But, Back to Mark Buehrle Got Us Drenched-- Part 3: We Get All Wet

I had to stop for a day on the drenched chroncicles to write about Mark Buehrle's next pitching outing which got exciting as well.  Imagine pitching back-to-back perfect games.  Well, it didn't happen, but wow, wouldn't that have been something!

To set the story, we had remained at Chopper's (bar and grill) up on Channel Lake in Antioch, Illinois, to see if Burehrle would get the perfect game despite knowing that a nasty storm was blowing in.  (We were in our boat, School's Out... Forever!)  Had we left in the 8th inning, we might have made it home, but we stayed.  Hey, how often do you get the chance to see a perfect game?

It hadn't started raining yet, but there was plenty of lightning and thunder off in the distance and getting closer.

We, (Kevin, Kelly, Liz and myself) decided to make a run for it.  We left and walked rapidly to the boat, cast off and started on our way.  It started  drizzling about half way to the Illinois Route 173 bridge and got steadily harder until a downpour.  (At this time we decided we probably should have just stayed at Chopper's.  But, too late.)  

The wind also picked up as well.  We ended up taking cover under the bridge until the worst had passed over about fifteen minutes later.  The rain let up some, but was still coming down enough to soak us pretty well on the rest of our way home.

So, as you can see, it was all Mark Buehrle's fault we got drenched.

And, he never apologized.

Thanks A Lot, Mark.  --RoadWet

Fox Lake Historical Society Meeting-- Part 2: Talking About Dollar Lake and Beer Can Bridge

There was no presentation today because of the death of President Nancy Kubalanza.  Just didn't seem right to have one.

There is a movement to place historical markers around Fox Lake.

The site of Dollar Lake, now the plaza with the theater and Val's grocery store is scheduled for one.  Dollar Lake was shallow and filled in.  Paul Jakstas says there is no truth to there being any trains in the former lake (used as fill).  It was filled up partially with land from G.I. Hill

In 1954, Rollins Road came through to Fox Lake and the shopping centyer was built 1962-1963.  It used to have a small Sears store and a Woolworth's.

They also hope to put up anoher sign by what is locally called Beer Can Bridge which takes US Route 12 (Rand Road) over a channel between Nippersink Lake and Pistakee Lake.  It gets its name from all the beer cans placed on the underside of the girders by boaters passing under them.  

This is also by where the old Midway was located, an area of bars, hotels and amusements.

--Cooter

Charles Floyd-- Part 3: Four Burials and a Memorial

After Floyd's expedition journal was published in 1894, new interest was taken  in him and his grave marker which was stolen quickly. He was reburied once more on August 20, 1895 with a monument as well.  A marble cornerstone three feet wide and seven feet long was placed in 1900.

When the  100 feet high obelisk of white sandstone was completed on May 30, 1901, Floyd's grave was moved for a fourth time to rest nearby.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 30, 1960.

Charles Floyd is the namesake of Floyd County in Iowa as well as the Floyd River in that state.  The Interstate 129 bridge between Sioux City and Sioux City in Nebraska is named the Sergeant Floyd Memorial Bridge.

--Cooter

Korean War Veteran Chuck Class-- Part 3: That Portable Shower

A really big treat for his unit was when portable showers would be brought to them.  "That was just great and they had warm water!"  This was a real big thing.

There were Korean homes in the countryside, but they were most often abandoned and just about everything taken from them.

They built Bailey Bridges made of steel and put together much like an erector set.  These were developed by the British during World War II and were noted for ease of construction and where you didn't need cranes or heavy equipment.

A major job of Mr. Class' unit was clearing minefields, both U.S. and Korean.  The American fields were supposed to have mines put in at a certain distance apart, but that was a rare occurrence.  They sure didn't appreciate that.  Anti-tank mines were dug in deeper than the anti-personnel ones.  They used mine detectors.  He became quite the expert on mines during his service.

Most of the mines he picked up were American and you were somewhat safe if you were behind the mines as they faced the enemy.  But a problem was whether or not the mines had been booby-trapped.  If they thought that had been done, they would loop a string or rope around the mine and get twenty feet away and pull it.

He had a near-miss once from an American hand grenade turned into a booby trap.  He realized right away what he had tripped and hit the ground hard just before it went off and luckily was not hit.

