A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Local items of interest from Greenville and Upstate SC.
I love ghost towns. I love seeing a place and imagining what must have been there, the lives lived, and activity of commerce that must have taken place. But even living cities have their ghosts. Some of these are obvious – abandoned buildings, forgotten cemeteries, old rail beds, and stairs that seemingly lead nowhere. Some … Read More “The Remnants of the City” »
I’ve been playing in lots of music venues lately. My standard two have been the Pickens Flea Market and Gramling Opry House. I finally got around to visiting the Oolenoy Bluegrass Jam, both on New Year’s Day and on their regular Friday night session. Table Rock has also started back up with their bluegrass sessions. … Read More “Local Music Session Round-Up” »
When I’m out exploring I’m easily distracted by roads with names that contain the words “School”, “Church”, or “Mill.” This is usually an indicator that there was, or possibly still is something historic and of interest on that road. For some reason, Parkins Mill Road in Greenville has escaped my scrutiny. Perhaps it’s because it’s … Read More “The Allen Parkins Project” »
Since I no longer have a regular choir gig with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings I’ve been going to the Celtic jam sessions at the Stomping Grounds in Greer. I’ve been enjoying those so much that I’ve been looking for other outlets. So when I spotted that the Asheville Celtic Festival was happening, I knew I … Read More “Celtic Cosplay in Asheville” »
For many years I’ve known about the underground railroad passage in Anderson, South Carolina. The passage hints at a forgotten history and neglected part of the city. I’ve visited the entrances to the passageway several times, but just never got up the nerve to explore it by myself. This past week fellow explorer Alan Russell joined me, and together we finally got a chance to explore Underground Anderson.
For many years I drove over the bridge over the South Tyger River at Berry Shoals, looking longingly at the old steel trestle bridge downstream and the twin lakes of Berry Shoals Pond and Silver Lake. I wanted to explore the area. However, I was always in route to one of my schools or on some other school district business, so I never got a chance to explore…until now. Sadly, my explorations were cut short, all for want of a hat.
For many years I was music director at McCarter Presbyterian Church here in Greenville. McCarter is a small church located prominently at the intersection of Pelham Road and East North Street, a spot it has occupied for the past 123 years. It seemed a unique little church in the bustle of a major neighborhood that somehow managed to survive.
But then I found out that it wasn’t unique.
Last spring a guy with the unusual name of Beezer Molton contacted me about a photo. It turns out that Beezer is the owner of the Half-Moon Outfitters franchise. The Greenville store would be moving into a new store and he wanted a large print of the above photo to go into the new location. … Read More “Full Moon at Half-Moon” »
I worked in Spartanburg county for fifteen years. During all of that time I never got around to visiting Nazareth Presbyterian Church. I knew it was one of the first churches in the area, having been established around 1765, but for some reason I thought that the building had been updated and no longer retained its historic character. I was wrong. When I had driven by it I had seen the new Family Life Center (a.k.a “gym”) and had thought that IT was the church, somehow missing the older building right next to it. While out doing some research on another project about church architecture Alan Russell and I finally paid Nazareth a visit.
Last August tickets went on sale for a concert by Paul McCartney at the Bon Secours Wellness Center in Greenville. I tried and tried to get tickets, but they were completely sold out within minutes. I told Laura about my failure. What I DIDN’T tell her was that I was able to go back online … Read More “A Visit with Sir Paul” »