Perhaps this was not surprising either.  His family were immigrants from repressive regimes in the Middle East. Civil Rights? Forget about it. In America, his Dad carried a pocket copy of the Constitution everywhere he went.  Also not surprising was that the immigrant child would enroll at UVA — the college created by Jefferson himself.


Muslims have served in every American war since the Revolution. An African American Muslim named Peter Salem was at the Battle of Bunker Hill near Boston.  He is credited with shooting a British Major sending the redcoats into retreat.


Muslims have fought in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War.


At UVA, the Muslim student from Silver Springs signed up to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Upon graduating in 2000, that UVA grad, Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan, was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Army and was deployed to Iraq. ​

Only 6 years previous, the US military had commissioned its first ever Muslim Chaplain. Military Chaplains are empowered to support all faiths. Still, it took roughly 200 years before a Muslim got ordained to perform the same duties as countless Protestants, Catholics and Jews had before them.


In military modesty the occasion was discreet. And meaningful.  The Frocking Ceremony for the Navy's first Muslim chaplain, was conducted by his colleague Navy Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff.   Chaplain Resnicoff attached shoulder boards with a Muslim crescent insignia to the uniform of Imam Monje Malak Abd al-Muta Noel Jr. ​

​It was 1996, the same year that Monaj Khan graduated from John F Kennedy High. While new Chaplain Monje Noel was a Muslim,  Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff was himself a Rabbi.
 
At that time Imam Noel was just one of 2 Muslims to serve  the military's growing Muslim community which numbers around 10,000.  Noel, a native of Salem, New Jersey, said the unique epaulets on his uniform are a positive sign for Muslims.  ``I think it's good for the Muslim community to be able to see them in the service. It lends an air of legitimacy and credibility. We are represented. We are here.’'


Later, at a reception including military brass and Muslim leaders, Noel tried to shy away from the Limelight. Said he:  ``This is the Navy's night. This is God's night.''  Now new Muslim Soldiers or Chaplains are hardly newsworthy.

Fast forward to 2004. Captain Khan was inspecting a guard post in Iraq when a suspicious vehicle approached.  Ordering his troops to stay back, he stepped forward. The car stopped. Then detonated. Later it was determined to have been carrying more than 200 pounds of explosives. ​

Captain Khan’s father, Khizr Kahn, still carries a miniature of the Constitution in his pocket. He also has a wall dedicated to his son’s service. It’s hung with medals, flags, and photographs.

​Despite or perhaps because he is an immigrant and a Muslim, he knows intimately the sacrifices so many other military families have suffered through our history — and other of his countrymen still take for granted.


#KhazirKhan #CaptainKhan #ImanMonjeNoel #FirstMuslimChaplain #KhizrKan #Muslims #JohnFKennedyHighschool #HumayunKhan        ​

RoadSpoke’s app seeks to discover America. It turns drives into explorations by uncovering — at almost every exit and looming landmark — what happened… right....HERE!

But hey, let's face it: as romantic as the concept appears, the drive is often dull as molasses.  So that is where we come in!   On a bleak 4, 6,  or 8  lane "tabla rasa", we add context to everything you see.  See that cornfield on your left?  That was where African-American Union Soldiers beat back a superior force of  Rebel Cavalry. See the empty blighted factory on your left? That was where Remington Rifles, the so-called "gun that won the west" were manufactured. And just behind it was where rapper LL Cool J grew up and dropped his first album in his grand-parent's basement. That's just the sort of thing we do.   

​Our roadside reveal illuminates our common heritage and unravels our collective DNA. It’s absolutely fascinating how much occurred in our own backyards — to hear where T Rex trod or where Washington rode and which Hollywood actress  dumped her useless philandering playboy!

But does RoadSpoke succeed?


Annually lots of folks go out to search for America — to find her secrets and OUR essence.  In fact, every year 212 million Americans take a road trip for pleasure.

​
All of them follow asphalt trails to uncover America’s promise. “On the Road” promises boundless horizons and fruitful plains.  Famous Beat writer Jack Kerouac did it.

