REDCLIFFE PLANTATION AND AUGUSTA GA

We traveled down to Redcliffe Plantation and Augusta GA for a day.  It was sunshining and beautiful!! 

We also want to take this time to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and season.  We will be going in to Lexington SC to have dinner and fellowship at a friends home with them, their daughter and another couple from church.  We are looking forward to it.
Gary has received an offer for workamping in Alaska for next summer.  Not sure what we will do.  I really want to spend another summer at home before our grandson begins working, especially since we did not have much free time this past summer because of our workamping job.  The Alaska job sounds good as it is May to Sept and only four hours a day.  A neighbor here in the park said that is the only time to go!!  Not sure what the job will be though, probably clean motorhomes that are rented out.  So time will tell.

Redcliffe Plantation, a Greek Revival style mansion, was built in 1859 by former US Congressman, SC Governor and US Senator,  James Henry Hammond so that he could show off his wealth.  However, it is not now furnished to show their oppulance as much of the furnishings were removed over the years by his decendents.  There have been three generations that have lived there after him.  It was one of three plantations that he owned and the smallest of the three with four hundred acres.  Many changes took place over the years as the following three generations lived in it.  The greatest change was when Mr. John Shaw Billings, the managing editor of Timeand Life Magazines, left New York and moved into it in the 1930's.  The biggest change that he made was a small addition and three modern ceramic tile bathrooms.  He removed his modern furnishings ammenities including a television before he donated it to the State of South Carolina for a historic landmark in 1975.

We were an hour too early for the tour, so we just relaxed on the porch.  It was very relaxing and such pretty landscape.These awesome trees with large low branches always make me think of many hours as a youth in a swing.

Ballroom serving as Entrance from both front and back.

Bread warmer for in front of fireplace.

Moving on to the the second floor and bedrooms we find samples of the original bathroom!!

 

This is only half of the library shelves, which held family collections of books some that were as old as the 1700's and through the mid nineteen hundreds. 


A replacement stable from later years.

Driving on into Augusta GA, we stopped by the Riverwalk Ampitheatre and Plaza. 



Analematic Sundial for Eastern Daylight Time



However, when Gary stood on November it showed 4 pm though our watches said 3 pm.  Hm-m-m?

Our manager over the Park told us to be sure to go to Rinehart's Oyster Bar to eat.  So we did - - - but when stepping through the door my mind was sure saying "scuzzy"!!  We did go on in though and ordered shrimp and fries backets.  While we sat there to eat at our picnic table with the grafitti on the walls, many people who passed through from the open air seating area were very well dressed!!  So it must be the food reputation!!  The woman who opened it in 1983 began with a small refrigerator and toaster oven.  She still uses the paper china as we do in our motorhome, but has expanded to have a large bar and a much larger kitchen.  We did not check those out as we were not sure what we would find.  Just call us chicken.  However, the food was good.

The computer is running so-o-o slow that I am ready to give up!!  Will try again tomorrow and see if I can get the Thanksgiving pictures in.  Take care and hope that you enjoyed your holiday.

ANOTHER WEEK AROUND LAKE MURRAY AND COLUMBIA SC

After the trip to Iva last Monday, we spent the rest of the week doing laundry, shopping another day at Walmart and then spending Friday in Columbia trying to find a Joann Fabric.  We never did find Joann's but saw plenty of other things on our excursion.
We started with the side roads before leaving State Park Road.  We knew that there were homes along the lake shore, but could not see them from the Park Road.  We were in awe of this new home under construction.  I would bet that it is at least 500K though you can't see much.   We could not get in any closer without trespassing. 

Next door was this home with the lake behind it.  I would be these people drive clear in to Columbia to work!!  That would be at least 45 minutes away.  These are probably about five minutes from us.  We always wondered what was down some of these side roads.  Now we know!!  But in SC you see so many areas that have this extreme almost next door to the opposite.  We wonder if they have zoning??

We went across the Saluda Dam at the east end of the lake, nearest Columbia.  I have been wanting to get some pictures of it, but we were driving too fast to get much.  I hope to get back for more pictures.  The original earthen dam was built in the early 30's or a little before.  It was the largest earthen dam in the world at that time.  Since, there have been three more larger ones built in the world,  but this one still remains the largest in the United States.  However, recently the government decided that it should have a back-up.  So a new dam was built beside it in case the original would ever weaken or leak.  You can see that structure across the other side of the highway and it is also backed by earth. 
Awesome!!  The next time I hope to stop to take more pictures.

This past Sunday was a Homecoming service and dinner at the church we attend.  It was a very inspirational service, with some testimonies and much music sung by Chesnee.  She and her family came from North Carolina specifically to lead this worship.  She was a wonderful soloist!!  I would love to hear her again.  After dinner was over and clean-up begun Chesnee's father was to sing a song for our friend Sandy.  I did not think of the camera until he was about finished, so missed that one!!  But her sons were showing their expertise afterward.  

