2019-06-19: Roadtrip Back to Texas Day 2 in SC, GA, and AL Finding History, Old Cars, Trains, Ghost Town and a Tragic Story

WOW, Busy day today! I woke up bright and early this morning ready to go on Day 2 of this Geocaching roadtrip from North Carolina back to Texas. I didn't get off work yesterday until just after noon, so it was a late start getting going. I only made it down into South Carolina. It's Wednesday morning and there are lots of counties and caches on the agenda. I gotta start the new project in Texas on Monday morning. So hop on in the passenger seat and let's hit the road!

After checking out of the hotel in Spartanburg, I drove down I-85 to Greer and my first geocache for Spartanburg County. "Easy Wood's"  is a virtual geocache (GCG9YP) for Woods Chapel Methodist Church and Graveyard across the highway from the BMW plant. Fun fact for the next time you're on Jeopardy or something... what's the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery? A graveyard is next to a church whereas a cemetery is by itself. The Rev. Henry Wood, for whom the church is named, was a Revolutionary War soldier who lived from 1756 to 1843.

Over in Greenville County was a quick and easy little multi-cache (GC2370V) that I had not seen before. A multi-cache consists of at least a stage one or multiple stages to get clues for the final location. This stage one was a travel bug dog tag attached to a tree behind a shopping center. The travel bug code had two numerical digits which you use to substitute into a new set of coordinates which take you to the final location for the real cache. The bonus for this one was that not only do you get a cache find but also get to log a travel bug discovery.

Then a quick park and grab cache for Pickens County (GC4W54R). Also located in Pickens County is Clemson University. There I made a stop for a virtual cache called "Death Valley" (GC1989). There were several different geocaches on campus. However I only made time for just this one. Clemson's Memorial Stadium has the nickname Death Valley because it's view of the cemetery on the hill before the upper decks were constructed.

Driving on down US-123 into Oconee County, there was another quick parking lot cache find to claim that county (GC3C0ZD) and my last for South Carolina.

Crossing the Tugaloo River into Stephens County, Georgia, I stopped soon thereafter for my next geocache at a historical marker. The "Old Tugaloo Town" (GC7TCX9) historical marker reads: "North of this marker, in the center of the lake, once stood and important Indian town. The area now marked by a small island was settled around 500 A.D. and occupied by Cherokee Indians around 1450. Traders were coming to the town by 1690.

"In 1716, while Col. Maurice Moore treated with Charity Hague, Cherokee Conjuror, a group of Creek ambassadors arrived. The Creek Indians, supported by Spain and France, wished to drive the British from the Carolinas, in the Yamassee War. The Cherokees killed the Creek ambassadors and joined the British. By 1717, Col. Tehophilus Hastings operated a trading center at Tugaloo where gunsmith, John Milbourne cared for Cherokee firearms. Indian agent, Col George Chicken visited Tugaloo in 1725 and described it as "...the most ancient town in these parts.

"Tugaloo remained a principal Cherokee town until destroyed by American patriots fighting these allies of the British in 1776."

Slowly making my way westbound, the next county was Habersham County. I stopped in the town of Cornelia for my next geocache at the historic train museum (GC3QGWC). The historic Cornelia Train Depot was first built by the Southern Railway Company in the late 1880's, soon after the town was founded. The railroad depot was originally called Blaine Station for the Republican presidential candidate James Gillespie Blaine. When the first charter of the town was secured by the attorney representing the railroad, Pope Barrow, the name was changed to Cornelia in honor of his wife. The official date of incorporation was October 22, 1887.

The original terminal was damaged in 1910 in a fire, and rebuilt in 1914 to its current appearance. This large passenger and freight station was once the home to two rail lines The Blue Ridge & Atlantic Railroad (also known as the Tallulah Falls Railway) and The Georgia Air Line Railroad, now known as Norfolk Southern. This depot is the symbolic and historic heart of Cornelia and in fact the town's first boundaries were set at one half mile increments in all directions from the depot. Today this depot serves as a railroad museum filled with relics from the days when the railroad ruled, it is also a great place to sit and enjoy the passing trains roll by.

Standing outside the train depot is the 7ft tall Big Red Apple monument. The pedestal it rests on is 8ft tall. The monument was constructed in 1925 and donated by Southern Railway to celebrate the annual festival of the many apples grown in the region.

