KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

7/10-11

Hey there Campers,

Woke up today to another hot SC day. Cairy told us about another historical place to go. Those who know Cairy knows that he has scoped most historical places in his area. Kings Mountain National Park.

The battle at Kings Mountain played a very important part in the Revolutionary War. The American army in the north was keeping the British down and they were not getting anywhere. By 1780 the British military decided they would head south to try to capture the American southern colonies. There were lots of British loyalists in this area. Most of the people were backwoods and did not really want to fight. At the Battle at Waxhaw the British were winning so the Americans were giving up and waving a white flag of surrender. The British did not care. They went in for the kill. It was so bad it became known as the Buford’s Massacre. You know Americans have the mind like an elephant. They do not forget what has happened.

When the two groups meet up again the Americans are determined to fight to the end. They fought with the Buford Massacre in mind and defeated the British with all of their fine Officers like Patrick Ferguson, Cornwallis, Tarleton. They were also fighting with the top guns of the day. The Patriots were fighting with hunting guns and knives. Never underestimate how Americans will come together in a crisis.

Our tour started with a movie explaining why the capture of Kings Mountain was so important. The museum is set up like a forest. It is full of life and events of the early Americans. One interesting fact there were 3 African Americans who fought in this battle. Esaias Bowman, John Brody & Andrew Ferguson. The interesting thing is John Brody father was Col. William Campbell of the patriots. His unit who was one of the 4 coming up that hill. John was so impressive that when he was on his father’s horse the men in the unit took orders from him because he looked so much like him.  

We toured the battlefield trail and listen to the guided info through our phones. The park is very well laid out so you can get a picture of what the war really was like. Go on line to get the full story. The obliek monument was being restore. In 1930 congress made the mountain a National Park.

One of the coolest thing the park does is they bring in kids for a week to teach them about the war on the mountain. On the last day they take a baloon and put in the names of the people who fought on both sides. Once the kid gets their name they are give clothes to dress up in. They then eat and sleep out in the open just like the soliders. The next day they have a friendly Patriots & Tory tea and invite the parents to show what they have learned all week.

We came back to the Lester’s. We took them out for a farewell dinner as we leave in the morning.

 

Another great day in SC. It is not how so we are good. Since we did not get to have dinner with Catrina last night due to her being in school, we decided to go where she works , P.F. Changs, and see her before we leave. We have lunch there and he is the perfect hostess. She introduces us to Carrie, the bar manager who is our server. She is a veggie (ok that is slang for vegetarian) also so she great tips on what to eat. Don't tell Nita I had eggplant. She will try to get me to eat it all the time.Lo tries the sweet tea again and decides wow is that sweet. Ya think!!!

 

 

As I am going to the ladies room I notice a guy at the bar an his man bag is open with all of his stuff showing. I let Carrie know and she says not to worry because this is the south and nobody is going to steal his stuff. I am looking like what the heck are they talking about no one will steal his stuff. I am dumb founded. Guess I have seen to many 20/20's and lived in Cally to long!!!! Lo said not to worry everyone has a gun!

We hug our Catrina and head for the North Carolina Outerbanks. (Another Cairy trip)

Well Campers, until next time.

Lo & Bren

ABCDEFG

7/9

Hey there Campers,

Well, 2 sunny days in a row! Oh yeah. We got up early to go get the Hilton 4 fixed. We notice when we were driving into South Carolina we heard a noise. Lo checked it out and it was the muffler starting to have a problem. For those who were following our trip in 2015 you know we had this issue before. Not to worry. MacGyver (Lo) knows what to do and how to get it taken care of. We find a truck repair shop in the countryside and the guy says he will have it done before lunch. We decide to go to breakfast at a cute place called Yolks. Before we even get our meals, the shop guy calls and the part is ready. Talk about service and it only cost $25.00. Lo put in on and we get on with our day.

 

Cairy told us about the Museum of the Alphabet. So we started out trying to locate it. You know how sometimes GPS is not your friend. Well, it seemed like we had to drive to another state. (Well we actually did because it was in SC but you had to go to NC to get to it.) We finally got there but only had 40 minutes to see the museum. Well, that was not a bad thing because we actually got a private tour by Carson, an employee of the museum. He was wonderful in explaining how the museum foundation started. The museum founders have researched where and how languages were started. They are so detailed they take you back to the time of creation. They have the alphabet in almost every language. They have an original Torah. He explained how each one is destroyed once it gets ratted on the edges. They are constantly on the lookout for other languages so they have people that are constantly traveling. This may be a small museum but it is so worth going to. 