Jared on the drums had played during the service. He has been playing drums in church since he was four!! He began to show his interest on pots and pans in the kitchen when very small. He had to rotate the pans to get the sounds that he wanted!!  Adam is the one on the piano.

They sure looked very talented to us.  We wouldn't be surprised to see them perform as a family group later as well.

Leaving the church we followed Sandy to her home for the afternoon.  It was our second time to scrapbook together.  So Gary had his time for a nap since Sandy's husband, Mike, was out on a truck run to Texas.  We might not have gotten too much accomplished in the scrapbooks, but we sure had a good time visiting!!  We are hoping to do it again before our time runs out here in SC.  I need to get a few more pictures printed first though.

Stay tuned and we will take you on our trip to Redcliffe Plantation and Augusta GA.  Hope that you are all well and having good weather.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all if I don't get back with you before then. 

VISITING OHIO FRIENDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Hello from Dreher Island State Park again!!  I wanted to include a map picture of Lake Murray and where we are located, especially for Donna and Ray, to see how large the lake is(all within the jagged lines)!!  There sure is a lot of fishing done here.  We are located in the park on the island where the star is in the center of the picture. 

On our day off, Monday, we took a planned trip to a little town of Iva, SC to meet up with Jan and Jack from our home church in Salem OH.  They have relocated to Iva and we were curious what the attraction was to draw them there.  The attraction happened to be family who settled in that area for employment, but the area also turned out to be a quite nice.  We enjoyed the scenery as we went into the hills for our two hour drive.  The colors are still good here and the green pine sets it off well!!

We found Jan and Jack doing very well in their new home!!  It is a lovely home with room for company which they have been making good use of!! Jack was out blowing leaves.  He said, "No grass, just leaves!"  They have tried many things to get grass growing, but the sand just comes to the surface again.

It was wonderful to visit and so nice to get better acquainted with them!!  We look forward to a next time!!  They had experiences from past travels as well.

Thank you Jack and Jan for a wonderful time and a delicious dinner!!  Our trip home was interesting and most of it was done before full darkness.  We saw four deer as soon as we got into our park.  On the way I also took some pictures of interesting buildings.
This house was not too far from Iva.  Quite a house, huh?

We also thought the town of McCormick to be interesting looking. Have you checked it out?

I also took this next picture hoping that we could find out on the Internet what kind of business it is.  I thought that I would remember the name on it, but did not.  I do know that it had something to do with wire and cables.  Jack, have you noticed it before?

We spent today going in to Columbia to Camping World to get a new mattress for our bed.  We were a little apprehensive as we have never had a foam mattress.  And it was pressure packaged in a box that appeared much to small.  But it turned out quite all right and seems very comfortable!!  We had been looking for quite some time for something suitable.  It had to be a queen short to fit our home and they are difficult to find.  So we were glad to have the mission accomplished!!
Not much else planned.  Just know that Thanksgiving is coming up and they expect the park to be full that week.  I understand there will be plenty of deep frying of turkeys.  Guess we will have to get to know our neighbors!! 
This coming Sunday will be Homecoming day at the church we attend here.  We are looking forward to that.  Take care and we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!

NEWBERRY OPERA HOUSE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Deer sightings is a daily occurrence at Dreher Island State Park, usually early morning or at dusk.  By time we get the camera out most of them have scampered off but we have seen as many as ten at one time!!  It makes us wonder where they are during the day.  But driving through the park can be a challenge!!

 Lake Murray where Dreher Island SP is located is really a large lake.  We have not been all the way around it as the shoreline is very irregular, but hope to do more excursions of that nature before leaving the area.  The huge dam at one end near Lexington is awesome so need to take pictures there as well.  I promise we will have more to show you. 

This small boat marina is just at the entrance of the island where our park is.  The lake can have quite a bit of activity going on the weekend, but as you can see during the week it is pretty quiet.

Donna and Ray we wish you were here with both of your boats!!  Plenty of opportunity to spend hours on the lake and many miles of lake!! 

This week we went back to Newberry SC on Thursday to the Newberry Opera House to see The Hit Men perform with early 60's music.  It was an awesome show and sure brought back memories!! 

The Opera House itself is beautiful!!  They keep it in amazing condition and it is used quite often and has been for years. 

After leaving the lobby, we went to second floor to find our seats.  It was fun watching the people come in.  Since it was matinee time, the crowd seemed to be more seniors.  Guess we are fitting in that category more often than not!!

The Hit Men sang many of the songs from the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli and the Shondels time period.  Of course, that would not be surprising since three of them were with the original Four Seasons. 

One played base guitar, one was on keyboard behind the base player, while the third was on drums.  Can you tell they were from that era?

After the show, we realized that ninety minutes is not very long when you are enjoying what you are hearing!!  So needless to say, we enjoyed the show very much.

When we left the matinee we decided to walk the streets looking for a place for dinner.  We found the town to be very interesting and it had several antique shops that we would like to go back to visit.  It seemed the streets rolled up at 5 pm, so we will have to go earlier the next time.

