James &amp; Monique&#39;s RV Travels

While we were staying at Crooked Creek Campground, an Antique and Classic Boat Show was held at the marina that is part of the campground. They are all wooden boats and most were made by Chris Craft. They dated from 1940 to the mid-60’s. All seemed to be powered by big V-8 auto engines producing 300 - 350 hp. Here are a few of the boats docked at the marina:

I loved the beautiful wood deck on the front of this boat:

This boat was named "OORAH" a Marine Corp chant or shout. So naturally it is owned by a retired Marine.

He and his wife travel in a restored 1959 GM Bus also named "OORAH". You can tell from the name, from the destination of "Parris Island" shown on the front and from the paint scheme that it is owned by a Marine. It is really a beauty.

From 2010-05 1959 Bus

SC Botanical Garden at Clemson University

We had an especially nice peaceful day touring the Botanical Garden at Clemson University and then enjoying a great lunch at Clemson’s Madren Conference Center. It really reminded me of why we enjoy being able to tour the country in our RV.

We have visited the SC Botanical Garden several times. Our house in Lexington had a very shady yard. One of our successful shade plants was hosta’s. Clemson has the best collection of hosta’s we have ever seen.

The gardens have some other unique features like the Caboose Garden donated by the Class of 1939.

Another is the Guard House Bell. It hung in the No.1 barracks and was sounded during the day to announce class changes, etc. A side note - Thomas Green Clemson who donated the land and money to start Clemson directed in his will in 1888 that the University be modeled after Mississippi A&M which is now Mississippi State University. MSU is where Monique and I met and were married. The Clemson founders came to Mississippi State to visit, and I believe some of their first buildings were copied from those at MSU. Both schools were early Land Grant Colleges and started with an emphasis on agriculture and engineering. For many years they were all male military colleges where the students wore military uniforms and were regulated by a military regimen. The Guard House Bell hearkens back to those days.

There are many lovely aspects to the gardens. A little waterfall:

A bridge over a small pond:

Pretty lace cap hydrangeas and ferns;

Beautiful rhododendron in bloom:

After our tour, we went over the Clemson Madren Conference Center. It is a very nice complex with a hotel, restaurant and conference facilities.

It sits on Lake Hartwell and is adjacent to the Clemson golf course.

I attended several conferences there while working at BellSouth. A nice garden walkway has been added since my last visit.

They serve an outstanding lunchtime buffet. We highly recommend both the Botanical Gardens and the lunch at the Madren Center.

Hagood Mill

We met a nice lady who had been camping here for a month. She told us about Hagood Mill in Pickens, SC, which is about 40 miles from the campground. We wanted to look around the Pickens area, so we drove over to tour the mill and the Pickens County Museum. Both are well worth a visit.

Hagood Mill is a grist mill built around 1845. It operated commercially until 1966 and is now a branch of the Pickens County Museum.

Several other buildings have been relocated to the site including two log cabins. The first one below dates from 1791.

There is also a steam operated 1890 Cotton Gin.

Plus a visitor’s center and gift shop, blacksmith shop, simulated moonshine still, and an outdoor stage.

Of course I had to photograph some of the pretty flowers.

I still had some wildflower seeds left from our trip to the Vermont Wildflower Farm. I gave these to the gentleman at the visitor's center. He was happy to get them and promised to plant them. They should look nice in this setting.

Another interesting artifact was a soapstone rock where early American Indians had started carving rock bowls. You can seem the beginnings of the bowl shapes in the rock.