Driving south on US-441, I crossed over into Banks County and a geocache right at the historical marker at the county line (GC7ED1F). The marker reads: "This line, sometimes called “The Four Mile Purchase Line,” was the boundary between Georgia and the Cherokee Nation from 1804 to 1818. It was established when Georgia bought a four mile strip from the Indians so as to take in Wofford’s Settlement on Nancytown Creek. James Blair was agent for the government, James Vann and Katahahee for the Cherokees. It formed the boundary between Jackson Co. and the Cherokees; later Franklin Co. and the Cherokees, and is now the line between Habersham and Banks Counties."

Back up into White County, I get the "Train of Thought" geocache (GC5PBVQ) for another county at the Mt Yonah Book Exchange. There you'll also find this old railroad train narrow gauge engine.

And then a quick stop for the cache and scenic views at the Popcorn Overlook (GC1F76H) in Rabun County in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Driving westbound on US-76, I make a quick park and grab stop for Kelly's Bridge (GC34MR8) to pick up Towns County. Followed by two more quick roadside park and grabs in Union County (GC6E5W2, GC72R98), another in Fanin County (GC7YT9F) and one more in Gilmer County (GC3R4BH).

Down in Pickens County, I stop for a virtual geocache (GC7442) at the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway monument. Dedicated in 1986 to the "strong character, integrity, and moral fiber of the people of Appalachia are exemplified in this native son of Georgia's mountains, Zell Miller has dedicated his life to aiding his fellow man. Scholar, author, businessman, teacher, champion of developmental highways, legislator, serving as Lieutenant Governor longer than anyone in Georgia history."

And then there was the "Bomb's Away" geocache in Bartow County (GC50RGA). Not sure why someone would have this setup in their front yard, but when you think you've seen it all... expect the unexpected!

Just down the road from the bomb, is "Old Car City USA, the World's Largest Old Car Junkyard" that has been here since 1931. (GC46W33) I couldn't find the cache that was hidden. And since it was closed, I couldn't go exploring the 6 miles of trails through the woods full of old cars. Not that I had time to do so anyway! But it would be fun to get back here one day to do so. But just what they had out front and peaking through the fence and windows inside was worth the stop.

Quick park and grab caches in Floyd (GC65626) and Polk Counties (GC27Z53) and I was heading for the state line and into Alabama.

My first stops in Alabama were for Cherokee County where I found two geocaches. Driving west on US-278, I took a side road and arrived in the town of Spring Garden for my first cache (GC2583K). Spring Garden was originally named Ambersonville after one of the early families that settled the community. A post office was established in 1842 as Liberty and changed to Spring Garden in 1844. The Selma, Rome, and Dalton Railroad began rail service through the town in 1870. The line later became part of the Southern Railway and was abandoned in the 1970's.

This building here was last known as the W.L. Westbrook General Merchandise Store. Constructed in 1878, it was first known as the P.H. Savage General Merchandise Store, then T.F. Stewart General Merchandise Store. William Lester Westbrook died in October of 1981 and can assume that the store closed around that time period. The second photo I found in the Library of Congress database looks to be from the late 1980's or early 1990's and the store is already abandoned. (The photo I took is from the post office side. The street view is completely covered in vines!)

(photo:  Library of Congress)

The other geocache in this county was a few miles away. The Goshen United Methodist Memorial Park (GC49R24) was established by members, relatives, and friends after a tornado destroyed the church on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1994.

On this Sunday morning, 20 children had begun the service by marching around the sanctuary waving palm branches while the congregation sang the hymn: "Tell me the stories of Jesus." The worship service began with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and was to end with remembering His tragic death on the cross. At approximately 11:30, a tornado with winds up to 250 mph, and moving at a speed of 55 mph descended upon the church. The edge of the half mile wide storm caused a window to break, and within four seconds the building exploded propelling the congregation into literally living the Holy Week story of joy, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide, had just been sung when the winds blew the roof and the south wall to the north, trapping, injuring, and killing many worshippers. For two hours, persons assisted in the rescue efforts freeing those trapped underneath the debris and treating the injured. By 1:00, four hundred volunteers had arrived to help. Due to the heroic work of many rescue and medical workers, as well as unexpected helpers, 126 people survived. Of the twenty killed, six were children. Those surviving gave remarkable stories of experiencing God's presence and sustaining power in the rescue efforts and through the hard days that followed.

