I've been off the bike for nearly a week, so instead of doing a long, hard ride this afternoon I took my camera and did a leisurely ride on some of the roads in Union County, NC, where I usually ride.
For whatever reason, Union County is horse country. There are lots of stables, riding centers, homes on acreage with horses in fenced pastures. This is an equestrian center a few miles south of where I live:
And an example of the kind of affluence it takes to support such endeavors. This "house" sat way off the road, beyond the equestrian center -- my zoom lens pulled it in closer:
Union County is (was) an agricultural county. The area of UC that borders the Charlotte metro area is being converted from farmland to subdivisions of large homes. But even with subdivisions going up all around, there is still a lot of land that is farmed. Here's a beautiful example of a field in spring cover crops, waiting to be tilled for planting, I assume -- but not before it's nuked with an herbicide to rapidly kill the cover crop (see below):
The green of the fields is being replaced by manicured subdivision entrances:
These friendly fellows (girls?) came over to the fence to have their picture taken:
What a beautiful face!
Just down the road from the horses was this lovely setting:
And directly across the street, this rather predictable MacMansion with an estate-sized yard:
Wesley Chapel, NC, is one of many small crossroads in Union County. It literally has a crossroads with two-way stop. This is the City Hall of Wesley Chapel -- a country-type ranch house turned into administrative offices for the "city."
Cover crops are grown during the winter on the fields to hold the soil in place (good) and fix nitrogen in the soil (good -- depending on the kind of cover crop). Organic farmers will plow under the lush green grasses seen in the photo above (called "green manure") so the grass can feed the soil microbes and worms and add the maximum organic content to the soil. But conventional farming practices are to spray the entire field with an herbicide (bad) to kill the grass and any disease pathogens in the soil. A field can be lush green one week and look like this the next. I'd be surprised if you could walk out in that field, turn up a random shovel of dirt, and find a worm. The soil is basically lifeless after being treated with herbicides, so in order to provide food for the crops, heavy doses of chemical fertilizers will be added to this field. So the seeds of the food (corn, probably in this field) that is grown are planted in dirt contaminated with pesticides and loaded with synthetic fertilizers. There is nothing natural looking about this field:
A lovely restored farmhouse just down the road:
And the lush cover crop grasses -- 18" - 24" tall -- growing in a field across the road:
This is a house I drool over whenever I pass it. A classic Southern farm house, beautifully restored. You can see the original structure minus the addition to the rear. The original had brick chimneys on both ends, big porch, big trees -- give me a break! What a beautiful setting:
The next crossroads, heading south, is Mineral Springs. It's actually pretty large, with a pizza place, a quick mart, a church, and something else on the four corners of the main intersection. You can see the Mineral Springs Fertilizer store (a typical seed 'n feed, showing UC's agricultural roots) heading into "town." The pizza joint on the corner of the intersection is not a chain -- it's a one-off model that serves up something fried. The aromas wafting out of the place are enough to make a vegan biker reconsider his priorities when he rides by:
At the Mineral Springs intersection this historic marker points to the historic Pleasant Grove Methodist Church campground which you'll see below:
Before leaving Mineral Springs, here's another house that would be worth having. It's not as picturesque as the previous one, but large and rambling with a beautifully wooded lot. What I really like about it (see below) is the fenced in area on the side where horses are usually kept. Inside that fenced area would make a garden to die for, having been saturated with horse manure for years:
The red-roofed outbuildings are already in place, waiting to be filled with farm and garden tools instead of horses tack which is what they look like they were built for:
What a great yard!
Now -- to the amazing Methodist campground. There are (I'm guessing) a hundred or so small cabins built in a rough square, cabins on each of the four sides facing outwards, built right next to each other. I'm guessing these have been built over the years by those who attend camp meetings at the church. (This hearkens back to the days of old-time revivals and camp meetings when people would gather and sleep in tents or in rough shelters they would put up, adequate for a week or so.) I rode around the perimeter of the layout taking pictures on all four sides.
This is the side that faces the main road:
The second side:
I liked this one on the second side because it was red. Most of the cabins are white or other "plain" color:
This one was also on the second side. Now I'm thinking these are some "new money" Methodists who moved in without being properly schooled in cabin design; their two-story A-frame probably won them the stink-eye (thanks Juno) during camp meeting from those "who'd been coming to camp meeting before you were born."
This is the third side of the square:
The requisite old-timey country cemetery as you start up the fourth side:
And the fourth side cabins:
This place fascinates me. I would love to attend camp meeting there some time. As far as I know, I haven't seen the church, though there is a sign for it by the road.