--Cooter

Fort Washington-- Part 5: The Site Today

The site of Fort Washington is now Bennett Park on Fort Washington Avenue between West 183rd and West 185th streets. in the neighborhood of the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.  The location of the fort's walls are marked in the park by stones, along with an inscription.

Nearby is a plaque indicating that the schist outcrop is the highest natural spot on Manhattan Island which was a big reason the fort was sited there in the first place.

Bennett Park is located a few blocks north of the George Washington Bridge.  Along the banks of the Hudson River along the Henry Hudson Parkway is Fort Washington Park and the small point of land alternately called Jeffrey's Hook or Fort Washington Point, which is the site of the Little Red Lighthouse, a famous New York City point of interest.

The Little Red Lighthouse That Could.  --CootWash

May 24-- Part 2: Brooklyn Bridge Opens 1883

1883--  The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.

1935--  Major League Baseball's first night game was played in Cincinnati.  The Reds defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

1941--  In World War II, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic.  Only three aboard survived.

1941--  Bob Dylan born.

1943--  Actor Gary Burghoff (MASH) born.

1951--  Cooter / RoadDog born.

--Cooter

Topsail Island's Swing Bridge's Days Are Numbered

From the July 14-20, 2015, Topsail Advertiser "New Surf City high-rise bridge gets green light from DOT" by Courtney Sullivan.

State approves $46 million contract to replace popular swing bridge.

SURF CITY--  "For many vacationers, the sight of the Surf City swing bridge has been the unofficial start of their beach vacation on Topsail Island since the 1950s..

"But the end of the swing bridge era will start this fall as construction begins on a new high-rise bridge for the island.

That swing bridge, so-named because it swings to the side to allow boat traffic to go under it, is a neat thing, but definitely not so neat if you get stuck waiting for a long time when it is allowing boats to pass.  The lines can back up for miles on the weekends.

The only other connection to the mainland for 26 mile long island is a high-rise bridge nine miles north of Surf City in North Topsail Beach.

The new bridge will be 65-feet high, so boats will be able to pass under it with no problem.

Here's hoping that Surf City or Topsail Island will keep the old sweing bridge and put it in a park or use it as a fishing pier.

Swing Me--  Cooter

Looking Back 100 Years Ago: Kishwaukee River Rampage

Feb. 1916, 100 years ago.  "The old Kishwaukee (actually more of a creek than river) was on the rampage last Friday and Saturday.  The ice went out and considerable damage was threatened for a time.  Both Kirkland bridges escaped serious injury, but one of the abutments of the Cottrell Bridge was undermines, causing serious damage."

--DaFloodedCoot

Looking Back at DeKalb County History-- Part 1: The WPA and a Bridge

From the Oct. 20, 2015, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back.

OCTOBER 1940, 75 YEARS AGO

Work on the walk at the court house (in Sycamore) will begin on Thursday with about twenty men working on relaying the cement for the sidewalks as a WPA project.  A firmer foundation for the court house steps also will be provided.

The building of a temporary bridge north of the present bridge on Route 64 one mile west of Sycamore was started Monday. Workmen cleared weeds and shrubs along the bed of the branch of the Kishwaukee River.  After clearing, wooden pilings will be embedded  in the river and the temporary bridge constructed.

--Cooter

The Topsail island Swing Bridge to Be Replaced

From the July 30, 2014, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Meeting draws crowd" by Bill Walsh.

DOT gives details about $57 million bridge proposed to replace old swing bridge.

If you've ever driven to Topsail Island near Wilmington, N.C., along the state's coast, you most likely know this old swing bridge for maddening traffic backups, especially during the summer high season.   A meeting was held at the Moose Lodge in Holly Ridge to explain what the N.C. DOT had in mind for the $57 million (80% federal funds, 20% state) high level (65-feet) fixed span bridge.

This new bridge will replace the old swing bridge which is classified as functionally obsolete that has been in use for over half a century.

Other plans were looked at before Alternative 17 was chosen.  The new bridge will be located about 900 feet south of the swing bridge. with two travel lanes, two bicycle lanes and a ten-foot multi-use lane.

In the mainland, DOT is planning a roundabout (I wonder why roundabouts have gotten so popular among planners as they are very dangerous).

The vast majority of the people at the presentation were happy with the new plans.

