 | THE USA |
| THE USA |
MORE OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST
First thing that struck me as I drove north up Highway 17 from Wilmington was this absolutely overpowering smell of wet cat. I haven't smelt anything as bad as that for quite a long time, if at all. Heaven alone knows where that came from.
Another thing that made me realise that I was in the poverty belt of the USA was a car parked up for sale by the side of the road - 100 bucks. Incredible. This looks like Redneck Heaven to me.
TOPSAIL ISLAND
Highway 17 took me for a pleasant meander along the coast for a while, until I found myself a crossing over to Topsail Island. For no more romantic reason than the fact that it was an island with a bridge attached.
Having crossed the bridge, I pulled in to a parking space to capture it on film.
And it goes without saying that as soon as I had put my camera away, the bridge opened to let a small yacht through. You don't need me to tell you that this is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, about which I have spoken at great length elsewhere, so I won't bore you with the details again.
I was so mesmerised by the bridge that for some reason that I have yet to explain, I didn't take a shot of it opening and closing. How sad is that?
While I was on the island, I went for a drive around to see what I could see. And the answer was "not much".
I'd heard tales about the beach houses on the North Carolina shore, and these looked prety well interesting from that point of view. Up on stilts to avoid the high tides, and also the hurricanes that occasionally lash this part of the USA coastline.
Cynics amongst us however point to the likelihood of global warming and a rise in sea level around here. These people are going to be safe. All they'll need is a boat each and it'll be just like Waterworld
Everyone I talked to reckons that this kind of place is the place to be - beach houses on the North Carolina coast being quite desirable and all that.
But I couldn't work out what was so desirable about being here. There seemed to be nothing going on at all, and there wasn't anything else in the vicinity to go to.
But one thing occurred to me - and it only occurred to me a short while later - and that was despite how prosperous this whole coastal area seemed, verry few, if any of the houses were actually treated. The outsides were for the most part bare wood.
This desn't make sense to me. They are exposed to he prevailing wind that blows salt water straight off the sea onto the wood, and this will play havoc.
The only thing I could think of was that the owners have realised that there's little point wasting the money on creosote because, what with hurricanes and global warming, the houses aren't going to be around long enough to benefit from it.
By now, the day had warmed up. It was really nice weather along the coast here and I was enjoying the day. First really warm day I'd had for a while.
I had the radio on in the car and was listening to some kind of discussion programme. They were talking about the new Airbus A380, and their main argument against it was that it would be a really good target for terrorists.
I mean, have these people got an obsession, or what? I can safely say that I've never heard anything like it in all my life. They specifically mentioned Al Qaida, yet according to the bushbaby, Al Qaida has ceased to exist, or it can no longer function effectively.
I'm sure these Americans are making up all this terrorist nonsense. It reminds me very much of a speech that I once heard -
"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
In other words, if you don't have an enemy, you need to invent one.
And how was the author of this quote. None other than Hermann Goering of course.
And when you find that Western leaders are putting into practice Nazi techniques and propaganda, you know that the end of the World is nigh.
Topsail Island is a long narrow low strip of land (if you can call a sandbank land, that is) and will probably be one of the first places to disappear when the sea level starts to rise.
There were these raised sand embankments protecting the beach from encroachment, similar to those that I saw on Long Beach Island, New Jersey when I was there in 1999.
By now, it was about 3:00 and I was hungry. I found myself a nice quiet beach, and took my "Food Lion" French stick, raw vegetables and tube of root beer onto the sand.
I was really enjoying the day here, looking at the waves and at the surf. You can see straight away why they call this place "Surf City", and it isn't because of the city, because there isn't one.
But one thing I can't understand is why there is an enormous sign at the entrance to the beach, saying in glorious technicolour
But it really was such a nice, beautiful day. I was really enjoying this. That was, until a sudden gust of wind snatched my waste paper from my hand and blew it off down the beach. What a sight that must have been, me in hot pursuit of a "Food Lion" plastic bag. As an aside, did you know that "Food Lion" is a subsiduary company of the Belgian "Del Haize" chain? I was really feeling quite at home here.
As I drove away from the beach I drove into a classic rock station. And about 200 yards further down the road I drove out of it. Hmmmmm. That didn't last very long.
As I drove northwest along Topsail Island, I noticed that between the island and the mainland the water had degenerated into some kind of marshy, salty, swampy flats. No tide or current evidently gets in here. All this will however change with global warming, when the sea levels will rise. This and many of the other coastal islands will disappear under the sea bed.
Looking around many of the offshore islands that won't be here in 50 years, I just don't understand the reluctance of many Americans to engage in climate control. They have more of an interest in it than many other nations. Much of their country is simply going to disappear but they are more interested in short-term profit. If you think I am exaggerating the scale of the problem, then just wait until you read this.
The bushbaby says he's not gonna sacrifice a part of his economy for climate control. Surely he understands that he's going to have to, otherwise he'll sacrifice it under 6 feet of sea water.
