Fall Ride to Salisbury, NC (November 12, 2011)

 The day after Memorial Day, Phil and I got the motorcycles out for a ride to Salisbury, NC. There are some great roads out that way, and we wanted to enjoy the fall colors on what will probably be the last weekend before I get back again to North Carolina to see them. Ride took us up Old Concord/Salisbury Road, and I took us on a stop to the National Cemetery in Salisbury, NC. The cemetery is the final resting place for many of the heroes in NC who served the United States in a number of wars. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude. I also served in the US Navy a few years back, and it was a remarkable experience.    

Monument here was in memory of the 11,700 (though the actual number may be less or more even...records back then were sort of confused, but that is the number on the monument) of Union soldiers who died at the Confederate Prison that was in Salisbury, NC during the Civil War. It was near the site of the current cemetery. The dead (who died mainly of disease) were captured in various battles, and I read (as did Phil who is reading the information next to the monument) that many of the prisoners were transferred to Salisbury from another Confederate Prison which was located in Richmond, Va (there were actually two in Richmond). As I remember the prison was a converted cotton factory, and I believe it was destroyed when Union troops captured the town near the end of the war. Some of the foundation has been located of the building, and a building that housed some of the guards still remains in Salisbury. The prison dead are buried in 18 trenches that lie in front of this monument in unmarked graves.    

Riding on, we headed up Bringle Ferry Road, a nice twisty road which took us to High Rock Lake. A favorite stop along the ride, High Rock Lake is one of the many lakes in the area, and one of the most beautiful. This fall colors were not as striking as they have been in previous years, but both of the NC rides (and for that matter, driving in the car checking out fall colors in Richmond) were blessed with warmer than usual fall weather. I enjoyed the previous ride to Morrow Mountain, and the ride on November 12 was also very nice under fine riding conditions.
On the way back, we hit a nice series of back roads and enjoyed a very fine ride which covered close to 80 miles from beginning to end. Already planning the next ride for the next weekend I am in North Carolina, and can't wait.