You Are On: Latest Travels Page 5
Click To Go To:
Latest Travels Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9
| OCTOBER
2003
A 'Bog-Off" in Loris, South Carolina. For those who think this is a foreign phrase, well - chicken bog is the food of the South, rice cooked with sausage and whole chickens till it's all a "bog". The proportions prepared for this event stun the senses... |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| BROOKGREEN
GARDENS
(South of Myrtle Beach on Highway 17 across from the Huntington Beach State Park) A farsighted vision of one woman to create a very special garden in the South--and she succeeded (she also directed the building of the Atalaya Mansions across the street, pictures on the next page) . These gardens rival any in Europe. Enjoy the virtual tour with me! |
|||
The vibrant seasonal fall floral arrangement at the entrance to the gardens |
Indoors first, we discovered---a bird in the sand, carved in wood. We marveled. |
The antelope carving, with the gardens as a natural backdrop through the glass. It gives "graceful" a new meaning. |
Two souls beating as one, woman and swan |
The fierce Kabuki Chinese Opera figure--a striking presence in the gallery |
Our continuing love affair with the trees of South Carolina |
Live oaks at their tortured best |
 |
The beginning of the outside bronzes, set a spell and read a bit with him... |
The noble rhino in his territory |
Woman with fawn and mother, we found them enchanting at the edge of the garden. |
Woman with pet chicken |
The two horsemen... |
the Greek myth eludes me... |
the "sound" of their trumpets I hear loud and clear |
The only thing out of sync in this magnificent fountain picture is me! |
Panthers 1, Tapir 0
|
Snow owl woman |
Swimming woman |
|
Boy with chicken |
Man with panther |
Lord of the Pigs! |
A cougar lurks! |
Did I tell you about our love affair with trees?... |
 |
And our personal favorite...the blissful child in the fountain who has caught the frogs... | |
| HAMMOCKS
Where hammocks were invented, and are still hand made - in Pawley's Island SC (south of Myrtle Beach) |
|||
The hammock maker hard at work |
He'll use up these stacks of rope in no time |
Glenn enjoying the fruits of the hammock-maker's labor--with an awning too! |
A child enjoying the hammock swing |
| 2003 Columbia, South Carolina | |||
I visited the State Capitol building in Columbia, SC Sept. 13th, a grand building.
|
This Statehouse has been in the news because of this controversial Confederate flag they continue to fly here. |
Here's a bit of irony - these grand steps to the entrance, marked "Public entrance" with an arrow directing you to a humble side door |
Here's a full view of the sign on the steps, what a hoot! |
Here's the side door where the public is "allowed" to enter. Give me a break, this grand palace was paid for with taxpayer dollars, I'd go in the front, wouldn't you? |
Tucked (yes, "tucked") around the left side of the statehouse is an impressive map of Africa along with samples of this continent's native rocks |
A short distance away is this incredible tribute to African American history in a raised relief bronze wall |
Here's one portion of the African American history wall |
"Gang of 25" plaque detailing the sale of Negroes in the South |
References to "Jim Crow" in black history. |
A larger view of this wall with the Jim Crow portion included |
One last view of the wall. The quiet dignity and innate pride of our African American people depicted here lifts the human spirit to hope that perhaps one day prejudice will have no meaning. |
| Maya
Angelou
My Glenn bought me a ticket to hear Maya Angelou (whom I have always admired) speak in Columbia SC at the convention center. A Columbia choir performed before her speech, and they were MAGNIFICENT and moving. Maya herself is a grand dame worthy of the highest honors. Her uplifting words, snatches of poetry and song, and earthy stories connected her entire audience. I found myself jotting notes on whatever I could find to remember her words. I will never forget her, nor will I forget Glenn's foresight in his gift of this ticket to such a breath of fresh air. |
|||
|
 |
 |
A lovely floral display at one of the booths surrounding the convention hall. |
| Museum of Art, Columbia SC | |||
An active and refreshing imagination Artist: Rafal Olbinski |
A woman unfurled...I know how she feels! Artist: Rafal Olbinski |