At the end of Topsail island I came to the Sneads Ferry Bridge to take me back to the mainland. Now, knowing as you do my fascination with bridges, you can understand how it was that I came to take a photograph of it.
Well, at least I thought it was Sneads Ferry Bridge but apparently it isn't. Ahhh well. If you know what it's called, then .
It was difficult to find a safe place to stop to take a photograph, and I had to turn around two or three times to find a suitable place. So much so, in fact, that I attracted the attention of the local constabulary who sent a patrol car out to size me up. That was rather uncomfortable. This American obsession - call it paranoia - with terrorism is really stifling everything. I wonder how much longer they'll be calling themselves "The Land of the Free"?
Going back to what I said earlier, you can see straight away on the left of the photo exactly what I mean about everywhere silting up on the inward side of the island.
CAMP LEJEUNE MILITARY BASE
Once over the bridge, I followed the coast North East along route 172, until I suddenly found myself in the midle of Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base.
Well - that is to say, it wasn't all that sudden. I just came across a barrier in the middle of the highway with some kind of "security" people in it. I told them I was driving through to go to Swansboro, and asked them if I should turn back and go the long way round.
Apparently not, much to my surprise. It was okay for me to pass through.
Without even showing any identity at all.
Now I've made the point before now that I have been quite a vocal critic of American foreign policy, and that on a previous occasion I'd had a run-in with some American security police. Yet here I am, with no inspection, no papers, nothing except a foreign accent that you could hardly call "inconspicuous", in the middle of this Marine Corps base.
Like I said, this is all total b@||@ck$, this security scare. I just don't understand why people have fallen for it so completely.
But at least by now the sun was shining. It was a gorgeous afternoon and the wind had dropped, making it quite pleasant all round. There was this huge inlet to the left of me, and another one to my right, and I really fancied a bit of sunbathing right at that moment. Problem was, though, that I doubted I would be allowed to stop.
But whether or not I was allowed to stop didn't really become much of an issue further on, when you see the kind of thing that was parked up on the side of the road here. Anyone really think I was just going to drive past this?
Lucky me, however. This tank was right by the Marine Corps headquarters, so I walked over and asked them if it was okay to photograph the tank.
The officer on duty gave me a peculiar look, so I explained that I was a foreigner and so didn't fancy being knocked on the head and waking up next morning in Guantanamo Bay dressed in an orange jump-suit, therefore I thought it wise to ask.
He explained that there were several "exhibits" parked at the side of the road and I could freely photograph them, as long as they had an exibit number clearly displayed. But I mustn't take any photos of anything that was in service. Photographing moving vehicles was right out!
Fair enough. Off I went. But I can stop a whole column of moving military vehicles, as I have proved in the past.
Exhibit A is an Iraqi BMP tank thingy which, according to the legend on the exhibit plaque, was "captured during the liberation of Kuwait". It was, apparently, built in the Soviet Union, but there were no more details than that.
I've no idea how old it might be. It looks almost certainly "second generation" technology, but with the Soviet Union's style and technology, that could make it almost any age.
A short way down the road we came to this unlikely object, which is in fact a LVTP, otherwise know as a Landing Vehicle Tracked Personnel - 5A1.
This particular model is from the redesign of amphibious vehicles in 1963, one of that generation of vehicles. It's powered by a V12 "Continental" 810 horsepower engine. Maximum speed on water 6 miles per hour, on land 30 mph.
But take a close look at that tow cable on the back of the machine. I could have endless hours of fun with a cable like that, thats for sure. In fact, I could have endless hours of fun with this whole machine, if it had been in better condition.
But, in common with most American exhibition features that I've seen on my travels, it really was in poor condition and wouldn't ever be going anywhere else from here. I can't understand why no-one is making any kind of effort to save what remains of any kind of American heritage, well, mostly, that is.
Another short distance down the road, and I came across this weird machine. At first glance, I thought it might have been a patent haemorrhoid remover, of which there would probably be piles all over the US of A, so I went over to have a look.
First thing that I had to do however was wait for a couple of Marine type military vehicles to get out of shot. After all, I'm in the USA. This would just be ordinary rendition, not the extraordinary type. No need to court disaster. I can usually manage to do that easily enough without actually going to look for it.
If that wasn't enough, I was accompanied by a great deal of American marine-type solidarity chanting, the kind of stuff that US Marines do that sounds like a New Zealand haka, if you know what I mean.
And a couple of minutes a whole squadron of chanting marines all hove into view. I had to wait until they all ran past me or I'd be in trouble. I tell you what - taking a few photographs of this haemorrhoid remover was proving to be more difficult than you would think.
So now that everyone has piddled off and left me alone I can go over and have a look at it to see what it really is.
According to the exhibit plate, it's a Terex medium tractor 82-30M, made by General Motors. You know, that company that made all the trucks for the Nazis and successfully sued the US government for bombing its German truck plant during World War II.