 

A local young sculptor who whose father worked for the museum has several pieces of art. While he was working on the Tower of Babel sculptor, his girlfriend dumps him, He decided to use her as his muse. She is the only woman on the tower. She is carrying bricks.

As we were leaving Carson was talking about school kids who come to the museum. There was a group of 150 kids coming later this week. They are Seventh day Adventist kids from the local conference summer camp.

Well Campers, until next time.

Lo & Bren

SOUTH CAROLINAS

7/7-8

Hey there Campers,

We travel in the rain as we roll into South Carolina to Cairy and Charlene Lester’s home in Fort Mill. It is so good to see family. The girls, Cierra and Catrina are doing well. They are both in college. I cannot believe CC is in grad school and Catrina is going to her 2nd year. Wow. Time flies. We had a great dinner where Cairy turned us on to bulgur wheat.  Charlene used it to make haystacks that were really good. I thought it was Morning Star Crumbles. Trust me this was better. Ok. I am sold. Got to get this from Amazon. UPS man Juan fire up that truck.

The old folks (I mean Cairy) decided we needed to walk off dinner.  So we headed to the river. Now ya’ll know Lo is not going to walk that far. Cairy convinced him to just see the swing at the Catawbas river. He did. Cairy made sure he carried Lo a chair to set in until we got back. The river walk was beautiful. People actually kayak on the river. I was questioning if they had any licky, lickys around. You know the snakey kind since we were in the south and near water. Cairy reassured me that it was summer so not likely. Yep, I am not convinced so I was watching where I stepped.

 

Cairy drove us around to see all the new buildings and attractions that had sprung up since we were here last. They have a Velodrome where Olympians come to train. A BMX track and houses where only dirt was last time. This place is really hopping. So if you are looking for a job North/South Carolina is one of the fastest growing areas in the US. 

OK. Remember I told you I am not trusting where those licky, lickys were. We go to this area where a wedding venue is. It is a very pretty site. But…..I notice on the tree there is a sign that states “Caution, watch out for snakes.” Are you kidding me. No way would I ever even go to a wedding at this place. HELLO. If you need a sign, that means they are there. Cally girl stays away.

 

We return home and friends Cherlyn and Donald come over to spend time catching up with us.

On Sunday, Charlene is off to a wedding. No not at the licky, licky place. So Cairy takes us sightseeing. To the countryside we go. We head to the birth place of Andrew Jackson at Andrew Jackson State Park. We start the tour with a local teacher giving us a tour of a one room school. They had desks that were over 200 years old. Most know school was held during non planting and non harvesting times. You could have kids from 5 to 18 years old in class together. The parents came to school at night time. Books were kept in a sack that hung on your back. This kept the books in good condition so you could pass along in your family.

 

Cairy and I found it very interesting that they had an actual report from the 1880’s that detailed how many white and black teacher and students were in the area. This is amazing for the south since everything was suppose to be separate but equal. But we have to remember this was during Reconstruction. 

We proceeded on the museum. Did you know some people say Andrew Jackson was born in North Carolina? He says he was born in South Carolina. I guess it all depends on which story you believe. He was born in the Waxhall region. This plays a big part in his life. His father dies 3 weeks before he was born. He and his brothers join the Revolutionary War. He and his brother Robert were capture by the British and held prisoner. Because he was a child they eventually sent him his brother home. He lost both brothers and mother in the war.

 
 

Andrew had his mothers Scottish-Irish ambition and determination. He was a teacher, lawyer and statesman. He was called “Old Hickory” for his toughness in the war. He fought many duels.  He became the 7th President of the US. He did make some major changes in America in cleaning up the presidential office, started a new banking system, etc. The one thing he will be remember for is, In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. (History.com) He was also a strong proponent for slavery. We have actually visited his home in Nashville.

OK. History lesson over. We got to go see the train museum. I love old trains that show there true beauty.

Last but not least. We had to check out the confederate statue at the courthouse. All I am going to say is it’s time.

Well Campers, until next time.

Lo & Bren