Busy 4th of July weekend

My 3-day weekend off was a indeed busy one. "Columbus Chris" / "The Other Chris" / "C-Mar" paid a visit to NC from the cooler northern climes of Dublin, OH. Our docket was a busy one.

Thursday night after he arrived we went downtown and hit up Natty Greene's for a late dinner. Thirsty Thursday so it was PACKED. Ran into fellow beer nerds Jeff, Turtle, and Dale while there. C-Mar is in NC now, so the BBQ sandwich was ordered up. Good stuff.

Friday morning, we got up and went on the Beer Hunt to end all beer hunts to satiate the central Ohio beer club the HobSnobbery crew. Harris Teeter at Friendly Center for some (hell, I mean ALL) Natty Greene's varieties and some local BBQ sauce. Then it was 1950's era Bestway grocery on Walker Ave. If you're local and love craft beer and you haven't been, you NEED to go. Seriously. Next was Total Wine & More for some Saranac pop ("soda") and other single bottles. Then finally late at night it was Sam's in Durham to round out the NC offerings. City Beverage in Winston-Salem was left off the itinerary due to automobile spatial needs (we seriously bought THAT much), monetary requirements, and frankly we got quite a hefty NC haul without that gem of a store 30 minutes to the west. Whew. Can't wait to hear about the huge ass tasting that will occur with the southern brews in Columbus.

Friday night in the midst of the beer shopping, we took in a game in Durham. First, we hit up the Mellow Mushroom in the American Tobacco Complex for some pretzels, pizza, and Lagunitas IPA. Delicious. We had no tickets for the game. We tried online earlier in the day, but their server was down to buy lawn seats for the Charlotte Knights @ Durham Bulls game, the only seats left for this busy fireworks-entailed pre-holiday game. So we walk up to the ticket booth and I ask for best available, fully expecting to just buy lawn seats and then stand and roam the park. "Well, we have lawn seats, and....an unsold suite tonight for $25 each."

Um, what?

So, to fully entertain my guest, we sat in a suite. Great views, even with zero chance of a foul ball. Sweet. The only downer was I specifically asked if we'd be able to see the fireworks OK. We were assured, but when it came down to it, we saw the bottom third of the higher explosions. Crap. Still, we saw two Bulls home runs, so the Bull lit up and smoked. Plus, the Bulls won, so the victory resulted in more famous Bull animatronics.

The Bull responds to a home run:

Saturday morning, on July 4th, we visited Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, our very own federal national park within the city commemorating the events of March 15, 1781. Happily, there were cars EVERYWHERE. A busy day for the history buffs. We took the driving audio tour (I shockingly own the tour CD already) and hit up all 8 stops on this Independence Day.

A great tour. Plenty of photos. C-Mar was hoping for a Civil War site, but Revolutionary War was all I could offer locally. Nevertheless he enjoyed it. Granted not as much as I did, but I'm a colonial history geek that way.

And this video below gives me the shivers every time I watch it. Too, too cool!

After Guilford Courthouse, it was time for more minor league baseball. The Cleveland Indians Low-A South Atlantic League team, the Lake County Captains, were in town to combat the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the point of C-Mar's visit. I always try to catch Cleveland's minor league teams when they come around here (and they do quite often), and to have Lake County play here on July 4th made it all the sweeter. The Gallers and Kimberly came over to meet me and C-Mar for a cookout: ribs on the grill, corn on the grill, potato salad, beans, the works. Good eatin' before the game!

So we make our way the 10 minutes to the park and enjoy another good minor league game. And to top it off, C-Mar catches his FIRST FOUL BALL! I got my first 2 weeks prior, and he gets his on July 4th of all days! COOL! A good time, a Captains victory, and more fireworks.

It was GREAT to have a guest. We had a really good time. And in between all the running around and the baseball and the beer shopping and the battlefield, we managed to watch a BOATLOAD of Family Guy episodes on DVD. We're both Family Guy junkies.

Truly an awesome weekend.

And one final photo, at Tannenbaum Park, the start of your Guilford Courthouse tour, Hoskins Farm includes an item that is held dear to the heart. The farmer whose open fields were near the first line of defense by General Greene's troops actually grew hops. Nice!

Historical marker unveiling

Tuesday afternoon after work, I headed over to Green Hill Cemetery for a 5:00 unveiling of a new roadside historical marker.

