Cool and Zany Stuff in SC

While out riding in the more rural areas of South Carolina the past couple of weekends I stumbled upon a couple of neat things and a couple of odd things that I thought were worthy of sharing.

In Latta I visited the Bethea Store and Post Office, built around 1890. Considering my love of post offices, this was quite a treat! Robert Bethea, an African-American, was appointed Postmaster by President Grover Cleveland - this was quite an honor at that point in history.











At the same location is the Vidalia Academy, built in 1877. Annual tuition at the time was a whopping $3.50! :-)







In Canadys I passed the Big Ass Farm. A few days prior my friend Tim Franklin had posted a photo of it in his "Weird SC" online photo album, and he mentioned that it was in Colleton county. So, while I was out riding I happened to pass a sign indicating that I'd crossed into Colleton, and I thought, "Hey, that's where the Big Ass Farm is; wouldn't it be funny if I stumbled upon it!" What are the chances of that? Well, before the day was out, I DID stumble upon it!



Not too far from there, in Bowman, I saw the UFO Welcome Center. We Southerners are friendly to everyone. :-)





One of the things I love about South Carolina is that building wall murals are pretty common. I found a cool locomotive one in St. George. Got my bike positioned well so it looks like I'm waiting for the train to cross, and check out the clouds - they look like an extension of the smoke coming out of the stack.