Calhoun Falls et alia

We went all over the place yesterday. The only place I took pictures was Calhoun Falls State Park. I expected to see a waterfall. It turns out that the waterfall was actually rapids now submerged under the damned Richard B Russell Lake. Yes, I mean "damned."

We burnt the toe off of a dinosaur yesterday, and those two pictures above and some food receipts are all we have to show for it. We've decided to give up the traipsins in the Southwestern Midlands. In fact, we're probably going to leave most of that portion of SC between I-95 and I-85 Southwest of I-26 alone. The people are scary. If we ever make a horror movie, it's either going to be set there or filmed there.

Oconee State Park and Lake Jocassee

We didn't do any actual hiking. Pictures now. Explanations later when I'm more awake.

Landsford Canal State Park, Nov 2nd, 2007

Landsford Canal State Park is what remains of a canal off the Catawba River in South Carolina. Now, we've got canal parks here in Carrumbia, but Landsford is said to be the best preserved. The Catawba River is also home to some incredibly rare flowers (not officially listed as critically endangered yet, but they should be). They weren't blooming when we went, but I got a picture of a clump of them below. This is from an overlook where you can sit and look at the lilies (and of course the river). John and I sat down to enjoy the view and were talking about how sick people were when we spotted one of the park's resident bald eagles swooping down past the overlook. We just stopped talking and grinned at one another like a couple of kids.



That moment made the whole trip worth it, I think. That's why we go do these things. Ostensibly, it's for exercise, but really, we're doing it to be reminded of how beautiful the world is. Seeing a bald eagle fly over gentle rapids, rocky shoals, and beautiful plants makes me think the world isn't such a bad place after all.



It's a beautiful park full of history and wildlife. There are some markers explaining the historical ruins. We didn't visit the interpretive center, but what we did see made it well worth the trip. I would like to take a canoe trip down the Catawba near these shoals in May-June when the Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies are blooming. That will take some persuasion, though.

Redcliffe Plantation, Saturday October 20th, 2007

This past Saturday was full of thick, Southern promise which was made with real lard. Originally, my darling hubbin was going to be hung over and recovering in bed from a party on Friday night. I was going to go to the SC Wooden Boat Show since he wouldn't want to go. This did not so much happen because we both spent Friday in bed. We spent so much of it in bed that he slept nearly 12 hours, and I overslept by an hour making myself 20 minutes late for work.

This basically means we were fresh as daisies for traipsing about on Saturday. I found out more about the SC Wooden Boat Show which made me less inclined to go. I found out about some other festivals on Saturday and ran them by John. He found a few more, and we decided on the Living History Park's shindig in North Augusta, SC.

We found out that the Living History Park was basically a ren faire for different time periods. Since parking was a nightmare, we gave up on that and went to look for food. Long story short, we found the best mustard based barbecue we'd ever had. We also found out that folks in Langley, SC have two things: God and sweet potatoes. We didn't bother stopping at the Sweet Potato Festival in Langley. Since we'd been thinking about going for a while, though, we ended up at the Redcliffe Plantation.



In spite of the company—cranky people older than Methuselah from a church in Carrumbia and some rednecks—it was really pretty enjoyable. The guide was knowledgeable, as most of the State Park interpretive guides tend to be. The park was well maintained. The house was beautiful. The only real drawback was the drought. It was dryer than a camel toe. We had a chance to go to a once-a-year tour of a nearby graveyard, but I had to go home and get some sleep. We'll probably go back again for some more pictures since the batteries died in the camera.

Picture posties, picture posties

John and I visited Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve and NR Goodale State Park . We didn't get very far on either hiking trail. Perhaps sometime in the Winter when there are fewer bugs we'll go again. I'd like to see Forty Acre Rock in both the Winter and the early Spring.

We went because, for once, we both had off on a Saturday night. This won't happen again for another month and a half. My next "time off" is for John's birthday and then for Halloween. I plan on going camping for Halloween, so let's hope there's some good weather then.