South Carolina – Page 17 – Random Connections

Saluda Lake on a Fall Saturday

October 7, 2012 Tom No Comments

Paddling

It seems like it has been ages since I’ve been out on the water. When Alan suggested a quick paddling trip for today, I jumped at the chance. His daughter, Caitlin, and her boyfriend, Ben, were in town while Furman is on fall break, so we were looking for a quick trip somewhere close by. Saluda Lake fit that bill nicely.

There are two public access points for Saluda Lake. Saluda Landing is on the Greenville side, and is a privately owned boat ramp and marina. On the Pickens side there is a relatively new public park. The last time we were there, Saluda Landing charged us $3 per boat to launch, whereas the Pickens park charged $3 per car parking fee. So, the question was, is it worth $6 for the convenience to Furman and a launch closer to where we wanted to paddle? We decided it was, and agreed to meet at Saluda Landing. However…

Marching Band Season

September 30, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Entertainment, Music

As my friend Duck Hunter pointed out on his blog, not only is it football season, but it’s also marching band season. The Furman Band has really been sounding good the last several years, and this year continues this trend.

Of course, we’ve taken more interest in the band the past several years since the son and daughter of our friends Alan and Mary have been in the band. Joshua graduated last year, but Caitlin still has a couple of years to go. So, we’ve been following the band’s repertoire closer than usual.

Pickens County Ramble

September 17, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

Local, Photography, Rambling

I’ve been going a bit stir crazy. The weather has been perfect for hiking or kayaking, but with this lingering cough I just haven’t wanted to risk getting sick again. Laura was busy writing an exam, so sister Glynda and I decided to head out and find something to photograph.

For this ramble we repeated a trek that I had made with Duckhunter back last year. Our route took us north of Clemson and into some of the old communities of Pickens County.

From Greenville we drove to Easley, then followed 93 to Liberty, then on to Norris. From Norris we headed north to our first stop at the mill village of Cateechee. Glynda had never visited this part of the state, so it was new territory for her. We circled through the mill village and looked at the ruins of the mill, then drove around to the old Cateechee School.

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Getting Religion on the Edisto

August 12, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

The Current be with you.

And also with you.

May the waters of the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto flow over you and bless you…

I’ve mentioned before how our Lowcountry Unfiltered core group tends to consist of guys with names of the disciples. On this latest trip to the Edisto River we noticed other religious aspects. While not a defined liturgy, we do have our own order of service, dictated by the nature of the paddling venue. There is The Gathering then The Launch. Instead of wine and wafers we take communion with beer and brats, and our preferred method of baptism is via rope swing. What happens in between tends to be more free-form Charismatic than Episcopal, with a touch of Calvinism thrown in for good measure.

Two Libraries, Revisited

August 7, 2012 Tom 4 Comments

Local

Back in 2010 I wrote a piece entitled “Two Libraries, Two Attitudes.” In that article I took the Greenville County Library to task for their Internet blocking policies. At the time they blocked lots of sites, such as Twitter and most blogs, because their Acceptable Use Policy stated that the computers couldn’t be used for chat. By extension, this included most forms of social media, including Facebook, Myspace, and other similar sites.

The other night one Brian Dykes, who apparently is an employee of the library, left a comment stating that the information in that post was now incorrect. The snarky tone of the comment aside, I decided to take Mr. Dykes up on his challenge, and revisit the library to see if they had, in fact, reformed their policies.

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Lake Blalock Paddlefest

July 29, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

This past Saturday Spartanburg Water held their first annual Paddlefest on Lake Blalock. In addition to highlighting paddlesport opportunities on the lake, the event was designed to promote water quality and watershed awareness. The Western Carolina Kayaking group announced the event, so I decided to sign up and check it out.

Lake Blalock is located in northern Spartanburg County. It is fed by the Pacolet River, which it shares with its upstream neighbor, Lake Bowen, and by Buck Creek. The lake is a small lake with limited boat motor size, and a watershed buffer zone around the lake between landowners and the lake’s edge. That makes it ideal for paddling.

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Habiba Mediterranean Restaurant

July 24, 2012 Tom No Comments

Restaurants

After our Georgia trek on Sunday, Glynda and I decided to get a bite of dinner. I had seen that a new place had opened on Haywood Road that looked interesting, so we drove by. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays. So, Monday on my way home late from work, I stopped by Habiba Mediterranean … Read More “Habiba Mediterranean Restaurant” »

Furman Photo Walk

July 23, 2012 Tom No Comments

Local, Photography

Despite the earlier disappointment with the new camera, the D7000 had a chance to redeem itself. I had signed up for a photo walk at Furman with the Upstate Photography Walks Meetup. I managed to make it home from North Carolina in time to catch a quick nap and meet the group at the Furman Bookstore at 6:00 pm for an evening walk.

I’ve participated in the Greenville Canoe and Kayak Meetup, but not the photography group. I didn’t know any of the participants, but was willing to give it a shot. I was joined by seven other photographers for a walk around campus.

Rainy Paddle on the Edisto River

July 16, 2012 Tom No Comments

Paddling, Photography

Not only was it a second Saturday and time for another Lowcountry Unfiltered kayak trip, but this month we were set to repeat one of our legendary treks – running the Edisto River from Mars Old Field Landing to Messervy Landing. We’ve come to refer to this as our “beer commercial” trip. It’s always a trip with rope swings, lazy river paddling, home brewed beer, and lots of wildlife.

However, we wouldn’t be alone on the river. According to the Edisto Floaters Facebook page, this was also supposed to be the day for their “Megafloat”. From the description, it was supposed to be bank-to-bank inner tubes. Part of the discussion on their page was that singles should wear a red shirt to advertise their availability. Sounded like things could get very interesting on the river.

Exploring Upper Jocassee

July 9, 2012 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

I haven’t done much paddling with the Greenville Canoe and Kayak Meetup lately. Since they merged with the Asheville organization the group seems to have lost its identity, having been subsumed into that group, and many of the trips just didn’t appeal to me. However, one scheduled for this past Saturday really caught me eye, and I decided to give it a chance. It turned out to be a perfect day paddling on Lake Jocassee, and I’m now glad I gave them a shot.

Brooks Wade, owner of Jocassee Lake Tours, had offered to load our kayaks onto his pontoon boat and take the group to the upper reaches of Jocassee. The area is hard to reach unless you’re a very strong paddler with a very fast boat, or unless you break the trip into a two-day venture. But the rewards are spectacular – waterfalls and pristine mountain scenery. Of course, I couldn’t pass this up.

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