His joyful stream-of-consciousness novel “On the Road” is credited with being the 1950’s opus that “turned on” an entire generation.  It propelled rebellious ’60's kids to forfeit post-war Middle American Values and search for more significance.  Hundreds of Thousand hit the road with nothing but a dream and a thumb to hitch-hike by. ​

Before Kerouac, during the Depression, Nobel Literati John Steinbeck sent his Okies rolling west along Route 66, the Mother Road. Like Americans every day, Steinbeck's protagonists, the hopeful Joad family manifestly searched for a brighter future. ​

In 1967, CBS  Reporter Charles Kuralt started a series  called "On the Road”.  It became a regular Friday night feature on "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite". Kuralt wandered “America The Beautiful” in a motor home in search of her people and their stories. The show lasted almost 40 years. He wore out 6 RV’s before he was through.

When discussing the show’s popularity, Kuralt said,  “The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”


Kuralt famously avoided the interstates ​in favor of the nation's side streets. He also said:  “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything...”

There are some ridiculous laws on the books in the state of Florida. We did some research and found some of the silliest. Many of these laws are only in effect in certain cities. So for example, selling fruit in one city is all right but you could spend hard time if you cross the county line.  Up in Destin, Florida please don't set off any torpedoes. It's illegal there.  Not sure about the rest of the state, but they have a problem with torpedoes in Destin. Must be a lot of large alligators or something. ​

Also Good to know: in all of Florida, men are not allowed in public wearing a strapless dress. As long as you've got straps of some sort, you're cool.  ​

Also, in Destin, it is illegal for an ice-cream man to sell ice cream in a cemetery.  But what’s really weird, in Hialeah, strolling or ambling is a misdemeanor.


Still all that’s nothing compared to selling certain fruits in Miami.  In Miami, you could face up to 30 days in jail for selling oranges on the sidewalk.  And don't even think about showering naked!  It's an actionable offense. ​

Maybe the cops perp walk you with your handcuffs in front.... Raincoats must be popular round here.  And as if people do not have enough outdoor activities to entertain them, in Daytona Beach, you're banned from molesting trash cans.  In Key West, don't molest the chickens. They're a protected species. But they need to hear that in Key West… ​

​Finally, here is one that does make sense.    In the state of Florida, it's illegal to have physical relations with a porcupine. Ouch!  But maybe you can have relations with a chicken outside of Key West. The State Law is not clear on that issue

And finally, in case you are riding down the interstate on Jumbo, know this: When you tie it to a parking meter, your elephant gets charged just the same as your car would. ​

Now for the Road Test. How many days do you get in jail for selling Grapefruits in Miami? You have three seconds. 3…2…and 1. The answer is no time. You get no time in jail. That’s because it is only illegal to sell Oranges. Now go park your elephant and feed the meter. And when you visit upcoming Deltona, no romancing porcupines.  Pervert!


Oh and go get your Buy 1 Get 1 Free Deal of Pepsi or Doritos at Joe’s. Just tell em RoadSpoke’s Silly Laws sent you!”


#sillyFloridalaws #Roadtrippers #FastFacts #Jumbo #ParkingElephants #Florida #Snowbirds ​

EXIT of the Day: Hear this right… Here!

Exit 76 in GA I-95n To: SR 84, Midway, Sunbury

At the last Exit, EXIT 67, we told you how the wilderness of Georgia spawned the biggest religion in Modern America. That religion would be Evangelical Christianity.  Before upcoming EXIT 76, we will discuss how Georgia created the biggest soda pop in the world.  That soda pop is Coca-Cola.  And while Evangelical Christianity may have been spawned from a colonial-era love triangle, Coca Cola’s Civil War era origins are seeped in even greater scandal. 

​Obviously, we need to investigate such salacious history right here at an exit that would bring you to Coke's World Headquarters. May we even suggest you get right to exit.  After all, the origin story of Coca-Cola goes down even better when you are sipping a Coke!

