Music Deaths: Charlie Daniels

CHARLIE DANIELS, 83

Died 6 July 2020

Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and noted for his fiddle playing.  Had a huge hit with "The devil Went Down to Georgia" (#3-1979) plus that humorous "Uneasy Rider"  (#9-1973).  Other big hits:

The Souths Gonna Do It"

"Long Haired Country Boy"

"In America"

"The Legend of Wooly Swamp" 

"Still in Saigon"

One of my favorites.  Loved that hat pulled low over his face and that furious fiddle playing.  Loved it when he kicked Old Green Teeth in the knee in "Uneasy Rider."

N.C. Fall 2016-- Part 4: Fort Fisher, Silver Dollar Bar, Topsail Beach and a Flood

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016, THURSDAY

Drove to Wilmington in off-and-on rain.  It has rained like that the whole time I have been in North Carolina, since Thursday.  As usual, heavy traffic by the UNC-Wilmington campus.  Stopped at the Carolina Beach Town hall and saw the four dioramas from the old Blockade Runner Museum and went to Fort fisher where the museum had sprung lots of leaks from all this rain.

Stopped at the Silver Dollar Bar in Carolina Beach and then went to Topsail Beach.

I was happy to see that there was no flood in the lower level, but a half hour after I arrived, we got three inches of rain in 30 minutes and the lower lever had two-three inches of water in it.  I found out later that there had already been six inches of rain during the course of the day at Topsail Beach.

There wasn't anything I could do about the flood until the morning so left it alone.

--RoadDog

North Carolina Summer 2016-- Part 4: Traffic, Fort Fisher, a Donut and Topsail Beach

SATURDAY, JULY 23

Chia made a great breakfast at Mom's house and I drove to Wilmington, N.C..  Wilmington has to be one of the worst cities to drive anywhere near it in the country.  If the traffic doesn't get you, the photo-enforced lights will.  Traffic is especially bad around UNC-Wilmington.

I went to my favorite history place, Fort Fisher which was the reason I got into all this history stuff that so impacted my life (why I taught social studies for 33 years).  Took as walk around the fort and then heard Richard Triebe talk about the fate of the Fort Fisher prisoners at the North's horrible Elmira Prison in New York where half of them died in just a few months.

Then got my Britt's Donut fix in Carolina Beach and drove to Topsail Beach to Mom's condo.

--RoadDog

Happy 50th to the USS North Carolina (BB-55)

It was 50 years ago, October 2, 1961, that the USS North Carolina reached its final berth across the Cape Fear River from Wilmington, NC.

It rightfully claims the name "Showboat.' That is one really smart-looking ship. It was launched just before World War II and served proudly in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. headed for the scrap heap after the war, it was aved by private donations and the school children of the state who donated their pennies, nickels and dimes.

I have been writing about the ship a lot in my history blog, Cooter's History Thing.

I am a big fan of all the battleships, but especially this one. I built at least two models of it and one was displayed in my classroom for the 33 years I taught.

When we moved to Jacksonville, Florida, the Naval base at Mayport was nearby and our nexr door neighbor served on the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La. He was able to give us the opportunity to tour the carrier. I liked it, but it was "no battleship."

My brother Bob and I then commenced an on-going argument which lasted for years as to which was better and would win: a battleship or aircraft carrier. If I remember correctly, once it came to blows. Hey, if a battleship caught an aircraft carrier without its planes, it would surely make short work of it. But, with those planes, I kind of doubt it.

I remember our parents, however, gave Bob a print of the NC coming home and I still have a big glass ashtray with the ship on the bottom. Bob's print is now at Mom's place at Topsail Beach.

I Had Almost Forgotten About Our "Argument." --RaodDog

Down in North Carolina

Arrived here at Topsail Beach yesterday after taking a bus from the Brat Stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to O'Hare Airport in Chicago and flying American Airlines to Wilmington, North Carolina, renting a car from Thrifty Rental and getting lost in the city for awhile.Lots and lots of traffic and red light photo cameras in the city.Drove US-17 to NC-50 to Topsail Beach.

Mom had bought bbq and fried chicken from Smithfield's in Warsaw and we had that for dinner last night. Mmmmmm, Carolina barbecue, nothing could be finer.

A bit of rain here this morning. Hope to get out for a walk on the beach in a bit.

Good to Be Back. --RoadDog