On the Map-- Part 5: Four Corners Monument

Many states share tri-points, but Four Corners is the only quadripoint in the country.

According to James Fraser Hart, professor of geography at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, "Boundary lines follow human activity.... they follow the way people use the land."

Otherwise, they are typically drawn in straight lines such as Four Corners which was largely unsettled in 1848 when Mexico ceded the area to the United States after the Mexican War. In 1863, Congress approved a map with straight lines running east to west and north to south which created Four Corners shared by four states eventually.

Of course, boundaries often follow rivers and there are none in the area. There are a lot of straight line state borders out west.

Two More to Go. --RoadDog

Points On the Map-- Part 4: Four Corners Monument

Where four states converge and visitors enjoy the unique Four Corners Monument and the photo-op it has where you can be in four states simultaneously.

A bronze disk is embedded in granite marks the very spot near Tee Nos Pos, Arizona (pop. 730). It is surrounded by seals and flags that honor the four states and tribal nations that share the georgraphical point. The site is managed by the Navajo Nation, which charges $3 admission per person.

Snapshots of the some 250,000 visitors show creativity such as the boy doing pushups with one hand in Colorado, the other in Utah, one foot in Arizona, the other in New Mexico. A girl performs a backbend the same way. (With me it would be me getting hurt in four states all at once.)

A couple kisses across state borders. More to Come. --RoadDog

Points On the Map-- Part 3: The Mason-Dixon Line

One major accomplishment was transporting the heavy stones, which were made in England and it wasn't like they were using established roads. They were forging through wilderness and setting a marker every mile as well as placing crown stones bearing the coat of arms of the Penn and Calvert families every fifth mile.

Babcock says that toward the end they had 115 men employed in the effort, "a small army." The east-west portion parallels latitude calculated from 15 miles south of Colonial Philadelphia.

Using modern tools, volunteers have located 190 of the 230 markers along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, repairing many and replacing a few. Many of them are on private land and others are open to public view.

An added bonus of my trip along the old National Road from Wheeling, West Virginia, a few years ago was seeing a couple of the Mason-Dixon markers, especially since I am into the Civil War.

North or South of That Line. --RoadDog