Random Connections – Page 93 – A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

Lowcountry Small Town Tour

July 10, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom No Comments

I’m still playing catch-up with my blogging. I’m about a week behind, but maybe over the next couple of days I can get caught up.

When Glynda first got married she lived in Savannah and our family would make the occasional trip down there for a visit. This was 40+ years ago, so I-95 was non-existent. The only way to get there was a series of two-lane roads that went through lots of tiny towns in South Carolina.

Now for the present – last weekend my paddling buddy, Matt Richardson, turned 40, and his wife, Cris, planned a surprise party for him. Since I’m now retired with nothing better to do, I decided to drive down and join in the surprise. I had the time, so I decided to replicate the trips from long ago, avoiding the interstates, and driving through all of the little towns, taking photos along the way. I also planned to hit a couple of ghost towns.

Fourth in Florida

July 7, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom No Comments

Family, Paddling, Photography, Rambling, Travel

Been a busy week. We headed down to Florida to Laura’s sister’s house for the Fourth holiday. The days at Amy’s have been spent on day trips, but mostly paddling out on the Indian River. I have fallen woefully behind on blogging. I’ve got a couple of ghost town reports and other write-ups to finish. … Read More “Fourth in Florida” »

Remembering John Ellenberg

July 1, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 15 Comments

Family

Last night I got the call from my brother. Our first cousin, John Ellenberg, had been killed in a plane crash in Alaska on Friday. John was 74. He was flying with his fiance, Laurie Buckner, who was also killed in the crash. Here’s a link to the news report from one of the local … Read More “Remembering John Ellenberg” »

A Week’s Busy Activity

June 27, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom No Comments

Miscellaneous, Paddling, Photography, Rambling

I’ve gotten behind on my blogging. It seems that living life is taking more time that the documentation thereof. It’s an ironic consequence of having available time. When I do sit down to write, I tend to fall asleep. So, here goes a bit of catch-up…

Saturday Evening – Super Moon

Saturday’s full moon was a “super moon”. That’s a relatively recent term, meant to generate more interest in astronomy. A super moon occurs when the moon reaches perigee at full moon. Since it’s at its closest point to Earth, it is supposed to appear larger. Of course, this only works if the moon can be placed in context, near the horizon. The lensing effect of the atmosphere automatically makes the moon appear larger.

The trick is to find a good place to take a photo with a clear view of the horizon. I decided to try Bald Rock. I’d had success up there with sunrise shots, why not a moon rise?

I got to the location well before sunset. There were a few other around, but it wasn’t crowded. As I set up my camera and gear a woman nearby asked if I was there for the super moon. I said that I was. Another photographer set up nearby. Soon, others were joining us on the rock.

The sun was setting behind us, so there wasn’t a good shot of the actual sunset. I did take a few photos of the Piedmont through the evening light.

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Cokesbury Tour, Tabernacle, and Ninety-Six

June 26, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Rambling

Cokesbury-086 — Old Cokesbury College Main Building

It finally happened. As many times as I’ve been here and photographed the exterior, I was finally able to get inside the old main building at the old Cokesbury College. This weekend is Greenwood’s Festival of Flowers, and as part of the event they were holding an open house at the historic location. While in Greenwood I hit a couple of other locations I had been wanting to photograph. I was joined by fellow explorers Mark Elbrecht, who alerted me to this year’s tour dates, and Alan Russell.

I had tried to do this last year. Mark was able to go down on a Saturday, but I had to delay until Sunday due to a paddling trip. Even though their website said the event would be Saturday and Sunday, when we got there Sunday morning everything was closed up tight. We never got into the building.

This year it would be different. The Chamber of Commerce had even used one of my photos of the old building on their promotional website. I was going to make sure that we were there on the correct day. So, Mark, Alan, and I headed down and arrived at the site at about 10:30 am.

Leaving Charleston – Strawberry Chapel and Childsbury

June 21, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 3 Comments

History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling, Travel

We had a great, wildly diverse weekend in Charleston, from swamps to beaches to city church yards. When planning this trip, we intentionally stayed an extra night into Monday so that I wouldn’t think about work at all on my first official day of unemployment. That meant that we could take our time coming home, and we did just that.

Laura and I love taking the back roads to and from the low country. Our plan was to drive northeast out of Charleston, then turn north through the Francis Marion National Forest. There was at least one ghost town along the way, and I was sure other interesting places would present photographic opportunities.

As we headed north on 17 I mounted the GoPro to my windshield. I wanted to get video as we crossed the the Cooper River Bridge. The video itself that interesting, but I got a couple of interesting stills. Never mind the reflection of my GPS and XM radio on the dash.

A Day at the Beach

June 20, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 2 Comments

Travel

It’s been years since we just hung out on a beach. We were definitely going to make it a part of this trip. Laura grew up just a couple of blocks from the Pacific Ocean, so any time that we get within range of an ocean, she has to see it. After leaving our Governor’s … Read More “A Day at the Beach” »

The Churchyards of Charleston

June 19, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 3 Comments

History and Genealogy, Photography, Travel

Charleston has long been known as the “Holy City” because of huge number of historical churches. Since we had some time in the city after our Governor’s School reunion, I wanted to check out a few of these. Specifically, I was looking for some of the signature grave stones that I’ve spotted in historic churches all over the state. Most of these sculptors lived and worked in Charleston, so I expected to find lots of them. I was not disappointed.

Charleston Unitarian Church

Our first stop was sort of spontaneous. On our way back to the College of Charleston from the restaurant where we had our reunion Cathy Ardry suggested a shortcut through the Unitarian Church yard. The passageway connects King Street through to Philips Street, and provides a shady respite from the Charleston Heat.

Governor’s School Reunion

June 19, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 2 Comments

Miscellaneous, Travel

For our first post-retirement getaway, Laura and I decided to head to Charleston for a reunion of my class from the Governor’s School from 1978. The reunion was to be that Saturday, but we decided to make it a four-day weekend in the Holy City so we could get in as much as possible.

35 years seems like an incredibly long time ago. I was a junior in high school, and the Governor’s School was my first real escape from home. At the time it was a six-week program during the summer at the College of Charleston. My area of concentration was geology, but I also did quite a bit with music, performing at the Dock Street Theater at one point. I also had opportunities to to do things I’d never otherwise be able to do at home, such as crewing an Olympic-class sailboat around the Charleston Harbor.

To say that Governor’s School was a life-changing experience would be an understatement. It was the first real view I had of life beyond the limited confines of Laurens County. People in my community had preconceived notions about me, and if I tried anything beyond what was expected, ridicule was the order of the day. At GS I opened up, and was willing to give just about anything a shot. Nobody there cared about preconceived notions.

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Playing Catch Up

June 19, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom No Comments

Music

We had a great reunion/escape weekend in Charleston, but several things have kept me from updating my blog. Internet at our hotel was horrible. It was taking forever to upload the boatload of photos I took over the weekend. Add to that the fact that the blog got hit by a spam attack, and I … Read More “Playing Catch Up” »