Coke always had a formidable advertising presence.  “Coke is it.” “Coca Cola is Coke.”  “It’s the Real Thing.” But for jingles like these and an intriguing startup story,  it may just as well have been another cola runner up. But when Asa Candler bought Coke’s Founders Stock  from Inventor John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was just another patent medicine instilled with the now illegal narcotic, cocaine. ​

The true inventor, Pemberton would become almost irrelevant.  And Asa would become a visionary. At least that was how the Atlanta based company likes to tell the story today.  But in the beginning, in the 1880’s, Asa Candler may have just been a real devious operator. ​

So how did a concoction of  cola nut syrup and sugar get so big? Well some could say, it all started with addiction and the Civil War.


Confederate Colonel John Pemberton was wounded in the Civil War. Like many others, he became addicted to the pain killer morphine. But unlike many others, John Pemberton set out to find a cure for his addiction and ultimately found it in substituting cocaine for morphine. ​

Colonel Pemberton’s  forty year old son was Charley. Charley Pemberton was an alcoholic. For Asa Candler, Charley was the one obstacle in his quest to own the entire company.


Candler quickly approached Charley to purchase the exclusive rights to the name "Coca-Cola" right after Colonel Pemberton's death. But the prodigal son was not selling. One story was that Asa Candler then turned to the widow Pemberton.  In fact he turned to her in the funeral home.  Approaching the recently bereaved wife at Colonel Pemberton’s funeral,  Asa bought the title to the name from Charley's mother for $300. But he still had to get the rights to the  formula. And Charley was still NOT selling!


Then something auspicious happened.  Charley Pemberton was found on June 23, 1894, unconscious — with a stick of opium by his side.  Ten days later, Charley was dead. Shortly afterwards, a mysterious fire allegedly wiped out any other evidence of any other Pemberton heir’s claim to Coke stock.  That coupled with a few forged stock transfer documents,  and shazam!  Asa Candler wound up as the majority stock owner of Coca Cola.


All told the Candlers bought out the Pemberton family for about $2,500 dollars. ​

Today, Coke products are sold in over 200 countries worldwide, with consumers drinking around two billion company beverage servings each day. If Asa Griggs Candler was to buy Coke on the open market today, he would need to pay nearly $200 billion dollars.


No wonder Coke is It! Coca Cola after all is just that. It’s the real thing. And apparently Asa Candler knew it ALL along….


#CocaCola #Coke #AsaCandler #JohnPemberton #TheRealThing #Atlanta #CokeisIt #CivilWar #Cocaine #marketing ​

Hear this…> Here!
Hear this ... right... Here!

Exit 67 in GA I-95n To: US 17, Coastal Hwy, to S Newport, near Riceboro, GA


“In the woods to the right is a church that claims to be the smallest in America. It’s just beyond the El Cheapo Diner there.

The lovelorn Wesley sought revenge by refusing communion to Sophie. In response, an arrest warrant was taken out charging Wesley with public embarrassment by banning Sophie from communion.


Wesley hightailed it back to Savannah where he jumped ship back to England. On the voyage, the ship sailed through storm after storm. ​

He prayed and prayed and seemed to find solace in the chaos of the malestrom which dramatic effects he began to seize upon to heighten the engagement of his bored parishners.


He returned to England a wanted man, heartbroken, but grateful to be alive. (Quick aside…Maybe 2 years in Georgia can do that to you!)


As in Georgia, a key aspect of Wesley's ministry was to preach outdoors. ​

He recognized the open-air services were successful in reaching poor folks. They were uncomfortable entering the middle class tidiness of most Anglican churches.  Wesley travelled ceaselessly throughout the British Isles.  His message resonated with the lower rungs of society.


Soon the poor gathered in the thousands at large outdoor venues to hear the rejuvenated preacher spread his passionate message. ​

“He was the Billy Graham of his day,” Hanson says.


All in all, despite his movement’s huge success in today’s United States, the man who would lay the foundation for Evangelicals was all too happy to leave America far behind. ​

​Like in many resort towns around Florida, while many are year round residents, most are in fact winter snowbirds. If you cruise down Wilton Drive, the so-called main drag, you will see these residents frequenting its many restaurants, bars and other gay-owned businesses.  The scene is very colorful and frankly inclusive. Between cruising, drag and birds, my commentary is rife with bad puns. But do not hold it against Wilton Manors; this winter nest is a hot-bed of creativity and culture.

