Burly Bill's BBQ : 9'16

You know you are in the South when the best BBQ pork is served from the back of a trailer.

What can I say ITS (Its the South).

Visiting South Carolina's Upstate Parks: 9 '16

Table Rock Mountain East Face

We had fund today exploring some of South Carolina's Upstate Parks.  Our first stop was at Table Rock State Park. The Park is named after the Massive Granite Mountain that dominates the park's landscape. Legend has it that local Indians believed that the rock was the table for a giant, and the smaller mound to its right the giant's stool.   The likeness is a little more obvious when the mountain is viewed from the west. Either way it is a lovely State Park, with lots of lakes,streams, and hiking trails of all levels of difficulty.

Table Rock Mountain viewed from the rear

Caesar's Head Overlook

Next, we stopped at Caesar's Head State Park.  A granitic  outcropping atop the dramatic Blue Ridge Escarpment gives Caesars Head State Park its name. The easily-accessible overlook atop the rocky peak of the Blue Ridge Escarpment allows a spectacular view that extends into North Carolina and Georgia.  Caesars Head connects to Jones Gap State Park in what is known as the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, an 11,000-acre area of pristine southern mountain forest. Hikers can take a number of loop and traverse hiking trails that connect the parks, and trail side camping is available for those who choose the longer routes.  We were content today just to take a few photos and move on to Jones Gap State Park

Jones Gap State Park is located on the scenic Middle Saluda River and is part of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. The Park offers trails, camping, and some of the finest trout fishing South Carolina has to offer. The trail to Rainbow Falls was closed while we were there ( due to some heavy rain we had a couple of days ago), but we were happy enough with a less strenuous hike along  the lush, wooded  river bed.

Gallery Hopping in Asheville: 9'16

No trip to the Up Country would be complete without a visit to Asheville to check out some of the finest art and crafts in the nation. 

We started out visit at the Folk Art Center at Milepost on the Blue Ridge Parkway Asheville, NC. We were fortunate enough to get see the Fine Art- Craft exhibit ,"Fellowship". The exhibit showcases works of collaboration by over fifty members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Housed in the upstairs main gallery, it features over thirty multi-media pieces crafted and fused through multiple hands.

Going to the Flute Circle on exhibit in the Fellowship Exhibit

Fine Arts and Crafts are not just limited to the Upstairs Gallery, the entire Folk Art Center is dedicated to the creative spirit of the residents of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The art craft -works displayed include metal, fiber, ceramic, paint, ink, glass, stone, and more.

Folk art fence, made of wormy chestnut, carved by Helen Bullard Krechniak 

Next on our list of must see was the Surface Gallery located at 14 Lodge St, Asheville, NC 

The art at Surface is always current; and always exciting. The featured artists for this month are Melissa Engler and Graeme Priddle whose collaborative exhibit is called "Birds of a Feather". The exhibit references not only the subject, but the artists' deep love of birds. Their sculptures are made from various types of wood that have been carved, turned, burned, painted, stained, or a combination of these methods. Some pieces are made individually, while others are made collaboratively , but all reflect their deep love of birds.

Wooden Sculpture by Melissa Engler and Graeme Priddle 

Bruce and I absolutely love this gallery. It is where we always go to purchase an art souvenir for our trip. This time there were so many fine artists to choose from that we had to come back twice just to decide what we wanted the most. We eventually settled on a pair of ceramic tea cups to add to our handmade tea cup collection. 

Teacups by Akira Sataki 

The staff at Surface, including their friendly dogs, are sure to make you feel welcome, and are more than willing to help you and answer any questions you may have. This is not the gallery to miss if you are shopping around Biltmore Village.

The Surface Gallery pups are always happy to welcome visitors. 

Our next stop was at The Blue Spiral One Gallery which is focused on presenting compelling works by artists and object makers of the Southern United States.

Blue Spiral One Gallery is located at 38 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 

The unassuming exterior hides a three story treasure trove of some of the best fine art and craft in the South.

This gallery is always at the top of our list of must see places whenever we are in Asheville. We can spend hours looking at all of art. There is so much high quality work that it is hard to know where to begin, but if we had to pick our favorites it would be.

The porcelain sculptures of Vicki Grant. Ms. Grant's highly textured, multimedia organic forms have consistently been our favorite pieces. There is something very compelling and viscerally about her work that always claims our attention.

The other artist who caught our eye in the Blue Spiral One Gallery was Plein air painter, Peggy Root.

Peggy has spent the last 35 years painting the landscape of the Eastern United States. Root paints her large scale oil paintings on location. often over period of several days, catching the natural light in 2 hour sessions — before it changes too much from her initial impression. I particularly enjoy the way she often plays with splashes of light and color that reveal planes of varying distance in her landscapes.

March Evening in Sunlight by Peggy Root 

Our final stop was at the Haen Gallery is located at 52 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

(It is right down the street from the Spiral One Gallery, making it a no-brainer to to visit when in the area.

The Haen Gallery is an open, bright, well spaced and comfortable gallery. They have offered compelling works of art since I first went when they were just opening. 

Lynn Buggess' art is absolutely fantastic and is some of the best work that they have featured. It has changed somewhat since we first saw his paintings here. Many of his early works were very large scale landscapes with a medium to wide point of view. ( see above) Most of what was on display this visit were (relatively) smaller scale (e.g. 3'x3') with a single object focus. Both views retain his signature style using heavy impasto.

We also enjoy Larry Gray's work of vast ethereal landscapes of mountains and clouds.

