After a long but interesting drive on Wednesday, Thursday seemed much quieter; in fact, it was probably just as tough. When I talk to people about these road trips and some of the things I like to stop and see, I must make it sound like fun. It is actually kind of wearing to take detours, find the right back roads, get lost – and then get lost again, just so that you can see the world’s largest something-or-other. I think that is probably why these trips work best when I am on my own. I work hard at seeing things, very likely much harder than many driving companions would tolerate.

Take this state capital building for instance… I woke up on the outskirts of Charleston, West Virginia. I have to say, the signage on the highway’s leading into and out of Charleston is appallingly poor! Trying to find a hotel for the night is a crapshoot. Most exits on the freeways of America tell you what’s coming up; gasoline, food, and lodging. Not so much in West Virginia. Because I have been to Charleston before, I was able to make a guess at a particular exit and found motel row.

The next morning I took a long city street drive back into town, negotiated the campus of the University of Charleston to find a lawn alongside the Kanawha river to get this shot of the West Virginia state capital. I have not seen all 50, but I think this is probably the single most beautiful state capital building of the ones I know; I may have to Google the rest just to be confirm what I believe to be true.

This building was constructed in 1932; the tip of the dome is actually 5 feet higher than the dome on the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. That is actual 23 1/2 carat gold covering the dome! I’ve not been this way many times but I just find this building eye-pleasing enough to be worth a stop.

Long before the freeways, people from the north were off to Florida for the warmth. There had to be convenient stopping points for motorists at the end of a days travel. Henderson, North Carolina, is a community that benefitted from being in the right place at the right time; Wytheville Virginia appears to be another. This is the Great Lakes to Florida Highway Museum, part of a larger historical site just off of an Interstate. I think what it really celebrates is nearby US Highway 19 which starts in Erie Pennsylvania, on the shore of a Great Lake, and does indeed make its way to Florida. When the original system of numbered highways was established in the 1920s, US 19 would have been a logical route to the sun.

Sadly this was deserted when I stopped by; there appears to be not much more to it then what you see. But I love the old gasoline pumps (below).

In Wytheville, Virginia, Virginia’s largest pencil! It’s about 30 feet long, and has been advertising the Wytheville office supply since the early 1950s. And of course, there’s that old joke, “what’s the largest pencil in the world?” “Pennsylvania!” No, really… think about it; when it hits you, you’ll double over in laughter!

And one more courthouse…Wythe County in Wytheville Virginia the “Wythe” is the first Virginian to sign the Declaration of Independence. The building went up in 1900; it’s made of buff brick and concrete, and that’s about all I know.

So the drive from Charleston, West Virginia to Galax, Virginia where I’m judging barbecue, is listed as being 2 hours, 44 minutes total time. I left my hotel about 9:30 Thursday morning and got into Galax about 4:30 in the afternoon. It wasn’t all sightseeing; construction, traffic and trucks help to slow me down. But I’m in Galax, with good friends, good smoke and it’s going to be a fun weekend!