Saturday, February 27, 2010

Georgia Guidestones

On Saturday, February 20 I took advantage of an absolutely gorgeous day (sunny and mid-60's!) and made a 350-mile journey into western South Carolina and eastern Georgia on my VFR. A coworker had recently told me about the Georgia Guidestones, a 20-foot tall monument made of six large slabs of granite on which are inscribed ten guides in eight languages. It also has astronomical significance in that there is a hole through which the north star is always visible, a slot aligned with the Sun on the solstices and equinoxes, and a slot through which the Sun shines, indicating at noon the day of the year. There is quite a mystery behind its origin, with little known about the group responsible for its construction or their intentions. The Wikipedia article linked above and this article in Wired magazine offer some very interesting reading, and I highly recommend taking the time to read them.









Another target for the day was Yoder's Dutch Kitchen, a Mennonite restaurant that a friend had recommended I visit. It was very good food, at a very fair price, served by some very friendly people. It is on Highway 72 just east of Abbeville, SC, and they're open for lunch Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11:30-2:00 and for dinner Friday and Saturday from 5:00 - 8:30; I highly recommend giving them a visit.

In passing through Due West I passed the campus of Erskine College, so I took some time to ride through campus and admire its beautiful buildings. In doing so I stumbled upon a baseball game in progress between Erskine and Limestone College, so I parked and sat along the first base line and enjoyed an inning; it was a beautiful day for baseball! When I left Erskine was down 3-0 but I later read that they made a major comeback and scored 9 runs in the final 3 innings to win by a score of 10-9.

I passed this neat old building and stopped to check it out; it's the Templeton-Drake cabin, built in 1764.





I found this mural in Iva, SC.


I also managed to visit ten new post offices, bringing my total count to 513. You can view them on my post office map.