Payne's Adventures

Waterfall Adventure November 2011

2012-02-04T13:05:00.001-05:00

In mid-November I headed into the Northwest corner of South Carolina for a day of waterfall adventuring. The first one that I visited was Todd Creek Falls just north of Clemson. I parked on the side of the road and followed an electric company access road and crossed a small stream to get to it; it was a moderately strenuous 20-minute hike one way.

From there I headed up Highway 28 through Walhalla and visited an old favorite, Isaqueena Falls. Legend has it that the Indian maiden Isaqueena faked her death by jumping over the falls but landing on the ledge right below the top to evade capture by her tribe so that she could run away with the white man with whom she had fallen in love. The water flow was very low this particular day, so the waterfall wasn't so impressive, but the view was extraordinary as always. This is a good one to visit, because it's a beautiful, tall waterfall; the walk to the overlook is very short and easy; and there is also a tunnel (Stumphouse) at the site that you can walk 1600 feet into (be sure to take a flashlight); it was to be a railroad tunnel, but the Civil War interrupted its construction, and it was never resumed.

A view from the walkway leading to the falls.

From there I continued up Highways 28 and 107 almost to the North Carolina state line, where I visited two falls close to each other, the first being King Creek Falls. A 4-mile dirt road led to a parking area, and from there it was a relatively easy half-mile hike along the creek (seen in the first photo) that is fed from the waterfall.

Just a small amount further down the road is another parking area from which a slightly more strenuous hike leads to Spoonauger Falls.

Sites seen along the way to the waterfall.

Spoonauger Falls

I then found my way over to Highway 11 and headed toward Table Rock State Park to my final waterfall of the day; en route I stopped a couple of times to enjoy the scenery.

Perfect motorcycling road!

Imagine walking out your door and seeing this every day!

Just a couple of miles west of Table Rock State Park is Twin Falls, a pair of side-by-side falls that was my favorite of the day. A somewhat lengthy but easily navigated trail led to it.

I encountered this oddity on the trail to the waterfall. Quite bizarre!

A very fun and sight-filled day! It brought my count of visited waterfalls up to 57. Can't wait for the next adventure!

WERA GNF 2011

2012-01-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

On a Sunday in late October I went to the Road Atlanta race track northeast of Atlanta for the WERA (West East Racing Association, an amateur roadracing association) Grand National Finals, the big event the wraps up their racing season. This was the sixth GNF that I've attended; they're always a great deal of fun packed with some great action.

There was a 125cc 2-stroke class running; these little machines are a hoot to watch! This has historically been the lowest of the 3 MotoGP classes, though this past year was their last; like the middle and premier classes, they have made the move to 4-stroke motors.

Pretty cool seeing this racer's face inside his helmet; that looks some some pretty serious concentration.

Number 179 in the lead is one of several women that were racing; this girl was fast!

The banged-up leathers on this racer are a demonstration that this is shoestring budget amateur racing rather than the high dollar corporate-sponsored professional racing. No less exciting, though!

A street bike belonging to a fellow fan. Something different!

As always, a great day of racing! And, I topped it off with a visit to Trader Joe's in Greenville on my way home!

Augusta, GA

2012-01-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

A few photos from a recent trip to the Riverwalk in Augusta, GA.

Starkville - MSU vs La Tech

2011-11-19T19:49:00.001-05:00

Donna and I made a quick trip to Starkville for the Mississippi State versus Louisiana Tech football game earlier this season. We had a great time wandering around campus and seeing the band perform.

The Chapel of Memories, next to the dorm that Donna lived in. It was constructed of bricks salvaged from the Old Main dorm that burned down in 1959.

Bully, with giant cowbell in hand leading the team to the stadium.

Drumline looking and sounding sharp before the game!

Lots of good memories seeing the band on the field.

Love all those tubas!

Go State!

Indianapolis MotoGP

2011-10-23T20:57:00.001-04:00

At the end of August I rode to Indianapolis for the MotoGP race weekend at the Speedway. This was the fourth year they've hosted the races and the third year that I've ridden up for it. It's about a 650-mile journey; I left around 9:00am Friday morning and arrived around 8:00pm. I met up with my friend Daryl from Cincinnati and 5 other friends from around Michigan. Friday night we visited Skyline Chili, a restaurant specializing in Cincinnati style chili, a sweet concoction (I think I tasted some cinnamon in it) that is traditionally served over spaghetti. That's what I had, served as a five-way (spaghetti, chili, cheddar cheese, onions, and red beans) along with a cheese coney - YUM! Afterward we grabbed some Dirty Helen, a beer brewed just outside of Indy, and headed back to the hotel for an evening of kicking tires and telling lies.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at Le Peep, a great restaurant that Daryl found. We had a good time visiting with the staff and enjoying a wonderful and very filling breakfast. Then, it was off to the track!

A good thing about riding motorcycles to the track is that parking is free in the infield! That saved us quite a bit of scratch and allowed us to park right in the middle of the action.

We wandered around for a while checking out bikes and vendor displays.

We then grabbed a comfy spot in the stands and watched an afternoon of practice and qualifying for the 3 MotoGP classes: 125cc 2-stroke, 600cc 4-stroke, and the 800cc 4-stroke premier class.

Following an excellent dinner at Olive Garden, we headed into downtown Indy for "Bikes on Meridian," a massive gathering of bikes that spans around 16 city blocks.

Once we FINALLY found a place to park, we walked around for a while, visiting with fellow bikers, checking out bikes, and checking out the cool sites of downtown Indy.

Sunday was race day, which we started with another trip to Le Peep. :-) There were three races, one for each of the classes.

9-time world champion Valentino Rossi.

After the races, all of my group headed on to their homes, since they didn't have too far to travel. I enjoyed an afternoon of exploring the area, eating dinner at Jason's Deli, and visiting a Trader Joe's for the first time. What a store that is! I had heard that they're pretty incredible, and that's no joke. I bought several items to bring home but had to keep it limited so it'd all fit on my bike. :-)

A cemetery in a nice, peaceful spot that I encountered while out riding around.

One of the many corn fields I encountered.

Monday I had a good ride home, unpacked, reflected on the good weekend, and got a bit of rest before heading back to work on Tuesday. Can't wait until next year!

Colonial Dorchester

2011-09-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

One Sunday in July Donna and I headed down toward Charleston to visit the site of Dorchester, a town that flourished from 1697 through the Revolutionary War. It was comprised of 116 lots, a school, a church, and a fort. Today the bell tower from the church, the fort, and several gravestones provide a glimpse into the long-abandoned community's existence.

The British burned the church and many of the houses during their occupation of the area in 1780. All that remains now is the church's bell tower, built in 1751.

A grave from 1790.

The grave of James Postell, who died in 1773; the British, during their occupation of the area, used his grave marker as a chopping block for the camp's meat; you can see the hatch marks covering it.

It rained off and on during our visit, which was actually nice. It brought the temperature down a good deal, gave us the area to ourselves, and made for a nice ambiance.

The fort, made of tabby, which is a mixture of lime, water, sand, ash, and oyster shells; it was used throughout the coastal southeast from the 1500's to the 1850's. It's remarkable how well the fort has held up over all these years!

A couple of flora shots.

This was a very cool place to visit and was just a small fee of $2, so I highly recommend checking it out!

Abita Mystery House and Two Covered Bridges

2011-08-06T13:29:00.000-04:00

I had a great trip home to visit my family in south Mississippi over Memorial Day weekend. Instead of my usual all-interstate route, I took back roads from just east of Atlanta all the way to the the Mississippi state line, the primary reason being to visit two covered bridges. It added only about 3 hours to my trip, and it was well worth it to see the bridges and some other sites, as well as just to get off the interstate for a while and enjoy a slower pace and see some nice scenery.

I'm on a task to visit the 16 historic covered bridges in Georgia, and the two I visited on this trip got me up to 14. Both are about 60 miles south of Atlanta, around Thomaston. The first one I visited is the Big Red Oak Creek bridge. It was built in the 1840's and is the oldest remaining covered bridge in the state, yet is in excellent condition and is open to traffic.

It has this 250-foot-long approach that sounds really cool when driving over it.

Driving through it was cool and a bit eerie.

I next visited the Auchumpkee Covered Bridge, built in 1892 for a whopping $1200. It is in good shape but is not open to traffic.

Beauty!

On my way back to the interstate I passed through Selma, AL, the originating point of 3 marches during the Civil Rights Movement, including Bloody Sunday, in which marchers en route to Montgomery, upon crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, encountered a mass of state troopers that violently halted their progress.

Photo from Bloody Sunday

Had a really good visit with my family, and my mom and I took a road trip and visited a really neat place called the Abita Mystery House / UCM Museum in Abita Springs, LA. It was a very cool and unique place, and we had a blast exploring it. It's a kitschy collection of all sorts of random odds and ends.

There were many motorized dioramas such as this one.

Cool angel made out of a hymnal.

Building with walls made of bottles and jars.

Mom and I in front of the Airstream that was hit by a UFO. :-)

Buford the bassigator. There were several composite animals like this on display, similar to the Fiji Mermaid popularized by P.T. Barnum.

The House of Shards, covered with thousands of pieces of glass and pottery.

Mom's husband and I shucking corn getting ready for a big cookout. Lots of good food and fellowship.

My friend Jason and his son and their choo-choos. :-)

Mom and I headed over and had a good visit with my dad and his wife.

Had a really good visit! Seeing my family was the main thing, but it was nice to be able to squeeze in some side ventures as well.

Glencairn Garden, Rock Hill

2011-07-11T21:40:00.000-04:00

In May Donna and I revisited an old friend, the Glencairn Garden in Rock Hill, SC. It was quite impressive when we last visited it 2 or 3 years back, but the city has been working on expanding it, and it was even more impressive this time! I highly recommend visiting, especially considering that it's free!

Before leaving Rock Hill we drove downtown and walked around for a bit; that's where we found this cool clock tower.

Glassy Mountain

2011-06-28T09:25:00.000-04:00

Last month I visited Glassy Mountain, just northeast of Pickens, SC [map link]. It is an isolated granite mountain with a bare face on one side that, when spring water trickles down it, has a glassy appearance, and thus the name. If you're in the mood for a good hike, you can park at the base on the southern side and hike to the top, or you can do as I did and drive the service road to the top.

Parked at the top

Once at the top, there is a trail leading down to the bare face on the northern side; the trail is a little tough to follow, but just aim in a northwestern direction, aiming at around 10 o'clock, and you'll find your way down.

You can seen Caesar's Head and Table Rock off in the distance.

Before leaving the area I rode past on the northern side to get a good look at the bare face where I'd just been. No water trickling down today, so no glassy appearance.

Edisto Memorial Gardens

2011-06-21T22:21:00.000-04:00

Back in March Donna and I spent an afternoon at one of our favorite nearby places, Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg. It's a free park with lots of walking paths; a pond with fish, ducks, and geese; sculptures; many varieties of plants and trees; and quite an extensive rose garden. Always a nice place to take a stroll and spend a leisurely hour or two with a good book.

It was too early for the roses to be in bloom, but plenty of other vegetation was coming to life.

The Edisto River (the longest blackwater river in North America, I recently learned) flows through the park.

McLeod Farms - McBee, SC

2011-06-12T21:51:00.000-04:00

Back in April I rode out to McBee (pronounced Mac'-bee with the emphasis on the first syllable - thanks to Cole for that useful nugget as well as for telling me about this wonderful place) SC to visit McLeod Farms, home of peach and strawberry farms; Big's Meats, a meat market and restaurant; and an roadside produce market, all together in one location.

I was starving when I arrived, so I first wandered into Big's and bought a scrumptious hamburger and fries; both were quite good. I ate outside at a picnic table and enjoyed the nice April day and gentle breeze.

Feeling better with fuel in my belly, I wandered around the grounds a bit and checked out the young peaches.

I then checked out their large collection of antique tractors.

The tractors are outside a building that houses a large collection of all sorts of antique items - cars, sewing machines, bottles, phones, tools ... you name, it's probably in there somewhere! And no admission charge!

Check out the external pushrods on this motor!

Before departing I checked out the produce market, which was quite stocked with fresh produce as well as canned produce, jellies, rice, etc. I took home a basket of strawberries, which turned out to be of very high quality ... they didn't last long!

So, it's taken me a couple of months to get around to making this post, and I was just about done with it and ready to post it ... well, today Donna and I made a return trip! We visited the museum and the market, where we enjoyed some ice cream and bought some peaches, blackberries, and cucumbers to bring home. And we bumped into Cole (the guy I mentioned at the top of this post) and his family! It was good to visit with him. Another good visit to McLeod Farms!

Indy Car Weekend - Birmingham

2011-06-04T16:27:00.001-04:00

The weekend of April 8 I headed to Barber Motorsports Park just east of Birmingham, AL for a weekend of Indy Car racing action! I've attended around 20 motorcycle races, but this was my first auto race, and it was a blast! The Indy Car series was the premier race, and there were several other races throughout the weekend, featuring all sorts of cars. It was loud, fast, and fun!

As I've done for motorcycle races at Barber, I volunteered, which is a sweet deal: for 5 hours of work on Saturday morning (which is actually pretty fun ... this time I worked paddock access, so I was responsible for making sure everyone entering the paddock had the proper credentials [selling to them if they didn't already have] and making sure they'd signed a release of liability waiver) I got substantially discounted tickets, preferred parking, a nice Polo shirt and hat, a meal the day I worked, and snacks and drinks throughout the weekend.

Danica Patrick zooming by. You can't really see it in the photo, but she's waving at me. ;-)

I'd LOVE to do the Porsche driving school they offer at the track. Gotta save my coins. Lots of coins.

Mazda 3's (what I drive) were one of the cars raced!

Mini Coopers! They must be a hoot to race.

All business ... not much in the way of creature comforts.

Looking across the start/finish line from pit row.

This is a prototype Motus motorcycle that is being developed in the Birmingham area; I had read about it in a cycle magazine a few months back, so it was quite a treat to see it in person. Wish I could have heard it run; the article stated that its gasoline direct injection V4 motor sounds quite nice.

Sunday morning before heading to the track I had a covered bridge adventure in Blount County, just north of Birmingham, which is home to 3 historic covered bridges. The first one I visited was the Horton Mill Bridge, built in 1934. It is 220 feet long and 70 feet above water, making it the highest covered bridge above water in the U.S. It is right off Highwy 75 north of Oneonta and is very easy to find.

The next one that I visited was the Easley Bridge, built in 1927; it is 95 feet long and is accessible via Easley Bridge Road off of US 231. While I was there 2 fellows rode up on a Suzuki SV650S and a Honda VFR, so I chatted with them for a while. One of them was from Vancouver and was living down this way temporarily and had bought the SV to ride while he's living there. They knew of 2 of the 3 bridges in the area, so I showed them how to get to the third, and they were pretty excited about that.

The third one I visited was the Swann Bridge, built in 1933. At 324 feet long, it is the longest covered bridge in AL and one of the longest in the nation. It is accessible via Swann Bridge Road (a long, winding road) only from the west. Looking at a map, accessing it from the east looks much simpler, but that road ends on private property before you get to the bridge.

I had a most excellent time and look forward to returning for next year's Indy weekend!

Scottish Festival

2011-05-08T21:49:00.000-04:00

Columbia recently held its first Scottish games event out at the old speedway on 321. I had attended one while living in Jackson, MS and had a great time, but I was really jazzed at this one since I'm in the process of learning to play the Great Highland Bagpipe! There were several pipe and drum bands competing, and it's super exciting to know that hopefully one day I'll be a part of one!

There was several traditional Scottish games going on in the infield throughout the day, such as the caber toss, in which participants heave a 20-foot, 175-pound poll and try to get it to go end-over-end and land straight. As you can imagine, the participants are some very large and muscular individuals! Wise not to make any cracks about their kilts. :-) Speaking of kilts, there were plenty to be seen, and I saw a t-shirt stating that "Pants are for men with ugly legs." :-)

Around the central game area many vendors were set up selling Scottish and Celtic food and merchandise. I was brave and tried some haggis, made from ground up sheeps' heart, liver, and lungs. Sounds gross, but it is actually quite tasty ... just try not to think about it too much while you're eating it. :-) I also bought a beautiful ornate Celtic dagger.