Interestingly, like the majority of snow birds elsewhere in Florida, most of the LGBT community here live in family households. The 2010 U.S. Census reported that Wilton Manors is second only to Provincetown, Massachusetts in the proportion of couples  relative to the total population. 


The city is very progressive and boasts a lot of well, pride. The art scene spills out onto streets that are well manicured and spotlessly clean. ​

It should be no surprise of course that this brazenly flamboyant community contains a large Pride Center, the World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, and a branch of the Stonewall National Museum & Archives.  The Stonewall Museum commemorates a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village which was the birthplace of the Gay Pride movement. ​

Having attended the University of Iowa, Brown University, and Harvard, at the age of 27, Dr Kim started a non-profit called Partners in Health.  Headquartered in Boston, Partners in Health launched in Haiti to fight infectious diseases.  There the organization started community-focused health care programs, which provided treatments based on local data, needs, and limited resources.   The net result was to succeed at minimal cost, spending between $150 to $200 per patient.  The same treatment in a U.S. Hospital would have cost $15,000 to $20,000 per patient. ​

Wow!  How did Dr Kim do this?   


Dr Kim’s Partners in Health trained local citizens to conduct contact tracing. They tracked who may pass a virus by finding out which patient was in contact with another person.


The organization also achieved economies of scale by ordering bulk nationwide quantities for cheaper drugs.   


Finally, Dr Kim also insisted patients self quarantine.   He and local doctors would cure super contagious patients in their own homes.  By the early 1990s, the program in Haiti was serving more than 100,000 people. ​

​Battling AIDS and tuberculosis in Haiti’s most impoverished conditions, the success of Partners in Health catapulted Dr Kim to being a leader in pandemic healthcare.   Back in Boston,  he accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School before being selected as the President of Dartmouth College from 2009 to 2012. This made him the first Asian American president of any Ivy League institution.

Then President Obama came calling.  President Obama nominated Kim to become the President of the  World Bank.  On April 16, 2012, the World Bank officially elected Kim as its next president.  He is the first World Bank leader whose background is not in the political or financial sectors.  Most notably, Dr Kim is also the first Bank leader to have previous experience personally and intimately battling infectious viruses on a national scale.


At the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, instituted structural changes. As The New York Times noted in an article by Landon Thomas Jr in 2018, in order to revitalize “a hidebound institution” the good doctor embraced the tactics of Wall Street.   ​

This new mission statement was considered very unorthodox.


Still, Dr Kim has presided over the dispersal of billions of dollars of World Bank funding. Positioned at 41 in Forbes' Power People 2018 list, Dr Kim oversaw financial loans worth $67 billion in that year alone. ​

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States.  Also known as Jubilee Day, it really commemorates the date that the last slaves learned that they were free.


In the North, African Americans had learned of their freedom when Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation three years earlier in 1862.   The Proclamation was a Presidential Executive Order.  Many of the freed slaves immediately signed on to fight as soldiers in the Union Army. ​

President Lincoln had issued the Executive Order to liberate slaves in September 1862 but it was not passed into law by Congress until January 1, 1863.   

Fast forward to recent history. President Obama displayed a keepsake of the date in the West Wing of the White House.  ​President Obama once said:


“Outside the Oval Office, I kept a painting of a small crowd huddled around a pocket watch, waiting for the moment the Emancipation Proclamation took effect…” ​

Hear This right.... HERE!

Onramp to I-278s; New Jersey, Goethals across I-95 to Elizabeth, NJ & Staten Island NY


"Back in the 1600's, the Dutch were first to settle New York and New Jersey. As opposed to say the British owned  colonies of New England which was composed of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, the 2 states of New Jersey and New York were a very separate colony of New Holland.  This large swamp-land area was named by the Dutch.  The English translation for the huge marsh hereabouts is  “fresh-water streams” . In the Dutch language, a stream or a brook is known as a Kill.  Today these meadowlands are still known by their Dutch name: the area is known as Fresh Kills.


