We're Baaaaaaaaacccckkk!!!

Hey Gang,
It's been a while since we've gotten together but we're back on the road for a short trip and wanted to make sure you were with us! We are back down at beautiful Litchfield Beach for a brief respite as the holidays begin to crank up and one thing we have planned should be fun for all of us. We will be heading back to Brookgreen Gardens for the "Night of A Thousand Candles." It's going to be a lot of fun - so be sure to be here for that!

First, though, we wanted to share a couple of new things with you. Let's talk "Geocaching." I don't know if you have heard of this activity or not - but - if you haven't, check it out. Geocaching is not new - in fact it's been around for a good while now. It is sort of a "latter-day offspring" of an activity called "Orienteering." In geocaching, however, rather than trying to accurately follow someone's instructions to navigate a particular route, you are given the coordinates for a specific spot and are expected to locate a hidden "treasure" at that site. When you find the hidden item (treasure) you will usually find a log to be signed, items to be retrieved or even things waiting to be transported to another location. No, there is no compelling social, scientific or educational reason to go geocaching ... it's just fun. And - the main thing is that it offers a different and enjoyable way to learn about your country - your state - your local community.  Anyway, we decided to see if there were any geocaches located near Pawley's Island and of course there were scores of them. I won't bore you with all the details but we located several on this trip and we'll mention some of them.  The first one we found was called "Wild Indigo".  It was fairly easy to find but was in a unique location and quite cleverly hidden.  I can't give many of the details because I don't want to spoil the adventure for others but - the search allowed us to meet some new friends at a really cool book store. The picture on the right above shows Linda and Sherwood signing the log and looking through the "treasures" the cache contained.  Quite cool!!  We went on to explore more of the island and found other interesting caches.  Each one is different and some can even be quite small and highly personalized.  In the one on the left above Linda shows a tiny cache that contains little more than the log to be signed - but - it also has a great picture of the folks for whom the cache was named.  We had a great time looking for the caches (notwithstanding a few disagreements about map-reading!!!) and eventually wound up in another of those "serendipity" situations that the SCTravelersX3 often find ourselves in.  Our final cache of the day was one that led us to one of the oldest churchyards in South Carolina, All Saints, Waccamaw, established in the early 1700s.  The object of the search led us to the grave of a young lady who had an ill-fated romance during the early colonial period.  The young lady went against her family's wishes in her choice of beaux, leading to a serious conflict between brother and sister.  Unfortunately, she died of malaria before resolution of the disagreement leaving her family saddened and remorseful.  Now her ghost is said to occasionally visit the area and sightings have continued into recent times.  Interestingly, while we were visiting the site Linda found the graves of one of my uncles and his wife.  He spent many years on Pawley's Island, moving to Charleston after the death of his wife.  During our visit to Charleston last year we mentioned his home on Queen Street in that beautiful city and included a picture of the charming house..
The history of South Carolina is replete with fascinating legends and characters and some of the figures from our past would have been worthy characters in a novel by John Jakes or James Michener but they were quite real.  Although Brigadier General Francis Marion has gained current popularity due to the successful movie "The Patriot", another equally compelling figure from the same time was General Thomas Sumter, the "Fighting Gamecock" for whom the mascot of my Alma Mater is named. (Oh, by the way, in that movie the character Benjamin Martin was based on General Sumter.)  Born in 1734 in Virginia, Sumter grew up in the frontier province and served in the Virginia militia at the end of the French and Indian war.  He relocated to South Carolina in the early 1760s and became a key figure in the struggle for American Independence.  Sumter also served South Carolina as a state legislator, a representative to the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate.  The city of Sumter, a pretty, bustling city in the midlands of the state, is named for the general as is one of the largest National Forests in the state.  His memorial was another of the sites our geocaching led us to as we made our way back from beatiful Litchfield Beach.  Although it is located in a rather remote part of the South Carolina "Pee Dee" area, I hope you will take the opportunity to visit the memorial if you get up this way.  I think you will find it interesting.  I've added some pictures of the monument dedicated to Sumter by the S. C. General Assembly in 1917. Interestingly, the biggest monument in the cemetery is one erected by Thomas Sumter, Jr. to his wife and it can be seen in the background, to the right of Sumter's monument.  In another view you can see the monument with the graves of Sumter (center), his wife (left) and his son (right) in the foreground.  Whoa!!! I didn't realize I would get so long-winded about our geocaching experiences but - hey, what can I say, I really get carried away when I start talking about the fascinating stuff we have around here!!!  Anyway, I'll give you a rest for now and let you catch your breath.  We've got lots more to see, though, so come on back soon and we'll share some more of the adventures we had on this trip with you.  See ya.

\- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad