Happy Chanukkah '11

Happy Chanukah from our home to yours.

Golfing Tupelo Bay 11'11

Bruce talked me into playing nine holes of golf with him at Tupelo Bay. The course is a par three public course in the heart of Myrtle Beach.  But because it is off season, we had the place to ourselves.  Golf is more fun when it is just the two of us and we aren't being rushed.

Exploring new trails in Huntington Beach SP SC 11"11

Bruce and I took a walk in Huntington Beach State Park today.  I had hoped to get some reference photos but the lighting was not good.  Just the same we did find some interesting new vistas that we hadn't seen before. We followed a dirt service road and found that it led all the way through the park to the park's southern boundaries.

Then we took another trail from behind the visitor center through the woods.  It led to a dock on the fresh water marsh. ( I had always wondered how one got to that dock).

 We also walked out the full length of the new salt marsh board walk starting  the Nature Center

 The shadows had started to lengthen and the scenery was getting more interesting It wasn't hard to imagine how much nicer it would be early in the morning or late in the evening  when there was more birds, or reflections.

 Today walk has opened up a whole new areas for photography.  I just have to wait for the light to be right to take reference photos.

Celebrating CC's Birthday at High Cotton '11

 In celebration of my birthday

  Bruce took me to Sunday Brunch at the High Cotton Restaurant in Charleston, SC

The Restaurant is reknown for its fine Southern cuisine and great atmosphere

We chose to eat in the Lounge... The menu selections are same as their main dining room

Bruce had their Crab Cakes Benedict (Fried green tomatoes, lump crab cakes, two poached eggs, hollandaise, and grits).

While I chose a Mixed  Grill Medley YUM!

And best of all, we were closer to the live jazz combo

  which was playing  my favorite Dixieland tunes

High Cotton Charleston

199 East Bay St. Charleston, SC 29401 

Phone:(843) 724-3815 / Fax:(843) 724-3816

Seagrove Pottery Festival '11

To celebrate my birthday Bruce took me to  the Seagrove Pottery Festival in North Carolina

Artists had started telling me  about Seagrove NC almost as soon as we had moved to South Carolina, so I was  well aware that this is a well established pottery center.  And I knew that Seagrove's pottery tradition dates back to the 18th century before the American Revolution. Many of the first Seagrove potters were English and German immigrants. They primarily produced functional, glazed earthenware. Due to the high quality of the local clay and transportation access for traders, Seagrove became known for its pottery.  But  what I wasn't prepared for the how important  the craft is in the area.  There are even large state funded signs along the  freeway telling travelers they are approaching   the "pottery capital of North Carolina".

Seagrove is notable for its many potteries, and it is sometimes referred to as the "pottery capital of North Carolina", or even the pottery capital of the world. In this usage, the name Seagrove not only refers to the town proper, but includes several other communities that are part of the pottery tradition along and near the North Carolina Pottery Highway. Over 100 potteries  shops and galleries are located in Seagrove  with even more potters located in  the neighboring towns of Star, Whynot, Westmoore, Happy Hollow, and Robbins..  So many  potteries are located along NC Hwy 705 or its side roads,that the state to designate Hwy 705 as the official “NC Pottery Highway".  Seagrove is also home to the North Carolina Pottery Center, which was established on November 7, 1998 and has since received visitors across the continent and around the world.

And once or twice a year tall these potters come together to hold a pottery festival.

This year the festival was being held on the playground of the local elementary school.

The school buildings blocked my view of all but the driveway to the festival, but the lack of  parking within a mile in any direction gave a strong hint of how large and popular this event was going to be.    Three humongous circus style tents stretched 3/4 of the way around the school playground.

Food and beverage tents took up the remaining side of the lot, while craftsmen demonstrating skills like raku firing, throwing, and glazing , filled in all the gaps in between.

Inside the tents we were met with an amazing  meld of  pots and people as far as the eye can see. Most of the pottery was functional, but even that came in every color shade, form and and texture  known to man

Others, while still useful, relied on their decorative appeal

Some combined pottery with crafts like basketry and woodworking

 While others were so non-functional that they could be termed fine art craft

 For those who had the time and the money to bid,  a silent auction 

offered  something for everyone's taste.

And what did I buy?, you ask.   A teapot of course.  

After all it was my birthday.

Potter, David Edwards, holding the teapot we purchased from him.