There were several demonstrations going on, such as sword-fighting and sheep herding. The sheep-herding dogs were quite impressive with their obedience and agility.

This little Jack Russell Terrier was getting quite a bit of attention.

There was a tent showcasing several Celtic punk bands throughout the day. I dig this genre of music, which mixes bagpipes and other traditional Celtic instruments with traditional rock instruments. Sort of like The Ramones with bagpipes. Loud and fast!

Had a great time; I hope it becomes an annual event! And perhaps next year or the next I'll be participating with my pipes!

Great Falls Mill

2011-05-02T21:58:00.002-04:00

On New Year's Eve I took a ride up around the Rockingham, NC area and stumbled upon the ruins of the Great Falls Mill. The original cotton mill was built in 1838 and was burned by Union soldiers in 1865. It was then rebuilt in 1869 and remained in operation until 1930, after which it served as a cotton warehouse for a number of years until it burned again in 1972, leaving the shell that we see today. Click here to see a cool Google Maps satellite view.

International Motorcycle Show

2011-04-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

On February 26 I attended the International Motorcycle Show at the convention center in Greenville, SC. It is an annual show that travels to around a dozen cities each winter. It's a good opportunity to check out all the current model year bikes, check out and purchase gear and accessories, join in on demo rides, see displays of vintage bikes and customized bikes, watch stunt shows, and attend educational seminars. This was about my fifth time to go, and it's always a great deal of fun, and I get a lot out of it. The southeast show used to be held in Atlanta, but they thankfully moved it to Greenville a couple of years ago.

The helmet is creepy, but the bike is pretty cool.

BMW GS used by the Henderson County NC Sheriff's Department; this is the bike that Ewan and Charley rode in Long Way Round.

Not your typical Harley. Made during the company's low point when it was owned by AMF, the bowling company.

The Honda CB-750 from the 70's. I'd love to get one of these one day!

Some more creepiness if you look closely, but pretty cool overall look.

Carolina Raptor Center

2011-04-25T18:59:00.002-04:00

Donna and I recently visited the Carolina Raptor Center a bit northwest of Charlotte, NC. It is a rehabilitation center for injured birds of prey (eagles, hawks, owls, vultures, etc.) They release the ones that regain the ability to survive in the wild, and the ones they cannot release become permanent residents at the center, and those are the ones that are viewable by visitors. There is a mile-long trail that winds through exhibits showcasing nearly 30 species of birds; it was a real treat seeing them up close. It is a well-run facility and the birds seem well cared for.

All the birds were amazing, but I especially enjoyed being able to get this close to bald eagles.

We attended an educational talk and demonstration and learned a great deal about these magnificent birds. Their speed, agility, and eyesight are unbelievable! The docent pointed out that many of the injured birds they treat have been hit by cars. Litter thrown from cars attracts rodents to the side of the road, and the rodents attract the birds, resulting in collisions. So, that's another reason not to litter, even biodegradable items.

I love this owl; it reminds me of a geisha.

Before heading home we stopped and ate at Lancaster's Barbecue just down the road. It was some mighty fine food. We always enjoy hush puppies, and they are usually served with the meal, but there they brought out a basket as an appetizer, like tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant; we really liked that.

Hopelands Gardens

2011-04-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

One Sunday in January Donna and I headed to one of our favorite destinations, Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, SC. It is a 14-acre public garden filled with walking paths that meander amongst 100-year-old trees, all sorts of plants and flowers, and a good number of sculptures. It's really nice to visit at Christmas, when they fill the park with light displays. It'd be well worth paying an entrance fee, but there is none!

We walked in and out of their labyrinth. My pictures don't do it justice, but it's quite nice. Google Maps satellite view offers a good overhead view.

A few years back the city of Aiken had many artists decorate horse sculptures (Aiken is Thoroughbred country) that they then displayed around town. Hopelands now has a couple of them in their possession.

This little fellow seemed to be quite pleased that we came to visit his place.

He made sure to get his fair share of attention before we left. :-)

Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000-05:00

Around the end of January Donna and I visited Rivers Bridge State Historic Site a bit south of Bamberg, SC. It was the site of one of the final battles of the Civil War, occurring right before Shermans's troops burned Columbia.

Earthen fortifications are still very much intact, an amazing fact considering that they're nearly 150 years old!

The swampy Salkehatchie River through which Union forces navigated to fight the Confederate forces and then move onward toward Columbia.

Lots of beautiful old moss-covered trees in the area.

It's a neat park to visit. There is half-mile trail around the fortifications that goes down to the river that is a pleasant walk and gives good views of what the soldiers saw. There is also a mass grave of Confederate soldiers who were killed in the battle with a monument reading, "Soldiers rest, your warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, Dream of battle fields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking."

Ninety Six National Military Park

2011-02-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

I recently visited Ninety Six National Military Park, the site of the first land battle of the Revolutionary War south of New England; it is about 60 miles west-northwest of Columbia. Ninety Six was a town in which the Loyalists built a massive fortification called the Star Fort (named for its star shape, which gave it great strength and gave those inside many vantage points for defending it) that the Patriots held in siege for 28 days, the longest siege of the war. The siege ultimately failed.

A one-mile trail leads visitors around the fort and through the site of the town of Ninety Six. The raised earth of the fort is still very prevalent, and seeing that is quite a treat. Another treat to see is a house that was built in 1787. I also took a side trail that leads to an unidentified cemetery, believed to be a slave cemetery.

Hog Happnin in Shelby, NC

2011-01-03T22:27:00.000-05:00

Around the beginning of November I rode up to Shelby, NC to visit the Hog Happnin' barbecue festival with my friend Daryl, who rode down from Cincinnati. We met up on Friday evening and found a good Mexican restaurant within walking distance of our motel and enjoyed a good dinner. Afterward we enjoyed hanging out and catching up over a few good beers we'd each brought along; he had brought an Abita (based in Abita Springs, LA) brew that I had not seen - SOS, or Save or Shore; the brewery donates 75 cents from each bottle sold to oil spill recovery efforts, and I read recently that they'd just written a check in excess of $100,000.

Saturday morning we were pleased to find that the hotel had a pretty decent breakfast spread, so we ate and chatted with a couple of the hotel employees. It had gotten quite cold overnight, dropping down to around freezing; the hotel staff thought we were nuts riding our bikes in such cold weather for such great distances to visit a barbecue festival, but it's stuff like that that Daryl and I live for.

The main component of the festival was a barbecue competition; many teams were present, several from great distances, cooking their food on site to be judged early Saturday afternoon. The equipment used by most of the teams was quite serious; they weren't using Webers from Wal-Mart! I got a kick out of some of the clever team names and slogans.

There was also quite a large car show, where we saw lots of interesting machinery - some very fast cars, some very exotic cars, and some cars just quite different and impressive in their own ways, like this fellow:

A very accurate General Lee, complete with air horns in the engine compartment for blasting out "Dixie!"

Autographs from Roscoe and Cooter!

A Carol Shelby race car! Drool. I'd love to know how much this thing is worth.

I figure Joe will get a kick out of this one. :-)

There were also a couple of good musical groups jamming. This was a very talented bluegrass group doing some serious picking.

A rock band jamming with Cerwin-Vega speakers on the main stage, and they sounded fine. :-)

We were able to visit with a lot of the competitors, and they were all very talkative and open about their cooking methods, even though they were competing. We were unable to sample their offerings, since it was all being judged, but a local fire department provided some very good barbecue for purchase.

We parted ways around mid-afternoon after having had a very good time. Daryl is quite the barbecue cook himself, armed with a serious smoker comparable to what these guys were using, and I think he was bitten by the competition bug! Perhaps next year we'll be back as competitors. :-)

Alexander Hamilton Stephens Home

2010-11-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

Donna and I recently visited the home of Georgia governor and vice president of the Confederacy Alexander Hamilton Stephens. It's not far off of I-20, about an hour east of Atlanta. It was built in 1875 and is in great shape. We paid $4 for the ranger-led tour inside, and it was well worth it; the house is furnished with a great deal of period items, many of which belonged to Stephens. Adjacent to the home is a small museum and gift shop that contains some interesting documents and artifacts.

A slave cabin next to the main house.

A pomegranate tree.

Stephens' grave, in front of the home. He was originally buried in Athens, and the ranger told us he was "resumed" and buried on his property. I suspect she meant "exhumed." :-)

Right next door is the Crawfordville Baptist Church, built in 1889.

I really liked the contrast of the lettering on this headstone.

A few miles from Stephens' home is the Locust Grove Academy, built in 1860; it is the first chartered Roman Catholic Academy in Georgia.

And a few miles from that is the location of the first Roman Catholic Church in Georgia (which was replaced by the above structure), built in 1790. The structure is gone, but the cemetery remains. We traversed a long dirt road to get to the isolated area; it was a bit creepy being out there, and I breathed a sigh of relief when we got back to civilization. :-)

Barber Superbike Races

2010-11-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

The weekend of September 24 I made my fifth annual trip to the AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park outside of Birmingham, AL. En route to the track on Friday I visited two covered bridges - the first was the Euharlee Bridge in Euharlee, GA, northwest of Atlanta. It was built in 1886 and carried traffic until 1976. This made number 12 of the 16 covered bridges in Georgia that I have now visited.

Just down the road from the bridge is a cemetery containing 339 slave graves. The are identified with simple rock headstones, and a boy scout recently added a wooden cross to each as part of his Eagle Scout project.

A bit further down the road is the largest (in terms of power generation capacity) coal-fired power plant in the United States (and the second largest in North America), the Bowen Power Station. The two smokestacks in the middle are nearly 1000 feet tall!

I then visited the Coldwater Covered Bridge in Oxford, AL. It was built in 1850 and is Alabama's oldest surviving covered bridge.

These guys were enjoying a leisurely swim near the bridge.

That made for a pretty full Friday, so I grabbed some dinner and headed on to the motel for a quiet evening of reading and a bit of TV.

I started Saturday morning with a hearty Cracker Barrel breakfast and made it to the track around the time the day's activities were cranking up.

Couple of vintage Indians.

One of the first things I checked out was The Wall of Death, a wooden cyclinder about 20 feet in diameter and 15 feet in height inside which some crazy codgers ride some ancient motorcycles (the oldest was a 1929 Indian) parallel to the ground!

Fuzzy photos, but they give you an idea of what they were doing!

One of the things that I love about the Barber complex is the collection of sculptures that adorn the grounds.

Neat old Harley sidecar rig, complete with oil drip pan. :-)

I got to meet John Hopkins, a former MotoGP racer who is now racing AMA Superbike. The XXI tattooed on his arm is his racing number. Note the piece of broccoli his is munching on; motorcycle racers for the most part eat very well and exercise a lot and are in stellar shape.

No, this isn't a female racer's bike - it's Huntley Nash's, and he was racing in honor of his mother, who died from breast cancer in 2006. It was very exciting to see him win his race, and he donated a portion of the winnings to breast cancer research.

The man, the legend - Erik Buell, founder of Buell Motorcycles and head of Erik Buell Racing.

The only law enforcement agency I've ever seen to use Honda Goldwings.

And, a few action shots.

This ingenious contraption was built by an Ole Miss engineering student that I met and spoke with. Very nice and bright individual. Pretty amazing front-end he designed.

After leaving the track I went out in search of a third covered bridge, the Waldo Covered Bridge a few miles southeast of Talladega. A lady with a Birmingham magazine was also out there photographing the bridge as part of a story on covered bridges in Alabama. She gave me some tips on some good ones north of Birmingham in Blount County that I'll have to visit in the future.

I awoke Sunday morning to rain falling, so instead of heading back to the track I headed on homeward. I'd pretty much gotten my fill of racing on Saturday, anyway, so it worked out well, and I got home at a decent hour. Yet another good trip to Barber, and I eagerly look forward to my next!

Carl Sandburg Home

2010-10-23T22:33:00.000-04:00

Donna and I recently visited the home of poet Carl Sandburg outside of Asheville, NC. It is a beautiful and serene area, the perfect home for a writer. I highly recommend visiting; access to the grounds is free, and for a reasonable $5 fee you can have a ranger-led tour inside the house, which is pretty incredible, as it is pretty much in the state in which he and his wife left it, so you can really get a feel for how they lived.

Lake on the property

This little guy was perturbed that I was following him around with a camera.

Carl was known for his writing, but his wife was quite known for her craft as well - raising dairy goats. Several descendants of her herd still live on the grounds.

Just down the road from the Sandburg home is St. John's in the Wilderness Church, built in 1834.

It features a beautiful cemetery on hilly terrain with an abundance of old trees. There is also a section of slave graves:

And, of course, if you keep up with my travel posts, you know that we had to have a Cracker Barrel meal before heading home. :-)

Musgrove Mill

2010-10-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I recently rode my VFR to Musgrove Mill State Historic Site near Clinton, SC. It is the site of the former home and mill of Edward Musgrove and was the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1780 in which a badly outnumbered band of patriots pulled off a stunning victory against a much larger group of British loyalists. Nothing much from then is left today, but there are two mile-long trails that offer good opportunities for enjoying the plant and animal wildlife, with lots of good interpretive signage along the way that gives lots of information about the war and the battle. One trail is accessed from the main site, starting at the very nice visitor center; you drive a couple of miles across the river to get to the other trail. One trail goes along the route that the loyalists were lured down, and when you suddenly emerge into an open field, you can feel what they must have felt upon seeing an army of patriots waiting for them.

A heron off in the distance enjoying the solitude

I apparently have a fascination with fungus on trees.

This little guy seemed perturbed that I interrupted his leisurely journey across the trail.

Horseshoe Falls.

One of the park rangers is a fellow motorcyclist; he rides a Yamaha FJR1300, a sport touring bike similar to my VFR. Had a good time talking bikes and various other topics with him. On my way home I stopped at Subway for a bite to eat and struck up a conversation with two older couples who were on their way to the mountains for a few days; the two gentlemen had ridden motorcycles in their earlier days, so we had some good conversation as well. All told, it was a very enjoyable day.

Charleston Tea Plantation, Angel Oak

2010-09-29T21:52:00.002-04:00

On August 28 I made a trip to Charleston, SC, where I visited the Charleston Tea Plantation, the Angel Oak, the Morris Island Lighthouse, and Bessinger's Barbecue.

The Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island is the only tea plantation in the United States. Charleston's sandy soil, high average temperature, high humidity, and high rainfall are ideal tea-growing conditions. The farm dates back to 1963, but the plants themselves are descendants of ones from a tea farm started in 1888 in Summerville.

The crops resemble manicured hedges because of the way the leaves are harvested - they are trimmed off the top, just as hedges are trimmed. Several trimmings are made each season.

There are two tours offered - one is a trip around the grounds in a trolley for a fee (at $10 it's a bit steep, but I think it's worth it, as you see all the grounds as well as learn a lot about the history and operations); the other is a free tour of the processing facility, where you see the machinery used and watch videos along the way detailing the process. One interesting thing I learned that I did not know is there is only one species of plant (Camellia Sinensis) used for tea; all variations (green, black, oolong, orange pekoe, etc.) are based upon processing methods and gradings, such as oxidation time.

Their custom-built harvester, the only machine like it in the world.

I saw several garden spiders on this trip; this guy was hanging out at the plantation waiting for his afternoon cup of tea; you can see the harvester in the background.

From there I headed back up the island toward Charleston and stopped to visit the oldest tree on the east coast, the Angel Oak, a live oak believed to be around 1500 years old. It is mindblowingly massive!

I then headed out to Folly Island, which was seriously crowded due to a regional surfing competition. I made my way through the crowds to the quiet north end of the island to see the Morris Island Lighthouse. It was completed in 1876 and once stood on Folly Island, but erosion has led to its isolation. Look to its right and you'll see in the distance the Sullivans Island Lighthouse (with its light flashing) that I visited back in April.

