Exit 98

When I was on the Selma Appearance Commission, I did this visual improvement graphic design for Exit 98 south I95. At the time the town of Selma was to receive some azaleas from WRAL-TV, and we needed a place to plant them. If you are on I95 south and take exit 98 to Selma, don’t expect to see this view at the bottom of the exit. This visual improvement never happened.
Are you tired of crape myrtle pictures? I know I am. The 34th annual Selma Railroad Days is coming up on October 2nd and 3rd. In my September posts I will try to show more of downtown Selma and on rainy days post some of my past railroad days pictures.

BB&T

I had some extra crape myrtle trees, so I planted them in front of BB&T which is on Raiford Street.

Park and Shop

This is the ABC parking lot. ABC is an acronym for Alcoholic Beverage Control. In North Carolina you can purchase a mixed drink from restaurants. If you want to purchase a bottle of whiskey, you go to a state controlled ABC package store. I give this information for the benefit of my European and Asian viewers.

Different Angle

This is the same tree I had in yesterday’s post from a different angle.

Lovely Walk

This picture shows the crape myrtle trees along the sidewalk in full bloom.

ABC Parking

This picture has not been modified. It shows the crape myrtle trees in full bloom.

TWM’s Antique Mall

In this picture I planted some crape myrtles in front of TWM’s.

Concrete Planter Park 2

This is another version of the post I did yesterday. I replaced the crape myrtle tree with this shade tree. This project never got off the drawing board.

Concrete Planter Park

This is a visual improvement project that I did when I was on the appearance commission. I put flowers in the planters and planted this crape myrtle.

Raiford St.

This planter and crape myrtle is at the north end of Reid’s Country Sampler, I just added a few years growth to it.

Empty Space

I found this empty space at the entrance to the visitors center. Looked like an ideal space for a crape myrtle tree.

Blocked Alley

This alley is blocked so I put a planter and crape myrtle tree there. It is located beside the visitors center.

Raiford and Anderson 2

I am running out of places to put the trees.

Across the Street

I added this planter and crape myrtle tree across the street from the town hall.

Alley Kats

I planted this crape myrtle in front of the Alley Kats a local pub un Selma.

Three Crape Myrtle Trees

This is what you will see when you look across the street from the visitors center. This is the back entrance to the Town Hall.

Waddell St.

This picture is for real. This picture was taken during the peak blooming season.

View from the Visitors Center

This picture is for real. This is what you will see when you look across the street from the visitors center. This is the tree that I am planting all over town after digitally removing it from this scene.

Town Managers View

I added the round planter with the pink crape myrtle on the sidewalk in front of the town manager’s office. I hope he enjoys the view.

Cross Walk

I took this picture showing the cross walk on Raiford St. The plants are real and untouched. I placed the pink crape myrtle tree in the plant area across from the street light.

Raiford and Anderson

I took this picture that shows real flowers growing in the planting area. I placed this crape myrtle tree in with the flowers which makes for a lovely spot. Can you visualize this tree draped with white lights at Christmas? I will try to do a post in the future showing that scene.

Treasury Antiques

I took this picture showing the plants in front of Treasury Antiques. I simply placed this crape myrtle tree in the planting area that is beside the sidewalk.

Railroad and Raiford

In this picture I planted a bush and flowers in the existing planter. I then added the round planter and planted the beautiful red crape myrtle tree in it. When you have planters, trees or pots beside a horizontal parking space, it must be placed in a location that will not inhibit the car doors from opening fully.

More Crape Myrtle Trees

I was standing under the beautiful crape myrtle trees at First Citizens Bank when I took this picture of Reid’s Country Sampler across the street. You can see the lovely addition of crape myrtles in pots that Charles and Donna have added. This crape myrtle thing in a pot seems to be catching on. You can see what happens when two or three merchants take on a project to make downtown Selma more attractive and appealing for visitors that come to our town.
In the coming weeks and months I will post more pictures (with the aid of computer graphics) showing what Selma can look like with a few visual improvements.

More Crape Myrtle Trees

Looks like the crape myrtle trees in Downtown Selma are starting to multiply. This is a picture of Antique Wish showing new additions to the store front. And, yes, I did add about five years growth to these trees also. I am sure that Pat and Ken will give these trees lots of love, water and attention, and they will make for a lovely eye catching sight when visitors turn onto Anderson St.
http://www.antiquewish-online.com/

Appearance Award

Alexus Wright has revamped her building on West Anderson Street, which will soon reopen as Alexus Custom Design.
As part of this renovation Alexus planted flowers in her storefront planters, She then purchased two large planters with pink crape myrtle trees. As you can see from this picture, the visual improvement to her property is outstanding. If the town gave an award for visual improvement, Alexus would be at the front of the line to receive it. Now I must admit that, with the aid of computer graphics, I added about five years of growth to the crape myrtle trees just to show what Downtown Selma can look like when more merchants like Alexus take the initiative to make a difference.

Read more about Alexus in the Selma News

Big Lavender

I took this picture of the big lavender crape myrtle tree at the Selma Library. This is my favorite crape myrtle tree, and I look forward to the blooming season each year.

Bridal Rainbow

I was at Bob Evans Restaurant having dinner with my wife when she said to look at the rainbow. I ran outside to the car, got my camera and took this picture.

Another Night Shot

This photo shows the lonesome Union Station in Selma after sunset. We have four passenger trains that stop in Selma during the day but none at night. We do, however, have a lot of freight trains that come through Selma after dark, and, yes, they blow the whistle. Some people complain about the train whistle, but I for one like to hear the sound of the train horns off in the distance. This is another photo taken by Jeff Weaver. We both took a photo of this scene, same location same night. His came out better than mine.

August Theme Day: NIGHT

The first day of the month is the City Daily Photo’s Theme Day. The theme for this month is : “NIGHT”.
This is a night shot of downtown Selma. Selma downtown consists of seven short city blocks. Most of the stores are closed at night. If you want to eat out or shop, you go to the shopping centers that are located near the interstate highway. This photo was taken by Jeff Weaver.