There's a potential painting everywhere you look '12

  There are numerous lakes in  upstate South Carolina. We tried to visit as many of them as possible today.  Keowee-Toxaway State Park was first on our itinerary.

 

Golf courses, private resorts, and pricey private developments are on the west side.

The extensive shoreline is very beautiful, but you need a boat to see it.

Lacking a watercraft, we had to settle for hiking the Natural Bridge Trail to this lovely little waterfall.

 Road to Oconee SP

The next stop was OconeeState Park.

Oconee SP serves as a jumping off point to the nearby Chattooga and Chauga rivers, hotspots for whitewater rafting and trout fishing.  It is a smaller man-made lake, and unfortunately the water level extremely low when we visited, so the only reference photos I collected were of the local  fall color.

On the road from Oconee SP we stopped at Issaqueena Falls County Park, which boasts  a beautiful 200-ft. cascade. Legend has it that the Indian maiden, Issaqueena, rode to the nearby fort to warn of a pending Indian attack and then escaped pursuing Indians by pretending to leap over the falls, but actually hiding beneath them. This easy hike will take you to the top of the falls, but a short path to the right will give you a grand view of the entire scene.  I am told that the falls are much wider in the spring, but you can't go wrong visiting this place any time of year.

Our next  stop was the Devils Fork State Park.  The land around 7,500-acre Lake Jocassee remains mostly undeveloped and the only public access point to the lake is through Devils Fork. Four mountain streams and several waterfalls feed into the lake, making it cooler than others and a great South Carolina trout fishing spot.  Boats rentals are available, and hiking trails lead around the lakefront.  Even in the flat light of midday, the scenery  along the shore was spectacular.  I captured the reference photo above from the edge of a campsite in the park.

And this is just a sampling of the what we saw.
I got a ton of state park photos today. They'll make great reference photos for new additions to my paintings of the SC State Park Series.

Golfing at Table Rock Resort Oct ' 12

Bruce and I played several rounds of  golf on the table Rock Resort Golf course during the week we stayed at the resort.  Our condo faced the first fairway.   Every morning we would wake up to the course  covered in mist and Sassafras Mt. above in aflame in sunrise. It was a beautiful way to start the day

  The course starts at the top of a mountain side,

plays down hill and across a stream

then along one side of a meadow following the stream

The meadow portion of the course is the only part that is flat.

But that does not mean it is without hazard.  Golfers have to drive around the stream which meanders from side to side. Once you near the end of the meadow, you have to drive over a fairly large pond to get onto the green.

From there you play up and back down a small narrow wooded side ravine

And then its back to the meadow again and across the stream and up another ravine

This hill top tee off has the added benefit of having a great view of one of the local waterfalls.

Well its a benefit if you can enjoy the view and still make your shot down the hill

 Its a tough shot to make.  Overshoot your target and you wind up in the boulders.

Al the ups and downs and challenging hazards made it am interesting course to play,  but it was also a frustrating one.  Not because of the difficulty, but because it is so spectacularly beautiful there that  I had trouble concentrating on the game.

Table Rock Resort '12

We'll be using the Table Rock Resort as a base camp to explore the numerous State Parks in the North west corner of South Carolina.  We got here a too late in the day to do any extensive site seeing, but if the scenery here is any example I can't wait to see more.   Lots of fall color, and the weather is absolutely perfect for out of door activities.

The Cantey Bay near Santee State Park 10 '12

The Cantey Bay is near the  Santee State Park is off of the  I 95 / SC 301 South Carolina.  I've driven by this place dozens of times and barely given it a thought.. or if I did, it was to wonder why it had been set aside as a reserve.  I found out when we drove by it on the way to upstate South Carolina.. when the daisies are in boom it is drop dead gorgeous.  I'm not kidding,  cars were slamming on their brakes to take a look.   I pulled off the highway and onto a secondary causeway that cuts across the preserve.  Got lots of reference photos.  You can bet one of them will wind  up being used as a reference for a painting for my  State Park Series.  Be forewarned if you attempt to do any photography or plein air painting there, there a the site has a lot of fire ant mounds along the road, so watch where you step.

PS also in the same area are the Santee Indian Mound and Fort Watson American Revolutionary War Site.

Charleston comes in #1 ... Again! '12

Charlestons skyline from "The Library' Rooftop Lounge

Top City in the USA? Charleston gets my vote, and apparently Conde Nast Traveler readers agree.
http://www.cntraveler.com/readers-choice-awards/united-states/top-10-cities-usa#slide=1

Colleton South Carolina State Park

Colleton is a South Carolina State Park situated Along the Edisto River. Ive been wanting to check it out The Edisto River is still and slow moving so there is good potential for beautiful reflection photos for my State Park series of paintings. Great Find!

