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

Tiny Town

Tiny Town near Easley, SC is a treasure trove of holiday weirdness. I would refer to it as a celebration of Christmas but it's a bit of a stretch to call it that. Built over several decades, it features dolls and toys and other paraphernalia collected by the owners, some of which is Christmas related.  It's free of charge although donations are encouraged. It's supposedly open 5:30-9:30 nightly through the first of the year but when some friends and I went by this past Saturday (12/20/14) no one was around.  (It's even weirder in the dark though.)

It's definitely worth a stop. There's hot chocolate, a bonfire and even Santa on site.

Surviving the Overmountain Victory Trail

Three weeks ago I was deathly ill after suffering from a bite of some sort, most likely from a brown recluse, so when I decided to tackle the Overmountain Victory Trail I had no idea that neither remnants of that illness nor the copperhead on the trail would be the least of my worries.

The Overmountain Victory Trail is a 330 mile trail that starts in Abingdon, VA and traverses through Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina before winding back into North Carolina where it ends at Kings Mountain. It marks the route taken by American patriots in 1780 who traveled from Abingdon on horseback in the dead of winter to fight, and win, the Battle of Kings Mountain. One portion of it runs near Tryon, NC where a vineyard is named over it.

For the most part, IT IS NOT a hiking a trail, but rather a path made up of roads and unmarked trails through private land, however there is a small section that can be hiked.  

I've written previously about hiking the Appalachian Trail through Roan Highlands which is one of my favorite places, containing large balds, stunning views and boreal forests due to the high elevation.

To reach the Overmountain Victory Trail, park at Carver's Gap near the top of Roan Mountain. Travel northbound on the AT about five miles at which point you will find that the Overmountain Victory Trail crosses the AT (at Yellow Mountain Gap). From there, turning left onto the OVT will take you through a long descent of single track for about a mile and a half, before it then opens up to a double track that runs through a number of horse and cow pastures.

At times the trail is poorly marked and very much overgrown. Many of the signs have been knocked down. Just keep in mind that you need to stay close to the sound of the river and you'll be okay. Once you reach mile 3.5 or so (which would be 8.5 miles from Carver's Gap) you'll walk past a few homes, the first of which is clearly deserted (despite the fact that someone was boiling something in an old fifty-five gallon drum in the front yard). You'll then come to a paved road. This is the Hampton Creek Cove Recreation Area and it contains a small parking area. It also contains some locals who will eyeball you suspiciously from inside their trailers. 

At that point you have a couple of options. Turn around and hike back, or continue walking the OVT, which is now completely unmarked and follows a series of paved, and poorly marked, roads.  You could also start your hike from here if you don't mind walking up hill for three and a half miles. 

Camping is allowed on the trail but the forested area of the trail is very much overgrown and it would be difficult to pitch a tent. The pastured areas are also largely overgrown with black berry bushes and make for a less than ideal campsite but would work in a pinch.

What my two companions and I ended up doing was continuing to walk down the road a couple of miles to Hwy. 143 where we hitched a ride to the Roan Mountain State Park campground and spent the night there. While there we learned from the forest ranger that the locals are not fond of hikers and that the area is a den of methamphetamine production. That might explain the enormous number of viscous dogs along the path.



However should you decide to follow in our footsteps, here are the directions: From the Hampton Creek Cove Recreation area, turn right onto Hampton Creek Road. (It's not marked but it's the only road you'll see at that point.) Walk about a mile and you'll come to a crossroads. The road to the right is called Teaberry Road but isn't marked. On our map it said that it was  called Teaberry on both sides but to the left it's actually marked (sort of) with a sign that says "Dark Hollow Road." Both Dark Hollow Road and Teaberry Road have rather interesting ghost stories attached to them. There is a large unmarked grave off of Teaberry where supposedly a witch was buried and now haunts the site.  So don't go that way. Instead turn left on Dark Hollow where you will pass a cemetery that is also supposedly haunted by a woman who was murdered by the local wives who thought she was sleeping with all their husbands.  We didn't catch a glimpse of her though.

