Peckish Travels

Today, we made our first foray into South Carolina with a visit to Cowpens National Battlefield. It was recommended to us by our homeowner as not only a good place to visit but also another option for running, as it has a 3.2 loop through the park that has minimal traffic and a shoulder. Bob and I went solo today to check it out and learn about this unusually (to us) named place.

The site is about a 20 minute drive from Boiling Springs, NC, and was the location of the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781 between the British and the Americans during the Revolutionary War. We had hoped to learn more in the Visitor’s Center, but we discovered that is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Luckily, they had a helpful brochure out front and some informational signs posted along the Battlefield Trail, which we walked after driving the loop to check it out for a possible run for me or a walk with Cooper.

Our visit reminded me, yet again, about how little I seem to know about US history. While I certainly aware of the Revolutionary War, I couldn’t name many battles and certainly was not aware of this one.

In a nutshell, based on the brochure and the signage posted at the park, the Battle of Cowpens was fought during an effort by the British to regain control of the southern colonies. It was fought after the British had taken Charleston, SC, in May of 1870, but after the Overmountain Men had secured a victory for the Americans at King’s Mountain in October of 1780.

The Battle of Cowpens lasted less than 30 minutes and was led by Daniel Morgan for the Americans and Banastre Tarleton for the British. It was fought in a cow pasture (thus the name) and the Americans secured victory with a double envelopment maneuver that trapped the British. A recreation of the battle is apparently held annually.

A monument erected in 1856 in honor of the Cowpens victory

After almost a full week of rain and mostly short walks in the neighborhood or down to the post office, the three of us took advantage of the sunny day to explore a new (at least for the humans) trail. Bob had found the First Broad River Trail in Shelby, so it was close and also allowed for a quick pop in to the library for a book return and pick up.

We had done a short walk at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs. The First Broad River Trail is a 1.5 mile natural surface trail that follows the First Broad River. As you will see, it runs under a steel railroad trestle and across the First Broad River via a 170-foot long suspension bridge.

Fun Wikipedia Fact: The Broad River originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows generally south-southeasterly through or along Rutherford, Polk, and Cleveland (where we are) counties in North Carolina before going into South Carolina. The First Broad River and the Second Broad River are 2 of the tributaries of the unenumerated Broad River.

We had a great walk and crossed paths with about 8 other humans and 3 other dogs.

Happy February! As Cooper had a doggie play date today with a neighbor’s canine, we took the opportunity to go to the nearby town of Shelby, North Carolina, to try the Shelby Cafe, recommended by our homeowner, and to tour the Don Gibson Theater, a former movie theater and now a small concert venue.

The Shelby Cafe has been operating since 1922 and is a local institution. It had two dining areas and had the feel of a large diner. Bob was really excited to eat here, as he had seen the menu had livermush, which is defined by Wikipedia as a food product prepared using pig liver, parts of pig heads, cornmeal, and spices that is common in Western North Carolina. Who wouldn’t be excited by that description?! It first caught our eye when we saw a package of it in the grocery store and wondered about the marketing decision in using the word mush in the product name, but truth in advertising in this case.

But Bob loves to try unique, regional foods, so he ordered the livermush omelette at the cafe (all-day breakfast) and thought it was good, very similar to a pork sausage, though much more finely minced. I had some good southern veggies.

After lunch, we grabbed some gifts in the town square for our neighbor who was hosting the doggy play date and then went to the Don Gibson Theater. Beth had read that they offered free tours and called last week to learn that the free tours were on Wednesday afternoons. The manager of the theater walked us around and gave us the history of the building, recent renovations, and took us backstage and even on stage.

Don Gibson is nationally-known songwriter and country musician from Shelby. Two of his top hits were, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Oh, Lonesome Me, ” which we learned he wrote on the same day! They were released as the a and b sides of the same 45. The theater was opened as the Don Gibson Theater in 2009 in a space that was originally a movie theater and then an antique shop.

Cooper, Bob, and I headed to another nearby trail today before more rain heads in this week. It’s called the Thermal Belt Rail Trail, and it’s a 13.5 mile paved trail that runs from Forest City, past Rutherfordton (where we walked the other day) to Gilkey. We were checking it out, not just for a good walk, but to see if it might be a good option for my long training runs in preparation for my May marathon.

We were very impressed. The trail itself was well paved, looked new, and there were mile markers along the course.

Bob and I went to our first Gardner-Webb University basketball game this afternoon. The Bulldogs (The Dawgs) are currently fourth in the Big South Conference with an 11-10 record prior to this afternoon’s game. They went up against the High Point University Panthers with the same record.

We enjoyed the game, although not terribly impressed with the officiating (at least 2 very bad calls) or the announcer who was difficult to understand, as if he talked too closely into the mic. The band was fun, and it’s always interesting to see the different activities that schools do during timeouts. Best of all GW won!

We also had a couple of surprises just looking around the gymnasium. First, we learned that the University of South Carolina Upstate, the college near Boiling Springs, South Carolina, that we had walked around during our house sit there, is also in the Big South Conference. We also learned that Artis Gilmore, a former NBA player, attended Gardner-Webb for two years before transferring to Jacksonville. I had never heard of him, but Bob had.

We also got a surprise early Valentines gift from Cooper today, though we think his owner placed the order.

We are still in a weather pattern where every 2 to 3 days we get a full day of rain. No complaints, as it hasn’t stormed, but it does make for restlessness among our human and canine household. Yesterday was another rain day, and Sunday looks to be another one.

Today, however, was beautiful, so we drove about 25 minutes to the cute town of Rutherfordton (population 3,600) to check out the Purple Martin Greenway. We took Cooper along to get some new smells and a little variety in his walks.

The Purple Martin Greenway is a lovely paved trail system named for the Purple Martin bird, which appeared on the family crest of the gentleman for whom the town is named. The three of us had a lovely walk and saw others out walking as well.

Today we had our first car excursion with Cooper and drove to the nearby Broad River Greenway to get an initial introduction of the park. The greenway is about 4.5 miles from the house, straight down Main Street. I hope to run to it sometime.

The Broad River Greenway is 1500 acres along the Broad River and contains 15 miles of natural surface trail for hiking or horseback riding. There are also picnic facilities. We had a great initial visit, as even with a number of cars in the lot, we had the portions of the trails that we walked to ourselves.

Below are some photos from our visit.

The logo for the town of Boiling Springs is one town, one university, one community. The university is Gardner-Webb University, a private, Christian, liberal arts university that is about a mile from the house. The campus historically began as the site of the Boiling Springs High School in 1905. It became Gardener-Webb College in 1942 and evolved into a university in 1993. The current buildings all look very new, and enrollment for all programs is just over 3,000.

The name of the university comes from Governor O. Max Gardner and his wife Fay Webb Gardner who were instrumental in the development of the college in 1942.

We walked from the house to and around campus on two different days. On Wednesday, we walked the Stadium Drive on the outer edge of the campus, and today, we walked around more of the interior.

The campus is the site of the springs for which the town is named, although they no longer boil or bubble. Our goal for today’s walk was to find the springs and the informative sign. We were only partially successful.

Two lovely walks on two lovely days. Otherwise, we are hanging with the delightful Cooper, rehabbing Bob’s hip (He’s doing great), training for an Australian marathon this spring (but fall there), cooking homemade meals, and keeping up on the new, local news.

About 12:30 today, Bob and I headed out for an initial perusal of Shelby after dropping Cooper off with the neighbor.

Shelby, North Carolina, is the county seat of Cleveland County with a population of about 20,000. We wanted to visit the public library to get some reading materials and then walk around the town square. It is about a 15 minute drive to Shelby from the house.

Even though it was a rainy day, we had a nice visit to Shelby (after having to drive back when we first got to the library because I forgot the library card).

Across from the library is a great park called City Park with a golf course, train, carousel, children’s playground, among other amenities.

After driving around the park, we drove to the town square to check it out and the shops around the square. We also stumbled on a visitor’s center and popped in there to get some information. During our short walk we checked out a couple of cute shops and learned about some hometown heroes from Shelby.

Bob and I have had a few quiet days getting settled in Boiling Springs, North Carolina partly due to weather and partly to help Cooper get used to us and his new situation. Cooper is a nervous dog who has had a lot of changes in his living situation over the past two years, so we have taken turns leaving the house over the past few days so that he wouldn’t be alone while still adjusting to his mom being gone.

We feel like we’re bonding with him, and he’s a great little walker and sleeper. We walk him a couple times a day in the cul-de-sac neighborhood and have met a few of the other many dogs and their people. We also do a longer walk into town everyday. Tomorrow he is going for a playdate with the neighbor, and Bob and I are going to head to nearby Shelby to the public library and check out the town square.

In terms of getting settled in ourselves, we’ve done our first grocery shop at the local Ingles grocery store down the street and visited and joined the YMCA.