Random Connections – Page 83 – A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

Lunch at Harold’s of Gaffney

February 2, 2014February 3, 2014 Tom No Comments

Restaurants

Tommy Thompson and I had been out on a photo trek across Cherokee County. We had reached the town of Gaffney and we were ready for lunch. We were looking for something quirky and local – not the chain places located out near the interstate. Gaffney is a college town, so I was hoping for something like what we found in Athens. However, Limestone College is no UGA, so pickin’s were slim. When we saw the sign on Harold’s Restaurant saying “Featured on the Food Network” we decided we had to check it out.

Background

Harold Tindall opened the restaurant in 1932 with a unique recipe for a chili burger. The place gained a local following, and sometime in the last couple of decades (time unknown) Tony and Holly Lipscombe purchased the restaurant. They retained all of the original recipes, and pretty much all of the same furnishings and decor.

Atmosphere

It’s a dive. Period. One walks into a narrow space lined with booths on one side and a lunch counter on the other. First up is a massive menu board with instructions to order at the counter. Several other diners were seated either in booths or at the bar. The place is decked out in yellow for Gaffney’s high school football team.

A Cold Cherokee Ramble – Part 2

February 1, 2014 Tom No Comments

Photography, Rambling

So far Tommy Thompson and I had found an old airway beacon pad, and had visited a wonderful old chapel. There was more to see, though. I had several places I wanted to check out in Cherokee County that Glynda and I had explored previously, including the ghost town of Coopersville and the abandoned Cherokee … Read More “A Cold Cherokee Ramble – Part 2” »

A Cold Cherokee County Ramble – Part 1

February 1, 2014April 17, 2014 Tom 3 Comments

Photography, Rambling

Mulberry Chapel-002 — Mulberry Chapel
Asbury Community, Cherokee County

Tommy Thompson and I had set out on a cold Thursday morning with snow still on the ground in order to find concrete airway beacons. That took all of about 20 minutes, and we still had the rest of the day ahead of us. I had several beacon locations marked in my GPS, but they didn’t look promising. Instead, we decided to head out to several spots in Cherokee County.

On my last ramble out this way I found I had missed an opportunity. I was just a half-mile from Mulberry Chapel, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. I decided that would be our first target for the morning. First, though, we had to cross Spartanburg County, and there were a couple of interesting spots along the way.

First up, we stopped briefly at Anderson Mill on the Tyger River. The remnants of snow and morning light made for some nice photography.

Pointing the Way in Concrete

January 31, 2014April 8, 2015 Tom 3 Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Internet

Ghost towns, odd bits of masonry, abandoned towers, derelict schools, old cemeteries, old dirt roads – these are items that speak of a hidden history. These are the things you may pass many times daily and never give any thought. However, if they are brought to your attention, you never look at that area the same way. Just recently my Geocaching friend Larry Easler (aka HockeyHick) made me aware of a whole new genre of interesting historical remnants – Airway Beacon Markers.

Larry found one of these things fairly close to us and did the initial research and background history. He has since placed a geocache at the location as part of his “Hidden History” series of geocaches. On a cold morning after the recent snowfall, Tommy Thompson and I decided to check it out.

Fun with Small Electronics

January 25, 2014January 27, 2014 Tom No Comments

EdTech, Gear

I’ve been having fun with the MaKey MaKey. However, it has some limitations. As the name implies, it can substitute for any key. However, there are some limitations. If you want to get into sensors and other extended capabilities, you need more stuff. You can use the device as an Arduino, but you would need … Read More “Fun with Small Electronics” »

Singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (sort of)

January 25, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Music

Mack Wilberg
Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Once upon a time I was a choir director. Before getting caught up in all of this technology stuff I taught chorus to middle schoolers during the week, and directed music at a fairly large church on the weekends. It was what I trained to do as an undergrad, and I was having a blast doing it. As my career evolved, I needed weekends back, so I gave up choir directing. I continued singing with the Greenville Chorale, and that kept me musically active, but one of my retirement goals was to get back into choir directing.

It’s now been ten years since I’ve had a church choir. I did a brief interim at Fourth Presbyterian in 2005-06, but that’s hardly long enough to count. When I was a choir director I would regularly attend the Furman Church Music Conference, held on campus each January. I decided that a step toward my goal would be to attend the conference this year.