A Bridge to the Beach.  --Cooter

Fox Lake Fireworks-- Part 6: The Bridges

Right next to Beer Can Bridge is the four lane US Route 12 bridge, which is also four lanes across the channel by the High Side bridge.  The island between them is small and at one time actually a peninsula before a new channel was dug to connect Nippersink Lake and Pistakee Lake (but, I'm not sure which side was dug).

The railroad trestle is no longer a swing bridge and a higher bridge has taken its place.  So, the bigger boats have easy access to either lake without having to wait for the bridge to swing.  The tallest boats, however, can't get through it.

Many boaters avoid the High Side bridge because the Lake County Marine cops have their headquarters by the American Legion and sometimes post themselves there.

--DaCoot

Fox Lake Fireworks-- Part 5: The Chain of Lakes' Beer Can Bridge and the High Side

"The Route 12 train trestle bridge (where the accident took place,)  also has its own idiosyncrasies, not far from the viewing perch, with a southern opening called 'beer can bridge." and a northern opening called 'the high side.'  The latter access  let taller ships (boats) pass between the lakes, by means of a revolving turret, which spun the train track section to an east-west direction."  It would be termed a swing bridge.

Actually, the two bridges on north and south sides connect the island in the middle of the them.  Beer Can Bridge is low and for decades boaters have placed beer cans on its under supports, hence the name Beer Can Bridge.  After particularly windy times, there was all sorts of clunking and clacking as beer cans blown down into the water bumped into each other.

Sadly, today many of the boaters place beer bottles on the struts.  You don't want to be under then when they fall.

Bring back the Cans!!  --Cooter

James River Bridge Once World's Longest Bridge

From the November 18, 2013, Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press "When it opened on Nov. 17, 1928, the James River Bridge ranked as the world's largest" by Mark St. John Erickson.

Mr. Ericcson writes a lot about history. His articles on the War of 1812 in the Hampton Roads/Norfolk area of Virginia provide very interesting reading.

Eighty-five years ago this week, the five-mile long James River Bridge became the first fixed-link facility across Hampton Roads and an important part of the national north-south Atlantic Coast Highway or Ocean Highway.

Some 30,000 attended the formal dedication November 17 and a two-mile long "Monster Parade" pyrotechnic recreation of the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack was part of the ceremony. The giant lift span was activated by President Calvin Coolidge by electrical connection from the White House.

It cost $7 million and included bridges over the Nansemond River and Chuckatuck Creek.

All that remains of the bridge today is a fishing bridge on the Newport News side of the James River.

Grand Old Bridge. --Cooter

Things Most (Well Many) People Get Wrong

From the December 12, 2010, Listverse "15 Factlets Most People Get Wrong."  Always interesting stuff here.  I just picked out ones of interest to me.

1.  When a person is livid they are ashen (pale), not red.

2.  Model T Fords originally came in a variety of colors, not just black.  But, between 1914 and 1925, they came in just black.

4.  Black boxes on planes are not black.  They are orange to make locating them easier.

5.  Pirates did not have people walk the plank.  They just threw them overboard.

7.  Covered bridges were not done so as to protect people from the elements as they passed over it, but to make the bridge last longer.

10.  The famous "Whistler's Mother" painting was originally called "Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1: A Portrait of the Painter's Mother."

13.  U.S. ship captains can not perform marriages unless they are ordained clergy.

I did not know 1, 2, 5 or 13.

Stuff You Learn Doing This.  --DaCoot

Bits O' History: HMAS Choules-- Pittsburgh's Bridge of Sighs

Some New News About Old Stuff.

1.  HMAS CHOULES--  One of Australia's newest Navy ships is the HMAS (Her Majesty's Australian Ship) Choules, named after their last World War I veteran, Claude Choules who died in May 2011 at the age of 110.  He served in World War I in the British Navy and World War II in the Australian Navy. I have written more on Mr. Choules, just hit the label.


2.  PITTSBURGH'S BRIDGE OF SIGNS--  This comes from the Jan. 30, 2013 Shorpy Bridge of Sighs: 1903.  And reads Pittsburgh "Named after the famous span in Venice (and it looks like that one) it was used to transport prisoners between the Alleghenny Courthouse and jail.

It is still there.  The courthouse was built between 1883 and 1888.  The jail remains as well,but now houses child support, custody and family law services.

When looking at the Shorpy pictures, always read the comments which give a lot more information.  Plus, I like to blow up the pictures for a closer view.

Shorpy, One Great Site.  --Cooter