Follow that road until you get to another crossroads. If you go straight, you'll be on Sugar Hollow Road. If you turn right you'll be on Sugar Hollow Road. Yes you read that correctly. Go right, on Sugar Hollow, not straight on Sugar Hollow. Sugar Hollow to the right will take you to Hwy 143 and you'll see an RV park on your left. Unfortunately, as we discovered, they won't let backpackers stay there. So from there, turn left onto 143 and walk about a mile and a half to the state park campground located on the right side of the road.

For one more option to the trailhead, see the comment from Brenda W. below.

Despite the reputation of the area, we actually had nothing but pleasant interactions with people. A kid on an ATV stopped to give us directions. A guy on a tractor gave us even better directions. A guy on a riding lawn mower stopped mowing to try and help but actually gave us bad directions. A lady sitting on her porch offered us water. A guy on a homemade motorcycle with no brakes stopped as well. He had to use his feet to stop. He also gave us bad directions but not intentionally. Then a nice guy gave us a ride the last mile and a half and even gave us some ears of corn from his garden. Once we made it to the state park, a ranger gave me a lift back to my car and refused to let me pay him for his time and another camper gave us hamburgers for dinner. It was a hell of an adventure. Wish I had time to write about all the other things we saw, like the thousand or so centipedes that invaded our campsite the first night.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 126 miles

God's Plan

Seems to be a lot of proselytizing on Main Street lately.  From street preachers screaming hellfire and damnation to wide-eyed young people wanting a "moment of my time." Makes for good street theatre I suppose. Recently I was checking my e-mail in front of Fall's Park when a white van came screeching up beside me. Next thing I knew I was surrounded by several twenty-somethings holding religious tracts who were all piling into the van like they'd just pulled a bank job.

For some reason, I doubt the claim on the front of this Hummer.

Halloween Bible Burning

This is just weird enough I may have to attend.  I just read on the the Ashevegas blog that a church in Canton is planning to burn books on Halloween. Many of them include various non-KJV versions of the Bible.

http://amazinggracebaptistchurchkjv.com/Download99.html


Distance from downtown Greenville: 77 miles



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Tea Party Aftermath

I've seen some strange things. (Like this, and this and this). About 15 years ago I went to Dragoncon in Atlanta, where I saw people dressed as every comic book, Star Trek and Star Wars character imaginable. I even saw a woman walking her boyfriend on a leash. Until today, that was the weirdest collection of oddballs I'd ever encountered in one place. But tonight the Bi-Lo Center was ground zero for every anti-government ideologue within driving distance.

There were Confederate flags, "Don't Tread on Me" flags, American flags turned upside down (violating Flag code 176(a)), guys with tea bags taped to their straw hats, t-shirts with the slogan "White Power", toddlers with signs taped to them denouncing the IRS, people dressed as colonists, others dressed as Arabs, and lots and lots of anti-Obama signs. I'm sure the lack of African-Americans in the crowd was pure coincidence. One radio talk show host, Dr. Tony Beam violated US Flag Code 176(d) while welcoming his "fellow extremists."

There seemed to be no clear consistent message among the crowd. Some wanted to abolish the IRS. Some wanted to secede from the union. Others wanted a government based on the Bible. One guy had a sign referencing Ayn Rand's atheistic/libertarian tome Atlas Shrugged. Most seemed to really hate Obama and taxes, despite the fact that Obama just gave most of them a tax cut. One sign stated "Capitalism Works" which is somewhat debatable given how many private businesses are failing, but it was certainly working at the rally. These folks who felt their taxes are too high seemed to have no problem paying five bucks for parking, four bucks for a Coke and three bucks for a bottle of water.

For the first half of the rally, the audio was very poor, which one speaker blamed on - you guessed it - taxes. Seriously.

Representative Gresham Barrett, spoke passionately to his base, who booed him so loudly little could be heard (which seems oddly out of character for a group whom Gov. Sanford referred to as a "silent majority"). Despite his status as the second most conservative member of Congress in the country, the crowd found him too liberal for their tastes. When Governor Sanford spoke, he mentioned that he told his kids that they were going to Greenville to see some "patriots." Apparently there aren't any between here and Columbia but he was happy to have found them amongst this crowd.

The following is the Cliffs Notes version of every speech made at the rally.

