SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM

Richie, this was in the South Carolina State Museum. Can you figure out how old this tree was? This is the explanation they gave in the display: each year the stem of the tree adds two rings called the annual rings. The light colored ring forms in the spring and the darker and narrower ring is the summer's slower growth because it is dryer. The width of the ring varies according to climate conditions when it grows. Narrow rings represent years of drought or other stress, such as fire or disease. Have fun counting! You know that you can enlarge this picture to look at it by double clicking on it, then click on the "X" in the upper corner to go back to the main Blog screen. Hello from Barnyard RV Resort in Lexington, SC. as we see it from our door.

We did get the Jeep transmission replaced as was the purpose for moving south so quickly. And it is running much smoother. If all goes well, the trip we hope to make home soon should be safe. But we will move the motorhome farther south before leaving it, so hopefully it will not be in any freezing weather before we get back to it.

To show how small a world it is and how God works in our lives, I have to tell about a lady named Sandy who we met in the Jeep dealership waiting room. She was crocheting so I started a conversation about a common interests. We found we had a lot in common including being from Ohio! She moved here from Akron with her Carolinian husband about 25 years ago. Before we left with our jeep problem confirmed and a date for the repair, she invited us to visit her church. So we surprised her and parked the motorhome and toad in a plaza lot across the street from the church and was early enough to get in on Sunday School! It was the first we have attended SS since leaving Ohio. And when we walked in she was surprised! You know - -, invite someone to church but they seldom take you up on it!!

We were not able to check in to Barnyard RV Resort in Lexington, SC until that Sunday afternoon so we were not in any hurry and stopped at the church first. We met many at church including Sandy's husband, Mike, and Pastor Mark who is younger than our youngest son. The pastor called us the following week, the first call we have had from any church we have attended since leaving home! And we have been in several for at least four weeks. So we were impressed and felt at home. We have since attended their Fall Fest and another Sunday.

On Monday after checking in to Barnyard Sunday, we found they did not have open spaces in the front of the campground because of their weekend transients. So they had us move out to the "back forty" where their permanents and seasonals live, since we were staying for a month. And this is the view from our front windshield . I believe he is a permanent and it is amazing how many live in here year around. There are two on our left side who are here permanent and one on our right is here from Atlanta for a job for a few months. He will be finished soon and moving on. But you can't see any of this from the front when you first come in to the campground. So we do not see any of the Rt 1 traffic or the large Flea Market out front by the highway. But we do hear the traffic and airplanes at night, and a lot of sirens.

The conditions here at Barnyard are good (office, meeting room, restrooms, and laundries). In fact, one of the restroom and showers is deluxe. I really prefer it over my own! Much more space, and new.

Last Friday we spent our 44th anniversary at home as it poured rain ALL day and night. I made broccoli-cheese soup and we planned to go out later. Later was Sunday when we went to Red Lobster, which is my favorite!

Then this week we spent Tuesday going through the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia . It was very interesting and we were glad that the tour began on the fourth floor and worked back down. We were ready for a rest when finished! They have samples of many things from by gone eras which are usual in museums. And there is a Leonardo da Vinci display in another part of the building which we put off for another day.

The museum had a lot of history of the state including displays of battle weapons, uniforms, and military officers history, as well as government officials. Slave life was depicted in many different ways including this floral chintz quilt appliqued in 1850 by slaves and backed and quilted in 1870. The Baptismal gown was purchased in NY in 1879 to be worn by a male child in Spartansburg County that same year.

This dress was made by an Abbeville native in 1920 for her sister. And in 1953 she began running a dress making business and ran it for 30 years in Cayce, SC marketing the dresses in NY, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

This toy pedal car was made in 1910 in Greenville, SC.

The progression of industry changes in the south was depicted in the display of the cotton gin and the scales used to weigh the 400 pound cotton bales, to the machines that later combed the seeds out of the cotton. The looms which began being introduced in this country in 1878, both small and large as used in the textile mills , improved over time from a weaver handling 2 or 3 at a one time to the ability to tend 5 or 6 at a time while they ran twice as fast. This Dobby Loom was manufactured in 1940 and was used at Bath Mills in Aiken, SC.

In addition to the cotton and rice industry, the south is also known for the peanut industry. This is a dryer used for peanuts .

There were many other displays of things from dinosaur replicas , to a canoe found in 1977 covered with mud and water in an old rice field levee preserved because it stayed wet. The canoe was being carved from one tree trunk and may have been abandoned because of a crack in it.

This is a replica of the Parr nuclear plant , the first in the southeast United States. There were displays of lasers. This Fitz Telescope made in 1847 was in South Carolina's first observatory and was one of the first three largest in the country at that time. This Alvin Clark refractor telescope was made in 1926 and Clark's telescopes are being used to this day.

There were also replicas of space stations bringing the museum display up to current events. And last but now least, lest we forget; a piece of steel beam from the World Trade Center .

Rose Hill Plantation, Sumter Nat'l Forest, South Carolina

We left Magnolia RV Park Friday as they did not have space for us. There weekend was full before we even got there. And the next stop was not available until Sunday. So we stopped in Walmart's for a couple nights and stocked up on groceries. But since we could not check into Barnyard RV Park until 12:30 Sunday, we visited a Church of God that we had been invited to by a lady we met last week at the Jeep dealership. It was different for us, and she was so surprised to see us. We enjoyed both Sunday School and church. She and her husband invited us to eat with them and their friends, however we declined as we needed to get checked in at the campground and settled. We had parked our rig (all intact) in a little plaza lot across from the church. It is a very small building and very old. So they are in the process of putting the church up for sale and will look for property to build. Now they are praying for the Lord's leading. The eyes above are looking at you from the Magnolia campground office in this picture . We thought that Richie would like this. To help him with Halloween we had sent him a skeleton that we had made from plastic water jugs as a surprise. Don't know that we will do this often as it cost ten times more to send it than it did to make it! But it was fun and he knows that we think of him. The campground had a few Magnolia trees and a gold fish pond near our site. Actually they had too many other trees, though not too large. However, the roots were above ground all over and we did not have smooth walking on our site. Thank goodness we were not eating outside. But I do like relaxing outside in part shade and part sun! We have one small tree at this new location and plenty of sand! While at Magnolia we crossed the freeway and went into Sumter National Forest (which is a man made forest, by the way) and checked out a campground and visited the Rose Hill Plantation. It was a very interesting southern home and is in the beginning of a restoration process to get it's paint, trim and fabrics to match the time period and what was on it originally. It is a very slow process as they have to scrape away one layer at a time to see what was there. Construction was begun in 1829 by William Gist, a 21 year old grandson of an embattled Loyalist from the Revolutionary War. William was a devout defender of states' rights. His strong political convictions led him into a career in public service and he served South Carolina as governor from 1858 to 1860. He led SC into secession which encouraged other states to follow and form the Confederate States of America. He was a lawyer and planter as well as a legislator. The Rose Hill Mansion grew from a family homestead into a prosperous plantation under the labor of enslaved African-Americans. It was named for it's landscaped rose garden . The home was originally constructed in the brick Georgian colonial style. It's fanlights, carved doors and spiral staircase are interesting features. It underwent a remodeling in the early 1850's by adding double porches, colonnades, and tuck-pointed stucco changing it to the Greek classical revival style that it is today. It is an interesting study of the life style of planter families, cotton production, the lives of enslaved African-Americans and tenant farming. The kitchen was in a separate building behind the main structure (yes, this is the back) . To the left you can still see the smoke house used to preserve their meat and a building used to spin cotton and weave materials used in the household. The tenant farm homes have deteriorated and there is not much more than a trace to show that they even existed. The house itself has the main central hall with spiral staircase which goes to the third floor which was used primarily for storage and sometimes the children played there. On the first floor there was the main parlor and dining room. (My pictures of the interior were taken through the front windows as no picture taking was permitted inside.) All of the main rooms have fireplaces in them for heat . The back half was a bedroom and a sitting room used by guests to stay over because of the time it took to travel from place to place. This portion of the house could be closed off from the families rooms in front, but opened into the dining room for sharing dinner with the family. On the second floor one side was a large ball/entertaining room with a powder room off of it, and the other side was two bedrooms used by the family. Some of the families original furniture is still in there, probably because it would be too heavy to remove! The gardens around the house were primarily the roses and box woods with an herb garden in between the main house and the cook house. And there were two stately magnolias in the front yard . The tour guide, Charles, was very interesting and knowledgeable about the Gist family as well as the local folk lore and government history. This time period was sure his expertise and he tells of much that he learned from his own great grandmother who lived to be 114. What a wealth of information! I would gladly see more homes of this style. Very interesting!