Fort McAllister State Park, GA 10/11-10/14/12

Marsh at Fort McAllister SP GA

The Fort McAllister Georgia State Park campground is on a sea Island, so it is surrounded by water . The only way to get there is across a narrow causeway over the marsh or by boat..

There's marsh on north, west, and south east sides and a river on the east side of the island. All that water makes it very popular with fishermen. I think we were the only campers who weren't hauling a fishing boat

Which didn't stop us from exploring the marsh. We just rented a canoe and paddled around the creeks 

It's incredibly peaceful on the marsh, and the birding is fantastic.

There was also an abundance of 4 legged wildlife including armadillos. This is the farthest north I have ever seen these giant pill bug like critters. Bruce wanted to take one home but Kat and I said "No Way".

We rode out bikes a lot on this trip. It gave us a chance to stop and admire the wildflowers which are covered in migrating butterflies.

In addition to the campsite, the state park boasts a fully restored civil war confederate fort which can be toured ( for a small fee),

The fort was built underground in bunkers formed of sand. For four years the Fort held up against everything the Union forces could throw at it. When the Union naval ships would blast big craters in the place, the Confederate troops would simply rebuilt it with sand and be ready for action the next morning.

The rebels also managed to inflict some serious damage of their own with their cannon fire aimed at the Union vessels. Ironically, it was only after Sherman sent foot solders in to charge the rear walls that the Confederate stronghold was lost.

The SP also has a interesting little museum filled with Civil war artifacts and exhibits about how the men lived in the Fort and on the ships during the battles 

Mornings on the island were incredible

It truly makes one understand what is meant by the phrase "God's golden face"

But evenings were pretty interesting too. There is something downright spooky about all that Moss dancing in the light of a campfire ( Photo is of our tent camping neighbors site)

Our campsite

 We had a beautiful campsite in the woods, but all the campsites in this state park are nice. Would highly recommend the place to anyone who asks.

SAG Fall Show and Sale Award Winners Oct '10

The Seacoast Artists Guild of South Carolina, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing excellence in the visual arts, opened its judged 9th Annual Fall Art Show and Sale with an elegant awards ceremony held at the Inlet Square Mall in Murrells Inlet on Wednesday evening, October 10th.

Congratulations to Artists and Recent Winners 

of the Seacoast Artists Guild Fall 2012 Show and Sale

Professional Category 2 Dimensional Art

 2nd Place:  “Morning Mist” by Richard Nelson

3rd Place:  “Gentleman Wearing a Dark Hat" by Sharon Sorrels

Hon. Men: “This One’s For You” by Paula Robertson

Hon. Men: “ ’57 Chevy” by Barnie Slice

Hon. Men: “Why I Like Blue” by Nora Mackin

Hon. Men: “Flash of Green” by Denny Stevenson
  
Professional Category 2 Photography

2^nd Place:  “Tunnel Vision” by Pat Walsh
3^rd Place:  “Sunflowers at French Market” by Sandra Anderson

 Hon. Men: “Weathered” by Sandi Blood
Hon. Men:“Front Street Boardwalk” by Bill Barber 

Professional Category 2 Open

 2nd Place:  “Pinnacle” by Richard Cash 3rd Place:  “Autumn” by Marlene Askins Hon. Men. “Pack Mule” by Richard McGrath Hon. Men. “Killdeer” by Richard Cash

Non-Professional Category 2 Dimensional Art 

2^nd Place “Pondering” by Linda Aptt
3^rd Place:  “Diana” by Linda Aptt
Hon. Men: “Diamond in the Rough” by Joyce Lincoln
Hon. Men: “Far Eastern Impressions #5” by Ulrike Morollo 

Professional Category 2 Dimensional Photography

2^nd Place: “Baby Willy” by Christine Lizzul
Hon. Men: “Paris Architecture” by Nicholas Mariano 

 Click Here to See Photos of the Awards Ceremony

This season, fall in love with the Creative Spirit of your local artists. 
     Not only will you receive an original and inspiring work of art, your purchase will support 
     Training & Educational Art Programs at our local schools and help fund Scholarships to be awarded to 
     gifted art students.  For every $100 spent by customers in art 
     purchases, the Seacoast Artist Guild will donate $25 to its training and scholarship fund. 

