By Jay Barnes

• 1: Introduction
• 2: From Lizard Lick to Whynot
• 3: They Aren't Where They're Supposed To Be!
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From Lizard Lick to Whynot

I’d heard of Lizard Lick. And I even knew where to find Tick Bite (it’s in Lenoir County). But I never knew there was a Honeymoon, or a Finger, or a Loafer’s Glory, North Carolina. And the closer I looked at the names in the index (Index is in Ashe County), the greater the riddle became (Riddle is in Camden County).

What were they thinking when they named Frog Level, Goat Neck, Cat Square, or Lizard Lick? And how about Toast? (You’d have to travel up to Virginia to find Breakfast.) Scanning the fine print in my atlas, I also found Shoe, Beard, Tuxedo, Laboratory, and Spies. And who would want to live in Colon?

Take the armchair atlas tour, and you could visit Small (population 300), or squeeze into Micro (population 479). You could drive from Happy Top down to Bottom, which is some 200 miles down the Interstate. You’ll want to visit Bachelor and Best, and don’t miss Faith, Trust, Comfort, and Relief. Hurry on over to Quick, Brief, and Speed. Spend some extra time in Luck and Intelligence, but skip the drive over to Worry.

What curious events led to the naming of Day Book and Meat Camp? What about Push, Duck, Trap, and Old Trap? There’s also Radical, House, Chronicle, Fork, Alert, Crisp, and Erect. And have you ever stopped in to see Cleopatra, Hendrix, or Eli Whitney?

And then there, on Highway 705 in Randolph County, I found the one town name that might explain it all: Whynot.