Biltmore Estates, Asheville, NC

We arrived at Biltmore Estates in Asheville early Friday while the RV dealer was doing maintenance on our motorhome back in Marion, NC. It proved to be a beautiful day. Of course, the objective was to see the magnificent home that George Vanderbilt had built in the 1890's. This is the largest house in America. It is filled with priceless masterpiece paintings, sculptures and antiques. The intricate architectural details which included the "V" and acorn, are many and very interesting. There were many statues throughout, and many sculptures around the exterior. Gary took pictures of many of figures on the South Terrace with the idea of doing pencil drawings of them. While taking pictures of much of the exterior structure and waiting to enter the House, we did trade favors to have this picture taken of us at the front entrance . If it appears that we always have on the same outfits, all I can say is that it is probably our "best bib and tucker". In fact, much of Gary's will soon need replaced if he keeps loosing weight!

This corner to the left of the front entrance houses the curving marble staircase that connects all four floors. There is a chandelier hanging in the center of this stair well from a single point, down through all four floors, with a tier of lights at each floor level. This chandelier weighs 1700 pounds.

This glass roof illuminates the fountain sculpture in the center of the Winter Garden in the main part of the house. This garden room is surrounded by the following rooms: the entrance hall, the billiard room, , the banquet hall with a table that seats forty and has three fireplaces at one end with a dumb waiter off to each side of these fireplaces and also has a pipe organ at the other end of the room, the breakfast room which has Wedgewood style tiles around the fireplace and embossed Spanish leather and red marble on the walls and a very ornate ceiling , the salon with fabric for the ceiling , and the music room . When we were in the tapestry gallery room and Gary was taking pictures, he was reminded by a host in that area of a sign at the entrance that forbid picture taking! We just assumed that without a flash, picture taking would be okay. Thus ended our pictures of the interior. And the magnificent library which was two full stories in height, would have been the next room! Too bad that we did not get it. We continued on through the upper floors bedrooms, bathrooms and servants rooms. We also toured the extensive basement which houses a large swimming pool, a fitness room, two bowling lanes, many rooms used for food preparation and storage, laundry rooms, and changing rooms for the guests to use after riding and swimming.

The side exit from the house took us through a covered walkway to the stable complex that now houses the Stable Cafe', the Bake Shop, an Ice Cream Parlor, and a gift shop.

The South Terrace provides a spectacular view of the grassy slope leaving the back of the house and the mountains beyond , while the Library Terrace offers shade and an arbor of wisteria and trumpet creeper vines. This trunk on that terrace was so interesting.

Upon leaving the House we went to the Gardens nearest the greenhouse and the area behind the greenhouse .

But Vivienne, I would be hard pressed to name many of the varieties. There were many roses. They and most of the others were nearing the end of their season and many pots of mums were sitting about the area to be transplanted into the gardens. So I will just show some of the blossoms at the bottom of this Blog, but will not bother naming them. These were familiar to me, but I wouldn't want to make a mistake!

We then went down the walkway toward the clock to visit the Winery and walk through the Cellars and and check out the Bottling Room from a second floor window. There was a group of ladies who wanted pictures taken, so we imposed upon them for a return favor . We went on to the tasting room for the fun of it, and checked out the large gift shop there. It was fun! In fact, the Estate had an over abundance of gift shops. I imagine this is part of the source of funds used to maintain it.

We left the River Bend Farm, the Deerpark Area, the Inn and Dining Room to check out the next time we visit the Estate. With 8000 acres, much of which was landscaped beginning even before the construction of the house, there is just too much to see all at one time. They are in the process of restoring another three rooms, planning for it to be open in 2009 for viewing.

The restoration of the construction, decoration, and furniture is all done with much research by many professionals from around the world. They showed one chair that was done as near like the original as possible, through a tiny remnant of fabric that was found under a furniture tack! They also showed the process of restoration of broken statues, which was amazing. The break was not able to be detected after restoration.

There are several concerts held on the South Terrace of the House and I think that even more enticing for me would be seeing the House as it is transformed with the Christmas decor and music! Maybe another year!

A difference between this house and the Boldt Castle which we toured in New York is the amount of grounds and the fact that it was used as a primary residence by the Vanderbilts for many years. The Boldt Castle was to be a summer home and was on an island, but the construction was never completed, nor was it lived in.

See you down the road.