Driving up into Dekalb County, I stopped at the Lebanon Courthouse for a virtual geocache (GCB0CE). The historic courthouse was constructed during the 1840's when Lebanon, the county seat of Dekalb County, was a thriving community with inns, taverns, and government offices. This building remained in use as a courthouse until 1876, when the stagecoaches serving Lebanon gave way to progress. The county seat was then moved to Fort Payne, where railway service was available.

By the time I got here the sun was already setting behind the building making it hard to get a decent photo.

Finally it's getting to be 9:00 pm by the time I get to Scottsboro, Alabama in Jackson County. I grab one last geocache (GC6F458) in a Walmart parking lot to claim the county. Those are about the only caches I want to find in the dark, under a street light!

Well after 15 hours of driving and caching, I'm ready for the hotel! That's it for today. Let's get some sleep and start again early tomorrow morning. I hope you come back again and ride along with me. I'm out... ZZzzzz....

2019-06-18: Roadtrip Back to Texas Day 1 in NC and SC, Finding an Abandoned Racetrack, Farmville, a Historic Survey Marker and a 9-11 Memorial

Well it's that time again. My work on this project in North Carolina is done. Time for a roadtrip back to Texas. Only this time it's in North Central Texas, about an hour north of Abilene. So that means I'll be hitting the backroads westbound again looking for geocaches in new counties, finding historical places and stopping for roadside attractions. The passenger seat in the GeoJeep is open. Hop on in and let's go for a ride...

I get out of work a little early today, run by the house to pack everything into the GeoJeep, and head west on US-264. Driving around Greenville to the other side a few miles, I see this huge water tower for the town of Farmville, NC. I stopped to take a photo and send it to my wife. She used to play Farmville a lot. I told her that the town really does exist but it's in shambles! She needs to get playing the game again, plant and harvest the crops, feed the animals, and get this place back growing again. She got a good chuckle out of it!

Arriving at my first new county down in South Carolina in a town called Cheraw. The cache was a quick parking lot LPC find for Chesterfield County (GC6807X). This wasn't my first choice to find, but a plan B find for the county credit.

My original geocache, and one of the reasons I like geocaching, brought me to this long abandoned racetrack just down the road by the airport. Like several others before me, I could not find the geocache. (it has since been archived) But I did get to find this piece of NASCAR history. Built by NASCAR legend Jimmy Ingram, the race track was in operation from 1955 through 1968. It started out as a quarter-mile dirt track. Sometime in the 1960's, it was paved and expanded to 3/8 of a mile. Now the only passing and overtaking happening is by time and nature. I did get a quick shot with the GeoJeep at the top of the page.

Next up was a virtual geocache called "Run For The Border" (GCE55). As a surveyor myself, I like finding these old survey stone markers. This one was placed in 1813 to mark the line between North and South Carolina. Originally surveyed in 1764, this stone was placed because of the uncertainty of the location of the Salisbury Road which had served as the north-south boundary from the western terminus of the state line. It was resurveyed again in 1934, found to be accurate, and the round Geodetic Survey Disc was attached to the stone. Not too far away is a traditional geocache called "North Corner" (GC333HN) and I make a stop and found that one also.

The next county on my list was Chester County, South Carolina. There I made two quick park and grab cache finds (GC5MD92, GC5VGFZ). On the way to my next county and geocache, I passed through this small town called Lockhart. I grew up in a small town called Lockhart in Florida. Back in Texas, I also encountered another Lockhart which they're famous for their BBQ. So I found a place that would make a good selfie by the town square and Liberty Bell replica.

My next cache over in Union County was at this highway 9-11 memorial made of painted rocks (GC1410J). A quick find for the county and a nice GeoJeep photo opp too!

A short adventure for today, but had to work until 3:00. Now it's almost 10PM and I find a hotel for the night in Spartanburg, SC. Tomorrow I can get started out bright and early. There's more counties to pick up, more geocaches to be found, and lots of history and cool sites to see. I hope you'll be back too. The passenger seat is always open. See you soon...

2019-05-05: Moving Day Roadtrip from Texas to North Carolina Day 3 in SC and NC

Good morning friends. If you're just now dropping in on this roadtrip, you may want to catch up first on Day #1 and Day #2. Starting out this morning in South Carolina on day #3 of this roadtrip from Texas to North Carolina. I start a new solar farm project tomorrow, so gotta get there today and get settled. Then gonna find the jobsite so I know where I'm going and get some groceries for the week. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's get driving... 