As a member of the Guilford Battleground Company, I received a mailer a while ago about the event. A new roadside marker honoring Judge David Schenk (1835-1902), the founder of the Guilford Battleground Company which helped preserve the major Revolutionary War southern battlefield. It was here that this technical British victory so decimated Cornwallis's troops that he retreated to the coast at Wilmington to resupply, then decided the Carolinas could not be taken. He instead marched into Virginia to Yorktown, and you know how it ends from there.

The featured speaker was Joshua B. Howard, co-author of the newest volume dissecting the battle: Long, Obstinate, and Bloody - the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. As a history groupie, I did manage to get mine signed:

It was a stately little ceremony. Color guard, fife and drum, and many of Judge Schenck's descendants on hand for the event. A pleasant warm Tuesday afternoon in an old cemetery.

Race to the Dan

The year was 1781. The Battle of Cowpens occurred in South Carolina in January, and The Battle of Guilford Courthouse occurred in March in present-day Greensboro, NC. What occurred in between?

The Race to the Dan.



After recuperating from the January victory at Cowpens, on February 10, 1781 at Guilford Courthouse, NC General Nathanael Greene calls a Council of War to determine the next plan in the Southern Campaign. Stay and fight, or retreat and retool, rearm, and re-energize? It is determined to make a run northward to cross the Dan River.

North Carolina is interwoven with rivers, rivulets, creeks, and tributaries. General Greene studied the lay of the land and is said to have understood the terrain better than some locals; even without personally seeing some of the rivers himself. He had the foresight to acquire ferries and boats and rivermen to aid his army if needed. This foresight served him well.


February 12th, Greene ordered Otho Williams to take 700 or so troops and act as a feint to draw British General Lord Cornwallis while Greene, 1600 troops, horses and wagons made their break for the Dan. It is just a 70 mile race from Guilford Courthouse in February, but roads were semi-frozen, wagon axles break, troops march miles and miles up to 19 hours day, troops sleep on the ground as not one tent is unfolded, just one meal per day is prepared. Between February 12 and February 14, it is rumored that General Greene slept a total of 4 hours.

Once Greene was across, word was sent to Williams who then high-tailed it toward the Dan and made it across safely.

Disheartened and without boats, Cornwallis retreats southward from the Dan River to Hillsborough, NC. One month later in March, Cornwallis and Greene meet for the final time in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse; a technical British victory, but at what cost? Cornwallis must forfeit the victorious battlefield and retreat to Wilmington for troops and supplies, then gives up North Carolina all together in favor of taking Virginia at Yorktown...only to be besieged and surrenders.

OK, now that the history lesson is complete, here's what happened today: an old tobacco processing plant called "The Prizery" in South Boston, VA holds a new display highlighting this military manouever. Chris made the trip today the 27th and found it enlightening and entertaining. It opened yesterday the 26th.

An online story can be found before the opening here and afterwards here.


Displays and maps and artifacts and uniforms and flags; all on display on the third floor of a tobacco building overlooking the Dan River. Chris talked up the curator and she obviously saw the gleam in his eye. "You've heard of the Race to the Dan before your visit today?" Why of course! She then gave Chris directions to the riverbank and see the actual ferry crossing where the last remnants of the Southern Army crossed. Greene and a majority of the army crossed 4 miles down at Irwin's Ferry, but Lighthorse Harry Lee and Otho Williams crossed at Boyd's Ferry, now occupied by a railroad bridge. Wow.

The entire photo set, albeit just a few more than were posted here, can be found here. Truly a nice day for driving and feeding the inner nerd.


The cool thing is that there was a stash of 200 1-cent stamps from 1936 featuring Washington and Greene found, and as a fundraiser they were affixed to envelopes highlighting the opening of the exhibit and sold. Chris got one of the 200 after his visit. Sweet.

As an aside, a monumental occurrence happened to the Jeep during the drive home. Observe:

DC Trip Day Two: Thursday 5/15

Chris is, as you are most probably aware, a big Nathanael Greene fan. Upon moving to Greensboro in 1996, his interest in the Revolutionary War took a dramatic upswing with the local battlefield and colonial history around here. He's already visited and taken photos of Nathanael Greene statues in Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and also downtown Greensboro. Upon further "Googling", he discovered one in Washington, DC! Cool! Located at the corner of Maryland Ave NE and 4th Street NE, tiny Stanton Park in a residential neighborhood. Sitting proudly atop his mount in the middle of the park is Nathanael Greene.

