I spent this past week in Atlanta, completing the 2nd leg of my Foundations of Accounting exam. For reason no one but myself understands, I decided to drive to and from Wilmington, instead of flying like everyone else in my class. I felt I needed the departure time flexibility, and with over 38mpg on my trip, I'll make a tidy profit off of mileage reimbursements.
But most importantly, driving the breadth of South Carolina gives one the opportunity to visit gems they may never be near again. AAA GEM attractions, that is. So Saturday morning, I found myself sitting in the kitchen of ACE Atlanta, thumbing through my Georgia, NC, & SC AA Tourbook (2011 edition). I skipped over the Augusta and Columbia attractions, under the assumption that they are real cities I might actually pass through again. Thinking I would't make Moore Creek National Battlefield before sundown, I zeroed in on the Lexington County Museum complex.
The 'complex' didn't disappoint. it was a collection of old, mostly pre-civil war buildings from around the county that had been moved to a park across from a Bi-Lo supermarket in the middle of Lexington. Pulling in my Civic with Indiana plates, unshaven, and wearing running clothes, I would say that I looked out of place, except there was no one else there to out-place.
I came into the front office and startled the 2 old men shooting the breeze, clearly unused to people showing up unannounced during operating hour. After a brief back-and-forth in which I wasn't sure if the man was trying to be nice to me or was telling me to get the heck out of his office in a polite, southern-ly way*, I paid my $5, and my personal tour began.
*He strongly suggested I come back another day when one of their buildings was reopened after renovations. When I pointed out that I would probably never pass through Lexington again in my life, he finally conceded.
It was a pretty good tour, and I can tell you all sorts of things about quilts that I don't remember. The highlight was entering a school house dated from 1815, and was something like the oldest schoolhouse outside of St Augustine, FL. The lowlight was when he pointed to a house and said, "this was Tom [some German name]'s first house when he moved to the area," and I asked, "who is Tom?" He paused, and said, "I don't know, no one has ever asked me that before. I just know I"m supposed to tell you about him." Right.
After my tour I asked for dinner recommendations, and headed 17 miles to Batesburg-Leesville, SC to Shealy's Bar-B-Q. Though sitting by myself among droves of local families chowing down on mustard-vinegar BBQ pork was a bit disconcerting, no one questioned my presence and I thoroughly enjoyed myself some South Carolinian BBQ.
But most importantly, driving the breadth of South Carolina gives one the opportunity to visit gems they may never be near again. AAA GEM attractions, that is. So Saturday morning, I found myself sitting in the kitchen of ACE Atlanta, thumbing through my Georgia, NC, & SC AA Tourbook (2011 edition). I skipped over the Augusta and Columbia attractions, under the assumption that they are real cities I might actually pass through again. Thinking I would't make Moore Creek National Battlefield before sundown, I zeroed in on the Lexington County Museum complex.
The 'complex' didn't disappoint. it was a collection of old, mostly pre-civil war buildings from around the county that had been moved to a park across from a Bi-Lo supermarket in the middle of Lexington. Pulling in my Civic with Indiana plates, unshaven, and wearing running clothes, I would say that I looked out of place, except there was no one else there to out-place.
I came into the front office and startled the 2 old men shooting the breeze, clearly unused to people showing up unannounced during operating hour. After a brief back-and-forth in which I wasn't sure if the man was trying to be nice to me or was telling me to get the heck out of his office in a polite, southern-ly way*, I paid my $5, and my personal tour began.
*He strongly suggested I come back another day when one of their buildings was reopened after renovations. When I pointed out that I would probably never pass through Lexington again in my life, he finally conceded.
It was a pretty good tour, and I can tell you all sorts of things about quilts that I don't remember. The highlight was entering a school house dated from 1815, and was something like the oldest schoolhouse outside of St Augustine, FL. The lowlight was when he pointed to a house and said, "this was Tom [some German name]'s first house when he moved to the area," and I asked, "who is Tom?" He paused, and said, "I don't know, no one has ever asked me that before. I just know I"m supposed to tell you about him." Right.
After my tour I asked for dinner recommendations, and headed 17 miles to Batesburg-Leesville, SC to Shealy's Bar-B-Q. Though sitting by myself among droves of local families chowing down on mustard-vinegar BBQ pork was a bit disconcerting, no one questioned my presence and I thoroughly enjoyed myself some South Carolinian BBQ.
Main street, Leesville, SC
Pre-Civil War farm house, Lexington, SC
The one and only