For photos of all of the show entries click Here

SAG Fall Show and Sale Oct '12

The  Seacoast Artist Guild  9th Annual Fall Show and Sale is underway and will run Oct 10 through Oct 20th at the Murrells Inlet  Square Mall. This year the Mall's management  has been kind enough to let the guild  set the show up in an unoccupied retail space. This has given us an unprecedented amount of space to display our talent members works. Over 80 local artists participated in the show and sale.

We had long sweeping walls to display the artwork 

Hung this way both professional and novice painters work looked great

And there was well protected spaces for the fine-art crafts

Both Ceramics and Sculpture artists were well  represented in the show

As were fiber artists

And of course we had a large selection of photographic entries.

Congratulations to Show Director Sandi Blood and all of the hardworking members of the SAG Board of Directors for a job well done

Bad New Good News '12

The bad news is that last night we heard a sudden rushing of fast running water.
The good news is that we were both in the kitchen when it happened,
The bad news is that the hot water dispenser pump filter sprang a serious leak and flooded the kitchen
The good news is that Bruce was able to get the control valve turned off
The bad news is that no local stores carry the filter
The good news is there is always the internet.
The bad news is it will take awhile.....
The good news is that this didn't happen next week while we were out of town. That would have been a real disaster.

Hiking the Appellation Trail in Va.

BJ on the Appellation Trail in the Blue Ridge Mts. of Va

 The gnats were out in force so we only hiked a short distance along the Appellation Trail in the Blue Ridge Mts. of Virginia

CC on the Appellation Trail in the Blue Ridge Mts. of Va.

Virginia Winery Tours '12

 We also spent a day touring a few of the local wineries. (There are a couple hundred wineries in the area) I especially like the small family run wineries on the back roads where you could talk with the wine-maker and taste some really good small production  vintages that you wouldn't find in your local market.

Stone Mountain Winery

 It's not just the countryside that is colorful. I kid you not some of the native Virginians we met have a really thick accent. We commented to one of the winemakers about the abundance of wildlife we'd seen in the area. He relied, "Yah. Thar's always a bar, coon, gobbler, or dare out there in that field" ( read phonetically.. this is the way he pronounced bear and deer) . And sure enough, on the road out, we saw a black " bar" cross the road.

Ethiopian Food

Ethiopian Sampler Plate

The receptionist at the Massenutten spa recommended we try "the Blue Nile" Ethiopian restaurant in Harrisonburg VA . This was our first experience with Ethiopian food. We tried the sampler plate and loved it. It is now be our new favorite food. To make sure it was authentic, we also had the Honey bread and Masala tea with our meal. The tea was another delightful first. I made a immediate point of purchasing some Masala tea and have been drinking this delicious spicy brew ever since.

Luray Caverns '12

Luray Caverns formations

While the Massenutten Resort offered enough on-site activities to keep one busy for a lifetime, we also wanted to see some of the local scenery beyond the boundaries of the resort, like the nearby Luray Caverns... The caverns themselves are beautiful as the pictures show. Once you and your tour group are at the bottom of the stairs you  find yourself on a winding well lighted path . The two photos I've posted are a small representation of what you see for the entire hour tour  - 1 1/4 mile walk which takes you some 200 feet into the earth. There is  something totally new and different at every bend. It's almost magical in a Harry Potter-ish kind of way.

Luray  Caverns reflecting pool

The tour guide's script is trite, but the formations themselves are magnificent and more than makes up for the script's lack of  substance . There is something deeply moving about standing next to a 15' long stalactite and reflecting on the fact that, in one person's lifetime, it grows less than one inch.  Viewing a breathtaking rock formation and realizing that it existed, in essentially the same form, for 70 million years before the Pyramids were even dream of truly gives one  a different perspective on one's place in history.

Resort Life in The Shenandoah Valley Sept 16-22, 2012

Bruce on the Meadows Course at Massenutten

The Massenutten Resort where we were staying offers nearly every amenity known to man.. From the almost endless list of options,  BJ  chose to spend much of his vacation time attacking poor defenseless little white balls.  For my part, I preferred getting a aroma therapy massages at the spa.

Visiting with Desiree Sept 14-15, 2012

CC and Desiree

Before beginning our  week long adventure in the Shenandoah Valley, we spent the weekend  visiting with my niece, Desiree Campbell.

BJ and Desiree at Great Falls Nat. Park VA

The weather was great so we all took a short hike in nearby Great Falls  National Park