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!

Brookgreen gardens Harvest Festival '11

Once again, Brookgreen Gardens has held its annual Harvest Festival,

and as always it is a lot of fun !

There are pumpkin painting contests

Hayrides

Artisans like this sweet grass basket maker

And my personal favorite  ...

Scarecrow Making

It really shows how much creativity is hidden in each of us

 when you can  make something so interesting out of so little.

CAG Miniature Art Sale '11

The Charleston artist Guild has put up a Christmas tree and is allowing its exhibitors to decorate it with miniature  art.  First I painted two serious holiday still lifes oil paintings

  But then the project brought out a playful side in me , and I painted a Surfing Santa  for the tree. It seemed appropriate since everywhere I have ever lived, there have been surfers at the beach on Christmas day.

Bike the Neck

The Waccamaw Neck Bike Trail ( AKA Bike the Neck)

Today Bruce and I rode the newly completed section of the Bike the Neck Trail  between Murrells Inlet and Sandy Island Road.  I  felt so much safer knowing that we no longer have to compete with traffic on  Highway 17. 

The Waccamaw Neck Bike Trail  runs from Murrells Inlet to Pawleys Island is a 20 mile point-to-point trail located near Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  Some of it is separated from motorized vehicles, some is not.  Hopefully someday there will be a dedicated trail the entire length of the Waccamaw Neck.

The final northern  link in the Bike the Neck chain of South Carolina Bike trails was forged to literally bridge the section in Murrells Inlet SC ,  to the portion in Huntington Beach SC.   A wooden bridge now connects the bike lane along U.S. Highway 17 in Murrells Inlet, and the recently constructed bike trail along the edge of Huntington Beach State Park, which in turn connects to a trail leading all the way into Litchfield, SC. 

The section  through Murrells Inlet still shares use  of Hyway 17  bypass with the bike lane being marked along road,   until one reaches the new bridge. ( But at least bicyclists are no longer forced into traffic on the narrow bridge)

The Huntington Beach State Park portion of the trail is paved and meanders through gorgeous wooded and wetland sections of the park. This separate flat trail parallels US 17 through the woods  from Murrell’s Inlet to Sandy Island Road near Huntington Beach State Park. 

From  Murrell’s Inlet the trail follows US 17 Business south. for 6.0 miles of continuous trail  through Huntington Beach SP and two sections of approximately 4.0 miles. of Litchfield 

 For Maps, videos and related information about the Waccamaw Neck  Bike Trail,

  see the attached link  :

 http://www.us17coastalhighway.com/2010/08/waccamaw-neck-bikeway.html

Cypress Gardens 10 '11

This realistic looking demolished  chapel is a left over  film prop

Today we visited Cypress Gardens.  This well know tourist attraction has been featured in numerous national magazines, popular television shows and motion pictures.

BJ stands beside an artificial cypress movie prop

Many of the  props from the filming of the movie "the Patriot" were left behind  in the gardens, giving one the sense of having stepped back in time to the revolutionary war era.

More props left behind from films made here.

The Gardens feature a large Cypress Swamp which can be viewed  from the water by boat afoot on  well maintained hiking trails.

Guided boat and land tours are available, but we decided we would prefer to see the gardens at our own pace.

 Perhaps he just didn't trust my rowing ability, but BJ wanted to do the oaring. What every his reasons  I was grateful to have my hands free so I could take  reference photos.

There are beautiful reflections,

and interesting views everywhere we looked.

I got a little nervous when we noticed somethings that looked suspiciously like  alligators among some waterlilies.

Fortunately they were just a logs.

After touring the wetlands by boat, we decided to take one of the along 3.5 miles of walking/hiking paths which loop through the swamp and gardens. Stroll along original dikes from the rice-growing era, keeping an eye out for wildlife.

BJ enjoyed inspecting the rice which the Garden's Staff  has planted  in a manner similar to  the cultivation methods which would have been used on this land in Colonial times.

Next we visited the  Cypress Gardens 

"SWAMPARIUM"

Inside large tanks and terrariums feature fish, amphibians, and reptiles (including venomous snakes) native to South Carolina swamps and nearby waterways.

Just outside the Swamparium door is where Cypress Gardens  keeps it live  alligators.   Thank heavens, the beasts were safely contained behind steel bars; these guys are REALLY BIG.

After learning from those exhibits what is potentially lurking beneath the waters surface , I was not nearly as inclined as I usually would be to venture too close  the lotus pond.  This time I let my zoom lens do the work, and kept on moving toward The Butterfly House

This large greenhouse filled with flowering plants, live butterflies, birds, a pond, an arthropod exhibit, and a observation beehive.

I especially appreciated the Garden's focus upon native butterflies like the Zebra above

 and the Buckeye below

The Exhibit also show cased butterflies  that migrate through our area like Swallowtail and Monarchs

Cypress Gardens is located on Cypress Gardens Road,  which is close to the Goose Creek area. It is approximately 25 miles north of Charleston, SC.