Mafia boss, Tony Soprano knows something about Fresh Kills.   Tony Soprano is in the waste removal business. A lot of Tony Soprano's garbage ended up in these wetlands. ​

“The Sopranos” television show made much use of the wetlands in and around Staten Island and  North Jersey.  Utilizing the bleak beauty and the gritty industrial patches of these wetlands, scenes were shot showing recyclables being dumped,  hijacked trucks getting offloaded, and dead bodies being disappeared. ​

​In reality, believe it or not, there are many mob bodies buried out there since much of the show's inspiration derived from true life. Just look around. How hard is it to hide a dead guy in all that swamp?


The Sopranos is a crime drama television series created by David Chase.

The story revolves around the fictional character, New Jersey-based mobster Tony Soprano  played by the late great James Gandolfini.  The series portrays the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflict of his family life with his well,   family life.


Drawing heavily from his personal experiences growing up in New Jersey, David Chase says he tried to "apply his own family dynamic to mobsters.” ​

For instance, the tumultuous relationship between Tony Soprano and his mother, Livia, is partially based on Chase's relationship with his own mother.  Chase was also in therapy at the time and modeled the character of Doctor Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist. ​

​The TV show is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. The series also won a multitude of awards, including Peabody Awards for its first two seasons, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. A staple of 2000s American popular culture, the series has been the subject of controversy and parody.  It has spawned books, a video game, high-charting soundtrack albums, and a large amount of assorted merchandise.

​Hear this here> I-87n: Westchester, Nr Bronxville, Yonkers, at EXIT 6A


Look up. You will see Tuckahoe Road. Its  name means corn-bread in the Lenapay Indian language.  Meanwhile, the story of Yonkers' namesake is the story about a founder of liberal capitalism in America.


Thanksgiving is commemorative of the English Pilgrim settlement of what would become the United States. However, the laws and liberties we now hold dear are more the heritage of the Republican Dutch than the Feudal British.  Later English and American settlers co-opted the traditions of the Dutch and laid a narrative which honors England’s contributions to America.

But as we will see, the long forgotten Dutch had a far larger role in laying down rituals that elevated laws over tyrants.


Only a few miles from here, in the 1640’s a young entrepreneur named Adrien Vander Donck received a grant of land from the Dutch East India Company. Adrien built one of the first saw mills in the New World at the junction of the Hudson River and a smaller river. That river and a parkway beside it are now named Saw Mill River.    ​

Adrien Vander Donck was referred to in the Dutch language as a “Jung Herr”  or a "young Gentleman”. This name, “Jung Herr” evolved to become the present Yonkers as in: "this is the property of the young gentleman’s."


Adrien Vander Donck's lost story was uncovered recently in forgotten archives  in Albany.  The story of Adrien essentially tells the story of the Dutch influence on the founding of the United States. Its capitalistic democracy, the book claims,  was much different from British feudal intentions.  The Best Selling Book, ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, by Russell Shorto tells this story:

​“When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its thriving, multilingual society began to disappear into myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and a cartoonish peg-legged governor.


But the story of the Dutch colony was merely lost, not destroyed: 12,000 pages of its records–recently declared a national treasure–are now being translated. Drawing on this archive, Russell Shorto has created a gripping narrative; a story of global sweep centered on a wilderness called Manhattan–that transforms our understanding of early America.


The Dutch colony pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yet it seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individual rights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a progressive young lawyer named Adrian VanderDonck, who emerges in these pages as a forgotten American patriot and whose political vision brought him into conflict with Peter Stuyvesant the autocratic director of the Dutch colony.

​“The struggle between liberalism and autocracy laid the foundation for New York City and helped shape American culture. The Island at the Center of the World uncovers a lost world and offers a surprising new perspective on our own modern  American culture.”   


No surprise: that struggle between autocracy and liberalism continues very much to this day, many hundreds of Thanksgivings after Britain and Holland first came to America.   