It cost $36,000 if you wanted to buy it back in 1968 when it was new, and it was in service until 1984, although they didn't say what it did while it was in service. The imagination boggles. There's a nice Detroit diesel 275 horsepower motor in it, and that's another thing I could have hours of endless fun with, that's for sure, as you can probably imagine.
But I can't hang around here for ever.......
Next stop, again just a short way down the road, was for yet another type of LVTP, or Landing Vehicle Tracked Personnel, the X-12. This particular model is powered by a 400 horsepower Allison diesel.
This was of a type introduced in 1967 but rendered obsolete in 1972 by the LVTP 7. A bit of a waste, surely, having something like this in service for only five years
Remember me telling you that I fancied the 5A1 above?
Well, forget that. I'm going to get myself one of these. I can get into loads of mischief with this.
And not for the reason that its in (marginally) better condition that the one just up the road either. 40 miles per hour on land, and 8.4 miles per hour in the water has a lot going for it.
There's a plaque on the side that dedicates this machine to some guy who served in the army from November 1942 to August 1975. He must have been totally crazy.
Just down the road from here, I catapulted myself out into civvy street. That was sad. These exhibit plaques were like number 12, 13, 14 and 15, yet I only saw 4 exhibits. Where were all the others? Even more interestingly, I wonder what they are.
Musing on the subject later, all the info they gave me about the American vehicles made me think about the Iraqi tank. I can't believe they knew so little about it when compared with the American vehicles. Surely they'd have given it a thorough inspection?
In the absence of any information being displayed makes me wonder what they're trying to hide about vehicles like that, and why they're trying to hide it.
CIVVY STREET
Like I said, back in civvy street. And lots of trailers up on bricks. And lots of cars up on bricks too. This is real redneck country, that's for sure. I could be quite at home here.
Remember that I told you earlier just how nice and warm a day it was?
As I drove up to the outskirts of Swansboro, what should I come across but a "Dairy Queen"? Now, of course Dairy Queen is well-known as being the former employer of Dorothy Hoogstraaten before her fateful (and fatal) encounters with Peter Bogdanovitch, as well as for selling what many people consider to be one of the nicest ice creams in the USA.
Now, as you know, being a vegan, I don't usually eat ice cream, but I had to give Dairy Queen a try.
And take my advice, people. The ice cream I had here sucked big time. Surely what I ate can't be typical "Dairy Queen" fare? It was absolutely huge, yet absolutely disgusting.
What was far more interesting was what was in the car park outside, like this Dodge Stratos for example.
It proudly displays a sticker in its window saying that it's a "state-owned alternative fuel vehicle". Unfortunately, there was no-one around to explain to me what kind of alternative fuel it was running on, despite my loitering suspiciously around the vehicle for a good fifteen minutes hoping to attract someone's attention.
That was a shame. I would really have like to have found out much more about this vehicle and its fuel system, rather than spending the rest of my journey (and some considerable time afterwards) in idle speculation.
But no matter. Back on the road. And as I was pulling out, I noticed a sign that told me that here in the past there used to be a Civil War fort. "Used to be" being the operative words.
EMERALD ISLE
So next stop from here was over onto another offshore island, Emerald Isle this particular one, and continue heading slowly north-east - well, it was more east by now - along the coast in the direction of Atlantic Beach. And when I arrived, I couldn't help but notice the bridge back to the mainland. It was absolutely huge!
Emerald Isle was really nice, lots of expensive houses, lots of greenery, and lots of surf crashing onto the beach. And, as far as I could see, not a "no surfing" sign about anywhere.
The closer I approached Atlantic Beach, the more numerous became the condos. Until by the time I arrived there, I couldn't move without tripping over one.
This is a typical example of the kind of place that you find here. Mostly closed up of course - it's still out of season for another couple of weeks.
But even so, stopping to take a photograph drew a great deal of attention from the only inhabitant of the block. This must probably be about the only excitement he's had so far this year.
I don't know about you, but this would be my idea of hell, coming to live in a place like this for a couple of months every year until I died. Forget Mike Harding. Forget Egremont.
"You are sentenced to be taken from this place and sent to a condo in Atlantic Beach for four months every year until you die"
"Oh no! Not Atlantic Beach! How about Death Row? How about Alcatraz? Not a condo in Atlantic Beach!"
But it's not all doom and gloom. There is the odd trailer park thrown in here for the peasants, it has to be said. They were obviously expecting me.
There were rows and rows of motels too. This place must be a riot in July and August. I can imagine endless queues (or lines) of people here all doing something really exciting, like watching the traffic lights change, or waiting for the grass to grow. They apparently do a special out-of-season offer for the blue rinse brigade to come here in March to watch the paint dry. There was even a sell-out week in September 2003 as thousands of people came from miles around to see someone grow a beard.
Don't take all of this lying down, you Atlantic Beach residents. me and tell me of all the good reasons to live here, if you can stay awake long enough.
This area does however have one thing going for it, and and that was why I was here.
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