Many very neat buildings!  

We opted for The Flying Pie and found it's specialty to be pizza.  It did have some delicious sandwiches as well. 

So much to see and do for such a small town, that we will go back!!

On our way back home, when entering the park, we stopped to talk with Park Ranger Kealie.  She is so nice and friendly!  Ben, she is the gal that we told you reminded us of Holly from Hawley! 

Last weekend was the church yard sale and we stopped in there to visit.  Can't buy much as there is no room to store more!!  But it was good to get re-acquainted with old friends!!  Pastor Jack was even black-mailed into putting on a blonde wig!!  



Sandy and I made plans to get together to scrapbook also. We are already about half way through the month here in SC, so we must get at it if we plan to get anything accomplished. Hopefully this week, Sandy. Those Thrift shops are waiting for us as well.  Hopefully, Gary will find something special for him to do as well.  It would be painful if he had to be bored tagging along with us!!

Take care and we hope to show you more from here in South Carolina.

NEW HOME in SOUTH CAROLINA

I forgot to include the picture of our dinner out in the last post.  Gary reminded me, so thought I would include that now.  This was at Benjamin's Seafood buffet.  We sure ate our money's worth, but can't say that I was impressed with the food over any other buffet.  But we did not go away hungry, as you can tell!!

November 3rd now.  We did our morning cleaning here in the park as quickly as we could so as not to be in the way of the weekend campers.  The park is sure full this weekend.  Could be because the temperature is to be in the 70's!!  In spite of the nice temps, I am getting a cold.  It started with just a scratchy throat, but in the last hour my head has begun to get stuffy!!  Ugh.  I just hope that it does not last long.
We have been out driving around the country roads as well as the Interstates, so are getting familiar with the area.  We stayed right in Lexington at a campground in 2008 when we were first here, but now we are probably 40 miles west of that. 
On one of our trips out and about we saw a front yard with a bunch of birds, but could not decide what they are.  Can any of you tell us?

Here we are driving over to Dreher Island State Park in South Carolina, that we will call home for the month of November.  It is beautiful here in the fall.  Just before the weekend they went around with a tractor and blower to get all of the dry leaves and long pine needles off of the roadways and sites.  That was nice since the roads and sites in the park are pretty narrow, some only one lane/direction of traffic.  

Like many other parks there is a registration booth, but it is not being used since it is not peak season.

Instead you will stop in at the store/office to register.  This is the boat docking and marina area also.

Between the road and the lake in this picture, you can see tent pads.  So they are sure to have a level bed!!  Most of them sit around a fire and picnic table between that tent pad and the lake.  It is picturesque.

Notice the dropping off of the land on each side of the blacktop campers pads!!  Not much is level here!!

We even had our first guest, one of many who will visit.

The tents and canopies are sure more fancy compared to our tent camping days.  Plenty of stand up room!!

And this is home for us!!  Gary even got it in place on the first try.  I gave him kudos for that!!  Our workamping job in this park as "Host" is cleaning four of their main restroom/shower buildings.  One is here just behind our site.  We also have a golf cart to get to all of the others and we cut across through the woods for some of them.  The one farthest from us is down the road away and across the road connecting islands.

Our view from our front window is road traffic going away from us, without any camping sites across from us.  We can see ravine and lake through the trees.  Awesome!!

This is our neighboring site which is not in use this weekend.  

I thought you might like to see the terrain is not level!!

And you can see our narrow picnic table area.  But they do have fire rings for each of us as well.

We drove in to Newberry SC to get to the closest Walmart for my prescription.  That was thirty miles in the other direction.  We were not too happy to find out that my script was not ready unless I wanted to pay full price of $72.  So we had to make the trip again the next day to pay only $9.  But it did not break our hearts as it is a very attractive town and has many interesting things such as this Opera House.  So we will be going back to check some of the things out!!

On the way to Newberry there was another quaint little town called Prosperity which also was interesting.  It had several restaurants that I want to check out.  There I go thinking food again!!  All I can say is it is a good pass time!! 
So now that you can visualize our home setting, we will try to keep you up on our activities.  Today after finishing up our cleaning job, we went in to Lexington to the church that we attended last Sunday (which our friends attend) to check out their yard sale.  It was fun visiting with all of them.  We will make the trip back in tomorrow for church.  We were happy that the park manager did accommodate us by giving us Sunday off.  Our two days together will be Sunday and Monday which makes us very happy. 

We also spent some time in the office the other day chatting with, Ruth Hill, the gal working who is a pastor's wife.  She and her husband, Scott, have pastored in Presbyterian churches since 1992 but are now affiliated with Mission to the World since 2006.  God has placed a desire in their hearts to become full time missionaries.  They are soon to be moving to Cherokee, NC to serve as missionaries to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  There is much need there so they are very excited about this move.  They are asking for prayer as they take on this new mission.  So we are counting on you to keep them in prayer as well.  Thank you for your support!!
Take care and stay tuned.