Okay so I'm a sucker for comical critters, I'm sure there's other folks who will get a hoot out of this bear folk art piece too! |
A closeup for another chuckle |
Just an irresistable face |
A somber and exquisite painting, reminding us of so much sacrifice. |
 \
A chair made of horns--weird! Right up our alley,eh? |
A lovely frosted coating on this peacock feather vase. |
Three views of a HUGE mirror cabinet, truly a massive work of art! |
Bottom details of the mirror cabinet |
Top detail of the mirror cabinet, what a work of art . |
An amusing and functional light made of a plastic bag, found in the museum store. |
| AUGUST 2003 |
 
A new seafood restaurant in North Myrtle Beach (across from the Galleria Mall) called The Giant Crab is indeed living up to its name! |
| STONEHAVEN
RETREAT
LITTLE SWITZERLAND, NORTH CAROLINA In our search for the perfect abode, we landed in this area (though it has plenty of snow in the winters--could you tell from the name?) We were captivated by the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains here in western NC and found our tour and overnight stay of this retreat a unique experience. Since the owner decided to keep it as a retreat rather than sell it as a residence, we continued with our search, but we will not forget Stonehaven, indeed a Shangri-la . Enjoy her website with more detail: |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 \
The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the great room's custom made stained glass window |
The great room |
A room with a View |
The master bedroom/balcony |
Glenn on the balcony. Since Stonehaven is fully furnished, we enjoyed the slipper collection, as you can tell. |
The upstairs open bedrooms |
A second building, the Ark, on the 28 acre property here on the top of the mountain, built as part of the owner's vision of Last Days |
Lower level of the Ark |
Upper level of the ark |
| JULY 2003 | |||
A picturesque scene on the Brevard, NC college grounds. Brevard is known for a great music college. |
The famed white squirrel breed found only in Transylvania County (an adapted grey squirrel) |
Flash--there he is again! Heidi saw the squirrrels first and it took plenty to convince Glenn that Heidi wasn't plumb crazy. |
A local Brevard lawn service has a sense of humor!
|
This traffic in Hendersonville, NC could "grow" on ya! Well, at least they're not moving too fast! |
JUNE 2003
This is in Brevard, NC, Transylvania County, no it's not Draculaville contrary to popular opinion (south of Asheville), a truly lovely town we are considering moving to. This county has 250 waterfalls, the view of the Smoky Mountains, home of a prestigious music college. I spotted a WHITE squirrel crossing our vision across the street that made me think I had stepped through the Looking Glass (Glenn thought so too) till we found it was a local phenomenon, an aberration from the Eastern gray squirrel. Perhaps a good omen, the opposite of having a black cat cross our path!
Outside Rutherfordton, NC (near Hendersonville, south of Asheville) we stumbled across an AWESOME Rock Shop, Broad River Gems & Mining Co., owned by Russ Wood, a gracious host indeed. Great carvings, rock/mineral specimens, fossils and jewelry, a destination for ANYONE to enjoy and to purchase any of his lovely items with confidence. Here's a few pictures to help you appreciate what we mean... and here's their website with information, photos and directions as well...
http://www.broadrivergemsandmining.com/
One of the few houses on the beach that has survived all hurricanes, it's made of thick concrete, an interesting phenomenon.
This is the famous Atalaya Mansion built in the early 1900's right on the beach, now a ruins, it is a square structure of many rooms with an inner courtyard. First view is of the water tower in the courtyard, then the courtyard itself. It's an amazing place to visit, it was built as a home and sculpture studio, the sculptures are displayed across the street in the Brookgreen Gardens here in Myrtle Beach. Art shows are held here each year.
A walk on Myrtle Beach, mid June, we found live sea urchins galore (left hand picture), breakfast with friends Dann & Cyndi from Nevada at Nibil's Restaurant at the 2nd Avenue Pier in Myrtle Beach (middle picture), then a seafood buffet at Benjamin's Calabash on Ocean Blvd. (entryway has a large model of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth), right hand picture.
We discovered this lovely restaurant in downtown Marion, SC. Great menu and buffet, elegant decor and smiling faces everywhere. Costello's Cafe was named for Steven and Harold Crawford's grandmother who loved to cook and saw that everyone that came by her home could get a good meal. We recommend it if you're anywhere NEAR Marion! Lunch and dinner hours. Great job guys! **UPDATE** We went to our "favorite" restaurant again in 9/03 and found it closed. When we inquired across the street at the discount store, there was a STRONG anti-black sentiment expressed, and they were GLAD the restaurant was closed. What an attitude! Marion has lost a lovely restaurant it evidently didn't deserve.
"Red Dawn" over Boulder City, Nevada, photo by Larry Hunt...a little taste of "home" - thanks, Lar!
Though we made this trip more than once, our friend Larry did a photo tour for us from Boulder City, Nevada down Highway 95 to the Nelson town turnoff - in Nelson, a tiny desert town, not only have their been alien sightings, but there is a real gold mine (no longer functioning) but the family gives GREAT tours of the mine along with all the legends. They operate from their home with a great multi story barn full of memorabilia. The newest chapter in the town of Nelson was when the making of the movie "3000 Miles to Graceland" brought the movie crew to Nelson to tape a dramatic plane crash for the movie - the plane remains there next to the farm property.
MAY 2003
Fossil Show, Aurora NC - these are some of the entries for the Memorial Day Parade.
This is Bob Purdy and Dave Bohaska from the Smithsonian, helping us identify a customer's fossil from a picture - she's hoping it's a dinosaur coprolite that was found in Utah! The Smithsonian fellows come to the show every year to find the unusual fossils that may have turned up in the last year.
We had a double booth and did very well selling dichroic, amber and sharks teeth. Of course Heidi found a booth selling "fried banana pudding" - you know in the South they'll fry ANYTHING - just last week she had a fried Twinkie, also available were fried Snickers bars - you can write us and we'll tell you how they did it! And yes, it was delicious!
APRIL 2003
We're at "South of the Border" at the North Carolina/South Carolina border where there's a Mexican themed Amusement park, arcade, lovely antique store and beach stores. The best thing was this 27 foot great white shark trophy mount - this shark was caught off the coast of Barbados in 1995.
An idyllic river scene that just slows you down to remember the things that matter - your goal in life should never be just a cleared desk; take time to really breathe. Water so calm it makes a perfect reflection, green so green it makes your eyes water. Photo taken off one of Conway, SC side roads.
A magnificent live oak we found on a side street within the town of Conway, SC. Yes, some things ARE older than we are and some things DO get more beautiful with age. A comforting thought.
Pure Myrtle Beach South Carolina fun - a monkey with a camera, no less, bigger than life, on a trailer parked at a restaurant on Highway 17. Here's lookin' at you!
What a catch! This is a view of the Fish House Restaurant in Pawley's Island (south end of Myrtle Beach SC) - the boat is on the sign, the great white shark is exploding through the roof of the restaurant! Another Myrtle Beach attraction in itself. The truck gives some great local color as well.
MARCH 2003
This display is part of the Grand Strand Shell Club's setup at the Inlet Square Mall here in Myrtle Beach this weekend. These fun and incredibly labor intensive framed items are an example of Bill's hard work with the shells he obviously enjoys to collect and display. The Peace Dove is made entirely of over 1400 of the tiny "doves", the bones inside sand dollars. The shark is made entirely of fossil sharks teeth. Then there's his famous sunburst Shell picture. Bill is sitting next to a hollow glass lamp filled with more partitions of endless numbers of small shells. The shells are certainly plentiful on Myrtle Beach's shores, and learning more about them here at the show has been a pleasure. We're set up nearby with our own display of Weird Museum, fossils, rocks and jewelry too. See our Cool Customers page for more photos on the show.
Denise, a member of the Grand Strand Shell Club, makes these incredible wreaths and flower arrangements from SHELLS--aren't they amazing?
This little sweetie is listening to the "ocean waves" in the shell, while the Shell Club members look on, amused.
Here's pictures of two young boys who are fascinated by the Weird Museum display of ours, some is real and some is not, they can't figure out which!
Here's a view of our Rock/Fossil/Weird/Jewelry/Alien display at the mall. Our Alien Gent has made his debut here, quite regal isn't he?
FEBRUARY 2003
Valentine's Day, 2003, Glenn took me to the Dolly Parton Dixieland Stampede here in Myrtle Beach. Now we're not the country music type, folks, and I had my misgivings, but gee we had a good time and a great meal, a nice surprise! This was a pre-show of an Electric Horseman from Australia who walked and ran his horse in the carpeted dining area right among us, certainly a refreshing twist to the entertainment! He also went up the stairs to the balcony so they could all experience his stallion close up, then the third picture (apologize for the low quality) is bringing him back downstairs. An amazing animal.
The mansion where singing took place, a real Southern flair, also a battle between the North & South, the audience taking part of course.
The horseshoe (i.e. toilet seat) throwing contest, a pig race, stampeding buffalo, an ostrich race (they were too fast for me to catch on tape, but here's the clown with his great ostrich costume).
A great finale with the horses, light show of stars, a magnificent flag, and a last view of the arena before we left, our own photo "postcard" memory of the night.
Right here in Myrtle Beach is a store called "Shark" - the mouth is the entrance to the store...and NO, it DIDN'T eat the jeep, it just...use your imagination!
The Chicken Man travels the country being paid as an attraction for businesses and fairs. The chickens do tricks that sure pay their way! This is another "local" Myrtle Beach view.
December 2002
To the mountain town of Cherokee, North Carolina, at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains for Christmas time.
Oh no! Snow! Get a peek at Glenn in pants, because this happens only once in a blue moon!
An awesome bronze statue near the Indian Museum in Cherokee, NC. along with the story of it as a traveling message to us all, including their website. Very moving.
A bit of fun with the "bear" that even had a bullet hole and is still standing! There were "bears" everywhere in Cherokee!
An incredible carving from a sequoia tree, Glenn even knows the artist, it turns out.
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES - A GIANT GATOR HAS GOTTEN LOOSE! Is it from Lake Placid? Afraid not..this one is part of the Trading Post in Cherokee, NC. Gee we could use this at our shop!
How can there be a Santaland that closes in October? We had a chuckle over this one!
Breathtaking - looks like Old Master's paintings. It was hard to pick my favorites. The Great Smokies at their finest. Photo taken between Cherokee and Maggie Valley, NC.
Local color! An antique store in Maggie's Valley, and a Stompin' Ground dance parlor.
A ghost town in the clouds! There was gold in them thar hills at one time, now you can take a cable car up to see what's left.
Enterpreneurs make snow while the sun shines! The weather was just right for making snow for snow tubing!
November 2002
Our trip to Florence, South Carolina on Thanksgiving Day, where the simple faces of pansies brightens the spirit. Taken at a motel restaurant in Florence where we had a nice buffet.
CHARLESTON, SC
A sampling of the hand made sweet grass baskets made by the lovely African-American ladies of the South - each well-known for their particular styles, which sell for upwards of $10,000 for some large designs. These are in what was sadly the slave market, now farmer's market/flea market area of CHARLESTON, SC where we went for my birthday in October.
This is the oldest Unitarian Church in America - dates to early 1700's. We came through a tunnel of greenery to the back where there was an ancient graveyard, lovely Spanish moss dripping from the trees, and this lovely picturesque church. We could have been in Europe, for all we knew.
Here's where we ate dinner in Charleston - "82 Queens" - the name of the restaurant as well as the address. This is the interior, which is outside - what a pleasant meal in such surroundings! Third picture is Glenn trying to wait patiently for our first course.
Charleston SC is a real antique Mecca - very upper class stuff - so we just enjoyed the lovely greenery and other sights. Old culture here. Some of the streets also resembled San Francisco from the colored house fronts. A pleasant place to go anytime!
YAM FESTIVAL, TABOR CITY, SC (mid October 2002)
45 minutes from Myrtle Beach was the Yam Fest (mid October 2002) where you could get yam fries, fried okra, fried anything!
Here we got a turkey leg (tasted like HAM) - they were so huge, I wonder what it took to catch those turkeys!
Bartering for hot boiled peanuts, a Southern specialty - don't knock it, it's an acquired taste. Dang, they're tasty!
A few local faces in the crowd at the Yam Fest.
MCCLELLANVILLE, SC (September 2002)
A picturesque seaside shrimping town south of Myrtle Beach, full of lovely trees, peopled by families that have been there for generations.
A glimpse of a slower life makes us slow down to enjoy the moment ourselves.
A sampling of the gracious homes near the water in McClellanville.
One of the reasons we stopped - this is evidence of the previous damage wrought by Hurricane Hugo on Sept. 22, 1989 (13 years ago this month), when the town was news for the extensive damage to homes and marina. This sign had clearly been underwater after the hurricane. Here's a few photos to make you pause...
Dis is not where boats are supposed to be, folks! They've made an amazing recovery, haven't they?
August 2002
For those of you unfamiliar with Southern foods, "chicken bog" is an absolute favorite! Some cook the entire chicken with bones, then add rice, spices and sausage. Others start with the rice and add the chicken and sausage later. Any way you cook it, it's BOG...and the members of the Little Lamb Church in Conway SC (15 minutes from our shop) know how! Friends Bob and Laura invited us to the Bog Supper...we didn't need to be asked twice! Friendly faces, good home cooking - three types of Bog, but Malachi (waving to the camera) won hands down. See Glenn waiting for second helpings? Friend Bob is in the purple to the right of Glenn; Laura has the braids in the last picture. MMMM bring it on!
MAY 2002
Memorial Day weekend is always the time for the Aurora Fossil Festival (Aurora, North Carolina), a tiny town with a huge phosphate mine nearby that produces not just phosphate, but thousands of fossils that turn up with each shovelful. The town brings many dump loads into the town center to a huge sand pile, and during the festival, kids can dig their own fossils! LOTS of shark teeth and many other fossils to be found! Across the street is the Aurora Fossil Museum that has recently expanded to become a major information source. We try not to miss the festival each year! Below is an aerial view of the mine, then the square outlined in that photo is upsized in the next photo so you see a cross section of the mine. Next is Glenn in a reproduction of a megalodon jaw, and check out another megalodon head next to that!
A little fill-in information for all you folks - when we closed down our Nevada store to move across the country back to Myrtle Beach, we never dreamed the route our trip would take. But a little friend back in Nevada drew this map of our future travels, and he was not far off! We
started in Las Vegas, through Kingman, Arizona to the Meteor Crater near Winslow, then the Petrified Forest area near Holbrook AZ, then Albuquerque NM, then to El Paso, TX to get dental work done in Juarez, Mexico, then back up to Roswell, NM, then across OK and TX to Hot Springs, AR, then we shot across through Mississippi, and Birmingham AL, and Atlanta GA and up the coast through Charleston SC to Myrtle Beach, even past that up to Calabash and beyond, before we came back to Myrtle Beach to finalize paperwork for the new store. See the "About Us" pages for info on the new store and lots of pics!
WE MADE IT TO THE BEACH! Our new home again - Myrtle Beach - 60 miles of uninterrupted beach to walk. Here's Glenn at the Nibil's Restaurant on the 2nd Avenue Pier (we're actually on the outside deck - ocean is to the left, a plexiglass protective window is behind Glenn, but it looks like a picture, doesn't it?)
Here's Nance's Restaurant in Murrell's Inlet, an oyster bar renowned for guess what? The family behind us has a great "dinner bucket" served to them. Ah, what seafood, now we're back in Myrtle Beach!
Myrtle Beach sights - a great crab truck! And a limo that used to belong to David Lee Roth - 110 feet, I believe, with even a swimming pool at the back! (The shark is actually a separate display beyond the limo)
Above is Mother's Day at Epcot Center in Orlando on our way back from picking up our storage in Hudson, Florida...Glenn said it was all INDOORS! ha...we cooked out there all day...but I did see Epcot! Great floral Flat, and a great mosaic entry to one of the buildings!
We detoured to Hot Springs, Arkansas on purpose - and not to see Bill Clinton's picture either! There's an awesome Quartz Crystal Mine outside of town that we visited again, purchasing a huge assortment of Aurora crystals that came from this mine. (See the Rocks & Minerals pages for specimens available). Truly a lovely drive through this area.
Click To Go To:
Latest Travels Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9
