Random Connections – Page 62 – A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

RIP Bavarian Pretzel Factory

August 30, 2015 Tom 1 Comment

Restaurants

Bavarian Pretzel Factory has closed its doors. The owners say that they will continue baking breads and taking orders for specialty goods, but the restaurant is gone. I guess the “curse of the RandomConnections review” strikes again.

It was Keith Dover who discovered the body, so to speak, and alerted me via text. He had placed an order for potato salad, but when he tried to call about it, there was no answer. I had to run a few errands, so I swung by to see what was happening. At what should have been a busy lunch time, there were no cars in the lot. I peeked in the window, and all of the furniture was gone. While their website still seems active, a quick check of their Facebook presence confirmed that it was closed.

Old School Consumer Electronics

August 20, 2015 Tom 3 Comments

Gear, Local, Miscellaneous

Our television gave up the ghost. While it was a fairly modern hi-def LCD TV, by today’s standards it was quite small. We still hold to the old “TV as furniture” ideal, and kept it in a cabinet in a corner. This was actually a design decision, as we have picture windows overlooking our back yard and lake, and didn’t want a large TV interfering with that view. Perhaps it got jealous of the big new TV in our newly remodeled basement. Who knows? The upshot is that on Wednesday I found myself heading out to buy a new one.

The Remote Savannah

August 18, 2015August 19, 2015 Tom 4 Comments

Paddling, Photography

We missed our traditional Second Saturday trek with Lowcountry Unfiltered. Laura and I were still in Florida, and Matt was tied up with moving. Several others of our group also had conflicts, so we decided to postpone the trip to the third Saturday. For this trip, we decided to tackle a wild and remote section of the Savannah River. We would be putting in at Burton’s Ferry Landing and paddling 15 miles downriver to Cohen’s Bluff.

Florida Wrap-Up

August 10, 2015August 18, 2015 Tom No Comments

Travel

The time that I was in Florida and not in the Keys I spent a LOT of time on my my kayak. I was probably out everyday. My typical MO was to head out after having a cup of coffee. Sometimes Amy would join me, and sometimes Laura would. We even got Amy’s dog out on a boat for the very first time.

Key Largo Getaway – Part 2

August 7, 2015August 17, 2015 Tom No Comments

Travel

So far our Key Largo getaway was going just like we wanted – lots of pool time, some kayaking, good food, and several delicious rum-based drinks. On Wednesday we decided that we’d had enough direct sunshine, so we decided to ride a bit. It seemed a shame to get this close and not make it all the way down to Key West, so we set off in that direction.

Key Largo Get Away – Part 1

August 4, 2015August 17, 2015 Tom No Comments

Travel

It’s been a stressful few weeks. We have been making trips to Florida to help out with Laura’s mother. While I’ve been able to make the trip to Ireland, Laura hasn’t had a vacation. So, on this latest trek down to Florida we decided to extend trip a few days and head down to Key Largo for an escape.

We drove down on a Monday. The drive from Fort Pierce to the Keys is not the most exciting stretch, until you reach the end of the Turnpike. There, US 1 takes over, and the two-lane route leads over wetlands and mangroves. While beautiful, the area is fenced, and there is nowhere to stop. Eventually we reached the bridge crossing Blackwater Sound and arrived at Key Largo.

The Big Business of Piracy

August 1, 2015August 13, 2015 Tom 3 Comments

Travel, Weirdness

We were running errands up in Vero when I spotted the following sign along US 1:

Hmmm….”3 Days of Family Friendly Piracy.” Sounds a bit…oxymoronic to me. Truth be told, I’ve always thought that the Disney ride “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a bit weird, long before the movie series even came out. I’m not a prude, but a ride celebrating raping and pillaging just didn’t seem quite right. Sure, the real violence has been sanitized into something suitable for kids, but given historical realities and real incidents of piracy off the African coast, I’m often left scratching my head over the popularity of pirates.

We had some free time away from household duties, so we decided to check out the Vero Beach Pirate Fest.

The $10 Kayak

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 Tom 1 Comment

Gear, Paddling

Once upon a time Confluence Watersports in Easley would have a special sale for “friends and family.” Employees and even the general public could come purchase kayaks that were factory seconds, demo boats, discontinued products, and other items that couldn’t be put out for regular retail sale. The incredible prices are how my brothers and nephew have built up our fleet of kayaks.

Of course, you had to be careful. One of the boats we got had a warped hull, and had a distinct pull to the left. My favorite Pungo had all of the seat webbing sliced, and I had to replace it. One of Chip’s boats lacked covers for the storage hatches. For the prices we got these boats, we could cope.

The problem was that people started purchasing LOTS of kayaks at once and reselling them. This was undermining local merchants like Sunrift Adventures and Grady Outdoors. The sales were closed to the public. In order to attend the sale you had to have a ticket, and you were limited to two boats.

Fuji FinePix XP85 – More Info

July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 Tom No Comments

Gear, Paddling, Photography

Looking back at my last post I realized I hadn’t included much information about the Fujifilm FinePix XP85 camera that I purchased recently. I’d made a few comments, but hadn’t really followed up with substantial information. With that in mind, here are a few more thoughts about the camera.

New Waterproof Camera – Fuji XP85

July 25, 2015 Tom 2 Comments

Gear, Photography

Over the Fourth of July weekend we went down to Florida to visit Laura’s sister Amy and her mother. Since we’ve been going down regularly to help out I’ve left a bit of paddling gear and our tandem kayak so that I can do the occasional escape.

I was on my way out for a quick paddle when my trusty Fujifilm Z33WP slipped out of my hand and hit Amy’s tile floor, point down. It cracked the corner of the casing. The camera still works, but it was no longer waterproof.