And, what would a roadtrip be without a good meal? You may be familiar with Maurice's barbecue empire in the Columbia area - well, his brother runs his own barbecue restaurant in Charleston, called Bessinger's; it's on Highway 17 near the western terminus of I-526. It was some mighty fine barbecue ... better than his brother's. I'd make a trip back just to eat there. It was the perfect way to end a great day of adventuring.

Abbeville, SC

2010-09-21T18:35:00.000-04:00

Donna and I recently made a day trip into western South Carolina and eastern Georgia. We didn't really have a plan; we just picked a direction and headed that way, and Donna found some destinations in our travel guide as we drove. The first place we came upon was the Park Seed Company in Hodges. It is primarily a gardener's source for plants and seeds, but their grounds, including lots of experimental growths, are open to the public. They grow some truly beautiful and spectacular plants.

Next we headed to Cokesbury, named for Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, the first two Methodist bishops in the United States, and visited the remains of Cokesbury College, built in 1854. It first served as a girls school and then as a boys school until 1882 when it became co-ed; it remained operational until 1954. You can go inside by appointment, which we didn't do on this visit, but would like to do on a future one.

Right across the street from the college is this neat old church. And a bunch of ants in the field. Ask me how I know.

We then headed into downtown Abbeville and first visited the town's oldest church, Trinity Episcopal, built in 1859. It features a massive 125-foot steeple and a rare functioning tracker organ.

We then wandered around the town square, checking out the various shops and such. We bought a couple of ice cream cones and sat outside in a pair of rockers and enjoyed the quiet, the fresh air, and a cool breeze. Best ice cream I've had in a long time!

Neat old ad painted on the side of a building.

We then continued a bit further west to visit the Georgia Guidestones. I visited back in February but Donna had not seen them, and I certainly enjoyed visiting again. We bumped into a couple who live in both Texas and Ontario, splitting their time between the two; they were in the midst of a journey to their home in Texas and had made a special side trip to visit this unique site.

By then we were sufficiently pooped, so we enjoyed an awesome Cracker Barrel meal and then headed home. An excellent day of adventuring.

VIR Motorcycle Races

2010-09-11T19:16:00.001-04:00

The weekend of August 14 I traveled to Alton, VA for the AMA Superbike races at Virginia International Raceway. I left home Saturday morning and got to the track around 1:00. Throughout Saturday and Sunday I watched qualifying action and 5 races, interspersed with visiting the vendor booths and the paddock. Both evenings I headed down to Raleigh, where I stayed with my friend Hanna. He used to live in Columbia, and we worked together at USC. We had a good time hanging out and catching up and eating Hanna's good cooking.

Nice custom paint job showcasing the desmodromic valve system unique to Ducatis.

Nice exhaust

One of the Michael Jordan's team's bikes

New this year is a Harley XR1200 race class; there were around 10 racers in that class. The bikes went surprisingly fast and with decent lean angle for Harleys, but they were a far cry from the other classes.

Bike belonging to one of 3 females racing this weekend.

I stumbled upon this covered bridge between the track and Hanna's house. It's relatively new and not historic, but cool nonetheless.

Another site found between the track and Hanna's. I love building murals.

Monday morning I departed Hanna's and headed to Raven Rock State Park, about an hour southwest of Raleigh. Its namesake is a 150-foot tall rock left behind from erosion of the softer rock around it. There are several trails in the park; I took the Raven Rock loop that goes to the top of the rock, and the "fish traps trail" spur that leads down to the Cape Feat River. It made for about a 2-hour, 3-mile hike.

Now atop the rock looking down at the river where I previously had been.

Steps take you down to the base of the rock; looking up at it is quite impressive.

From there I took back roads to the east side of Charlotte, where I enjoyed a very tasty barbecue dinner at Sonny's, followed by a bit of shopping at Concord Mills and Ikea - I scored some drapes for my living room and a cool print for my bedroom. Sufficiently pooped, I headed homeward, and what should have been a 2-hour drive turned into about 4 thanks to a collision between a tanker truck and a car on I-77 just south of Charlotte. The tanker exploded, resulting in all southbound lanes being blocked, and with it being rush hour, all diversions were clogged. It was a mess, but I safely got through it and arrived home around 11pm. A quick feeding of the cats and a bit of sleep, and I was back at work bright and early Tuesday morning. :-)

Kalmia Gardens in Hartsville, SC

2010-09-04T22:50:00.001-04:00

Donna and I recently made a day trip to the northeast corner of the state, an area we don't find ourselves in all that often. We first went through Hartsville and stopped to visit their city museum, which is housed in an old post office building. It contains lots of history of the area, including a great deal about Sonoco, a worldwide packaging company that calls Hartsville home. It features a beautiful stained glass skylight made up of several individual panels representative of SC plants and animals. It's a great free museum that is certainly worth visiting.

From there we headed over to Coker College's Kalmia Gardens, a beautiful 35-acre botanical garden. Also free and highly recommended.

We then headed up Highway 401 through Society Hill to Bennetsville. En route we encountered the grave of Colonel Abel Kolb, a Revolutionary War Patriot who was murdered while surrendering to a group of Tory raiders on the night of April 27, 1781.

We then made it into the city of Bennettsville, which was our destination, but we ended up being less than impressed with what we found. There were a few cool old buildings, but we found navigation very frustrating due to many roads being closed for repairs, and eating options were very limited. We didn't stay long and continued on, finding ourselves at South of the Border at the SC / NC border, always a fun and interesting place to visit. Donna captured some good photos of their giraffe statues.

Gotta love their water tower! The acronym stands for "South of the Border" ... what'd you think it stood for? ;-)

Big honkin' spark plug ... hope they have it gapped properly.

We were pretty hungry by then and started looking for a good place to eat, when I realized that we really weren't all that far from Florence, home of our favorite steak house ever, Redbone Alley, so we were able to stave off our hunger a bit longer and were rewarded as always with a most excellent meal. Perfect end to a very good day of exploring!

DCI Atlanta

2010-08-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

On July 31 Donna and I traveled to Atlanta for the Drum Corps International Southeastern Championship in the Georgia Dome. We have attended many drum corps events, but this was our first indoor show. Part of the experience of an event is being outdoors, so I sort of missed that, but I must admit that being cool and not having to worry about bad weather were quite nice ... especially considering the horrendous storm that passed over Atlanta around the time we got there!

This was one of the major shows of the season, and all 23 corps in competition were there. That fact, along with it being only 2 weeks until finals, made this event almost as good as being at finals. 23 shows in one day are a lot even for die-hard fans, though, so we arrived around 5:30 and caught the top 15. All of the corps put on incredible performances, with some creative shows and very clean execution; being a judge would be a tough job indeed. We had a great time watching the shows, and during intermission we checked out the corps' merchandise booths set up in the walkway and picked up a couple of items.

The Madison Scouts marched 20 tubas! That is the most I have ever seen a corps march. They performed a cool show based upon Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

The Blue Stars performed a creative show based upon the life of Harry Houdini, complete with a vanishing act at the end.

Tubas!

The Cadets marched onto the field to the playing of "Procession of the Nobles" by the trumpet players up front using herald trumpets - very cool!

Most all corps use silver-plated instruments, but Carolina Crown used gold-lacquered instruments this year - quite nice for a change.

My all-time favorite corps, the Santa Clara Vanguard.

The corps that went on the win the championship, the Blue Devils.

This was a great event that we'll have to plan on attending again next year.

Cowboy Junkies Concert in Asheville

2010-08-21T15:54:00.001-04:00

On July 23 I got to see the Cowboy Junkies in concert for a second time! I saw them in February 2009 at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, and they played again at this awesome venue. This time I had my trusty sidekick with me; she's not a Junkies fan, but she enjoyed the show.

We got to Asheville in the early afternoon and found that a HUGE annual street fair was in progress. There were lots of vendor booths and music stages, and we had a great time wandering around checking it all out. I especially enjoyed a very eclectic band called Blind Boy Chocolate and the Milk Sheiks; you can view a song of theirs on YouTube (not filmed by me, just one I found.) One of the guys plays a handsaw with a violin bow, making a very cool Theremin-like sound.

After a required visit to the Mast General Store (can't wait until the one coming to Columbia is built!) we enjoyed a very good meal at the Asheville Brewing Company, where I had an excellent black bean veggie burger and fries and a couple of pints of their outstanding porter.

We then headed over to the Orange Peel a bit early to snag a good spot in line; all tickets are general admission, so the early birds are rewarded with seats up front. We did indeed get great seats in the front row and were treated to an outstanding concert.

Blythewood Balloon Festival

2010-08-08T16:25:00.000-04:00

On the July 4th weekend, the city of Blythewood, just north of Columbia, hosted a hot air balloon festival. I headed over on the evening of Saturday the 3rd for the wrap-up festivities, where the balloons were inflated and tethered rides were given - the balloons were tied to the ground and allowed to ascend about 50 feet or so, so balloons were constantly going up and down swapping out passengers. I didn't really care to do that (though I would love to take an actual flight in a balloon some day) but I enjoyed seeing them inflated and going up and down. Nice way to spend an evening, and I had a nice motorcycle ride out there and back. :-)

They run on propane - the same as your barbecue grill, only in larger canisters. This balloon had the two that you see here plus another 4, I believe.

The burner

Brevard, Blue Ridge Parkway, Pearson's Falls

2010-07-17T22:41:00.003-04:00

I recently took my VFR on a 12-hour, 350-mile journey up through Brevard, NC to the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking it eastward past Asheville, down US74A to Bat Cave, west on US64 to Hendersonville, and down US176 through Tryon, NC before heading home. I left around 8:30 and made it to Brevard around 11:30, just in time for lunch at a favorite restaurant of mine, Quotations Cafe. That was, in fact, the genesis of this ride, as I suddenly had a hankering to go eat there. I usually eat their excellent vegetable quiche, salad, and coffee, but this time I had an equally excellent chicken salad sandwich, salad, and coffee. With a good meal in my belly I was set for some fun twisty roads, and this sign indicates that I was in for a treat. :-)

Looking Glass Falls is a very impressive waterfall right on the side of the road on US276 a bit north of Brevard; it's always a nice one to stop at.

I LOVE riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway; I once rode its 470-miles entirety over a 2-day span and would love to do so again. It's a very flowing, undulating strip of pavement with beautiful vistas along the entire stretch.

A bit east of Asheville I got on US74A south and rode it down to Bat Cave; 74 is another great twisty road, and I had a blast working my way down it. In Bat Cave I got on US64 west toward Hendersonville; 64 is another barrel of curvy fun but in a different way - its curves are of a larger radius with higher speeds, so they flow nicely and are a bit more relaxing to ride, but still plenty of fun.

In Hendersonville I got on US176 and took it southward to Tryon in search of a waterfall I had not previously visited, Pearson's Falls. It's one of the very few that I've visited that you have to pay to see, but it was well worth the $5 fee, and it goes to the Tryon Garden Club, which does a fine job of maintaining the grounds. I had a pleasant chat with the 2 Garden Club representatives manning the gate, and another pleasant chat along the trail with a couple who turned out to be from Columbia - small world we live in. :-)

Picturesque shot along the trail; the photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful lighting that I saw.

Do you see what I see in the following photo? I'll tell you at the end of the post what that is.

Pearson's Falls, the 52nd waterfall that I have visited.

Payne Street in Tryon.

I continued down US176 to Landrum, SC, where I had dinner at the Hare and Hound Pub. There was some good-looking pub fare on the menu, like fish and chips and shepherd's pie, but I was in the mood for a good, simple hamburger, so that's what I had, and I was not disappointed; it was big, juicy, and tasty, with some excellent fries on the side. I was tempted by some really good beers on tap, but being on my bike I had to decline; I was pretty parched anyway, and downed 3 or 4 glasses of water instead.

I pulled over and snapped one final photo on my way home.

The photo above that I stated I see something in it - it's a wolf's head; do you see it? Here it is again:

Crowders Mountain State Park and DCI FirstBeat

2010-07-10T17:42:00.001-04:00

On a recent Sunday I drove to the Charlotte, NC area to attend a drum corps event at Ft. Mill (SC) High School. Since it started at 7:00, and I didn't have other plans for my afternoon, I hit the road after church and spent the afternoon at Crowders Mountain State Park. I got there around 2:30 and first hiked the Backside Trail that leads to the top of Crowders Mountain. It is around 3/4 mile in length and pretty steep, so it is quite a good workout; the park map describes it as "strenuous," and I concur with that description.

Looking up at what I was about to ascend

I was wearing my Camelbak and drank quite a bit from it (every time I use it, I'm reminded that it was a very well-spent $25.) The view from the top was spectacular! I spent about 20 minutes up there just relishing the view and the quiet.

After getting back down I still around an hour before I needed to get moving toward Ft. Mill, so I hiked the Fern Trail, a gentle mile-long trail through the woods, and then the Lake Trail, a gentle mile-long trail around a lake (imagine that!) Both were nice and relaxing.

I then hit the road and headed to Ft. Mill, stopping for a bite to eat at a Subway just down the road from the stadium. By the time I got parked, walked to the stadium, got my ticket from will-call, and got seated, it was about 5 minutes until showtime ... perfect timing!

The show, as Drum Corps International shows almost always are, was a blast. From a prime seat near the 50-yard-line about 20 rows up I got to see 4 top corps (Cadets, Cavaliers, Carolina Crown, and Spirit), a smaller corp (Teal Sound), and two all-age corps (CorpVets and Alliance.) There is a cutoff age of 22 for the primary class, but there are around a dozen all-age corps that compete in their own class. They all put on entertaining and well-executed shows, and this was one of the very first events of the season, so they'll only get better from here!

Carolina Crown performing an encore after all the performances and score announcements. Corps traditionally use silver instruments, but Crown is using lacquered brass this year - looks sharp!

During the intermission I went down and browsed the merchandise booths for all of the corps and purchased a "last year's model" Cadets t-shirt in the bargain bin for $5. After the scores were announced and Crown performed a sideline encore, it was around 11:00 by the time I got on the road and around 12:30 when I got home. The next day at work was a little rough, but absolutely worth it. :-)

Chimney Rock

2010-07-06T22:01:00.003-04:00

Donna and I recently visited Chimney Rock Park near Asheville, NC; it is named for a 315-foot-tall granite structure that resembles a chimney. It's been on my list of places to visit for some time, and it recently came up in conversation at work, so I decided now was the time to go!

The first thing we did when we got to the park (after using the rest room :-) ) was hike a 3/4 mile trail to the base of Hickory Nut Falls, a 404-foot high waterfall. If you've seen the movie The Last of the Mohicans, the dramatic waterfall scene at the end of the movie was filmed there.

Some shots from along the trail leading to the waterfall:

I always really enjoy the moment when, during a hike out to a waterfall, I hear the first sounds of it and know I'm getting close.

A fellow visitor kindly offered to take our photo.

I decided to go in for a closer look; the cool spray felt really good on the hot day!

Once back from the waterfall we ascended Chimney Rock. There's actually an elevator that will take you to the top, but at the time we were there, it was stuck with people trapped inside it! So, we hiked the strenuous trail to the top; the extra effort made the view from the top all the better. Fortunately the folks got out, but at the top, so they had to hike down. Going down is certainly easier than going up, but it's still no picnic, and some folks weren't wearing the proper footwear for that type of terrain, but I think everyone made it down without incident ... all but one woman, who was shaken up pretty badly; I guess she had a panic attack; paramedics were brought in to assist her, and since the elevator wasn't operational, they had to ascend the mountain via the trail carrying all their gear. It was tough enough hiking up with no gear! The elevator was not going down anytime soon, so they had a specialized gurney with a huge pneumatic wheel that they were going to use to try to get her down. The park stopped allowing people to hike up, so the paramedics would have an unobstructed path for their descent. So, our timing was good in two ways: we didn't get stuck on the elevator, and we were able to hike to the top before it was closed. Crazy day at the park!

