Planes, Bikes and Bar-B-Que

Sunday, April 2, 2017

This is not the first time I have hopped on the bike and rode to an airport to have a meal. While airplanes and meals have mixed for a lot of years, the general opinion is they have not done well. Mostly when those meals are served in mid flight. Luckily for us, we were headed for the Pik & Pig in Carthage, North Carolina, a very grounded Bar-B-Que Joint.

The day began with a quick fill up at our local Sunoco Gas Station. Then we headed south down Highway 200, also known as Central Avenue. Near the center of the town of Locust, we turn left onto Highways 24/27. We made our way east out of town.

Pless Mill Road is just beyond the edge of town, and we take a right to wind our way south and to Hilltop Road. This spills us out to Highway 205, which we take south into Oakboro. We take another left in town onto Aquadale Road, headed for the town of the same name on a road also know as State Road 138.

In the little berg of Aquadale, we make a jog onto South Stanly School road, and roll further east. In addition to passing the school, we also pass a tire manufacturing plant. At US 52, we have arrived in Norwood, and we take the US Highway south. At the edge of town, we bear left on the aptly named Fork Road.

It isn't long before we turn left onto SR 731, and our vision is drawn to the north, as we pass a large damn of the PeeDee River. We stay on the State Road through Mt. Gilead making our way east. The road make slow winds back and forth through a mix of forest and opening for homes and farms.

The road curves northward, and we soon arrive in the town of Candor. Didn't seem to be too bad of a little town, but we rolled through fairly quickly, so I don't really know. We did change roads, and made our way out of town on SR 211. 

More miles down the road takes us to Seven Lakes, and onto Seven Lakes Road. We turn north on Dowd Road, then after several miles we arrive on the outskirts of Cathage, North Carolina. After making our way on a few town roads, we arrive at the airport, RV Park, restaurant. The activities are segregated, as I wouldn't want to complete with a low flying airplane, but the parking was also separated.

As you can tell by the shirt, we enjoyed a meal featuring pulled pork. We also had dessert, and I can tell you it was all worth the trip, and worthy of a repeat trip.

We also had to make sure we had proof that we were there, besides our full bellies. As we were leaving, an Army Medic Helicopter landed, and one of the soldiers made his way into the eatery. He gathered up a large bag, and they lifted off. It was a pretty impressive to see the bird take off, with couple of them waving to the admiring crowd.

Just as they were making there way back to base, we had to make our back, too. The road was called McReynolds as we made our way out of town, but it became Highway 27 for a bit. After a few miles, we veered off north on Plank Road. We cruised through Robbins, and joined Highway 705. We roll gently right and left through the curves, and arrive in the Pottery Town of Seagrove. We passed many shops, but since it was Sunday, they were closed. We mentally noted that we need to return, on a Saturday, and with lots of time.

We picked up State Road 220 again, which runs along Interstate 74. It is another interesting run, since this super slab also runs through the Hoosier State. Like here, I found alternative back roads that get me the same way. We did eventually run out of luck, and have to run on the Interstate until Highway 49.

This road would be our third leg of our square around the Uwharrie National Forest. We also pas over the Yadkin, through Richfield, and into Mount Pleasant. We turn on Mount Pleasant Road and wind through the Stanly County Roads to make our way to State Road 200. It is not long before we are back passed that Sunoco Station and then in our driveway.