Speaker: Do you love freedom.
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Do you love liberty?
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Do you hate taxes?
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Do you hate government?
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Do you hate terrorrists, child abusers, and fire ants?
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Do you love baseball, apple pie and your mamma?
Crowd: Yeah!
Speaker: Founding fathers....Valley Forge....Apostle Paul....George Washington....Constitution.....Guns, Abortion, Guns, Abortion, Liberty...Freedom!!!!!
Crowd: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!Yeah! Yeah!Yeah! Yeah!Yeah! Yeah!

Several years ago I was an audience member at the filming of an episode of Two and a Half Men. Between takes, while the cameras were being moved, a comedian entertained us, and production assistants came around constantly offering us chocolate and soft drinks. They wanted to keep us excited and hyped up on caffeine and sugar between takes so that when the cameras were rolling we were laughing to create a good live laugh track. There were similiar cues today. One speaker quoted Patrick Henry but when he got to the last line he began speaking in a quick halting manner..."Give! Me! Liberty! Or! Give! Me! Death!," and the crowd went wild.

On the walk home I realized I needed a reboot, a defrag or in Macintosh terms, I needed to reset the p-ram. Fortunately, a short stop at Smiley's did the trick.

Greenville Tea Party Part Deux - Update

UPDATE: The Greenville County Democratic Party will also be holding a "Save our Schools" rally at the same time and same location as the tea party. Between the two events, speakers include gubernatorial candidate Congressman Gresham Barrett (who was for the bailout before he was against it), Congressman Jim Demint, SC Senator Ralph Anderson, SC Representative Karl Allen, SC Representative Chandra Dillard, SC Representative Jerry Govan, Former US Congresswoman Liz Patterson, 2008 Democratic Candidate for US Congress Paul Corden, Greenville County School Board Trustee Leola Robinson-Simpson, Greenville County School Board Trustee Glenda Morrison-Fair, Greenville County Councilwoman Judy Gilstrap, Greenville County Councilwoman Lottie Gibson, Greenville County Councilwoman Xanthene Norris, Greenville City Councilwoman Lillian Brock-Flemming, Greenville City Councilwoman Diane Smock, Greenville City Councilwoman Jil Littlejohn.

Greenville hasn't seen this much political activity since Jesse Jackson and Kwesi MFume lead a group of protesters down Church Street to protest Greenville County's lack of recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Original Post

On December 16th, 1773 colonists in Boston, MA dumped three shiploads of tea into the Boston harbor to protest taxation without representation helping to spark the American Revolution.

This past February a few locals gathered outside Starbucks on Main Street to dump a couple boxes of tea into the Reedy River in protest of tax cuts voted on by their representatives, sparking minor attention in the blogosphere.

In case you missed the first Greenville Tea Party, the sequel opens this weekend at the Bi-Lo Center.

From the Upstate Young Republican website:

The outdoor terrace at Greenville‘s Bilo Center will play host to the Upstate Young Republicans post-tax day Tea Party Protest on Friday night April 17th at 6:00 PM. The overwhelming success of February’s Tea Party that turned out nearly 2000 people made it necessary to move the event to private property. “Success sometimes breeds its own challenges,” said Carl Clegg, of the Upstate Young Republicans, “but these are the challenges that we like to face head-on and with the amazing support and financial contributions of Greenville’s conservatives, we will again unite the voices of thousands and say loudly ‘…government is the problem!’”

Apparently when less than 1% of the population attends an event in the Upstate it's considered an "overwhelming success."

Distance from downtown Greenville: 0 miles.


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Stumphouse Tunnel - Ghost Hunting on Christmas Eve

Stumphouse Tunnel is a failed engineering feat leftover from the mid-19th century. The tunnel was to be part of a rail line that ran from Charleston to Ohio. Landslides caused the project to be abandoned in 1859, but it's now open to the public.

The tunnel is dark and a bit creepy especially on a rainy afternoon. Be sure to take a good flashlight and watch out for the ghosts. They're not hard to locate. The tunnel is supposedly haunted by Cherokee indians and former tunnel workers. It's rumored that if you toss a ball in the tunnel at night, it will be tossed back to you. (That's a fairly convenient rumor since the place closes at 5:00 making it difficult to test.)

My flashlight went dead as soon as I entered the tunnel so I went back to the car to grab a headlamp and more batteries for my Maglight. Even with both lights, it was very difficult to see inside the tunnel.

