Category: Travel

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Peak Experience

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Peak Experience
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Travel

Peak Trestle

Conditions were ideal for a photo trek. I had a day of vacation I needed to use before the madness of summer system installations started up. Laura had left town for a conference, so I was on my own. And I had gotten new information about an interesting place to visit. My main target for the day would be the old railroad trestle that crosses the Broad River near Peak, SC.

Jay Hope had e-mailed me earlier in the week with a link to a story in The State newspaper about completion of the aforementioned bridge and opening of a new section of the Palmetto Trail. Jay’s family has been working to restore the nearby Hope School, which is one of the historic Rosenwald schools. The trail passes through Jay’s family land and close to the school, and he knew that I had an in the area, so he tries to keep me informed. I followed up on his suggestion, and after getting Laura off to the airport, headed south.

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Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve – Unfiltered

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve – Unfiltered
Geocaching and Maps, Local, Photography, Travel

Peachtree Rock

This Saturday our Lowcountry Unfiltered group gathered for its monthly outing. We rendezvoused just southwest of Columbia to explore the Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve, managed by the Nature Conservancy and the South Carolina Department of Natural Services. Dr. John Nelson, botanist at USC, director of the state’s Herbarium, and member of our group would serve as our guide for the day.

Lowcountry Unfiltered Gathers

In addition to John and myself, five others joined us.  We gathered at the entrance to the preserve at about 9:00, and got some preliminary information from John.  The area is one of the first set aside by the Nature Conservancy, and contains several unique habitat areas, including a long-leaf pine ecosystem.  The geology is also unusual. A hard layer of rock called ironstone covers softer layers of sandstone.  The sandstone has been eroding out from under the resistant upper layer, creating unique geological formations such as the namesake Peachtree Rock.

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Western SC Tower Tour

Posted on By Tom 7 Comments on Western SC Tower Tour
Entertainment, Geocaching and Maps, Local, Photography, Rants, Travel

Westminster/Oakvale Tower

It seems like spring break got away from me without my being about to get out and visit the lookout towers like I wanted. This Friday was one of the best days, as far as weather was concerned, so I was able to visit some of the locations. My target would be those towers located in Northwestern South Carolina, along with any other interested tidbits I might discover along the way. It was a push, but I managed to visit eight tower locations in one day.

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South Carolina Heritage Corridor

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on South Carolina Heritage Corridor
Geocaching and Maps, Local, Travel

While out driving the rural highways of South Carolina you may have come across a road sign with this symbol… Seeing a road sign like this lets you know that you are on either the South Carolina Discovery Route, or the South Carolina Nature Route, both parts of the South Carolina Heritage Corridor. On the … Read More “South Carolina Heritage Corridor” »

Columbia Riverfront Park

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Columbia Riverfront Park
Photography, Travel

Columbia Canal HDR

Once, many years ago, I made the statement that while other cities like Austin and New Orleans had cool Riverwalk areas, Columbia had built a penitentiary on it’s riverfront. Fortunately, in the past couple of decades since that statement attitudes have changed, and both Greenville and Columbia have recognized the importance of their waterways and the potential for tourism. While in Columbia this past week I was able to spend an afternoon at the Columbia Riverfront Park, and it was quite a pleasant outing.

The park is located at the site of the Columbia Waterworks, and incorporates historical elements of the waterworks, the Columbia Canal, and the Congaree River. One enters the main portion of the part at the Waterworks entrance, with a path that leads past the portions of the water treatment plant that are still in operation.

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Goodbye to the Bahamas and Trip Reflections

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Goodbye to the Bahamas and Trip Reflections
Travel

I watched one last Bahamian sunrise, this time without a camera in sight.  We had packed, and we were ready to head home.  We had a good, large breakfast at the hotel, then went to meet our transport to the airport.

The trip home was uneventful, which was a good thing.  By this time I had caught the cold that had plagued Laura for the entire trip, so we were both coughing up a storm (much to the annoyance of our fellow travelers.)  There were no delays, and we arrived safely in Greenville at the appointed time.

Our luggage, however, was a different story.  There was nothing awaiting us in Greenville.  We were just glad it happened at the end of the trip rather than the beginning.  The airline was able to locate it, and about 11:00 PM it was delivered to our house.  Apparently my luggage tag had snagged in a conveyor belt and had caused damage to the bag and the delay.  The contents were OK.

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Kayaking and Caves in Lucayan National Park

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Kayaking and Caves in Lucayan National Park
Paddling, Photography, Travel

For our last full day in the Bahamas I had booked a kayaking tour and trip to the Lucayan National Park. Laura had been fighting a bad cough all week and didn’t feel like going, so I was on my own. After watching another stunning Bahamian sunrise, I began gathering my gear and headed down to meet the group.

I was the only one from our resort going on the tour, but there were nine others that had already been picked up, and we stopped for four more on the way out. Along with our guide, we had a party of fifteen.

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Island Time

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Island Time
Photography, Travel

Sunrise Sailing

Things are more relaxed. Nothing is rushed. Everyone has a good time and things get done when they get done. That’s Island Time.

Even so, I was up at the crack of dawn, literally. Even on Island Time some habits are hard to break. However, I did have a purpose. I wanted to try some time-lapse videography with my little Nikon S50. The only problem was that I didn’t have a good tripod with me. My solution was to drag the floor lamp out onto the balcony and strap my little mini-pod to it with a Velcro strap. It looked weird…

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