Happy Thanksgiving!  Or rather we should say, “Vrolijke Thanksgiving”


#Dutch #Thanksgiving #Islandatthecenteroftheworld #RussellShorto #NewAmsterdam #NewYork #AdrienVanderdonck #nationaltreasure #Strugglebetweendemocracyandautocracy

Hear this... right... (wait for it...)... HERE!​

EXIT 46;  I-95n To: Long Wharf Drive, Sargent Ave, in New Haven, CT


"Despite inspiration being everywhere, sometimes we at The SpokenRode need to dig to find material… by that, we mean we need to dig to find material relevant to a landmark, factory, or Exit when it connects to something that is relevant today — not just by place (where we excel) but by that old fashioned arbiter of relevance — time.  After all, aside from coming upon a new “place” nothing is "News" unless it is new.    


"For example, let’s just say we want to talk about a person, place, or thing that has to do with the current internet phenomena relevant to the Getty Museum Challenge.  In the COVID Pandemic, The Getty Museum Challenge has gone viral BIG time!   


It challenges families in lockdown to replicate the world’s great art. ​

The problem of course is that the Getty Museum is in Los Angeles and the art is all around the world. So how do we tie the challenge that suddenly has millions of followers to a location along I-95? ​

​Well, that’s easy actually.  We just get on the internet and dig.


The first thing we dug into is who invented this challenge that asks quarantined folks to re-create famous pieces of art using just a few household items that suggest the age of COVID.  For example, recreations of Vincent van Gogh self Portrait (he of the missing ear) must replicate his stance exactly in his self portrait.  Or how about Frida Kahlo posing with parrots? Here the self portrait replaces colorful parrots with brilliant household cleaning products.

Another portrait replaces a massive Renaissance collar with rolls of much in-demand toilet paper.


Absurd right? But genius!   ​

Hear this here…
EXIT 17 I-95n to SR 301 (The Blue Star Highway) near Jarrat, Virginia


On your left to the north, is the Greensville Correctional Center, a  Virginia state run prison.  Obviously, if you exit onto State Road 301, aka the Blue Star Highway, you would be traveling in the trail of many condemned men.  But this trail of tears sometimes is also a road to redemption.


Do you remember John Allen Muhammad - known as the “Beltway Sniper”?  In October 2002, Muhammad along with his seventeen year old accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, carried out the Beltway sniper attacks. Using a sniper’s rifle and his US Army training, Muhammad arbitrarily shot at cars driving along highways around the nation’s capital city. ​

The duo even rigged the trunk of a sedan so they could shoot out the rear from inside.  In all, Muhammad killed 17 people.  He was executed here at Greensville in  2009.   ​

A more redemptive story concerning Greensville is a story related by  Maria Glod of the Washington Post.  According to the Post:


“On March 21,  2011, a Virginia man who prosecutors say was wrongly convicted walked out of prison after spending 27-years behind bars. ​

In a case, which The Washington Post called "one of the state's most extraordinary legal cases” , it set a precedent that promises a brighter tomorrow for unfairly accused  citizens. New state laws now allow convicts to present new evidence in cases to prove innocence. Virginia’s General Assembly passed a bill in 2012 to pay Haynesworth compensation for his lengthy incarceration, amounting to a total of $1 million in a lump sum payment, two types of annuities, and tuition at a community college. The legislators wanted to help him make his way in his life.​

Today Thomas Haynesworth is something of a celebrity.  His story is now one of many featured in Netflix’s new true crime documentary series, The Innocence Files. The series follows the efforts of the Innocence Project, the famed nonprofit dedicated to exonerating those who’ve been wrongfully convicted of crimes.


Ken Cuccinelli said that the case was a reminder to him and to prosecutors that "the system isn't perfect, and neither are we.”


Good Luck Mr Haynesworth. And thanks Mr Cuccinelli.  A truer statement was never heard.


#KenCuccinelli #ThomasHaynesworth #GreensvilleCorrectional #Netflix #TheInnocenceProject ​

Hear this…> Here!