It's not really near a close Metro stop, so James indulged Chris and drove into town this day with the boys to sightsee and get to Stanton Park.We loaded up the crew into the baby-wagon and headed into town with the rough idea of "between Union Station and the Capitol, but behind the Capitol" to find our general. We found it and good parking karma fell our way as we needed to just walk a few blocks over after finding a spot. We arrived on the scene and took in the statue. The boys had a ball running around the park while Chris-the-nerd absorbed every nuance of the statue. Another Nathanael Greene sighting for this groupie blogger.

Afterward, we made our way back through DC to one of the most beautiful monuments in the district in our opinion: the Jefferson Memorial. We drove around and parked at the memorial lot, which resulted in a leisurely stroll through some wooded areas to get to the tidal basin. We spent some time reading the excerpts of his writings on the walls, reflecting in quiet reverence as the memorial suggests, and basically enjoyed a fantastic view of the Washington Monument from across the water.At the memorial, we made plans with Monica for the "kid exchange" as she got out of work. She'd take the Metro into town, we'd pick her up in the baby wagon, then she'd drive home with kids as we did adult things. After our galavanting, we'd then pick up her car that she took to the Metro stop in Alexandria and get back home. Genius.As we made our way back to the memorial parking lot, we stumbled upon a slightly hidden gem (and in DC there are always hidden gems): the George Mason memorial. Located in a wildflower garden, a large statue of George Mason, contributor to the Bill of Rights, sits on a garden bench with his books from Cicero and Locke. He rests comfortably and leisurely among the flowers. It's rather peaceful and reflective. So many spots within the town offer quiet refuge from hustle and bustle.

We make the transfer, then the "grown up" boys head back up over to Capitol City Brewing back near Union Station for latelunch/early dinner. Seats at the bar next to shiny copper tanks are always a bonus. Pints of "Fuel", a stout infused with coffee, and their altbier and their porter were consumed. We needed to fuel up to prepare for our next night of beer geekishness: a Sierra Nevada tasting back at The Brickskeller with the owners of the California brewery themselves.

"Brewery ambassador" Steve Grossman talked us through the history of Sierra Nevada, their beers, and their rather cutting edge methods of conserving energy and becoming as self-susatinable as they can be. Solar panels on the parking garage, fuel cells, recycling, their own wastewater treatment, the whole nine yards. The beer sampling was much more subdued and educational than the romp that was the Lupulin Reunion the night before."Only" eight samples to be had tonight, with just a smattering in the high alcohol range that the previous night destroyed us with. In sampling order, all obviously Sierra Nevada beers:
1. Ruthless Hefeweizen
2. Summerfest
3. Pale Ale
4. Brown Ale
5. Porter
6. Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale
7. Torpedo Extra IPA
8. Bigfoot Barleywine
Another nifty night to hobnob with brewery royalty, as the bearded owner Ken Grossman sat at the table next to us and chatted us up throughout the evening. Another beer-filled trip of geekery to The Brick. But a much more laid back and straight-lined walk to the Metro tonight...

Greensboro: 1808 - 2008

2008 marks the bicentennial year of Greensboro incorporated as a city. Named after Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, the town began as an entity way back in the year 1808. Guilford County's seat had been previously located at Guilford Courthouse, site of the Revolutionary War battle from which General Greene made his indelible mark in our nation's history. Later surveying of the county moved the seat to the precise center: today's Greensboro.

As part of the 200th year celebration, a new statue depicting our town's namesake has been unveiled. It stands in the middle of a roundabout downtown close to Natty Greene's Brewing Co., suffice to say the Gordons pass it often.

In addition to the mammoth horseback statue of General Greene located at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park,

We now have the good General standing proud in a roundabout downtown:


And of course, a brisk one block walk from the new Nathanael Greene statue could not be more satiated then with a fresh cold pint of the "official beer of the Greensboro bicentennial celebration", Natty Greene's Patriot Extra Pale Ale. Mmm mmm good.


And of course, driving to and fro would not be complete without a proper license plate on the Cherokee: