Month: March 2023

One of the places to visit that was mentioned to us by our homeowner and appears in all the travel brochures is Crowder Mountain State Park. It’s about a 35 minute drive from the house, near King’s Mountain National Park, which we have visited, and King’s Mountain State Park, which we have not.

All of that to say that Bob and I went to Crowder Mountain State Park today and had a great hike on the Pinnacle Trail, 4.4 mile round trip, with an 800 foot elevation gain. While we saw a few other people on the trail (no dogs, though dogs are permitted on leash), it was definitely not crowded.

Bob and I drove a short eight minutes to the little town of Lattimore, North Carolina, to visit their historical museum. It is listed in the visitor’s brochure that we have been working our way through, but it is only open from 12:30 to 2:30 on Sundays and just opened for the year a couple weeks ago.

I just looked up the population of Lattimore, and it was 488 at the time of the 2010 census. The town has a total area of 1 square mile, so there’s no getting lost. Accordingly, the historical museum was very small — one room with some odds and ends from various aspects of their history.

When we first walked in, we thought it would be a very quick stop , but the helpful volunteer gave us some additional information about one of their exhibits and played a 20 minute film for us that will likely ensure that we remember this visit for awhile.

We learned the story of a local woman, Martha Mason, who died in 2009 at the age of 72, after 61 years living in an iron lung due to having contracted polio. She had a brother who was two years older, who died of polio four days before she went into the hospital for the same disease. The film tells her story, but she has also wrote her autobiography. While Martha never recovered , she graduated from Gardner Webb (when it was a 2 year college) and Wake Forest, both at the top of her class. She also ended up learning to use a computer by speaking and wrote her autobiography. She lived on her own after her parents both died with the help of three caregivers.

What a lovely Friday! It started early for me this morning, as I was up at 4:45 am to change, stretch, and drive to the Thermal Belt Rail Trail for a 22 mile training run. That went well, although I had to watch out more for cars at the crossings since it was a weekday. I got back, and Bob headed to the gym to lift. I played Wordle, a daily habit for Bob and I and his sister and her family, and got the word on the second guess out of six, which is definitely not a regular occurrence.

And that was before the day even got going! Bob and I headed out late morning to visit the Tryon International Equestrian Center, which has now moved into its spring/summer hours for the general public. This place is gorgeous and quite the resource for horse enthusiasts. It is marketed as “Tryon International Equestrian Center and Resort — the ultimate destination for all who love horses, outdoor living and an active lifestyle.” It holds horse riding and jumping competitions but also has shops, restaurants, and lodging that are open to the general public.

Bob had googled and found a self-guided walking tour of the facility that helped us know what we were looking at. We lucked out in going today, as there is apparently a big horse riding competition this weekend, which we got to see some riders practicing their jumping for but without all the crowds.

It should be noted that while we were starting the days earlier in the week below freezing, this morning (even at 5 am) started in the mid-50s and hit and surpassed 80 this afternoon.

After our visit to Tryon, we drove about 10 minutes to the Mountain Brook Winery, which also was gorgeous and lightly attended although they appear to have the facilities to support lots of people. Bob and I split a wine tasting (four of their wines offered) and then enjoyed a glass of our favorite.

Cooper took me for a walk around the neighborhood when we returned. For dessert tonight, we will get to enjoy a piece of olive oil cake, which is a tradition in Italy for Easter. It was sent to us as an early Easter surprise by our homeowner. Sometimes life is just too lovely (as long as I don’t watch the news)!

Wednesday (yesterday) was a rainy day, so Bob and I decided to take Cooper for a good, longer walk today. Bob had found a trail around a lake near Gaffney, South Carolina, when we were looking at heading to Boiling Springs, South Carolina, to use our gift cards. So today, we headed to Lake Whelchel to walk part of the 6+ mile Victory National Historic Trail which goes around the lake.

The drive to the lake was super easy, just 10 miles straight down Main Street, which becomes Boiling Springs Road, and then just a mile east. We parked by the boat ramp and picnic facilities and walked out to the dam and back. It’s a beautiful spring day here, so we were hiking in the mid 60s Fahrenheit.

Lake Whelchel is the water reservoir which supplies Gaffney, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas. It is named for Zeb Whelchel who served as Sheriff and as a Board Member and Chairman of the Board of Public Works. The lake was completed in 1964.

It’s been awhile, but I took a short trip back to Wisconsin for my aunt and uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary. I also got to celebrate my godmother’s 68th birthday (another aunt) and spend some time with my mom. Bob got me direct flights from/to Charlotte, NC and Madison, so that made it very easy.

While we’ve been here, we’ve made it a point to pick up the weekly Shelby (a nearby town) Shopper, which has some local stories and also a local events calendar that we look over to see if anything is of interest. A few weeks ago, we noticed that there was a blood drive being held, so we reserved spots. This is something we like to do when we have the opportunity, as you never know when blood may be needed.

Today was donation day. Our appointment was at 2:30, and we were done about 3:15. It was held in a bus at a middle school so we had a little wait due to the backup of parents picking up their children. But it allowed us to go right to the Gardner Webb University afternoon softball game that we wanted to see.

It was a great day for a ballgame. While it started out below freezing today, it had warmed up to the high 50s by the time we got to the game. GW was playing a double header, but we only stayed for the first game. They ended up losing, but it was a good game.

In December of 2021, we did a house sit in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, as opposed to out current sit in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. We had talked about maybe going back for a visit since they are a little over 30 minutes drive apart. We recently got more incentive to go back as we received a gift card from Bob’s sister and brother-in-law for a smoothie place there, thinking our current housesit was in SC rather than NC. What are the odds of two Boiling Springs anyway?

We remembered enjoying a visit to a great park while we were at the Boiling Springs, SC housesit, and we thought Cooper would enjoy a walk there. So today, we headed to Cleveland Park in Spartanburg, SC (right by Boiling Springs) for a walkabout with Cooper and then a free smoothie for lunch.

As a side note, Google Maps had us head out of town past the Broad River Greenway, and we were surprised to find how close to the state line we actually are.

After the park we went to CocoBowlz in Boiling Springs, SC, to use our gift card for a smoothie .

After having revisited the Broad River Greenway for a non-canine hike on Tuesday and then a quick trip to Shelby yesterday for a new library book pick up (my 5th) and a walk near City Park with Cooper, Bob and I decided to do something different today and check out one of the two wineries listed in the travel brochure we’ve been working our way through.

We had about a 30 minute drive to Lawndale, NC to visit the Baker Buffalo Creek Vineyard & Winery. We spent an easy hour with the wife of the couple that owns the winery while she poured us tiny tastes of each of the (non-sweet by our request) wines that they make. We learned that they began growing grapes in the early 2000s, inspired by a trip to Napa and the need by the husband of the couple to do something in retirement. We met him as well. They were both lovely.

It was a super way to spend part of our afternoon, and she encouraged us to come back on the weekends when they have a food truck and live music. As a side note, the tastings were free, but we purchased two bottles of red wine — their Cabernet Sauvignon and their Cab Franc.

It was such a beautiful day in Boiling Springs that it screamed for an outdoor excursion. The three of us headed back to the Broad River Greenway, just about 5 miles from the house for a more focused visit than the first time. It was a lovely way to spend some time outdoors in this 70 degree Fahrenheit day.

After a rainy Thursday and Friday, we have had a beautiful weekend. We went to the Shelby Farmers Market yesterday, which was small but nice. It had more local meat options than produce and also some baked goods. Later in the day, Bob and I took Cooper to a local elementary school for a walkabout around the school and into a beautiful neighborhood. Bob took advantage of the dry conditions to mow the yard, which had really taken off with all of the rain.

Today, I ran a 20 mile run here in preparation for my marathon in May and our homeowner ran a half marathon in Paris where she is visiting on a break from her English tutoring in Italy.

We then headed to the Bellwood Heritage Museum for a visit. (Still working our way through the travel brochure we picked up.) This museum is only open from 2:00 to 4:00 on the first Sunday of the month, March through October. The museum is a collection of local donations from the community to provide some local history. It contains mostly old farm equipment and household goods/appliances.

The farm section was full of lots of old equipment these two city-raised individuals had no idea about. The older gentleman at the museum had to explain most of the items to us.

Bob and I have been to Kings Mountain twice to date, once for a walk on the lovely Gateway Trail with Cooper and once to visit Kings Mountain National Park and learn about the Battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War. Today, we headed back to check out some more Kings Mountain sites that are listed in the travel brochure we picked up at the start of our housesit.

Kings Mountain is a small city of about 10,000 located about 30 minutes from Boiling Springs. It is southeast of Shelby, and we have to drive through Shelby to get there, as they both lie along Highway 74, Andrew Jackson Highway.

We parked near Patriots Park, which lies just off of the main street (and rail line) through town. The park is lovely and was named in 2000 by the high school class in honor of those who fought in the Revolutionary War.

From the park, we walked a couple of blocks along Railroad Avenue (the main street through town) before heading up Mountain Street, which goes into the downtown area.

The open sign in the above photo is for a newly opened coffee/gift shop that was fun to look through. We ended up going back before we left to pick up some baked goods. We were headed to the Kings Mountain Historical Museum just up the street to peruse their exhibits.

The gentleman working in the museum was very friendly and helpful and even let us walk into the old post office safe. The museum’s current exhibit is on War and Memory and showcases pieces donated by the local community that help to tell the story of the various wars. It also had some great information on the history of Memorial Day (originally celebrated on May 30 as Decoration Day).