Some views from along the trail and from atop the chimney. This formation is pretty cool; it resembles a face, sort of like the old man of the mountain in NH.

Couple of lizards we encountered along the way:

After leaving the park we explored a few shops in the city of Chimney Rock. We bought some fudge, Donna bought a set of nesting dolls for a friend's birthday, and I bought a giant Asian fan to hang on the wall in my bedroom.

The river that feeds Lake Lure runs along Highway 64 through town, so we went down to it and wandered along it for a bit.

Hickory Nut Falls as seen from Highway 64.

And, what would a road trip be without eating at Cracker Barrel? So we ate at the one in Carl Sandburg's hometown of Flat Rock before heading home. It was a very good trip, and I would love to go back sometime. There were a couple of trails that were closed for maintenance, including one that ascends to the top of the waterfall, so I'll have to go again sometime and check those out.

Spartanburg

2010-06-26T18:55:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks back Donna and I drove to Spartanburg to see Angela Easterling and the Beguilers perform a free outdoor concert at R.J. Rockers Brewery. They are a local group that I recently enjoyed seeing at the Rhythm on the River concert series in West Columbia and was eager to see again. However, when we got to R.J. Rockers around 7:00, the time at which both their and Angela's websites said she'd start, an opening act was performing. I inquired and learned that Angela wouldn't be going on until 9:00, which would have had us getting home really late, so we ended up passing on the concert, but we had a good trip nonetheless.

En route to R.J. Rockers we visited the remains of Glendale Mills near Spartanburg, a site I visited earlier in the year that was worth another visit. It was a booming textile mill during the 1800's up through 1961. The grounds around the mill are a nice place for a stroll; it's built on the Tyger River, so it's nice walk up and down it, with a dam and old bridge spanning it.

We watched this blue heron catch a few fish for dinner.

From Glendale Mills we headed over to the Beacon Drive-In, where we had their barbecue. It was pretty good, though a bit unusual - instead of shredded, pulled, or chopped pork, it was cut into 1-inch chunks. The sauce was a bit like salsa, but the pork had a good, smoky flavor on its own, so sauce wasn't really needed. The plates were served "A Plenty," meaning fries and onion rings were heaped upon the plate, covering the meat underneath ... a second, empty plate is very useful. It was a fun experience, which is what the Beacon is all about. We were happy to see J.C., the order caller; he recently announced his retirement, so we didn't expect to see him there. It just won't be the same without him.

Sufficiently full, we headed into downtown. After visiting R.J. Rockers and deciding to pass on the music, we walked around for a while before heading home. There were several interesting sculptures made of bicycle parts on display.

This plaque is at the base of a sculpture ... good words by which to live.

Waterfall Adventure

2010-06-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

On the Sunday before Memorial Day I headed up into the northwest corner of South Carolina for a waterfall adventure. I visited 5 that I had not seen before and revisited one old friend. I left around 7:30 and headed up I-26 and US76 toward Westminster. Along the way I encountered this neat step back in time:

I encountered a fair amount of rain throughout the day, but thankfully most of it fell while I was driving (and I was in my car rather than on a motorcycle, so it didn't matter), and my hikes were for the most part dry.

The first one, Chau Ram Falls, is in Chau Ram County Park just north of Westminster. This is a good one for those not inclined to hiking, as you can literally park right at it. The park entrance fee is a reasonable $2 per car. There are hiking trails that will lead you to another 5 waterfalls, but since I had others scouted out for the day, I elected to save those for another day. Camping is available for $20 a night, so maybe I'll head back one day soon and camp and catch those other falls.

The next one was Riley Moore Falls, just a bit further up US76 and off Cobbs Bridge Road. The directions say to hike up 748-C, which I found not to be marked, but it's very near 748-B. It was a somewhat strenuous and lengthy hike, made additionally challenging by all the wet and slippery red clay caused by the rain, but it was well worth the effort.

I then continued a bit further up US76 to Brasstown Falls. It was a fairly easy hike, though scrambling to the base was a bit challenging. There are three other levels that are more difficult to access, so I passed on them but may have to return to seek them out.

Continuing even further up US76, almost to the SC-GA border, I next visited Reedy Branch Falls. It was a very short and easy hike, and an absolutely beautiful waterfall.

Next in line was Fall Creek Falls, a bit east of US76. The guide states that the upper falls can be seen from the road, but I found the view very lacking, so I descended the very steep terrain to get to the base. It was very challenging getting down and back up, compounded by the slick mud and leaves from the rain, but it was well worth it.

I ended up on SC28 to head homeward, and I passed the sign for Isaqueena Falls, which is another good one for those not inclinded to hike, as it's a very short and easy walk, and it's an impressive waterfall. Always worth the stop to see it, so even though I've seen it several times, I stopped to see it once more.

By then I was sufficiently worn out, so I meandered back toward Columbia, catching a few post offices for my collection en route and enjoying a much-deserved Cracker Barrel breakfast near Clemson. These five new waterfalls brought my visited waterfall count to 50.

Shawfest 2010

2010-06-03T22:04:00.001-04:00

On May 9 I headed over to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, SC for ShawFest, an annual open house and air show. There were all sorts of aircraft on the ground available for close inspection and many aerial demonstrations throughout the day. And the weather could not have been finer for spending a day outside!

It's amazing how complex even just the landing gear mechanism is.

Part of a team of 4 women skydivers.

Old meets new - a WWII-era P51 Mustang and a present-day F-16 flying together.

Look closely and you'll see a crazy wing walker on top of the plane.

The featured attraction was the Air Force Thunderbirds. Just a couple of weeks prior I'd gotten to see their Navy counterparts, the Blue Angels, perform in Charleston, so it was interesting to compare and contrast the two teams. Both were extremely impressive.

On my way out I captured my first military base post office for my collection!

The crowd was estimated at around 80,000, so departing was an exercise in patience. It probably would have been worthwhile to cut out a bit early, or either take a book and chair and enjoy an hour of reading before joining the queue.

It was a very enjoyable and well-run event, and I'll definitely plan on going again in the future.

West Columbia Car Show

2010-05-25T20:31:00.000-04:00

On May 8 I decided to head over to the West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater for the weekly Saturday night Rhythm on the River free concert, and en route I passed a car show going on in the Big Lots parking lot, so I stopped and wandered amongst the displayed cars for an hour or so before continuing on to the concert.

My dad had a GTO like this in his youth

Where's the engine?

In the trunk, where else? :-)

Similar to the car my family had while I was growing up and in which I learned to drive.

I love the 80's era Monte Carlo SS. The fact that this one was for sale was tempting. :-)

Classic car riding on a classic truck

The evening's entertainment, Angela Easterling and the Beguilers, a country/folk band whose music I enjoyed very much.

Blue Angels & Boone Hall Plantation

2010-05-17T20:04:00.001-04:00

On April 17 Donna and I drove to Charleston to see the Blue Angels perform and to visit Boone Hall Plantation. The Blue Angels performed over Charleston Harbor, and we watched from Patriots Point on the Mt. Pleasant side. We got there just in time for the beginning of the show, which ran from 2:00 until around 3:00. This was my first time ever seeing the group, and I was absolutely blown away by the speed, sound, and precision. Those F16s are LOUD! It was an incredible hour, and I had a grin in my face the entire time; I felt like a little kid!

Lots of folks watched the show from their boats

The U.S.S. Yorktown, on display at Patriots Point

From there we headed a few miles down the road to Boone Hall Plantation, which dates back to 1681. The nearly mile-long drive lined with live oaks was planted in 1743. What a vision it was to plant that! If only the planters could see it now.

The actual home is relatively new, built in 1936 to replace the older home that was in a bad state of disrepair. Being relatively new, it employees pieces and parts of various schools of architecture, making it a very interesting building. We toured the inside but were unable to take photos.

There is a row of 9 original slave cabins that date back to 1790 and a smoke house that dates back to 1750, all of which are in remarkable condition.

The slave cabins

And the smoke house

In its heyday, Boone Hall Plantation was home to the world's largest pecan grove, but Hurricane Hugo in 1989 wiped out the marjority of the trees.

A couple more shots from around the grounds; I love the undulating brick wall.

By then we had worked up a good appetite, so we paid a visit to Jack's Cosmic Dogs, the restaurant that, according to Alton Brown, "serves up the best hot dogs I've ever had. Ever." It's a tiny little place that's easy to miss if you're not looking for it, but it's certainly worth seeking out. The atmosphere is fun, the employees are very friendly, and the hot dogs are unique and very good. I had one with chili, onions, and some of their famous sweet potato mustard, which was very tasty, along with some of their excellent fries.

Not quite ready to head back home, we drove out to the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island for a bit of exploring. We stopped at the Sullivan's Island lighthouse, the most modern lighthouse in the U.S., built in 1962. It is so modern, in fact, that it contains an elevator!

We then headed over to Ft. Moultrie and walked around its grounds as the sun was setting. Little-known fact: Edgar Allan Poe was stationed here from 1827-1828.

That was the perfect way to wrap up the day, so, sufficiently worn out, we headed back to Columbia.

ECTA Speed Trials

2010-05-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

On April 10 my brass quintet, Excalibur, played at an outdoor wedding reception in Darlington, SC. It was held at a beautiful home on a really nice piece of property, and the weather could not have been finer. We played from around 11:30 until 1:00.

When we were finished there I headed north through several small towns, scoring a few new post office photos along the way. Just north of Society Hill on Hwy 401 I stumbled upon the grave of Abel Kolb, a murdered Revolutionary War Patriot.

I encountered this neat building mural in Bennettsville, SC, hometown of the Tom Haverford character on "Parks and Recreation." I love all the building murals around this state.

I then made it to Maxton, NC, where I went to watch the East Coast Timing Association speed trials. It is a sanctioned land speed record organization, similar to Bonneville in Utah, and they hold events a few times a year; I was fortunate that they ran on the day of the wedding, since the two are somewhat close. I saw a few cars break the 200mph barrier and a couple of motorcycles hit 260mph. I moved around between the start line, the "trap" where speeds are recorded, and amongst the queue and pits to see the vehicles up close.

One of the 260mph motorcycles

Another 260mph motorcycle

This guy broke 200mph

This one did not, but it was fun to look at. :-)

Another cool vintage vehicle

Didn't get to see this guy run, but I be he was seriously fast.

All told, a very enjoyable and productive day. And I ended up with cash in my pocket, since the wedding gig paid rather handsomly! :-)

Cypress Gardens

2010-04-29T17:23:00.001-04:00

The weekend of April 9 Donna and I visited Cypress Gardens near Moncks Corner, SC. It is comprised of a swamp full of lily pads and and cypress trees surrounded by beautiful vegetation, as well as a butterfly house and a swamparium. The entrance fee is a bit steep at $10, but it is worth it.

We started in the butterfly garden, where we were surrounded by lots of beautiful flowers and butterflies, as well as a wood duck wandering around, a goldfish and koi pond, and some guinea fowl and their chicks. Very nice display.

We then visited the swamparium, which is comprised of several aquariums containing various species of fish, amphibians, alligators and snakes. The alligator in these photos is a small one, but there was one that was absolutely monstrous; I couldn't get a good photo of him to depict just how large he was, but man - he was frightening!

This guy seemed pretty peeved.

We then walked a two-mile or so loop around the swamp. If you're so inclined, you can borrow a canoe for no charge and paddle through it. We did that the last time we visited but passed on it this time and just enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the perimeter.

This wall is from the grave site of the former owners of the land, the Kittredges.

After leaving Cypress Gardens we headed to the ruins of Biggin Church, easily found by heading north/east on Hwy 17 through Moncks Corner and then turning south on Hwy 402; the ruins will be right up the road on your right. The church was first built in 1711 and burned in a forest fire in 1755. A new building was built in 1761 and was burned by British troops in 1781. It was rebuilt once again and burned in yet another forest fire around 1890; the remains of the 1890 fire are what stand today.

There's a cemetery adjacent to the church with some pretty old graves, including the grave of Stephen Bull, the man for whom Bull Street in downtown Columbia is named. I really liked the simple inscription on this tombstone:

From there we continued down Hwy 402 and turned right on Dr. Evans Road, which lead us to Strawberry Chapel, built in 1725.

And one more church before leaving the area - we stopped to see the Taveau Church on Dr. Evans Road heading back to Hwy 402; it was built in 1835.

We were quite famished after our day of adventuring, so we headed up Highway 6 to Santee to eat at the Lone Star Barbecue and Mercantile, always a good place to eat, though I must admit, we were a bit let down with this particular visit. The prices have gone up, the formerly complimentary coffee is now sold separately, and the food wasn't of as good a quality as we're accustomed. I still recommend a visit there, as it is quite an experience, but I think I'll take a break from them for a while.

Augusta GA

2010-04-18T22:05:00.001-04:00

The weekend of March 26 Donna and I visited Augusta, GA for an afternoon; it's always a nice town to visit and isn't too far away. We first went to Magnolia Cemetery, quite large at 60 acres, and dating back to 1818.

From there we headed over to the river and walked along the riverwalk for a while.

And finally before heading home we ate at a favorite restaurant of mine, Beamies at the River, always a good place to eat.

Georgia Guidestones

2010-02-27T18:49:00.000-05:00

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.

Spartanburg Area Ride

2010-01-30T16:31:00.000-05:00

After a busy holiday season followed by weekends of less-than-ideal riding weather, I finally had an opportunity for a decent day ride last Saturday, so I took advantage of it and rode my VFR on an 8-hour, 300-mile journey up around the Spartanburg area. The forecast was for no rain and a high of 56, whereas in reality it ended up drizzling a good portion of the day and not exceeding 45 degrees. But, it was still comfortable riding weather, and I had a great time.

My main targets in the area were several post offices that I was missing in my collection and the Beacon Drive In, an institution that has been around since 1946. I'd heard good things from folks around here who'd visited it, and it was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives (watch the 8-minute video), so I knew I had to check it out in person.

Along the way I discovered a few interesting diversions that I did not know about - there are 3 historic homes in the Spartanburg area, none of which were open on that day, but their website indicates when they are open, so I'll have to plan a trip back to visit them.

This is the Price House, built in 1795; it's off of US221 (I-26 exit 28) on the south/west side of I-26.

In front of the Price House is a memorial to 3 Air Force pilots who crashed and died on the property in 1943; you can read more about it in this newspaper article.

I passed the entrance to Walnut Grove Plantation (home built in 1765) but did not see it, as it is off the road behind a tree line. It is also off US221, on the north/east side of I-26.

This is the Seay House, the oldest house in the city of Spartanburg, built around 1850.

I made it to the Beacon just as I was starting to get pretty hungry, which was a good thing, because their plates are HUGE! I got a cheeseburger "a-plenty." If you watched the video, you know what that means - a plate COVERED in very tasty fries and onion rings. Somewhere underneath all that I found an excellent cheeseburger. :-) Along with that I had a very tasty bowl of peach cobbler and a good cup of coffee, which really hit the spot after riding in cold drizzle all morning. It was really an experience, hearing J.C. call the orders and watching the incredibly efficient staff process a large group of customers quickly and accurately. It's much more than simply somewhere to go to eat - it's an experience.

The Mr. White referenced in the sign below is the man who founded the restaurant in 1946. The road on which the restaurant is located was renamed John B. White, Sr. Blvd in 1999; Google Maps still shows it as Reidville Road.

One of the things I love about South Carolina is all the building murals that can be found around the state; the one below is in the town of Cowpens, near the Cowpens National Battlefield, site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1781.

One of the post offices I sought out was Glendale, and adjacent to it was a nice suprise - the ruins of Glendale Mills, a textile mill from the 1800's.

The post office is housed in the old company store building, and many of the company houses that workers lived in still exist in the proximity.

I ended up visiting 15 post offices, taking my total to 496. That, along with 3 historic homes, the remains of an old textile mill, and a great meal at a very unique restaurant, made for a most excellent day of exploring.

