Hunting for Icebergs

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04-17-10

I have officially kicked off the start of the 2010 Titanic Grand Tour 2010 Titanic Grand Tour. According to the rules it only took one iceberg to sink tons of the Titanic. In one of the first twenty-five town signs you score, one of the towns must end in BURG (rules state that the following spelling are acceptable: burg, berg, bergh or burgh). So I left the house this morning around 8:30 with four towns on my list that ended in BURG.

First stop was Stateburg which is about 30 minutes from my house off Hwy. 378 on Hwy. 261. I made the quick trip and got excited when I saw the sign on 378 that indicated that Stateburg was just two miles up 261. I rode up and down that road and found a small sign that stated Stateburg Daycare, but never could find a town sign. This rally might not be as easy as I had hoped. Well at least I have three more tries to find my iceberg.

Back on 378 I headed east to Lynchburg. When I got to Hwy 76 I turn on the GPS and Betty (the cute female locked in my Streetpilot) told me that I would arrive there shortly. Sure enough I saw the town limit sign. Score one iceberg for me. I stopped the bike, got out my rally flag and took the required picture.

Just two miles down the road I had my second score of the day with a great photo of my motorcycle, flag and town limit sign for South Lynchburg. With two town signs under my belt I moved on to Darlington, SC with confidence.

To get to Darlington I worked my way over to I-95 and took that north until I got to Hwy. 52. Darlington was just a few minutes up 52. This was the first town that had a really nice sign. I positioned my bike so I could get it in the picture; took the required shot and headed for North Carolina.

As I crossed over into North Carolina Hwy. 52 turned into Hwy. 15. As I looked over at the welcome sign my eye caught the clock mounted to the handle bars of my motorcycle. The clock showed that it was a little after 11:00. I made a mental note to keep an eye open for a BBQ joint, since this is my preferred meal when I am on the road. I saw the sign for Laurinburg, NC before a BBQ sign, so I stopped, got my photo and moved on in search for something good to eat.

Just a few miles down the road I spotted Jimmy’s Deli and Grill. I almost past it by until I saw a portable sign on the road that stated they served BBQ. I pulled in, cleaned up and ordered a pulled pork sandwich and raw fries. The waitress was nice and the food arrived quickly. The sandwich was ok but the fries were over cooked so I only ate a few of them. On a BBQ scale of 1 - 10, I would rate their sandwich a 4.5. I would not go out of my way to eat there, but if I was in town again I might stop bye. Now if you are in the mood for some really great ice tea … I would rate theirs a 9.

With a full stomach I took Hwy. 74 over to 83 which would run me up to Maxton, NC. When I got to the turnoff I saw a sign that pointed right to Maxton and left to East Laurinburg. East Laurinburg was not on my list of cities, so I pulled out my map and it was not on the map either. I decide to go off my route for a few miles and see if I could get an extra BURG today. Sure enough just 5 miles up the road was the town limit sign. For an extra 10 mile trip I was able to make up for missing Stateburg earlier in the morning.

To finish off North Carolina I was able to score Maxton and Lumberton. For some reason, while I was saddling back up, my GPS unit froze up. It would not let me input the next town of Kingsburg, SC. Then when I attempted to turn the GPS off it would not respond. I ended up having to pull the power cord and plot the next part of my adventure with the paper map I had stored in my tank bag.

I figure the trip to Kingsburg would take about an hour so I headed to I-95 which I took south to Dillon, SC where I stopped for gas. After gassing up both tanks on the Shadow I plugged the GPS in and it came to life. I inputted Kingsburg and it found the way. One thing I noticed was that it would no longer speak to me. I figured the GPS would start acting up because it was an old Garmin Streetpilot III but I had hoped it would be later then sooner. The GPS took me down SC 501 to Hwy. 378 and we both arrived in Kingsburg safely.

Before heading to Poston I turned the GPS off and on again and then its voice came to life. It was a quick ride over to Poston and after a bit of a search I found the town sign in the front yard of a house that appeared to be a little off the beaten path. He also had another Poston, SC sign over his carport. I was only able to find a few trailers and one other house in town.

Last stop was Scranton, SC which was off 378 on Hwy. 52, which is the same road I was on earlier this morning when I crossed into North Carolina. Of all the towns I had been in today, Scranton was nicest and had the prettiest sign. I grabbed a diet Pepsi before I left town and headed for home.**
As I was approaching my home town of Eastover, the sexy lady that was trapped in my GPS stopped talking to me again. Looks like a new GPS unit will be on my Christmas list.

Today’s Titanic Town Scores:

Lynchburg, SC
South Lynchburg, SC
Darlington, SC
Laurinburg, NC
East Laurinburg, NC
Maxton, NC
Lumberton, NC
Kingsburg, SC
Poston, SC
Scranton, SC

Total miles ridden = 319.1

Total Titanic Points = 10

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Photos

Jerry's Deli
Laurinburg, NC

Maxton, NC
Looks like their sign was hit by a car.

Comments

[Charlie Metcalf]

Nice adventure
Looks like you had a great ride and scored 10 in one day, that is much better then I would have expected. Ready to read about your next "burg" hunt. Keep it safe and between the lines.

[Sleddog]

Good Going!
Post your link over on the GLMC board www.network54.com/Forum/152868/ Several there would like to follow your blog. Sleddog (The Titanic Rallymaster)

[Jan Butle]

FUN !!!
Mom and Buff and I loved looking at this! :)

[Darryl and Sarah]

Looking Good
Fair shout Alec, good on you! Loving the blogs and loving the bike! Dar and Sar

[Keith and Pete]

another "ton" in North Carolina
head east down 74 and you could catch WilmingTON...with a nice sign

[John]

AH looks like some great riding and excellent bonus hunting practice!

[Mike Brown]

Eating barbecue at a deli
I enjoy reading your blog. I sounds like you are having a lot of fun. I cook lots of barbecue and have hunted down a lot of barbecue joints. I would never order barbecue in a deli. They usually buy barbecue refrigerated in gallon containers and reheat it. It always looses something when they handle it that way. Ride safe, have fun, keep up the blog please.