As you can see from the image below, I managed to capture some interesting apparitions in the tunnel. I believe this is what ghost hunters often refer to as "ectoplasma," otherwise known as a camera flash reflecting on fog. (Click on the image for a larger view.) The pentagram graffiti would be a bit more convincing if the pseudo-satanists hadn't painted it upside down.



I also managed to capture a number "ghostly orbs" as they are referred to over at GhostWeb.com otherwise known as a camera flash reflecting on raindrops. But this, combined with the eery echoes (a.k.a. moans), will certainly satisfy any true believing ghost hunter.







While there be sure to check out Issaqueena Falls.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 51 miles.


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Saturday Afternoon Ghost Hunting

After posting my trip to the haunted "children's" graveyard, I've continued to receive hits from others interested in the ghosts of the Carolinas. This has piqued my interest in the topic.

My pal Tom over at Random Connections, read my post then did his own investigation of the graveyard, posting a much more detailed analysis. (Tom and I have never actually met but we share a lot of the same interests.) Yesterday Tom posted a review about a new book by local author John Boyanoski titled More Ghosts of the Upstate. This is a sequal to his first book Ghosts of the Upstate. I picked up the sequel last night, not having read the original. Despite being a total skeptic (and a bit of a cynic) about such things, today I decided to go check out some of these so-called haunted sites for myself, partially using the book as a guide and in large part using the Google Earth KMZ file created by Tom.

It was an enlightening day. The creepiest location by far was the Alston/Honour House, primarily because the ghost of Aaron Burr's daughter who inhabits the residence appears to have really odd taste in landscaping and she apparently collects ice cream trucks as well. The top image is the site of the lynching of Willie Earle. He supposedly haunts the area, but I didn't see him.

The second image is from the Colony Theatre in Easley. I didn't see any ghosts there either but I did pick up Boyanoski's first book at a swanky little bookstore nearby. I didn't realize Easley had anything that was swanky, but across the street from the book store I also discovered a really nice little pizza joint.

In Abbeville I discovered the best evidence yet for the existence of ghosts. I didn't actually see any but Abbeville itself is a virtual ghost town. I've never understood what keeps it going. Practically everything was closed, which is typically the case when I'm there, and many buildings are vacant, yet somehow the town lives on. I had hoped to have a beer in the tavern located in the basement of the Belmont Inn (seen on the left) but it was closed...on a Saturday night. The Belmont is supposedly overrun with ghosts. Maybe they don't like to work on Saturday evenings.

From there I ventured over to the Abbewood Bed and Breakfast which supposedly has a ghost who was released after a hidden room in the inn was discovered. But it appeared to be a private residence so I wasn't able to enter it either. I also snapped a shot of the Abbeville Opera house which supposedly houses a mysterious patron who materializes in the upper balcony.

On second thought, maybe the dozen or so people I saw walking around the square in Abbeville were all spirits from beyond.  Wow, they looked so real, well except for one guy.

By far the most interesting place I explored was the Fox & Hound Pub located in the Inn on the Square in Greenwood. I was pleased to find that this pub had a great atmosphere with paneled walls, leather chairs, good food and a full bar. According to Boyanoski's latest book, the inn is haunted by Bill, a real prankster. Unlike most ghosts, Bill doesn't know how to walk through walls so sometimes he gets locked in the pub causing him to bang on the doors. Rumor has it that Bill likes to tap newcomers on the shoulder and watch them jump, so I was a bit disappointed that by the time I finished my dinner Bill had not bothered to introduce himself to me. Turning to leave though I discovered the most chilling sight of my day. Before me, larger than life, was solid evidence that things were oddly amiss in this dark little pub. A strange glow was coming from one of the pub walls. I started to dismiss it as the work of an overactive imagination, but as I looked closer I could not deny what I saw coming from the glowing object. Flordia 30 - Tennessee 6.  If strange things were not afoot in that little bar then someone please explain to me how a washed up team like UT managed to score against the Gators.

I must admit, I'm now a little less skeptical.

Distance from downtown Greenville:

1-60 miles.

Haunted Children's Graveyard

Regularly I like to check my go-stats page to see what people are Googling to find this blog. "Coal Fired Pizza" and "Swamp Rabbit Trail" are two popular phrases that lead people here. But last October, a number of people Googled the phrase, "Haunted Children's Graveyard, Greenville, SC" or something similar. This usually led them to this post about Graveyard Fields in North Carolina. Recently I noticed a few more hits from this search phrase so I decided to Google it myself and see what this was all about.