Seagrove NC and surrounding areal '11

As a special birthday treat Bruce took me to see the Seagrove Pottery Festival in North Carolina. But the pottery wasn't the only treat in store for me that day.   The scenery on the  trip itself was right out of an artists dream.

Now I know that with a name like Seagrove, you must be thinking ,

"this place is on the coast, right?"

Wrong! the Community of Seagrove, NC  is almost dead center of the state.

The town itself is small --- really only  a coffee shop convenience store and a post office on a single intersection surrounded by miles and miles of beautiful rolling farmland.  Every where you look there is some interesting and colorful building ( many of them are in use as pottery studios)

And then there are roads that lead off  seemingly aimlessly

which in reality are local shortcuts to other community gathering spots ..

like this general store which seems to be the entire town of "WHY NOT" .

It would definitely be worth a return trip just to be able to explore the area more thoroughly.

Georgetown UPS Store swalled by Sinkhole '11

A few blocks of Highway 17 in Georgetown are closed indefinitely after a building located near a sinkhole collapsed late Thursday night.  

The Frasier Street building collapsed just before 11:00 p.m. Thursday. No injuries have been reported. The building , Which housed a UPS store and a Marine Corp Recruiting station, has fallen about 15 feet into the ground at Parrish Place on North Fraser Street in Georgetown. 

No  other buildings have been affected by the  sinkhole, but an Allstate Insurance building is very close to the damaged area.  And since the UPS store fronts onto Highway 17, investigators have closed off part of Highway 17 near the destruction. Officials say the road closures are a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of citizens and motorists. Fraser Street from Highmarket to Front Street is also closed. Northbound traffic will be rerouted to Hazard Street and southbound traffic is being rerouted to Merriman Street.

Chesapeak Bay '11

Another highlight of our visit to Virginia was a trip across the Chesapeake Bay on a ferry.  

Now that was impressive.  The Chesapeake Bay  is the largest estuary on the East coast of North America.  When you are in the middle of it, you can’t see either shore.  It looks and feels like an ocean.

Visiting with the Neighbors: Wily Coyote 11'11

We were driving out of the plantation very early  this morning .  What what do we see crossing Pawleys Plantation Way  from the 10th fairway,  the but a large healthy coyote.   It even stopped  after it crossed the street to look back at us as we shown a flashlight on it.  Then it trotted off into the darkness. 

We could hardly believe our eyes.  We'd heard from the local naturalists that there were coyotes in the area,  but I hadn't expected to see one in my back yard.  Sure glad we've been keeping Kat indoors at night.

Crowder Mountain Golf Course

Right next to Kings' Mountain is Crowder Mountain SP NC... 

Hiking trails link both Crowder and Kings MountainState Parks,

 And around them sit a number of small communities 

with beautiful old antebellum houses 

and historic buildings

Clinging to the flank of Crowder Mountain, with beautiful views of the mountain's 150 cliffs  beyond is the Crowder Mountain Golf Club.

This course's claim to fame is that it has the most challenging hole in the world.  Crowder Mountain's  Hole #5  is a downhill tee shot, across a pond,  into a very small green with very little tolerance for inaccuracy.

 Both Bruce and I enjoyed the challenge that this par three mountain course offered, but  we equally enjoyed the lack of crowds and the beautiful surrounding scenery..

For more views of this challenging but beautiful course go to

http://www.golfholes.com/nc/crowders-mountain.htm

Kings Mountain, SC '11

This weekend we are visiting King's Mountain State Park, SC

 and its sister site, Crowder Mountain SP NC

King's Mountain

It's the site of a famous Revolutionary War Battle that changed the course of the war In Oct. of 1792, the American Revolutionary war hero, Col. William Campbell  successfully led the patriots against  Lt. Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis, commander-in-chief of the British army in the South.The Kings men had encamped on the top of the mountain, Campbell's troops used the cover of the forest to sneak up on them, but then they had to battle their way to the top while climbing up the exposed escarpment.  The patriots victory  at Kings Mountain SC was one of the most important events recorded in modern history.

Of course we too had to hike to the top of the King's Mountain

The trail is short but steep and. for the most part the trail is well shaded by the forest canopy, but the last several hundred feet are straight out rock climbing.  I kept reminding myself, that William Campbell's men had to climb the escarpment while battling Cornwallis' troops, so I had nothing to complain about.

    Eventually we both made it to the top of the peak

It was well worth the effort

The views were breathtaking in all directions

and we were really happy to find we could  both still climb a mountain,
 even if it is only  1705' high!