Hickory County seemed a humble place so its courthouse didn’t exactly confound expectations. It’s a passable colonial style, but I can’t lie; I had been hoping for something more grandiose. That said, I had an extra traveler with me. My older daughter had a couple of days free from college so I picked her up and took her with me. She didn’t get out with me at the courthouse both because it was raining and because she has no interest in courthouses (that’s my mania!). I can’t blame her for the latter and as for the former, the God of Meteorology is indeed mercurial and quixotic. I did the required photography, got a newspaper from the town publisher across the street, and then went to the cache.
I felt the standard consternation at having to drive across town for it until I remembered that it was just two miles away. We came to a stop at the Pomme de Tierre Dam, finished by the Corps of Engineers in 1961. I couldn’t help but think that if a Frenchman was present, they would raise their eyebrow at call the Potato Dam on the Potato River. With a little help from my daughter, I found a nano stick to the top a rest area/picnic table looking out over the reservoir. Invenimus, inscripsimus, reposuimus. We took an extra moment to take in the scenic view and then set off into the raining morning once again, headed for…