On the way back home I saw a huge buzzard sitting on top of this old barn. I think he was waiting to see if my carcass would be available for picking after going down the upcoming hill (see video below):
Fortunately, I made it without becoming buzzard food:
For whatever reason, Union County is horse country. There are lots of stables, riding centers, homes on acreage with horses in fenced pastures. This is an equestrian center a few miles south of where I live:
And an example of the kind of affluence it takes to support such endeavors. This "house" sat way off the road, beyond the equestrian center -- my zoom lens pulled it in closer:
Union County is (was) an agricultural county. The area of UC that borders the Charlotte metro area is being converted from farmland to subdivisions of large homes. But even with subdivisions going up all around, there is still a lot of land that is farmed. Here's a beautiful example of a field in spring cover crops, waiting to be tilled for planting, I assume -- but not before it's nuked with an herbicide to rapidly kill the cover crop (see below):
The green of the fields is being replaced by manicured subdivision entrances:
These friendly fellows (girls?) came over to the fence to have their picture taken:
What a beautiful face!
Just down the road from the horses was this lovely setting:
And directly across the street, this rather predictable MacMansion with an estate-sized yard:
Wesley Chapel, NC, is one of many small crossroads in Union County. It literally has a crossroads with two-way stop. This is the City Hall of Wesley Chapel -- a country-type ranch house turned into administrative offices for the "city."
Cover crops are grown during the winter on the fields to hold the soil in place (good) and fix nitrogen in the soil (good -- depending on the kind of cover crop). Organic farmers will plow under the lush green grasses seen in the photo above (called "green manure") so the grass can feed the soil microbes and worms and add the maximum organic content to the soil. But conventional farming practices are to spray the entire field with an herbicide (bad) to kill the grass and any disease pathogens in the soil. A field can be lush green one week and look like this the next. I'd be surprised if you could walk out in that field, turn up a random shovel of dirt, and find a worm. The soil is basically lifeless after being treated with herbicides, so in order to provide food for the crops, heavy doses of chemical fertilizers will be added to this field. So the seeds of the food (corn, probably in this field) that is grown are planted in dirt contaminated with pesticides and loaded with synthetic fertilizers. There is nothing natural looking about this field:
A lovely restored farmhouse just down the road:
And the lush cover crop grasses -- 18" - 24" tall -- growing in a field across the road:
This is a house I drool over whenever I pass it. A classic Southern farm house, beautifully restored. You can see the original structure minus the addition to the rear. The original had brick chimneys on both ends, big porch, big trees -- give me a break! What a beautiful setting:
The next crossroads, heading south, is Mineral Springs. It's actually pretty large, with a pizza place, a quick mart, a church, and something else on the four corners of the main intersection. You can see the Mineral Springs Fertilizer store (a typical seed 'n feed, showing UC's agricultural roots) heading into "town." The pizza joint on the corner of the intersection is not a chain -- it's a one-off model that serves up something fried. The aromas wafting out of the place are enough to make a vegan biker reconsider his priorities when he rides by:
At the Mineral Springs intersection this historic marker points to the historic Pleasant Grove Methodist Church campground which you'll see below:
Before leaving Mineral Springs, here's another house that would be worth having. It's not as picturesque as the previous one, but large and rambling with a beautifully wooded lot. What I really like about it (see below) is the fenced in area on the side where horses are usually kept. Inside that fenced area would make a garden to die for, having been saturated with horse manure for years:
The red-roofed outbuildings are already in place, waiting to be filled with farm and garden tools instead of horses tack which is what they look like they were built for:
What a great yard!
Now -- to the amazing Methodist campground. There are (I'm guessing) a hundred or so small cabins built in a rough square, cabins on each of the four sides facing outwards, built right next to each other. I'm guessing these have been built over the years by those who attend camp meetings at the church. (This hearkens back to the days of old-time revivals and camp meetings when people would gather and sleep in tents or in rough shelters they would put up, adequate for a week or so.) I rode around the perimeter of the layout taking pictures on all four sides.
This is the side that faces the main road:
The second side:
I liked this one on the second side because it was red. Most of the cabins are white or other "plain" color:
This one was also on the second side. Now I'm thinking these are some "new money" Methodists who moved in without being properly schooled in cabin design; their two-story A-frame probably won them the stink-eye (thanks Juno) during camp meeting from those "who'd been coming to camp meeting before you were born."
This is the third side of the square:
The requisite old-timey country cemetery as you start up the fourth side:
And the fourth side cabins:
This place fascinates me. I would love to attend camp meeting there some time. As far as I know, I haven't seen the church, though there is a sign for it by the road.
On the way back home I saw a huge buzzard sitting on top of this old barn. I think he was waiting to see if my carcass would be available for picking after going down the upcoming hill (see video below):
Fortunately, I made it without becoming buzzard food:
Near my house, this unbelievably beautiful crotch-rocket was for sale in front of a very small house. This thing has so much bling on it I couldn't even tell what kind it was. Gorgeous!
Hope you enjoyed the glimpse of the past and present of lovely Union County, NC.
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