Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Podcast

Laurens Cemetery Ramble

Posted on January 17, 2015 By Tom 8 Comments on Laurens Cemetery Ramble
Family, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling
Little Earle Martin
Little Earle Martin

A few weeks ago Facebook user Tim Bray posted an intriguing photo on the Abandoned, Old, and Interesting Places in South Carolina group.  The photo was of a statue on the grave of “Little Earle” Martin, located in the Laurens City Cemetery. As I read Tim’s descriptions of his visit, I realized that even though I’d grown up in Laurens County, I had never visited that cemetery. It was high time to check it out, and that opportunity finally came on Friday of this week.

All week the sky was a hazy shade of winter. Friday was the first clear day to lighten our moods in quite awhile. Makes sense that we’d go on a cemetery ramble. That wasn’t our first intent, though. Sister Glynda had just returned from Florida visiting grandkids. She had stayed at our house the night before, and I drove her home that morning. The heat had been off while she was gone, so we decided to go for a drive while the house warmed up. Laurens is only ten miles from Gray Court, so it looked like this would be the perfect time to visit. In addition to the Laurens Cemetery, we explored some family history, and even found another old school.

Read More “Laurens Cemetery Ramble” »

9 Bits of Advice for the Casual Adventurer

Posted on January 15, 2015January 15, 2015 By Tom No Comments on 9 Bits of Advice for the Casual Adventurer
Gear, Miscellaneous, Rambling
http://adventurearchives.blogspot.com/
“What’s in Your Haversack?” from the Adventure Archives Blog.

Over the past year I’ve joined several Facebook groups focusing on local history. I’m most active on the “Abandoned, Old, and Interesting Places in South Carolina” group, but there are similar groups for North Carolina, Georgia, and the south in general. I’ve seen some fantastic photography and learned about some new locations to explore from participation in these groups. However, to be honest, I was starting to suffer from a bit of “decay fatigue.” I was starting to see the same photos of old falling down farm houses and barns over and over, often with no explanation as to their history or significance.

Those minor sins aside, what most of the participants share is a sense of adventure. I decided to put together my own thoughts on advice for casual adventurers.

Read More “9 Bits of Advice for the Casual Adventurer” »

The Selfie Stick

Posted on January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 By Tom No Comments on The Selfie Stick
Gear, Photography

Selfie Stick

Behold, the Selfie Stick!

The very name conjures up the worst in narcissistic tendencies. Selfies are bad enough, but to have gear specific for the purpose is even worse. However, I’m here to defend the Selfie Stick, not as a narcissist’s assistant (I wanted to see how many S’s I could get in this sentence), but as an essential tool in my photo bag.

Read More “The Selfie Stick” »

A Mid-Winter Table Rock Hike

Posted on January 11, 2015 By Tom 4 Comments on A Mid-Winter Table Rock Hike
Photography, Rambling

Old color photo

I should have known better. I thought I’d be ready for the challenge of Table Rock. After all, I’d hiked it many times before. I’d even run it once, hiking to the top quickly, then coming down in a flat-out run. However, that was 30 years and 80 pounds ago. This would be almost more of a challenge than I could handle.

This was a Second Saturday, which meant a Lowcountry Unfiltered outing. Lately our group has been ranging much further than traditional Lowcountry locations. Last fall they came up for Jocassee, and for our 2015 adventures we’ve decided to take some longer trips.

Read More “A Mid-Winter Table Rock Hike” »

A Panoply of Cameras

Posted on January 4, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on A Panoply of Cameras
Gear, Photography
Panoply of Cameras
A Panoply of Cameras

Sometime before Christmas I was doing some straightening around the house and I kept stumbling on cameras that were out of place. Some are ones I’m currently using, and some are vintage cameras we keep for nostalgia. I began to wonder exactly how many imaging devices I have in the house. In addition to the obvious cameras, there are webcams, tablets, computers, and just about any phone we’ve purchased in the last decade. That’s a heck of a lot of cameras. I decided to gather as many as I could an create a panoply of cameras for one grand photograph.

This post tells two stories. The first is the story of the an image. The second is an idea for series of future blog posts that the image engendered.

Read More “A Panoply of Cameras” »

Busca Mediterranean Cafe

Posted on January 2, 2015January 3, 2015 By Tom No Comments on Busca Mediterranean Cafe
Restaurants

Busca Mediterranean

When Laura is gone I usually try to visit a couple of new restaurants. This time I found myself either dining with family, or eating my own cooking. Even so, I saw a sign for a new place on Pelham Road and decided to check it out. So, Friday evening I headed over to Busca Mediterranean Cafe.

