Fort Mill, SC/Charlotte, NC - October 8 through 11

From Lexington, SC, we headed northwest to Fort Mill, SC, (just south of Charlotte, NC) to visit Mike’s cousin Londa and her partner Lesa. 

We stayed just over a week at the Crown Cove RV Park. It’s a strange little park, as it’s located in the middle of a residential neighborhood. If you follow the GPS instructions, it takes you on a circuitous path through the neighborhoods, rather than taking you the most direct way. Most of the people in the RV park are long-term residents working in the area. Not one of the best parks we’ve stayed in, but it was convenient. Most of the other parks were already booked because of the NASCAR races in the area over the weekend.

There is an Arrowood Road in town:

Londa and Lesa were fantastic hosts. Thursday night, we met with Londa for dinner. We ate at Maestro's Bar and Bistro in Pineville. We were the only customers and were a bit concerned at first, but the food was excellent.

On Friday, Londa took us to a NASCAR race (Lesa had to work). She got free tickets through the Carolina Visitor’s Bureau (CVB). We were in a VIP section between turns 1 and 2. There was just a narrow walkway between us and the fence around the track; in fact, we were pelted by bits of rubber from the tires from time to time as the cars sped by. This was our first NASCAR race. I was impressed with the speed of the cars and the noise. We had headsets and earplugs, and it was still loud. The CVB took good care of us. We dined on ham, chicken, mixed vegetables, corn, mashed potatoes, and salad. We drank wine and munched on nuts, jerky, sweets, etc. You name it, they had it.

Saturday, we met Londa and Lesa for brunch at Another Broken Egg. Then, Londa took us driving around to different towns in the area looking at houses. We also did some local wine tasting at CAB Co.

Sunday we all went to the Renaissance Faire. It was our first time to the Faire, and we had a great time. Lots of fun people watching. Many were dressed up in costume. We ate steak on a stick and drank beer. We saw several shows: Hey Nunnie Nunnie (comedy done by two hilarious nuns), Thom Selectomy (comedy and sword swallowing), Zilch the Torysteller (Jomeo & Ruliet), and a Joust to the Death. We ended the day with dinner at PF Chang’s.

 

West Union, SC – September 30 through October 7

We headed further northwest from Lexington to avoid the bad weather and possible hurricane. On our way, we stopped at a rest area. There were tons of monarch butterflies flitting around the blooms there.

We stayed at the Crooked Creek RV Park for a week to ride out the weather. Nice park on the edge of Lake Keowee. There is a boat launch, snack bar, pool, and group picnic area. Looks like it could be crowded in the summer. A lot of Clemson fans flock to the park for the games.

The weather forecasts predicted up to 12 inches of rain. We only got about 5 ½ inches over a 36 hour period.

Once the weather cleared, we looked at houses around Lake Keowee and Lake Hartwell. We also visited several of the many waterfalls in the area.

The Chau-Ram falls is a 30 foot waterfall formed where Ramsey Creek and the Chauga River meet:

Issaqueena Falls was named after a Creek maiden named Issaqueena. The legend posted at the falls states:

As a girl Issaqueena was captured by the Cherokee and given the name Cateechee. As a young woman she met and fell in love with a white trader named Allan Francis. One day she overheard a plan by the Cherokee to attack the settlements on the frontier. To warn her lover, she found a swift pony and rode 96 miles to his trading fort. As she traveled, Issaquenna named the landmarks she crossed on her way – Six Mile Mountain, Twelve Mile River, Eighteen Mile Creek, and others on her way to her final destination at Fort Ninety-Six.

Fearing retribution from the Cherokees, Issaqueena remained with Allan, eventually marrying him. In time, she, Allan, and their newborn baby moved back to Stumphouse Mountain where they built their home.

One day, the Cherokee Chief, angered with the white settlers, sent his warriors to capture Issaqueena. Issaqueena saw them coming and ran toward this waterfall to escape capture. Knowing that the Cherokee believed evil spirits lived in waterfalls, she pretended to leap to her death. She hid on the ledge below the top of the waterfall where she remained until it was safe to rejoin her family. Her dramatic escape began the legend of Issaqueena Falls.

Yellow Branch Falls is a 60 foot waterfall. The information we found about it said that it was a 1.3 mile hike to the falls, but we think it is more like 2 miles. It’s a pretty hike through a thickly wooded forest.

 

 

 

The last day in the area, we visited the Stumphouse Tunnel. It is a tunnel cut through Stumphouse Mountain. Work began on the tunnel in 1853. The work was done by Irish immigrants. Work on the tunnel ceased in 1859, due to lack of funding.

 

 



Lexington, SC – September 28 and 29

From Hardeeville, we started heading northwest. We decided that rather than oceanside property, we are probably better off buying lakeside property (less chance of hurricane damage, cheaper, etc.). We stayed two nights in Lexington, SC, at the Barnyard RV Park. The RV park got great ratings in the Good Sam directory. I’m not sure why. In my opinion, the best thing about the park was the duck pond.

We looked at several houses around Lake Murray. It’s a gorgeous area.

Hardeeville, SC – September 25 through 27

Hardeeville, SC, is just across the Georgia border from Savannah (20 miles), not far from Hilton Head Island (21 miles). We stayed for three nights at Camp Lake Jasper, next to Sergeant Jasper Park. The RV park is located at the edge of one of the small lakes. You can fish on the lake without a license (catch and release only) or rent a kayak or canoe. Swimming is forbidden because there “may” be alligators present. They did have a small pool, but it was pretty cool. We didn’t stay in long.

One day we drove into old historic Savannah. I love looking at the old architecture and all the squares in the district.

The third day, we drove to Beaufort (pronounced bew-fort), across Lady and St. Helena Islands, and into Hunting Island State Park. Beaufort was very quaint. It was voted one of the best small towns to live in in South Carolina.

At Hunting Island State Park, we visited the lighthouse and climbed to the top ($2.00 if you want to climb the lighthouse, free if you want to wander around the grounds). The first lighthouse that was built in the area was destroyed by the Confederates in 1861. Its location is now under water. A new lighthouse was completed in 1875, but was moved to the current location in 1889, as the “water was knocking at the Lighthouse’s door”. It is 167 steps up to the catwalk (they won’t let you go all the way up to the lantern room).