Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Tag: North Carolina

  • Outer Banks Weekend

    Speaking of the Outer Banks of North Carolina — we were just talking about that, right? — that’s where I happened to be visiting for an extended weekend. I don’t get to do that very often so this was my chance for our own little episode of Weekend Roady. I love going to the beach…

  • Barrier Island Superlatives

    I have a thing for islands but I think you already knew that. Barrier island fascinate me in particular and these narrow landforms hug coastlines all over the world. Their sand moves continuously, sculpting by tides, waves and winds according to the elements. They’re ephemeral and they change. So this left me to wonder about…

  • Carnage, Slaughter and Mayhem

    I enjoy corresponding with Steve from Connecticut Museum Quest. We seem to have a similar appreciation for maps, odd coincidences and strangely-named places. I first came across Steve and his wonderfully-written CTMQ as I investigated the Southwick Jog more than three years ago. I think Mystic Seaport may be the only Connecticut museum I’ve ever…

  • Ten Seats in North Carolina

    Could there possibly be ten county seats in North Carolina that bear the name of different counties? I remained skeptical when I saw the query in my web logs. I figured they probably got the question wrong; they must have meant ten county seats sharing a name with their home county. So, I stand corrected.…

  • Caro-what?

    Anyone following Twelve Mile Circle for any length of time knows that I have an unnatural fixation on borders and boundaries. I particularly enjoy those places split by borders or positioned directly alongside borders especially with a purpose in mind. I thought I’d discovered, either on my own or through the generous contributions of readers…

  • Sports Facilities I Never Imagined

    My mind fixates on patterns and I’ve noticed a number of unusual sport coincidences in recent days. It started with an acquaintance who mentioned her disinterest in Reno, Nevada. She simply didn’t want to go back there again this year. Of course I knew she didn’t gamble. So I wondered why she would go to…

  • Welcome

    Welcome. It sounds so welcoming when used as a town name, as if the town founders and developers genuinely wanted visitors and residents alike to enjoy their time there. It sets a nice tone and a pleasant expectation. Settlements named Welcome exist in a number of areas. I’m actually a little surprised there aren’t a…

  • A Tale of Three Ridges

    I’m not sure if I’m totally captivated by Google’s ability to suggest plausible answers while I type a query. Sometimes it’s a shortcut, other times it’s amusing, but more often than not it’s annoying. I seem to enjoy the feature more in Google Maps. It seems to geo-locate based on IP address when making suggestions…

  • Dueling Portmanteau Placenames

    My recent article on Mexican borders visible on Street View reminded me of a situation that’s long fascinated me. It came to the forefront as I viewed this image: Can you find the border in this image? Sure you can. That’s a silly question. Calexico vs. Mexicali The rural area north of this amazingly stark…

  • South? Carolina

    I don’t have a particularly remarkable entry planned for today. However, I do have an observation. A huge chunk of the state of South Carolina extends further north than places in North Carolina. So that seems to contradict with the name South Carolina. Doesn’t it? The entire shaded area of South Carolina rests at latitudes…