Alamuchee Covered Bridge in Western Alabama

2010-01-23T19:37:00.000-05:00

While traveling to Mississippi to visit my family for Christmas, I detoured off of I-20 near the the MS-AL border to visit the Alamuchee Covered Bridge in Livington, AL. It was built in 1861 on the road that is now U.S. Highway 11 and was used by Confederate forces as a route to Mississippi during the Civil War. It has since been moved to the campus of the University of West Alabama and is now closed to traffic.

TubaChristmas in Newberry

2010-01-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

Every Christmas I look forward to participating in TubaChristmas, a nationwide event in which tuba and euphonium players get together to perform Christmas carols. There are regional events (South Carolina usually has about five around the state) on various days throughout the month of December, and we all use the same book of carols, which are arranged specifically for this instrumentation. Since 2001 I have been playing with the one in Newberry, SC, about 30 miles north of Columbia. Bill Long, the band director at Newberry College, does a fantastic job of organizing and running it every year.

We get together around noon at Newberry College and spend a little over an hour rehearsing around 15 carols, after which we load up and head downtown to Jeze Belles coffee shop to perform. It has become quite a tradition in Newberry, and the coffee shop never fails to be absolutely packed.

A few photos taken during our rehearsal; see if you can find me. :-)

And one that I shot while on stage at the coffee shop

2009 Mileage Summary

2010-01-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

This year I set a personal record for number of miles traveled: 39,461. 22,459 were via car, my second highest ever, and 17,002 were via motorcycle, my fourth highest, but more than the previous 2 years. Should have gone 5 more miles so my total would match my home zip code of 39466. :-) I used MileageTracker, an online application that I developed that is currently in use by 1600 people, to generate these graphs.

Thanksgiving in Mississippi

2009-12-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

Donna usually ends up working on holidays, so we rarely get to enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas together, but this year she managed to get some days off for Thanksgiving, so we headed to Mississippi to visit her folks. We first went to Jackson and picked up her mom, and the three of us then headed to Walls, just south of Memphis, where the rest of her family lives. We stayed with her aunt and uncle, and that's where we had Thanksgiving dinner.

Donna and her aunt and cousins decorating the Christmas tree

Her uncle and mom

One of the family's three cats

Wednesday night we headed into Memphis; we passed Graceland, which is quite a site at Christmas, all decorated with blue lights. I unfortunately didn't have my camera with me on that outing, though.

We headed back to Jackson on Friday and stayed there for the night. Her mom lives in Raymond, which is where we lived before moving to South Carolina, and it was good seeing some old sites, such as the cemetery across the road.

Confederate soldiers

Saturday morning we departed for a day in Starkville, the day of the "Egg Bowl" game against Ole Miss, which State ended up winning handily.

The YMCA / post office building

State troopers about to escort the Ole Miss team buses out of town

Dan Mullen, the former offensive coordinator at Florida, took over as our head coach this year and has shown tremendous promise.

This was our first time seeing the tree planted in memory of our band director, Dr. Sills. We also got to see Mrs. Lance, the current director, who was the assistant director while we were there; she gave us a tour of the new band hall, which is an amazing facility - much better than the old garage we used to rehearse in!

Harbison Lake

2009-12-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

There is a nice little lake in Irmo right off of Harbison Boulevard across the road that runs alongside Home Depot that is a nice place to go for a walk or run. I visit it occasionally and took my camera along the last time.

Poinsett State Park

2009-11-21T20:26:00.033-05:00

The weekend of November 13 I visited Poinsett State Park. Heading east on 378 toward Sumter, turn south on 261 and drive about 6 miles to the park. State park fees are usually very reasonable, but there is no charge at all for this one. It features a nice network of trails, and I hiked the 1.5-mile Coquina trail that encircles an old mill pond. The trail is named for a type of naturally-occurring limestone made of broken seashells; the bathhouse, built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is made of coquina. It was a good hike, and I'd like to return and check out some of the other trails.

Greenville

2009-11-17T21:24:00.001-05:00

The weekend of October 30 Donna and I made a day trip to Greenville, a city a couple of hours north of Columbia that we always enjoy visiting. We had a nice meal, enjoyed walking around the downtown area, and spent some time browsing around the Mast General Store, a must-see when visiting Greenville; it's a cross between an old timey general store and a modern outdoor recreation (hiking, camping, etc.) supply store. We recently got the very exciting news that they'll be opening a new location in Columbia sometime next year, and it'll be two blocks from my new office on Main Street!

There are seven small (about 3" in height) mice scattered around the downtown area, and it's always fun to stumble upon one. They're small, so they're easy to miss!

How cool is it to have a nice waterfall right in the middle of downtown?

Cool suspension bridge over the Reedy River.

Nice shot of Donna sporting her new rain slicker she'd just bought at Mast; she was needing one anyway, and the day was chilly with some drizzle, so it was the perfect day to get one.

My camera gives a green hue to lights in low-light situations, which actually makes for a pretty cool effect.

Riverbanks Zoo

2009-11-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

On October 18 my company sponsored a day at the zoo, treating employees and our families to complimentary admission and to a nice catered lunch. I always enjoy visiting the zoo, and it was fun to bump into coworkers along the way and visit a bit outside of work and meet their families. A few photos from the day:

Snowshoe, WV

2009-10-24T20:22:00.000-04:00

The weekend of October 2 I headed to Snowshoe, WV on my VFR for the MSTA Fall Colors Rally. I headed up I-77 to the Wytheville, VA area where I got on US219, which took me to Snowshoe. 219 was a nice scenic and curvy road that made for a very pleasant, flowing ride through the countryside.

An overlook along 219

Nice example of the character of 219

I stumbled upon the Indian Creek covered bridge near Union, WV. It was built in 1903 by a pair of brothers, aged 16 and 18!

US219 passes right in front of Pearl Buck's birthplace.

I rode through a cold, light rain for the last hour of the journey, but it wasn't too bad, thanks to my electric vest and heated grips. I got to the host hotel, The Inn at Snowshoe, around 6:00, and met a nice group of around 8 folks from Virginia, with whom I ended up hanging out for most of the weekend. We walked across the street to a really good restaurant and store, where we all ordered various pizzas; I had an excellent veggie pie. We got back to the hotel around 9:00, about the time my roommate Gary came rolling in from Roanoke. We all enjoyed an enjoyable evening of kicking tires and telling tales. By the end of the evening around 70 riders had made it into town.

Saturday we awoke to a beautiful sunny, albeit cold morning. A very hearty breakfast buffet was included in the price of the hotel, so we all enjoyed a nice, filling breakfast with several cups of coffee as we gave the temperature some time to climb a bit, as well as to give the deer some time to get away from the roads - there are TONS of deer in that area.

We got rolling around 9am and enjoyed a nice day of riding some spectacular rural roads, covering around 300 miles. We rode past a windmill farm, which was a pretty cool site.

We stopped for a break right across the street from them; they're HUGE!

We later stopped in Davis, WV for lunch at Shianni's. I had an excellent Italian sausage hoagie and two Saranac root beers. Saranac is a brewery in New York whose beer I love, and their root beer turned out to be just as good! Our group:

Cool rock formation and church built in 1855 seen during a stop later in the day.

Our hotel with a nice view behind it. Though it was the Fall Colors rally, we were a couple of weeks early for the peak fall colors, but leaves were starting to change, and it was still a very beautiful area.

Saturday night a bunch of us went over to the same restaurant, and this time I had a HUGE and very tasty hamburger. Had a good time visiting with everyone and looking around the store.

Sunday morning following another satisfying breakfast we all started heading homeward. Before leaving the area I explored a couple of local points of interest - first was the Cass Scenic Railroad. It is a logging line built in 1901 on which Shay locomotives from the early 1900's pull cars of tourists up the steep mountain line. The trips take from 2 to 4 hours, so I didn't have time for a ride, but I may have to allocate time in a future visit to the area. My timing was good, though, and I was able to see one of the Shays running as folks loaded up for a departure.

After studying the train and exploring the general store, I headed off to my main destination for the morning - the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank. It is home to the world's largest fully-steerable radio telescope; it is nearly 500 feet in height, and its dish is a massive 330 feet in diameter! A football field would fit in it with room to spare!

I took the tour, which started with a classroom session in which we learned a lot about radio astronomy, the observatory (which houses around a dozen scopes in all), and the big telescope. One thing that I learned that I thought was really neat is that they make all of their receiver components (in the part above the dish) on site using brass. Why brass? Because the receiver is cooled to nearly absolute zero using liquid nitrogen to nearly stop the movement of atoms in the receiver components, as that generates interference. Interference is a huge problem with radio astronomy, since practically everything electronic generates radio waves, which is exactly what they're trying to gather. That's why the observatory is out in the middle of nowhere in a nice valley. But they still are always battling interference.

After the classroom session we loaded up on a van for a tour of the grounds and to get close and personal with the big scope. All vehicles used on site are diesel, since spark plugs in gasoline engines ... yep, generate interference.

Photo taken from the base. Digital cameras were not allowed that close, but I had taken along a one-time use film camera I had lying around.

The first ever radio telescope, built in 1931, using wood and parts from a Model T Ford.

One final shot before leaving

On my way home traveling down I-77 I saw a hot air balloon off to the side of the interstate, so I exited to investigate. It turned out to be a gathering of balloon enthusiasts launching from a parking lot; there were around 6 of them. It was really fun watching them inflate and take off. I'd love to ride in one some day!

Sheldon Church

2009-10-18T18:19:00.001-04:00

On September 27 I enjoyed a day ride on my Ninja down in the southern part of the state. I wound my way down toward Beaufort, hitting a few towns whose post offices I was missing in my collection, and I then got on Highway 17 in Yemassee and rode it to Charleston; it's a nice road that, especially on roads that branch off of it, showcases the beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry.

It passes right by some really cool church ruins that I've visited a couple of times before, but it's always nice to visit again; it's the Sheldon Church, completed in 1755, burned by the British in the Revolutionary War, rebuilt, and burned again by the Union in the Civil War.

The area around the church is beautiful with lots of old trees and moss. There are also several pretty old graves on the grounds.

If you find yourself headed down I-95 toward Savannah, do yourself a favor and make a short detour to visit it; take exit 33 and head east on 17 about 8 miles; there's a brown sign indicating the left turn, and it's only a mile or two from there. Parking is alongside the road out front, and there is no fee.

Beidler Forest

2009-10-10T23:52:00.000-04:00

The weekend of September 25 I visited the Beidler Forest near Harleyville, SC, about 60 miles south of Columbia. It is run by the National Audobon Society and is an old-growth swamp forest. It is inhabited mainly by bald cypress and tupelo gum trees; the big cypresses are around 1000 years old, with the oldest being around 1500 years old - the second oldest in the world!

There is a 1.75 mile boardwalk that meanders through the forest.

Lots of wildlife live in the area and are often spotted, but I didn't see much more than a few small birds, a couple of spiders, and a couple of turkeys. But the trees, swamp, and solitude and serenity were plenty enough to make it a very worthwhile trip.

This one looks like an animal's foot to me

Several downed trees are out there as a result of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

On my way home I drove through Holly Hill and had dinner at Sweatman's Barbecue, a joint featured in a barbecue book of mine as well as on hollyeats.com. Their pork was very, very good, their slaw was pretty good, their hash wasn't all that great ... and that was about it! No sides other than hash and slaw. So, though their pork was excellent, I was pretty disappointed overall, with so little to choose from. But, it was still a decent stop, and I left full. On my way home from there I was treated to a beautiful sunset and pulled over for a final photo for the day.

Historic Brattonsville

2009-09-17T22:40:00.003-04:00

The weekend of September 11 Donna and I visited Historic Brattonsville near Rock Hill, SC. It is an area containing around 30 structures dating back to the 1760's and was the site of the Battle of Huck's Defeat in the American Revolution, one in which a group of Patriots defeated a much larger and superior group of British. We had a great time roaming the grounds and checking out all the various buildings, ranging from slave cabins to kitchens, barns, etc. to large homes, many of which we were able to enter and explore.

Moss on shingles.

This must be quite a cool place for a cat to live; we saw 4 around the grounds.

In addition to the resident cats, there are a few sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens living on the grounds.

We took the long way home and stopped at the Monticello Reservoir to watch the sun set; Donna snapped this awesome shot.

One of mine, not nearly as good as Donna's.

Indianapolis MotoGP

2009-09-11T23:08:00.008-04:00

Over the weekend of August 28 I attended the second annual MotoGP motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I left home on Thursday morning on my VFR and had a nice 650-mile ride up to Indy; with the exception of light showers throughout Tennessee, the weather was great. I bumped into some fellow riders at a rest stop in KY who were also en route to the races, and I had a good time chatting with them for a while.

A fellow I know through a motorcycle club lives adjacent to the track and offers camping and parking in his yard, so on Thursday night I camped there, along with a fellow member on the Ninja 250 forum, Ryan; he is from Sacramento and is in the midst of large journey around the U.S. and Canada, and I had met him just a few days prior when he stopped through close to Columbia and we met up for breakfast.

I got up early on Friday morning and walked across the street to the track (how nice is that?), found a vendor selling coffee, and headed to the stage where the rider interviews were to begin at 9:30. By getting there early I claimed a coveted spot along the fence that later during the interviews afforded me the opportunity to get the autographs of all the riders! The interviews were really enlightening; they shared a lot about their personal lives and their approaches to racing. All very cool.

Australian Chris Vermulen and Italian Loris Capirosi

Loris signing autographs

Valentino Rossi, 8-time world champion and considered by many to be the best motorcycle racer ever. Yep, got his autograph, too. :-)

After that was over I met up with Ryan for lunch, and we then spent the afternoon checking out exhibits and watching practice action on the track. The 125cc and 250cc classes enjoyed a dry track, but rain started just as the big 800cc MotoGP machines went out for practice. Fortunately, that was the only rain we'd see all weekend.

Rossi zooming by

Following the day's activities I headed over to the hotel where some of my friends from Michigan and I had rooms reserved. After getting checked in we walked over to a steakhouse for a nice dinner and camaraderie.

I awoke bright and early Saturday morning, showered, went downstairs for a nice breakfast, and then headed back to the rooms, knocking on the doors to make sure my friends were awake, and they opened the doors with one eye barely open, so I told them, "See you at the track!" :-) Enjoyed a beautiful day watching qualifying action and spending more time at the manufacturer and vendor exhibits, and in the afternoon caught up with Ryan and another Ninja 250 forum member, Kevin, from Illinois. Yamaha had one of Rossi's former bikes set up and were taking photos of people sitting on it, so I jumped on that opportunity! I've seen a few MotoGP bikes up close, but sitting on one (especially Rossi's) was a rare treat.

Following the day's action on the track, one of the riders, James Toseland from England, and his band Crash treated the fans to a nearly 2-hour set on a stage adjacent to the track. They played really well and were very entertaining; it was a fun two hours. James is on the right, singing and playing the keyboard.

I met the MI crew back at the hotel, and we walked down to Red Lobster for dinner, where I enjoyed their endless shrimp; I tried the battered, Cajun, and Teriyaki varieties, all very tasty, served with some excellent rice pilaf and a good salad.

Sunday morning we gathered for breakfast in the lobby and headed over to the track to secure a good location for watching the races. On Friday and Saturday I had watched from various vantage points, some pretty close to the track, but for watching racing action, we chose up high in the northeast corner, which afforded a good view of the final several corners leading into the front straight.

Nice view of the Indy skyline

All 3 races were exciting, with several fierce battles going on throughout all of them. In the MotoGP race, my guy Rossi took the lead early on but unfortunately crashed out about midway through. The 2 American racers finished 3rd and 5th, though, so that was good to see.

After saying goodbye to my friends and packing up, I headed west about 90 miles to Turkey Run State Park where I camped for the next two nights. I got my tent pitched and just took it easy for the evening, reading a bit and visiting with some fellow campers. I met a motorcycling couple from St. Louis and an older gentleman from not too far away who'd recently gotten back into riding after a lengthy hiatus.

Monday morning I awoke to 45 degrees (burr!) and got in about an hour of hiking before heading out for my day's adventure. The park was a very extensive network of trails that explore some really neat geologic formations; exploring it as the sun was coming up was the perfect way to start the day.

Following my hike I embarked on a covered bridge mission; western Indiana, and specifically Parke county, is an area rich in covered bridges. I was out for around 8 hours, covered around 200 miles (about 50 of which were on dirt roads), and visited 20 covered bridges! I was able to ride over most of them, though a few are closed to traffic due to declining structural integrity. Western Indiana is a very rural region with lots of farmland, most of which is corn fields.

Though it was certainly way cool seeing 20 covered bridges in one day, I found that they all looked pretty much the same. I guess it's because they were architected and bullt by the same small group of individuals. But, that didn't detract from the appeal of the adventure.

The inner arch was a common design element, though not all the bridges use it.

Heron enjoying the solitude

Western Indiana is an Amish region, so you have to be mindful of carriages in the road; I encountered 3 or 4 in my travels.

I've never been to Illinois, and I was pretty close to the state line, so I made a 20-mile loop into IL so I can add it to the list of states I've visited. :-)

Monday night I enjoyed a nice dinner at a local eatery called The White Horse Cafe and another relaxing evening at the campground. Tuesday was the 725-mile ride home, which, though it was all interstate, was nice nonetheless.

You can find all my photos here. Be warned that there are a lot! :-) But they are grouped by category to aid browsing.

AMA Superbike Races at VIR

2009-08-25T21:01:00.000-04:00

The weekend of August 15 & 16 I headed to Virginia for the AMA Superbike races at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). I got rolling around 7am Saturday morning and made it to the track around noon. Shortly after arriving I met up with my friend Hanna who used to live in Columbia but now lives in Raleigh. It was really good to see him again, and we enjoyed watching the racing action and checking out all the sights throughout the afternoon.

Cool thing about AMA racing this year is that fans can wander amongst the bikes prior to the races.

A few actions shots; several more are in my photo album linked to at the end of this post.

Lots and lots of bikes there.

My next car. ;-)

Always fun to wander amongst the pits and see mechanics working on the bikes.

After leaving the track I took the long way to my hotel and explored a bit. I found some neat curvy back roads, a few new post offices for my photo collection, and a great barbecue joint in Danville called Short Sugar's. I spoke to the owner and inquired about the name, and he explained that 3 brothers who served together in WWII decided to open a BBQ restaurant when they got home, and that they did. Two days before it opened, however, one of the brothers (nicknamed Short Sugar) died in an automobile accident, so the other two named the restaurant in his memory. Two possible explanations for his nickname is that he was short, and a girlfriend called him her "short sugar;" the other is that he worked in the kitchen while serving, and the sugar supply was always coming up short, leading some to believe he was swiping some to use in making moonshine. :-) Whatever the case, the food and service were great.

Sufficiently stuffed I continued meandering toward my hotel and in the process drove over the Dan River at the site of a dam built in 1876.

I got to the track Sunday morning and watched warmup action from various vantage points and also checked out a display of old bikes; one of them was running while belching smoke and dripping oil, but it was cool to see and smell it run.

I left the track around 5:00 Sunday afternoon and got home around 10:00. Great weekend of racing action!

Here are all the photos that I took.

Cool and Zany Stuff in SC

2009-07-29T20:18:00.004-04:00

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.

Georgia Aquarium

2009-07-07T21:45:00.005-04:00

On July 3, 2009 Donna and I visited the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta; it is the largest aquarium in the world in terms of volume of water, with over 8 million gallons. It has more than 100,000 animals of 500 species. Yet with all that, it is designed very well and is easy to navigate. It is divided into 5 sections, each radiating from the center like a star.

In addition to the aquarium, they currently have a temporary Titanic exhibit with many interactive displays, photos, and nearly 200 artifacts recovered from the wreckage. It is a very impressive exhibit.

We arrived around 4:00 to find a massive crowd; we initially thought we'd have a lengthy wait, but we managed to get in pretty quickly. We first spent a couple of hours in the Titanic exhibit (no photography allowed, so nothing to show) and then took a break and enjoyed a bite to eat and a cup of coffee from their onsite eatery. A jazz group was performing out in the center section, so we were able to enjoy them a bit while eating and as we moved from section to section.

We then visited each of the 5 sections from around 7:00 until closing time at 10:00. It was all very impressive, but the creature that stood out the most to us was their 8-foot wide manta ray; this aquarium is one of only 4 in the world to house a manta ray, so seeing one is quite an opportunity. The pictures just don't portray just how large this guy is.

The manta ray:

These spider crabs were huge! About 3 feet in width.

A parting shot of downtown Atlanta before we headed home:

Virginia Highlands Camping Trip

2009-07-06T20:36:00.002-04:00

On June 25-28 I traveled to southwestern Virginia for the annual Virginia Highlands camping trip with Daryl, his wife Sheila, their friend Tyrone, and their dogs Lexie, TT, and Bubba.

En route I stopped and visited Linville Caverns; you may recall from my previous posts that I'd planned twice before to visit there but both times foul weather foiled my plans, but this time I finally made it. It wasn't quite as spectacular as other caves I've visited, but it was still pretty cool and definitely worth the visit. It was discovered in the early 1800's when fishermen noticed fish swimming in and out of what appeared to be solid rock; they discovered the opening that led to the underground stream, and further exploration led to the discovery of a magnificent cave system.

From there I headed on to our camping spot in the Jefferson National Forest, riding along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while.

Camp:

Ninja out of its usual habitat:

This year was similar to years past; we cooked breakfast and dinner each day over a camp fire and just enjoyed the natural beauty and solitude and the cool temperatures (daytime highs were around 80.) We were fortunate this year to have no rain at all; we usually have a few showers, and one year we had a massive storm.

Daryl cooking:

Breakfast is served!

On Friday Daryl and I headed into Wytheville to buy groceries, and we stopped to visit Skeeter's World Famous Hot Dogs, where we had a really good slaw dog and Coke in the bottle. It was a very neat little restaurant with lots of character, great food, and very friendly staff. Woodrow Wilson's wife was born in the building in 1872.

On Saturday Daryl and I headed over to Grayson Highlands State Park to hike up to Wilbur Ridge; we attempted this 2 years ago but had to cancel due to a nasty storm. This time we made it. It was a pretty strenuous hike of about 7 miles round-trip over rocky terrain. About 2 miles of the hike each way was on the Appalachian Trail. At the top of the ridge we took a much-deserved break and enjoyed the lunch we'd packed.

Our destination:

Heading up the trail

Closeups of our destination

We made it!

On the way back, we encountered several wild ponies that live in the area.

As always, a great camping trip, and the side visits to Linville Caverns and Wilbur Ridge made it all the better. Here are all the photos that I took.

Florence, SC

2009-06-28T20:34:00.002-04:00

On June 18 I took a day off work and Donna and I made a day trip to Florence, SC to eat at Red Bone Alley and to explore a bit.

We stopped by the Florence Museum of Art, Science, and History, but the building was locked despite several cars being in the parking lot. They should have been open according to their website, and I later sent email inquiries to two addresses I found on their site, but I have received no replies.

Though we couldn't go in, we enjoyed a pleasurable walk around the grounds, where we saw this propeller and sundial.

After leaving the museum we drove around for a while looking at houses and such, and we passed by this little schoolhouse used by Henry Timrod, the poet laureate of the Confederacy.

This angel was in a cemetery we visited.

We also visited a national cemetery.

Florena Budwin, the first woman to be buried in a national cemetery, is buried here. She enlisted in the Union army disguised as a man during the Civil War so she could be with her husband. They were captured and sent to Andersonville, where her husband died. She was later transferred to Florence, and her gender was finally learned during an examination when she became ill and shortly thereafter died right before the war ended. Her grave is isolated from the others; it's a bit sad that despite her efforts to remain with her husband she is now separated from him.

By then we had worked up a pretty good appetite, so to Red Bone we headed. There used to be one in Columbia that we enjoyed eating at occasionally, but they unfortunately closed. So we then ate at the one in Sumter occasionally when we would visit Swan Lake, but it also closed, leaving only the original location in Florence. It was every bit as good as I remember; their steaks are super juicy and have a nice citrus taste from marinating in citrus juice. Yum!

There was a Books-A-Million next door, so we browsed for a little while before heading back to Columbia. A book on the bargain table, The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor, caught my eye right as we entered, so I bought it, and it has turned out to be pretty good.

Blue Ridge Parkway Waterfall Trip

2009-06-28T20:28:00.002-04:00

On June 14 & 15 I embarked on a journey on my VFR to visit some waterfalls that I had not yet seen. I sat down Saturday night and decided where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see and then headed out Sunday morning. I headed up I-26 and US276 toward Caesar's Head and stopped to visit Wildcat Falls near where US276 and SC11 split. The lower falls is visible from the road, so I've seen it many times, but I recently learned that there is a much larger waterfall just a bit upstream, so this time I stopped and headed up the half-mile trail to see it. The trail leads past the remains of an old CCC house:

Here is the upper falls:

And the lower falls visible from the road; smaller, but prettier:

Next stop was Raven Cliff Falls, near Caesar's Head; there is a parking area a mile north of the visitor's center, and a 2.2-mile trail beginning across the street leads to an observation area. It was a fairly easy hike and was very nice and relaxing.

A couple of shots from the trail:

I saw a white squirrel along the way. I've read about these in the area, but this is the first time I've ever seen one in person; he didn't stick around long, so I got only one blurry shot of him.

At around 400 feet in height, Raven Cliff Falls is quite majestic.

I continued up 276 towards Brevard and stopped to visit Connestee Falls and Baston Creek Falls, which are about halfway between the state line and Brevard; they are accessible via a short trail that starts at the Top of the Falls Realty office. The observation area is at the top of Connestee Falls, and you look across at Batson Creek Falls.

Looking down Connestee Falls:

Batson Creek Falls:

I continued into Brevard and stopped for lunch at a favorite restaurant of mine, Quotations Cafe, where I had my usual meal of vegetable quiche, salad, and coffee. Very fine meal and relaxing stop.

I then continued up 276 to the Blue Ridge Parkway and went south on it a short distance to view Yellowstone Falls, which is visible from the Parkway.

Cool shot along the Parkway:

I then retraced my steps and headed north a few miles to the Mt. Pisgah Campground where I pitched my tent for the evening. It's a very nice campground with good facilities at a very fair price; I'll have to camp there again.

Once I had my tent up and had put my feet up for a bit and re-energized, I was ready to embark on a hike, and at the recommendation of the ranger I headed up the Frying Pan Firetower trail. It was a decent uphill hike covering around a mile and a half. At the top is the firetower that is open to climb, so I did that and was treated to an incredible 360-degree panoramic view.

Here's the tower as seen from the road level, from where I started my hike.

After getting back to my bike I rode out and back about 20 miles on the Parkway; this is the tunnel-rich section, so I went through around 10 tunnels on the way out, went through them again on the way back, and then one more time the next morning when I left, so around 30 tunnel passings total.

Finally back at the campground for the evening following a very full day, I got in some reading while munching on fruit and granola bars. Once it got dark around 9:00 I listened to a bit of NPR in my tent, catching interesting interviews with the inventor of Tetris (who admits he's not terribly good at the game) and a guy who heads a group of folks who pore over satellite imagery of North Korea looking for items of interest (though Kim Jong Il is an avid and talented golfer, they have found only one golf course in the country) and then drifted off to sleep with little effort.

Monday morning I awoke around 7:00 and broke camp and packed up. A nice thing about camping at that campground is that right across the Parkway is the Mt. Pisgah Inn and restaurant, so I went over there and enjoyed a very good and fairly-priced breakfast before hitting the road.

I rode about 100 miles on the Parkway and stopped at Little Switzerland to visit Grassy Creek Falls (very easy to find; exit the parkway, drive underneath it, and take the first right, a well-packed gravel road - you can either drive down it 3/10mi and park or just park right off the main road if you don't feel like messing with the gravel and walk a bit further.) It was a nice 1-mile hike down to the waterfall, following the water for a while. The waterfall turned out to a really nice one, my favorite one of the trip, actually.

Just as I was about to start heading back to my bike, rain started falling. It wasn't too bad at first but quickly became a heavy downpour. I briefly contemplated seeking shelter and waiting it out, but I figured it may last for quite a while, and honestly, with the temperature where it was, the thought of riding soaked wasn't too unappealing, so I soldiered on. The hike back to my bike was uphill (I alway prefer to get the work done initially so I can then have an easier return, but that's often not the case) but at least the rain cooled me a bit. Fortunately I keep a Ziploc bag in my camera case, so putting it in there kept it nice and dry. Got back to my bike to find my jacket and gloves and helmet soaked, as was the rest of me, but I just suited up and headed on. A couple of bikers seeking shelter under the Parkway overpass watched me the whole time; they probably thought (rightly so) that I was a nut.

I continued down the Parkway toward my next planned destination, Linville Falls and Linville Caverns. Rain fell the whole way, plus I encountered some fog, so visibility was not very good at all, but I kept my speed down and made it OK. It was a good test of the anti-fogging abilities of my new helmet, and it performed very well.

It was still raining when I got to Linville, so I passed on by; that'll have to wait for another day. This is the second time I had to abort that visit; a couple of years ago I had planned on visiting there following the anuual Virginia Highlands camping trip, but heavy fog on the Parkway changed my mind. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Shortly after getting off the Parkway the rain came to an end, and I enjoyed some good dry riding down 221 to I-40; right before getting on I-40 I passed through Old Fort and saw a sign for the Andrews Geyser, so I detoured a bit to check it out; it was built in 1885 and is powered by water delivered via gravity from a lake 2 miles away; it shoots 80 feet into the air.

From there I rode NC9 to Bat Cave (a favorite twisty road of mine.) In Bat Cave I got on US74, another fun twisty road, and rode up to I-40 and back, and then rode US64 to Hendersonville, where I stopped for a much-needed break and meal and coffee.

Not 5 minutes after getting back on the road, rain started again. I'd already survived one soaking for the day, so I just carried on and got soaked again. The rain lasted about an hour, leaving the final hour or so of my journey dry and sunny, and by the time I got home I was pretty well dried out.

This turned out to be a great trip that was devised rather last-minute. I saw 6 waterfalls that I had not seen before plus an old favorite again (getting my total number of falls visited to 45), plus a geiser, and I got in some great riding and around 12 miles of hiking.

George L. Smith State Park, Georgia

2009-06-07T18:13:00.001-04:00

On May 30 I rode my VFR to the George L. Smith State Park near Statesboro, GA to visit my eleventh of Georgia's 16 covered bridges. This one is unique in that it is not just a bridge, but a bridge and mill in one. The structure is built atop a dam, through which flowing water turns a turbine that runs the mill. Built in 1880, it served as a grist mill, sawmill, and cotton gin through 1973. In 1998 work was done to resume the functionality of the grist mill, and it continues to grind corn.

Charleston - Spoleto and Drayton Hall

2009-06-06T18:39:00.004-04:00

Donna and I made an overnight trip to Charleston May 28-29; our primary reason for the trip was to see The Punch Brothers perform at the College of Charleston's Cistern Yard as part of the Spoleto Festival. We left Columbia around 5:00, and with a stop at a Cracker Barrel along the way for some dinner, we got to the area a little after 8:00 and were seated around 8:30 - perfect timing. We sat next to a nice couple from Charleston who were both pharmacists, and we had a nice time visiting with them until the show started. As always, the group put on a spectacular show, and the backdrop was beautiful. The weather cooperated nicely; we were spared from rain and enjoyed a gentle breeze throughout the evening. This was one of my favorite concerts of theirs that I've attended.