On Ramp to EXIT 18-8 I-95s: Road 13, To: Switzerland  Beaufort, Hilton Head Island, Hardeeville, South Carolina


“Believe it or not, America’s first Trade War with China happened almost 400 years ago.  It was headquartered in a little obscure river settlement of Purrysburg, South Carolina as well as in world famous Jamestown, Virginia.


In the early 1600's, Jamestown the first settlement in Virginia, was originally financed by London investors to start a silk farm. Here too in southern South Carolina, silk worms were the original reason for starting early settlements. Unlike in Jamestown, the experiment nearby worked — albeit briefly. ​

Once landed near the upcoming Savannah River, Swiss Immigrants  were tasked with meticulously planting and tending to the mulberry bushes that their British overlords imported with them.  Mulberry leaves are the sole form of sustenance for silkworms. The silkworms -- which are larva to adult silk moths -- spin fuzzy white cocoons which when painstakingly unravelled, become silk. ​

​The investors felt that South Carolina would be the proper climate for cultivating mulberry bushes.  But what they did not anticipate here were the snake infested swamps and malaria mosquitos.


While this experiment -- as opposed to Jamestown -- did manage to export about a 150 pounds of silk in 1772, the indentured Swiss laborers died by the score.


After many stressful seasons, the Swiss abandoned the river farms near Purrysburg and created their new village on high dry ground. A bastion of health and clean living high now on a hill, obviously, it would come to be called Switzerland!  Upcoming is the Exit.

Meanwhile, Purrysburg too survives... hard along the swamp of the fast approaching Savannah River. But at least today the residents enjoy air-conditioning not to mention mosquito spray… lots and lots of Mosquito spray.”


#Jamestown #SwitzerlandSouthCarolina #Silk #Silkroad #ChinaTradeWar

EXIT of the DAY: Exit 99b in GA I-95s To: I-16w to Macon, Georgia​

If you drove toward this EXIT and had RoadSpoke, you would hear this:

Music up... Country Music... Jason Aldean's "Fly Over States" plays...
​​
"Alright Road crew, time for a Road Test. Is the upcoming Exit 99b the road to fame and fortune?  Well for someone in the car it may well be. The winner of this quiz gets paid  $20 by the driver.  Driver, eyes on the road!


"Now time for the fast facts…

"You are on the trail of greatness.  Up the next Exit many music superstars have driven.  This unassuming EXIT to Interstate 16 and Macon Georgia was an onramp for success. Think rock stars like Little Richard, Bill Berry of R.E.M. and maybe the most iconic Macon musical act , the Allman Brothers Band.

​

Also think the late great soul singers, Otis Redding and James Brown. ​

Being in Georgia it is no surprise maybe that a contemporary great is a country star. Think Country and Western Star, Jason Aldean. 

​Macon, Georgia is Jason Aldean’s home town. ​

​No surprise the Macon Sound is a mix of influences and the musicians have no problem mixing with others in the broader industry.


In July 2018, like many  Country Stars, Jason Aldean returned to his home town,  Macon. He had just played a benefit concert for a children's hospital to a sold out crowd in Atlanta.  But Jason is a new breed of country star.


Jason’s songs liberally include rocker licks. On top of that,  he rubs shoulders with hip hop stars. In fact, his pal Georgia born rapper Ludacris​ joined him on stage for a set.

But guns and concerts created a grand tragedy in Las Vegas Nevada when a mad man began shooting in October 2017.  Jason had just begun performing when the shooter began firing into the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort.  58 people were killed and 851 people were injured.
​

But no doubt, Jason Aldean wishes he did not need to address the raging gun law debate. In fact, he would have been far more comfortable raising donations with rapper friends at that benefit concert to build a kids’ wing at a hospital."
​ ​

​Now for the Road Test:  what is Jason Aldean’s first name?   What?  “Jason” you say. Correct!


Ok Driver, cough up. Pay the genius twenty bucks. And be quick about it.     


#JasonAldean #Flyovercountry #Georgia #Macon #Parkland #HarvestFestival
#Massshootings #GeorgiaBulldogs #BuckCommander