Prairie Shadows by Larry Gray

Hagwood Petroglyphs: 9'16

While visiting the Hagwood Mill, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there is also an exhition of prehistoric petroglyphs on the site.  There are thirty-two distinct petroglyphs at this site, eighteen represent people, and several are abstracts, but they all have one thing in common – THEY ARE AWESOME.  Since rocks cannot be carbon dated we may never know the real age of the carvings, but archeologists believe them to be prehistoric.

The carvings were found in the rock bed of the stream that flows through the property.  Time and weather has eroded the carvings making them hard to see, but Pickens County has done a fantastic job in preserving the carvings while making them accessable to the public.

The entire rock was covered with a large amphitheater which was built directly over the rock, and walkways built, and special lights installed  to allow the public to view the carvings from different angles.

Even  with all the special lighting, the details can be hard to decern,  so molded impressions were made of the carvings.

The impressions are displayed next to photograghs of the rock carvings

next to photograghs of the rock carvings

in a interpretive center attached to the actual amphitheater.   Also in the interpretation center are  artifacts, photographic images, and displays from the 10-year South Carolina Rock Art Survey with descriptive texts all designed to expand the visitors knowledge of Rock Art in the Carolinas.

Outside the building is another ancient artifact—a soapstone boulder with two partially carved bowls made by Native Americans 5,000 years ago. The bowls were rough shaped on the rock using flint chisels and then broken off for the final shaping.

Hagwood Mill: 9'16

After lunch we visited Hagood Mill. It is an operational water-powered gristmill built in 1845 by James Hagood near Pickens, South Carolina. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972

Originally built circa 1825 and re-built at its present location in 1845, it is one of the oldest known surviving gristmills still producing grain products in South Carolina. It has the largest waterwheel in the state (20 ft.) and is the only waterwheel in SC still made of wood.

There are also, two restored log cabins, 

both of which you can tour inside and out.

The smaller of the two log cabins has a well documented history

Less is known about the larger log cabin, but it is believed to have been used as a store.

There is also a a blacksmith shop, a cotton gin,

a moonshine still,

and two nature trails.

The Hagwood site consistently attracts visitors with the monthly folklife festival and concert series. Traditional arts, folklife and living history demonstrations include milling, blacksmithing, cotton ginning, moonshining, spinning, weaving, bee-keeping, metalsmithing, quilting, woodcarving, flintknapping, chair caning, open hearth cooking and more. While we were there we were seranaded by the some folk singers who were rehersing for an upcoming old timey folk music festival.

Picken's Country Club Golf Course: 9'16

This morning we played a round of golf at the Pickens Country Club. The course opened in 1952, and has a mature, traditional air about it. It is a par-72, 6,220-yard course featuring a mature, traditional layout set in wooded, rolling terrain. 

The majority of the fairways are defined by evergreens and hardwoods. 

The Bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens are coupled with strategically placed sand and grass bunkers that will challenge players of all skill levels. As Bruce found out, keeping your tee shot in the fairway is a must when the rough is grown up, and the small, undulating greens require a precise shot making on approach. On the par 4 ninth hole he found himself in a hole bunker after his second shot.

Fortunately Bruce's recovery skills are good. He made par on that hole. 

The layout, bordered by woods on some holes, and only brings water into play on only a couple of holes, but od has a lot of uphill work on narrow fairways, making it a challenging course to play.

Scenic Overlook of Jocasee Gorge: 9'16

Rain moved in on us in the late afternoon, making driving the winding mountain road seem a bit treacherous. We wanted to take the winding mountain road a bit slower than the logging trucks, so pulled into a scenic overlook to let the logger pass us.   Even in the rain the view of the Jocasee Gorge, SC was awesome.

Whitewater Falls: 9'16

Our next stop was at Whitewater Falls, which is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies, falling 811 feet! The Upper Falls plummets 411 feet in the Nantahala National Forest. It's on the Whitewater River in the Jocassee Gorge area of North Carolina. 

(The 400-foot Lower Falls can be accessed from a different location in South Carolina but requires a two hour strenuous hike to reach it .We decided to save the lower falls for a different day.)

Gorges NC State Park; 9 '16

Our mission for the day was to explore this rugged and beautiful corner of the Carolinas via a looped road trip on SC Scenic Highway 11, and NC Scenic Highway 64. Along the way we visited plunging waterfalls, rugged river gorges, sheer rock walls, some breathtaking vistas, and several state and federal parks.

One of our first stops was a G0rges State Park in North Carolina.

The park was officially dedicated in 1999, but is still in the early stages of development. 

The 7,100 square foot visitor's center was officially dedicated in Fall of 2012. This is a beautiful environmentally freindly facility, and I would encourage you to stop in and check it out.

Gorges State Park boasts more waterfalls than any of the other NC state parks. However, very few of the waterfalls have official trails to them at the present time.

Rather than taking our chances on an unmarked trail, we opted to take a shorter walk from the visitor center to a observation deck where we could see all the way back to Sassafras Mountain , SC (See yesterday's post), and then continue on to a picnic area for lunch.

The trail itself started out well graded,

but soon deteriorated into a mass of tree roots and moss which were quite slippery.

The trail was maked with guide signs up to the point of the observation deck, but some seemed a little suspect, as we never did find any of the picnic areas on the trail.

Fortunately, the trail was marked with red triangles so we were sure we would not get lost.

The park is also home to nearly 125 rare plant and animal species, with 12 of those being endangered or threatened, so we had no problem with having our lunch on the trail while we looked at the interesting plant life..

Shelf Mushrooms 

Some wildflowers near the Gorges Visitor Center