On Friday we visited Drayton Hall, just a few miles from downtown. Its construction was completed in 1742, and it was passed down through 7 generations before being sold to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Both the Colonial and British forces used it as a staging ground during the Revolutionary War. It is preserved, not restored, meaning that it is in very nearly the same condition as when it was acquired, with a good deal of it dating back through the years to its creation. It is bare, with no furniture, since it is not restored, and that helps to showcase the house for what it is without furnishings to get in the way. It's a most impressive home, and it is in incredible shape.

Hand-formed plaster ceilings

Intricately carved mahogany

Look how thick the walls are! An important part of why it has survived so well for 270 years, including surviving the 1886 Charleston earthquake and several hurricanes.

Beautiful grounds to accompany a beautiful house

Swan Lake on Memorial Day

2009-06-04T19:53:00.003-04:00

On May 25 Donna and I visited Swan Lake and Iris Gardens in Sumter, one of our favorite places to visit. It's not very far from Columbia, and it's free! The irises were in bloom, which is often not the case, as many of our visits end up being during the fall and winter. Not much to say; just enjoy the photos. :-)

Landsford Canal State Park

2009-05-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

A couple of years back Donna and I visited Landsford Canal State Park near Rock Hill, SC (blog post here) and really enjoyed it, so we recently visited again the weekend of May 22. From the park's website:

Stretched along the Catawba River along the South Carolina fall line, the park is home to the well-preserved remains of the canal system that made the river commercially navigable from 1820 to 1835. Locks, a mill site and the lockkeeper’s home are among the numerous intact structures from that era.

Out in the river is one of the largest known stands of rocky shoals spider lilies, tough plants that hang tight in the swift water and bloom spectacularly in a huge blanket of white in late May and early June.

The spider lilies were in full bloom:

The hike along the river was nice.

Look closely!

Lots of well-preserved masonry from the canal and locks.

We always enjoy seeing herons. I like the fact that they're solitary and elusive creatures.

After leaving there we visited Glencairn Gardens in downtown Rock Hill; it is a very nice park with lots of vegetation and flowing water.

Before heading home we had dinner; we never eat at Shoney's, but for some reason the last time we visited Rock Hill we ate there and enjoyed it and had the best server ever, plus Donna likes their strawberry pie, so we ate there again on this trip. Another good meal and server, and Donna had her pie again (a freshly-baked one, at that), so next time we visit, Shoney's again it will be. :-)

The Space Shuttle Launch

2009-05-26T23:07:00.000-04:00

I've always wanted to see a Space Shuttle launch in person, and I was able to do so on May 11! I was planning on riding down to St. Augustine, FL the weekend of May 16 for a vintage motorcycle show, and in reading up on the area, I learned that a Shuttle launch was planned for May 11 just a bit further south, and I lamented that the two were not closer in time so I could do both. But I then realized that I go to motorcycle events all the time and will have plenty more opportunities to go to more, but a Shuttle launch would be something new, and I may not have another chance to see one, so I decided pretty much spur-of-the-moment to ride down for it instead of the motorcycle show.

I left home on Sunday morning and made a straight shot down I-26 and I-95 to the Cape Canaveral area. It was a very toasty ride - my thermometer registered 97 degrees for most of it; I was really glad I'd decided at the last minute to take my Camelbak. The trip was around 450 miles and took around 7 hours. I had reserved a site at the Manatee Hammock campground in Titusville, just across the Indian River from the launch site, so I checked in and got my tent pitched and enjoyed a nice, relaxing afternoon. I strolled around the campground a bit and enjoyed some time on the river bank and out on the pier. There was a strong breeze blowing over the water, so it was much cooler there and a welcome respite from the hot ride down.

My campsite

Monday morning I awoke with a hankering for a big Cracker Barrel breakfast, so I set out in search of one. I had an enjoyable 60-mile ride and eventually found one ... just a couple of miles from the campground. :-) But, the ride was nice, and breakfast was even better.

I got back to the campground around 11:00 and gathered up my stuff (chair, binoculars, camera, book) and headed out to the river bank where everyone staying at the campground congregated to watch the launch. I enjoyed kicking back and getting in some reading and wandering around and visiting with folks. I chatted for a while with the guys who were camping next to me; they had just graduated from an arts college in New York City and had flown down primarily to see the launch.

As the 2:01 launch time approached, clouds started moving in, and we all started getting antsy about a delay, but everything went according to schedule. If I had to describe the event with one word, it would be bright. Photos and videos just do no justice to how bright the flame is. We were about 10 miles from the launch pad, so the craft was sufficiently into its journey before we heard anything, which was pretty wild. When we did hear it, though, it was a very loud, very low-pitched rumble. We probably had about one minute of viewing time before it was gone, but it was a very thrilling one minute, and one that I'll never forget.

The crowd quickly dispersed, somewhat akin to a sporting event or concert ending ... show over! It wasn't long after the launch that the rain started, so I lounged in my tent during that, reading and dozing a bit. Very relaxing.

By the end of the afternoon the rain was pretty much over, and I headed into town for dinner; I ate at El Leoncito, a Mexican & Cuban restaurant, where I had the classic Cuban dish Ropa Vieja, consisting of spiced shredded beef, black beans, and plantains. It was very tasty, especially the plantains; I could have eaten an entire plate of them.

Following dinner I rode down to Cocoa Beach, home of the Ron Jon Surf Shop; I spent some time exploring it and the Cocoa Beach Surf Shop, which featured a large aquarium stocked with several species of fish, including a pair of sharks.

Encountered the Cape Canaveral post office on my way back from Cocoa Beach

Made it back to camp around 10pm. Listened to some tunes and drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday morning I was packed and on the road by around 8:00. I stopped by McDonald's for a quick breakfast and chatted with a fellow rider who had his BMW touring bike parked outside; he turned out to be a NASA engineer who works on the International Space Station, so it was pretty cool talking to him. He got a big kick out of the fact that I'd ridden 450 miles to see the Shuttle launch.

On my way down I'd seen a sign for the Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse near Daytona, so on the way home I detoured and checked it out. Recalling how hot it was Sunday afternoon, visiting it Tuesday morning was a wise choice. It was built in 1887; at 175 feet, it is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest masonry lighthouse in the nation. 200 steps lead to the top, and I ascended them and was treated to a terrific view. In addition to the lighthouse, there are some other buildings on the grounds, such as the keepers' houses, the oil house, and the pump house.

You can see my motorcycle down in the parking lot.

Looking down

Looking up

The ride home was much cooler than the ride down. Whereas it had been around 97 degrees on Sunday, it was only around 75 for most of the day on Tuesday. I drained my Camelbak on Sunday and barely touched it on Tuesday. Good journey home with a coffee and lunch break at Chick-Fil-A somewhere in Georgia. Made it home around 6:00; total mileage for the trip was around 1100 miles.

Barber Superbike Races - Birmingham, AL

2009-05-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

The weekend of May 1-3 I made my annual pilgrimage to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL for a weekend of AMA Superbike racing action. I left Friday morning and stopped in Atlanta to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Park, which is comprised of the home in which he was born; Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he was a pastor and where his funeral was held; Fire Station Number 6, which was an important part of the community from its building in 1894 through 1991; the King Center, housing some of his personal effects; an interpretive visitor center; and his and his wife's tombs. It was a very educational and inspirational visit; we have certainly come a long way since Dr. King's time; we still have a ways to go, but I think he'd be happy to see just how far we've come.

His birth home:

I got to the track around 3:00 and got checked in - like last year, I worked as a volunteer, which is a pretty sweet deal - for 4 hours of work, you get a weekend pass for yourself and another for a friend, a cap and t-shirt, and a meal voucher. I scored an extra meal voucher, so that covered dinner for the evening; I enjoyed it while watching qualifying action. I also checked out the vendor area; it can get really busy on Saturday and Sunday, so exploring it on Friday was the way to do it.

A historic bike; Dick Mann won the 1970 Daytona race aboard it:

A new Bass Pro Shops was recently built literally next door to the track, so I spent a couple of hours checking it out. All those stores are big, but this one seemed bigger than usual; it was great fun exploring. While enjoying the fish tank, none other than Roger Hayden (a racer) and one of his mechanics joined me at the tank! I figured he was wishing to be an average joe for the evening, so I didn't bug him ... I just enjoyed the moment. :-)

Had a nice, relaxing evening at the hotel reading newspapers and watching a bit of TV and then turned in not too late so I could get up early the next morning to report for my shift.

I awoke about 10 minutes before my alarm was set and so had plenty of time to get ready and walk next door to BK for a biscuit and coffee. Then drove to the track, checked in, and headed up to the will-call ticket building where I was working. The flow of people waxed and waned depending upon the weather - the morning ended up bringing lots of rain off and on - it was a good time to be working indoors! During the course of the morning we got to see some excitement right in front of our building when a fellow decided to get huffy when a law enforcement officer asked him to move his bike. It escalated to the fellow shoving the officer, which led to him being floored and cuffed mighty quickly by the officer. Some people.

The afternoon brought clear skies and good racing action. I watched from several vantage points around the track and also spent some time walking around the paddock checking out the equipment, the mechanics at work, and a few racers, including Roger who I'd seen last night at Bass Pro Shops.

These guys seemed oblivious to all the action and noise.

Upon leaving the track I headed into downtown Birmingham to explore a bit. I visited Vulcan, the world's largest cast iron statue; it stands 56 feet tall on top of a 124-foot pedestal. I climbed to the top of the pedestal, from which there is a magnificent 360-degree view. A comical bit of info is that his backside is bare. :-)

View of Birmingham from the top:

Continuing the nude statue theme, I next sought out Electra, a 23-foot tall statue atop the Alabama Power Building.

I drove around downtown a bit more enjoying some nice architecture and stopped to savor the beautiful First United Methodist Church built in 1891.

I then headed back to the hotel, and upon arriving I was surprised to hear the tornado sirens going off! I tuned in to the weather and learned that there was some nasty weather just north of me; wall clouds and some cyclonic activity had been spotted. Fortunately it stayed north of where I was, but just barely. I was glad I was not camping!

Sunday morning I awoke to learn that there was an 80% chance of thunderstorms, with strong ones predicted, for the day. Didn't sound like a good day to be at the track, and I'd actually gotten my fill of action from the previous two days, so I decided to enjoy a leisurely drive home instead. As mentioned in my previous post, I'm on a mission to visit all of Georgia's 16 covered bridges, and I sought out my tenth, Howard's Bridge, just east of Athens. It was much more secluded than the last one I visited, and so fortunately wasn't marred with too much graffiti.

From there I took secondary roads back to the interstate in Augusta. I passed through Washington and stopped for lunch at a really neat little deli on the town square. I enjoyed a really good sandwich and cup of coffee while reading a bit and enjoying the breeze.

Stumbled upon this guy not too far from Washington:

I got home around 6pm, which was much better than the midnight it would have been had I stayed for the races. I checked in to see how that went, and a tornado warning had been declared at the track; the grid was cleared and the spectators were told to seek shelter. The first race finally ran after a delay, though it was shortened due to rain; I'm not sure if the other two races were run. It was a good decision to head on home.

Helen, GA

2009-05-05T14:46:00.010-04:00

The weekend of April 24-26 I rode my Ninja to Helen, GA for a Motorcycle Sport Touring Association (MSTA) rally. I departed Columbia around 9:00 on Friday morning and took secondary roads the whole way. I stopped in Toccoa, GA to visit Toccoa Falls, which turned out to be much more impressive than I was prepared for!

Closer to Helen I stopped at the Tallulah Gorge overlook where I enjoyed the scenery and a very refreshing 8oz Coke in the bottle ... nothing else like 'em. :-)

One more stop right before Helen was the Stovall Mill covered bridge in Sautee. I'm on a mission to visit all 16 of Georgia's covered bridges, and this made number 9. It's a beautiful bridge that is unfortunately severely defaced with graffiti.

I got to Helen around 5:00, right before my friend Daryl from Cincinnati arrived. Several folks were already there, and more were arriving. I got checked in and then milled around catching up with old friends and making some new ones.

One especially interesting fellow I met had ridden all sorts of long journeys and had a handful of photos showing his routes, one of which was a ride of the perimeter of the lower 48 states; he rode all the way around, staying as close to the border as he could; that sounds like a fun trip.

We broke up into small groups for dinner, and my group walked to a nearby German eatery called Hans, where I had a good meal of Bratwurst, potato salad, and sauerkraut. The rest of the evening was spent kicking tires and telling tales with the other rally attendees.

On Saturday we broke up into small groups and headed out to ride for the day; north Georgia offers very scenic as well as tight, technical roads, which are great fun to ride on a motorcycle. Daryl and I made a clockwise loop with Helen being at about the 4 o'clock position. We had planned on finding somewhere in Dahlonega for lunch, but as we got close, we realized it wasn't too far out of our way to head down to Gainesville to visit our friend Phil at the Hickory Pig. Eating there has become an annual tradition when we attend the WERA motorcycle races at Road Atlanta in October. He makes the best barbecue and sides you've ever had, and he throws in a healthy dose of entertainment to supplement it. As always, we had a wonderful meal (I had a pulled pork sandwich, Brunswick stew, and "Nanner Pudding" as spelled on his menu board) and many good laughs.

From there we headed to Amicalola Falls State Park, home to a very impressive waterfall with a walkway built right over the base which gives a stunning perspective of the power of the water. The trail leading down to it was built with ground-up discarded tires, which is a really ingenious and environmentally-friendly use of them, as well as the perfect product for a durable surface that offers good cushioning and grip.

After visiting the waterfall we rode up to the lodge at the peak and kicked back on their porch overlooking the vista below and enjoyed a nice, quiet breeze. That, combined with Phil's barbecue, caused me to nod off a bit; it was very relaxing, and I really enjoyed the break.

After that we were ready to carve up some more curvy roads (and one gravel road that we stumbled upon in the course of a shortcut.) We made it back to the hotel around 5:00 after having covered around 225 miles.

Saturday night was pretty much a repeat of Friday night - camaraderie around the hotel, then off to dinner in small groups. My group went to, of all places, a barbecue joint. :-) It's called the North Georgia Barbecue Company, and it was actually very good barbecue and a better (and less expensive) meal than Friday night's. I had a plate of pulled pork, slaw, beans, apple pie, and a good ole Barq's root beer (the only brand worth drinking, IMO.) I ate with several folks I did not previously know and had a great time getting to know them; one of them was a fellow attending the rally from Toronto, Ontario! He was quite a ways from home.

MSTA rallies always conclude with acknowledgments and door prize giveaways, and I won a big one ... a free hotel night at next year's rally!

Sunday morning we all headed home, and before I got out of the Helen area I stopped to visit Anna Ruby Falls, a double waterfall.

I next visited Tallulah Falls State Park, home of the Tallulah Gorge that I had gotten a glimpse of from the overlook on Friday. I explored it up close and personal this time. It is home to five waterfalls, which are visible from many different angles, so in my photos you will often see one later in the series that you saw earlier, just from a different angle.

I got out of my motorcycle gear and donned my shorts, hiking shoes, and Camelbak and grabbed a couple of granola bars and some grapes, all of which turned out to be very wise, as it was a pretty strenuous hike. All told it was about 3 miles including 1100 steps descending to the gorge floor; it took around 2.5 hours start to finish. All very much worth the effort; it was truly stunning! Here are some representative photos of the waterfalls, but the entire collection contains many more.

After hiking part of the north rim trail, I headed down the steps to the suspension bridge, which was cool, but a bit unnerving, as it would really get to moving when someone else would walk across it! I then descended the remainder of the steps to the floor and then climbed up the steps (all 1122 of them) to the south rim trail and hiked it to the dam, walked across the dam back to the north rim trail and finished it, ending up after a circular journey where I began.

That was enough adventure for the day, so from there it was pretty much a straight shot home with a quick meal stop. Total mileage for the weekend was about 750 miles. It was a great rally, and I look forward to attending again next year (with one night's hotel bill on the house!)

Here are all of the photos I shot.

Charles Towne Landing

2009-04-26T18:53:00.006-04:00

On April 17 Donna and I visited Charles Towne Landing just outside of Charleston, the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Carolinas, started in 1670. We had visited there once before shortly after arriving in South Carolina, and we had been looking forward to visiting again. Once again, we enjoyed it very much. There are several pieces that add up to make it a very neat place to visit: the historical aspect; a visitors' center with many exhibits conveying the history; an animal forest that represents animals that lived in South Carolina during the time of the settlement; a reproduction of a 17th century sailing vessel; and beautiful grounds with a nice trail network.

Some photos from the animal forest:

Bison. These creatures are HUGE!

A tom turkey strutting his stuff

Nice view of the Cooper River bridge in the distance.

The sailing vessel, The Adventure

Self-portraits

Nice shot by Donna

Cool old-style lock. There were several of these around the various buildings and on-board The Adventure.

Beautiful grounds

Cormorants

Donna photographing the cormorants. :-)

Gator and friends

Neat vegetation

After departing Charles Towne we went into Charleston proper for a few hours before heading home. We had an excellent dinner at The Noisy Oyster and spent some time walking along the water and visiting the market and other shops in the area. Donna snapped a neat photo of a container ship with a sailboat nearby. The sailboat was likely pretty large but sure looks small compared to the container ship.

Lynches River County Park and Schoolhouse Barbecue

2009-03-23T20:36:00.004-04:00

On March 20, 2009 Donna and I visited Lynches River County Park near Effingham, SC. It is a nice, well-maintained park that features a mile-long trail through the woods and a quarter-mile boardwalk that follows the river.

After enjoying the trail and boardwalk we found a cozy nook to sit and read for a while. We then headed down the road to Scranton, home of Schoolhouse Barbecue, a barbecue restaurant housed in a schoolhouse built during the 30's as part of the WPA. They had good food, and that, coupled with the atmosphere of the old schoolhouse, made for a really enjoyable visit.

Cowboy Junkies Concert in Asheville

2009-03-14T20:20:00.004-04:00

Over the past couple of years I've become a big fan of the Canadian alt-country band, The Cowboy Junkies; I have bought several of their albums and a couple of concert videos, and I listen to them all the time. They don't tour much these days, and when they do, they play primarily in the northern United States and Canada, so I didn't figure I'd ever get a chance to see them. Around the end of January I just happened to check their website to see what was going on, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that they were playing in Asheville the following weekend, on February 8! I bought my ticket right away and started counting down to the 8th. All seats were general admission, so I wasn't stuck with a nosebleed seat by buying so near the date.

On that Sunday I headed up to Asheville following church and got there around 2:00. My first stop was The Dripolator coffeehouse for a most excellent BLT, home fries, and cup of coffee. Sufficiently fueled, I parked and explored downtown on foot for the duration of the afternoon until close to showtime.

A cool wall mural:

Two beautiful churches across the street from each other:

A group of college-age kids had set up a mat and a music system and were doing some breakdancing; I joined in with a pretty large crowd and enjoyed their incredible action while also enjoying a hot Blenheim ginger ale I'd just picked up at the Mast General Store.

Neat cat sculpture:

The concert was in a cool venue called the Orange Peel.

The concert started at 8:00, and the doors opened at 7:00. Since it was only a couple of blocks from downtown proper, I wandered down around 6:00 to see if anyone was down there yet, and there were about half a dozen folks, so I joined in with them - since all tickets were general admission, it was first-come, first-served. I had a magazine with me, so I read a bit and chatted with the others. More and more people started showing up, and by the time the doors opened, there was quite a lengthy line.

The doors opened, and it was a mad dash to grab seats. I scored one on the front row, third seat from center! I sat between two die-hard fans who'd been to several concerts, and I had an enjoyable time visiting with them before the show started.

The Junkies performed an excellent show; it was surreal seeing them just feet in front of me performing songs that I've grown to love over the last couple of years.

Lead singer Margo Timmins

Her brother Mike, the guitarist and primary songwriter.

Bassist Alan Anton

Mike, Jeff Byrd (mandolin, harmonica), Margo, her brother Pete on drums, and Alan

I got to meet Margo afterward and got her autograph. :-) I got home around 2:00am, slept a few hours, and made it to work on time Monday, slightly groggy, but with enough excitement from the previous night to help me through the day. :-)

Orlando

2009-02-10T20:23:00.003-05:00

Donna's clinic sent her to the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, FL January 16-19, and I tagged along. We left On Friday the 16th and arrived at around 7:00. After checking into our hotel, the Comfort Suites adjacent to Old Town in Kissimmee, we enjoyed a tasty steak dinner at the nearby Logan's Roadhouse.

While Donna did conference stuff during the day on Saturday and Sunday, I got out and explored. On Saturday I found myself in Celebration, a small community within Kissimmee; it has a neat little downtown with neat shops and restaurants.

One of many Ferraris and Ducatis that we saw - sure don't see many of these in Columbia.

There was a lake in the middle of Celebration that I enjoyed walking around, and I happened upon a mother duck tending to quite a handful of little ducklings.

I bought an incredibly tasty oven sub from a little pizza joint and sat next to the lake and enjoyed it while enjoying the warmth of the sun and a gentle breeze coming off the water. Several birds were likewise enjoying the beautiful day, including this fellow.

I was able to add a rather unique post office to my post office photo collection.

From there I headed into downtown Kissimmee where I encountered the Monument of States, a sculpture comprised of rocks from all 50 states and several foreign countries. I managed to find the representative stones from South Carolina and Mississippi.

That night we explored Old Town, an interesting collection of shops, restaurants, and amusement parks rides. Except for the rides, it is similar to the market area of Charleston. We had a pretty good dinner at Kool Katz Grill & Pub and then enjoyed checking out the shops. I was tempted by the go cart track but never got around to getting on it. :-) We caught a neat drive-through of classic cars; there must have been around a hundred that drove through.

On Sunday while Donna was doing conference stuff I explored downtown Orlando and paid a visit to the World's Largest McDonald's.

I enjoyed driving around Orlando and surrounding towns and discovering a few new post offices to add to my collection. The architecture down there is certainly different than what I'm accustomed to.

Sunday night we ate at a really great Mexican restaurant, Garibaldi, which sounds more like an Italian restaurant, but it was definitely Mexican. Great food and decor.

Monday before heading home we checked out the vendor exhibit section in the main conference convention center (3 convention centers were utilized - this was truly a HUGE conference.) There were tons of vendors; it was hard to believe that there were two more vendor areas! We saw Annemarie Lucas from Animal Planet's "Animal Precinct" representing the ASPCA.

En route home we did one of our favorite things to do when traveling: stopped for a meal at Cracker Barrel. :-) It was a fun weekend getaway.

Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg, SC

2009-01-31T21:01:00.008-05:00

On January 9 Donna and I took an afternoon drive out around Sumter and Camden. I had just learned of the burial site of Joel Poinsett and wished to visit it, so that was the only real destination, and from there we explored a bit and found a couple more neat places.

Poinsett is the man for whom the Poinsettia flower is named, as he is the one who introduced it to our country. In November we visited a bridge near Greenville that is named for him. The church where he is buried is beautiful and is just a short piece north of Hwy 378 on Hwy 261, just west of Sumter.

A pair of buzzards was perched atop the steeple for a while.

We continued up Hwy 261 to the town of Boykin, which is really a step back in time. There is a functioning mill, a general store, a broom-making shop, a couple of restaurants, and the Swift Creek Church, built in 1827. The shops had closed down for the day, so we just enjoyed a drive through and a visit of the church.

Continuing north on 261, just north of Hwy 378 is the burial place of General Thomas Sumter; it is in a small "park" along with the graves of a few close family members that is accessed via a short road off the main road.

We saw this little guy out there:

Before heading back toward Columbia we drove through Camden and headed up Hwy 521 to the Camden Battlefield, site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1780. Not much to see other than a monument - no trails that I know of.

We managed to squeeze quite a bit into those few hours! Very fun adventure.

Cokesbury College and Payne Institute near Greenwood, SC

2009-01-14T21:18:00.004-05:00

On January 10 I made a 250-mile ride on my Ninja up around Greenwood, SC. Just north of Greenwood I discovered a community that I had not visited before, Cokesbury, named for Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, the first two Methodist bishops in the United States. In that community is the remains of Cokesbury College, built in 1854, which first served as a girls school and then as a boys school until 1882 when it became co-ed; it remained operational until 1954.

Down a narrow road adjacent to the college is a monument to the Payne Institute, which was the predecessor to Allen University in Columbia.

I passed over Lake Greenwood as I was leaving the area and saw a huge flock of gulls resting on the docks.

It was a great day of riding, with a couple of neat historic discoveries!

Brookgreen Gardens December 2008

2009-01-11T18:37:00.006-05:00

The weekend before Christmas Donna and I visited Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC to enjoy their annual "Nights of a Thousand Candles" Christmas display. It is a beautifully-landscaped collection of outdoor sculptures and is a neat place to visit at any time, but it's a special treat at Christmas.

On our way to Murrells Inlet we visited Kensington Mansion, which is about halfway between Columbia and Sumter. It was completed in 1854 and is in excellent shape and fully decorated with period furniture. We enjoyed a tour by a very knowledgeable and friendly guide. No photos were allowed inside, but we took several on the grounds.

We stayed in Georgetown, a few miles south of Murrells Inlet. The first night we just took it easy, going out for a nice dinner downtown followed by a walk along the river.

Saturday we knocked around the area a bit until 3:00, Brookgreen's opening time during the Christmas display. We had a couple of hours of daylight to enjoy the sculptures unlit.

Then around dusk the lights started coming to life and musical ensembles began performing at various locations around the grounds; our favorite was a brass quintet from UNC.

It's a really amazing place at night; all the walkways are lined with candles, and all the bodies of water have candles floating in them. Electrical lights augment the candles.

On Sunday we headed back to Brookgreen primarily to visit the zoo (as if the huge sculpture garden isn't enough, they have a very nice AZA-accredited zoo!)

We spent most of the afternoon at the zoo and then a bit more time enjoying the sculptures before calling it a weekend and heading back to Columbia. Brookgreen is a must-see if you live anywhere close. It's great at any time, but especially at Christmas.

All the photos that I took are in this album: http://www.payneseal.com/photos/brookgreen-dec-08/

Redcliffe Plantation and Phinizy Swamp

2008-12-13T19:34:00.008-05:00

On August 29 Donna and I visited Redcliffe Plantation and Phinizy Swamp, both just outside of Augusta, GA. I failed to post about this trip immediately following, but I figure better never late than never; plus, seeing some vegetation in bloom is a welcome thing now that we're in the midst of winter!

We first went to Redcliffe Plantation, which was built in 1859. Tours are offered, but we were too late to catch one, but just roaming the grounds was fun, and we saw some pretty things, and some unusual ones, such as giant patches of mushrooms:

And this oddly-formed tree:
There were some very pretty flowers scattered about:

Though we could not go in the main house, we were able to go into the slave quarters. They were small and simple, but nice and well-built.

The main house. Interesting porch - houses of that time period were usually symmetric with a porch that spanned the entire front or wrapped around both sides, but this one has an asymmetric L-shaped porch.

This little fellow was hanging out on the porch:

The horse stable:
We next visited the Phinizy Swamp. It was hot and humid, but it was well worth it to view some gorgeous scenery.

Peachtree Rock Preserve

2008-12-05T20:19:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, so I went out to a favorite place of mine not too far from where I live, Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve, for a 2-mile hike. Nice place to meditate and give thanks for my many blessings. Not much else to say, so here is an album of 13 photos that I took along the way.

Greenville, SC November 8,9 2008

2008-11-23T20:47:00.016-05:00

On November 8 Donna and I headed up to Greenville to catch a Punch Brothers concert that evening and just to get away from Columbia for a bit. Upon making it to Greenville we first enjoyed the awesome salad bar at Jason's Deli and then headed into downtown where we wandered around checking out stores including our always favorite Mast General Store. There are nine small bronze mice scattered around downtown, so we kept our eyes out and spied a few.

We encountered two really great samples of sidewalk chalk art.

We enjoyed a stroll through the Reedy River Park and enjoyed seeing all the ducks swimming around and the waterfall. Pretty cool to see a waterfall right in the middle of downtown.

We ate dinner at the Overlook Grill which overlooks the park and the waterfall. We started with some tasty spinach and artichoke dip before moving on to a pair of large, tasty quesadillas. We had just a little extra time after dinner before the concert began, so I grabbed a cup of coffee at Spill the Beans (Starbucks is right across the street but do yourself and the local merchants a favor and buy the superior local product) and enjoyed it as we browsed an art gallery and a Michelin store - first one of those I've ever seen! It featured all sorts of merchandise (shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) emblazoned with the Michelin logo. They also had the LSU-Alabama game playing, and we got to see the down-to-the-wire ending in which Bama ultimately claimed the win.

Then it was time for the concert! As usual, Donna got us stellar tickets on the third row. The guys performed an incredible set, even with a new bassist who has been with them for just a couple of weeks! They play extremely technical music, but the new guy jumped in head-first; you'd think he's been with the group for some time.

The next day we headed up the road a piece to visit the Poinsett Bridge, built in 1820; it was designed by Robert Mills, who designed the Washington Monument, and named for Joel Poinsett of Charleston, a statesman for whom the Poinsettia is named. It is in incredible shape for being nearly 200 years old.

Shot of the road heading back to civilization:

After a quick bite to eat we then headed to the zoo for a bit. Greenville's zoo is small but nice.

This little baby orangutan was a hoot to watch! He was running around playing, rolling down the hill, getting in and on his cardboard box, messing with the adult male, etc. We must have watched him play for 15 minutes.

By then we were pooped and ready to head home, so we did just that, making it home around 7:00pm. What a fun couple of days! I always enjoy visiting Greenville and look forward to our next trip.

Day Ride to Augusta, GA

2008-11-01T21:15:00.011-04:00

I enjoyed a nice day ride on my Ninja to Augusta, GA today. En route I passed a pond, and a heron in the distance caught my eye, so I stopped for a couple of photos.

As I continued on I encountered an old church in Beech Island, SC, James Brown's hometown; I stopped for a bit to enjoy a quiet moment around the church, a fountain on its grounds, and some pretty vegetation.

I then continued on into Augusta and stopped at a favorite restaurant of mine, Beamies on the River, where I enjoyed an awesome Cuban sandwich and fries while watching some of the Michigan State - Wisconsin game.

Following my excellent meal I walked along the river for a bit and caught a black kitty on the prowl and some pretty azaleas.

Right after leaving I encountered a terrible accident just a block down from the restaurant; the speed limits on these roads are low; one or both cars must have been flying, or the SUV just very top-heavy, to flip it over.

Before getting out of town I encountered another pretty church.

WERA Motorcycle Races in Atlanta

2008-10-14T21:24:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I made my annual trip to Road Atlanta for the WERA Grand National Finals / Suzuki Cup motorcycle races. I left Columbia Saturday morning and enjoyed some nice scenic and curvy backroads as I headed toward Suches, GA.

I met up with Daryl, Rob, Keith, and Marie, all from Cincinnati, at the Two Wheels Only resort in Suches.

We hung around there for a short period before heading down to Gainesville for dinner with our buddy Phil at The Hickory Pig. If you've never eaten there, run - don't walk - to Gainesville! You'll enjoy all the incredible barbecue and entertainment you can handle! Phil is absolutely full of great stories, and he and Little Bit, his assistant, will treat you to some great Karaoke afterward.

We hung out and kicked tires at the hotel Saturday night. Sunday morning we enjoyed a pretty decent hot breakfast offered at the hotel and then headed to the track. Racing action didn't start until noon, so we had some time to wander around the pits to view the bikes up close and talk to some of the racers.

The racing action was good all day. We moved around between three sections of the track, each giving a unique view of the action.

At the end of the day we headed to our traditional post-race restaurant, El Pacifico, for another excellent dinner (though not as good and certainly not as entertaining as The Hickory Pig.)

We enjoyed another night hanging out at the hotel telling stories and kicking tires and then packed up and headed home Monday morning. As always, a fun trip! Here are all of the photos that I took.