Background

Busca is located in the space once occupied by Schwaben House German Restaurant. Schwaben House moved to a new location on Laurens Road, leaving a big empty in this little shopping center. The manager’s wife, who was operating the cash register, said that the restaurant opened on December 8th.

When I did a bit of digging online I had a few unusual hits. There were no reviews on Yelp or Urbanspoon for Busca. However, all of the Google reviews for Busca referenced a “Carolina Pizzeria.” The reviews for that place were tepid, at best. If you go to carolinapizzeria.com it redirects to the Busca website. Carolina Pizzeria still has a Facebook presence that hasn’t been scrubbed. The photos on the Facebook page look exactly like the place that I visited, down to the artwork on the walls. This leads me to believe that the December 8 opening was more of a rebranding/renaming event, perhaps with a change of ownership.

Read More “Busca Mediterranean Cafe” »

Fake GoPros – Buyer Beware

Posted on January 2, 2015January 2, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on Fake GoPros – Buyer Beware
Gear, Photography

Fake GoPro

Before Christmas I wrote a post with some things to consider if you wanted a GoPro. There are some other options out there. With the success of the GoPro, other companies are putting forth their point of view cameras. And, of course, with the success of GoPro come the imitators. There are lots of fakes and look-alikes on the market. Some of these look good – others, not so much.

Read More “Fake GoPros – Buyer Beware” »

New Year’s Sunrise on Sassafras Mountain

Posted on January 1, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on New Year’s Sunrise on Sassafras Mountain
Miscellaneous, Photography

Sassafras Sunrise on New Years Day-37

I’ve already commented several times that 2014 was a weird year, and one I’m kind of glad to see in the rear view mirror. New Year’s Eve was equally weird. It was the first time in our marriage that Laura and I weren’t together to see in the new year – she’s still in Florida helping with her mom. It was also the first year in memory that I didn’t make it until midnight.

Read More “New Year’s Sunrise on Sassafras Mountain” »

RandomConnections 2015 Calendar

Posted on December 30, 2014December 31, 2014 By Tom No Comments on RandomConnections 2015 Calendar
Family, Photography

2015 calendar

As has become my tradition, I have made calendars as gifts for my family. This is my eighth year of doing this. The photos usually come from the previous year, but not necessarily. I keep an album of calendar potentials, and sometimes pull from those if I don’t have something seasonally appropriate.

When I started this way back in 2006, I was using Qoop to create the calendars. They have long since gone, and for the past couple of years I’ve been using Lulu.com. I like their layouts, and I get a bit more room to add captions. That just wasn’t possible with Qoop. Because Qoop didn’t allow much room for captions, it had also become my tradition to do a blog post with a description of this year’s photos. Captions or no, I decided I’d still do a post on the photos, with a behind-the-scenes story.

BTW, if you want your own calendar, they are still available. Just click the link and you can order one.

Read More “RandomConnections 2015 Calendar” »

Christmas Wrap-Up 2014

Posted on December 30, 2014 By Tom 2 Comments on Christmas Wrap-Up 2014
Family, Miscellaneous, Paddling, Photography, Travel

Santa Ornament

2014 has not been an easy year. We lost my mom, and Laura’s mother has had serious health issues. I’m still trying to adjust to retirement, and Laura is trying to adjust to new work challenges. Even so, we were able keep some of our holiday traditions, and it was a good thing.

A Wright Family Christmas

I’ve already written about the difficulties with our time in Florida. I had begun my time down there with the Solstice Paddle, but there were multiple other kayaking trips. Usually I managed to get out on the water at about 9:00 am. At this time, the incoming tide was ripping from south to north, with an accompanying wind. My usual route was to paddle against the current, then come back with the wind and tide.

Indian River Paddling-5

Read More “Christmas Wrap-Up 2014” »

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 68 69 70 … 298 Next

Categories

  • EdTech (197)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (124)
  • Gear (114)
  • General Technology (98)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (276)
  • Internet (142)
  • Local (459)
  • Miscellaneous (561)
  • Music (202)
  • Paddling (268)
  • Photography (782)
  • Podcast (24)
  • Rambling (234)
  • Rants (162)
  • Recipes (37)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (413)
  • Uncategorized (144)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (61)

Recent Posts

  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Proctor, NC
  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Judson, North Carolina
  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Madison, SC
  • A Trip to Lando
  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Fort Motte, South Carolina

Recent Comments

  • Pher on Dipping a Toe in the North Toe
  • Paula McCall on Memories of Echo Valley
  • Cash Lewis on The Sad Fate of Chappells
  • Cash Lewis on The Sad Fate of Chappells
  • Scott Clenney on Getting Pulled into Union County – Part 1, Buffalo

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
March 2026
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Feb    

Copyright © 2026 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown