Charleston Shooting Suspect Visited Greenville

Generally I try to keep this blog positive and mention only the great things going on around Greenville but I'm going to make an exception.  Below are two images found on Dylann Roof's hard drive.

Greenvillians will likely recognize the first one. It's a shot of the footbridge near the Peace Center. You can see from the flags hung on the bridge that this was taken around the time of Artishphere.

This second one you may not be familiar with but it's Roof standing in front of the Museum and Library of Confederate History  located on Boyce Ave. a couple of blocks from the Greenville zoo. 

In his manifesto he mentions that his inspiration largely came from reading the cherry picked articles on a site called the Council of Conservative Citizens. On that site you will find an ad for The Dixie Republic, a ridiculous store located in Traveler's Rest.

So was he drawn to Greenville County because of it's beautiful downtown, or to purchase confederate

paraphernalia such as seen on his car, or to expand his knowledge of separatist history?  Well two of the three seem pretty obvious.

This confused young man was drawn here because of our "heritage" and the fact that we we still embrace it so openly pretending that it represents something other than hate and division.

Meanwhile the Dixie Republic is still in business and the confederate flag is still displayed prominently in front of our Statehouse.

Is heritage really more important than lives?

Edit: The Greenville News has now published a story expounding on the above.

Dylann Roof visited Greenville Confederate museum

Lake Lure Dragon Boat Race

Mom, leading the charge.

Dragon captain.

Soco Falls

Soco Falls is a beautiful water fall that is easily accessible. It's only 100' or so off of Hwy 19 near Cherokee.

Douglas Falls in Big Ivy is worth a visit. There are two ways to get there. The easy drive/tough-walk way or the tough-drive/easy walk way. I'd suggest the former but both have their benefits.

The easy drive involves driving to the Craggy Garden parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's definitely more scenic. From there you take the Mountains to Sea Trail about a mile to the Douglas Falls trail. Then travel another couple miles to the falls. The trail to the falls is beautiful with lots of lush greenery. It is rugged and a steep climb back up. There is also another waterfall that you'll cross on the trail that's pretty interesting as it's basically a long shoot. It almost looks like the log flume ride at Dollywood. 

The other way is to drive directly to the area known as Big Ivy in Barnardsville. The map below will take you to the entrance, which is about an hour and forty-five minutes from downtown Greenville. But from there you'll travel on a forestry road for another thirty minutes or so assuming you're driving as fast you can possibly drive safely. The road does hug a very steep cliff so you might want to take it a bit slower.  The road dead ends at the trail head which you can't miss. It's blazed in yellow and the falls are about a half mile further. There is a great campsite just above the falls and a few others on the way to Craggy Gardens should you feel inclined to head that way. 

You can find more information about the area here.