This year the clinician would be none other than Mack Wilberg, director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Wilberg had spoken at the conference before, twelve years ago in 2002 when he was the associate director. Oddly enough, that was the last conference I attended. The session titles for this year were the same as that 2002 conference, and I almost hesitated – but now I’m glad I attended.

Chasing Aiken across Abbeville

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 Tom 5 Comments

History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Trinity Episcopal-004 — Trinity Episcopal Church
Abbeville, SC

Fellow explorer and photographer Alan Russell has been working on family research. His great-great grandfather was none other than David Wyatt Aiken, a prominent figure in 19th century politics in South Carolina. Aiken served as an officer in the Confederate Army, and served five terms as a US Congressman.

Alan has been working with Aiken’s diary, and has been compiling a list of locations that Aiken mentions. This particular Saturday, Alan had a list of locations in and around the town of Abbeville, so we decided to check them out. Along the way we talked with some interesting folks, and even had a chat with the mayor of the town.

Watching the Towers Fall

January 19, 2014 Tom No Comments

Local

A couple of weeks ago I got a text from my nephew, Chip, stating that a prominent Greenville Landmark was going to meet its demise. The Scott Towers on Augusta Road were to be imploded. I knew I had to be there.

The towers were built in 1972, and have been a prominent building on the skyline for as long as I can remember. Apart from that, I really don’t know much about them. As long as I’ve known about the towers, they have served as housing for elderly and disabled citizens, but I’m not sure if that’s the original intent of the building.

When Scott Towers was constructed, The Bell Tower Mall was still an active shopping area. New office buildings were being constructed. It was a hot growth area, along with Pleasantburg Drive near McAlister Square, and the Wade Hampton Mall near Bob Jones University. These were the Woodruff Roads and Haywood Roads of their day. Perhaps it was a good idea to provide housing like this near a vibrant shopping area.

Read More “Watching the Towers Fall” »

A Mid-Week Athens Road Trip

January 17, 2014 Tom No Comments

Family, Photography, Rambling

Union Baptist Church with Texture — Old Union Baptist Church in Madison County

As mentioned in the previous post, my sister Glynda and I headed down to Athens, Ga to meet with our brother, Houston. We had lunch at the famous Weaver D’s Automatic for the People, but we also took some time for other adventures. Here are some of the other things we spotted along the way…

Shortly after crossing the SC-GA border in I-85, we hopped off the Interstate at Lavonia. This had always been just an exit ramp to me. I didn’t really know anything about the town associated with the name, so we decided to check it out. We found a quaint little town square lining a railroad, with a colorful depot now serving as a welcome center.

Automatic for the People

January 16, 2014January 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Restaurants

Glynda had some business with my brother Houston, in Athens, so I offered to drive her down in exchange for a leisurely day taking photographs. Turned out to be a good road trip through Georgia, stopping at several interesting points and a couple of landmarks in the university town. The highlight, though, was a stop at Weaver D’s Automatic for the People, a culinary and rock and roll landmark in Athens.

Background

Dexter Weaver, a Georgia Native, moved to Baltimore early in life, where his classmates gave him the nickname “Weaver D 43”, from his high school football jersey number. Weaver D found himself in a variety of retail and fast food settings. Through these endeavors Weaver crafted his catch phrase, “Automatic for the People,” to indicate efficiency, caring and quality. A co-worker suggested that if he ever went into business for himself, that should become his motto.

Fate eventually brought him back to Athens, where he used his business and culinary sense to establish a catering business in the late 70’s, early 80s. His business flourished, and he made a name for himself catering events for frat houses and other university events. In 1986 the old Riverside Cafe closed down, opening an opportunity for Weaver D. He leased the building and opened his soul food restaurant.

Because he had catered so many university events, the place was immediately popular with students as a restaurant where they could get good home-cooked food. One of the patrons was none other than Michael Stipe of REM. In 1992 Stipe approached Weaver about using his catchphrase for the title of an upcoming Album, and Weaver agreed. Released in 1992, Automatic for the People was the eighth album by REM, and received a Grammy nomination. The album has the hits “Man in the Moon” and “Everybody Hurts.” It was also used as the title for a Sarah Connor Chronicles TV episode.

Read More “Automatic for the People” »

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28