It turns out that there is a graveyard near Furman University with tomb stones dating back to the 1700's and supposedly it's haunted and supposedly it contains mostly children. So I decided to stop by and check it out. What I found was disturbing. First I should say that it appears that the tombs were for people of all ages, not just children although most of them were impossible to read so maybe I'm wrong. Also I should say that I saw no ghosts. Maybe they were hiding or maybe they just don't show up for skeptics. What I did witness was massive vandalism of the graveyard. In addition there was a large amount of trash which consisted mostly of beer cans and items of clothing, making me wonder what kind of people were partying there.

I also found a grave that someone had clearly robbed, for God knows what reason.









If this kind of thing interests you then you may find the following of interest as well:
Haunted Asheville Ghost Tour
Charleston Ghost Tours

Also check out local blogger Tom's Ghost Towns of South Carolina. Also Tom has created a cool KMZ file that opens up in Google Earth showing the various so-called haunted sites around town: South Carolina Hauntings

Distance from downtown Greenville: 5.3 miles.


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Bowman UFO

Admission price $3.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 155 miles


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Peachoid

Distance from downtown Greenville: 48 miles


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South of the Border

If the words cheap, tawdry, and dayglo fluorescent conjure positive images in your mind, then South of the Border is the place for you. Located just south of the North Carolina Border on I-95, SotB is the prime stop for the best kitsch in the state. From fireworks to bumper stickers to tacos you wouldn't feed your neighbor's pitbull, this place has it all. And if you just can't get enough in one day, a campground and several motels are located within walking distance of the the shops, miniature golf course and amusement park.




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Distance from downtown Greenville: 214 miles.

Helen, GA

If you're in the mood for a truly bizarre experience take a drive to Helen, GA. Helen is an Alpine village built in the Georgia mountains.

From their website:

We've got shops, restaurants, bed and breakfast inns, mountains, both rustic and luxury mountain cabins, theater, recreation, romantic getaways, beautiful scenery, family activities, waterfalls, museums, history, art, fishing, tubing, golf, and more. Something for every member of the family.

Festivals and special events include a hot air balloon race, Winefest, Volksmarch, Oktoberfest and Christmas parades, Fourth of July fireworks, and Bavarian Nights of Summer. From mid-September through October, Helen hosts the longest Oktoberfest in the South. Alpenfest offers entertainment during the Holiday season from Thanksgiving through December.

I'm sure it seemed like a great idea on paper...

Location: 34°42'17.43"N 83°44'19.02"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 98 miles
Local Geocaches

Cruso, NC

Location: 35°25'1.74"N 82°48'41.47"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 84 miles
Local Geocaches

Tater Hill Enterprises LLC

Approximate Location: 35° 9'8.29"N 81°19'20.35"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 76 miles

Jack of the Wood

There's nothing better than drinking a local microbrew in a mountain town pub (except perhaps, drinking one on top of a mountain after a good hike). Jack of the Wood is a great little pub in downtown Asheville with a small but good beer selection, including many of their own handcrafted Green Man Ales. They also have good live music ranging from folk to celtic to bluegrass. My wife and I actually designed our wedding rings while sitting in this pub.


The pub has outdoor seating on the front sidewalk which allowed us to capture this shot of a car that represents the culture of Asheville better than just about anything else. (Click on image to see larger view.)


Location: 35°35'18.74"N 82°33'13.26"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 62 miles.
Local Geocaches

B.F.S.C.

This is located somewhere between Congaree National Park and Santee State Park. The collection of bones is not nearly as weird to me as the candy cane hanging on the tree. There are large No Trespassing signs just outside of the right frame line.

Approximate Location: 33°49'31.94"N 80°39'32.77"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 134 miles

Crenshaw's Grocery

One of the great things about driving back roads is the crazy weirdo things you sometimes come across.



Apparently a lot of cows have died near the Crenshaw Grocery in Laurens County, SC.

Location: 34°25'25.63"N 82° 2'48.35"W
Distance from downtown Greenville: 45 miles
Local Geocaches