Checking out of the hotel in Lugoff, SC, I grabbed the geocache (GC22BH6) down the block for a Kershaw County find. Then drove up the Interstate and crossed the border into North Carolina.

Continuing up the highway and continuing to pick up new counties, I stopped for a quick geocache (GC3AFP2) in the town of Wade, NC for a find in Cumberland County. From there I drove over to Spivey's Corner, NC for a virtual geocache called "Holler if you Hear Me" (GCAD33) and a find in Sampson County. Spivey's Corner is known as the "Hollerin' Capital of the World" since 1969. Though on this day it was fairly quite.

On the way to my next geocache I reached a milestone. At just one week shy of being a year old, my GeoJeep hits 60,000 miles! That's a lot of roadtrips!

Stopping in Wilson County for my next geocache (GC6H2T8), not too far away was this old abandoned church. The Corner Line Primitive Baptist Church was a predominately black church built around 1900. The first pastor was Sam Brystern who led the congregation until he passed in 1930. Wiley Barnes took over the role until handing it over to his son Tom Barnes in 1964. I'm not sure when it was last used, but I saw a photo from 2012 that showed it abandoned. You can find out more on this church and the area's early history afamwilsonnc website.

The geocache container attached to a butterfly in the woods.

I arrived in Washington, NC and checked into a hotel. Then I drove up to Pinetown and saw where the jobsite was and how long it took to drive there. I checked for geocaches in the area and there was one right around the corner (GC35QJN). That gave me a find for Beaufort County. Back at the hotel, there was another geocache so I grabbed that one too (GC3N3YA).

So that's it for my three day roadtrip from Texas. I was glad to have you riding along. I'm scheduled to be here at this project for 2-3 months. North Carolina has 100 counties and I have only found geocaches in 30 of them. So be sure to check back in frequently as I drive from county to county finding geocaches and exploring North Carolina. See you again soon.

2019-05-04: Moving Day Roadtrip from Texas to North Carolina Day 2 in AL, GA, & SC Historic Cemetery, House, and Gas Station

Well after 16 hours of driving and geocaching yesterday, it's time to hit the road again for day two of my roadtrip from Texas to North Carolina. Todays drive will take me from Alabama, through Georgia, to South Carolina. So jump in and let's see what we can find!

My first stop was for the "Trussville Civitan" Alabama's First Geocache (GC126). This cache was hidden way back on January 2001. The are only 48 geocaches left that were hidden during that month. For geocaching statistics, there's a Jasmer Calendar that lets a cacher know what months their found caches were hidden in. I only had one open spot for 2001 and it was January.

So I arrived near the geocache location in the parking area of a park. At the center of the park was this Veterans War Memorial. Took a quick photo before I went for a walk.

There was a walking and biking paved trail down along the Cahaba River. There were quite a few people out getting their morning exercise along that trail. I'm more interested in what was in the woods and headed for that. Only a few hundred feet in and away from the curious eyes of the muggles, I found the 18 year old prize that has been found nearly 1700 times and added my name to the log. YAY! Now just two more spots for July and August of 2000 to fill in the blanks. Even harder as there are only seven of those in the United States.

Before leaving town I spotted this old gas station and just had to stop for a photo. The building was originally constructed as a Gulf Service station in the late 1950's. In 2013 the building was bought by Rocky Neason who turned it into the Classic Cars and Garage Museum. The station was transformed into a Standard Oil Gas Station replica and filled with many 50's & 60's era antiques collected by Rocky Neason during his 31 years in the industry. There was a 50's 2-seater T-Bird and a 60's mid-year Corvette behind the bay doors during my visit. But I understand the cars get traded out with his collection from time to time.

Moving along for a cache in St. Clair County, Alabama. "Final Resting Place" (GC7ETF0) is a geocache located in the Moody Cemetery. There are over 900 interments here dating back to 1860. With the muggle here mowing the lawn, I just found the cache and moved on.

A few quick park and grab caches for Calhoun County (GC82XM4, GC36J12) and a Dunkin Donuts coffee. Crossing the state line into Georgia, I exit I-20 for two more quick caches in Carroll County (GC7F5J3, GC7F5GY).

Now I'm in downtown Atlanta. Not my favorite place to be. But there are some "must do" geocaches there. Fortunately it is Saturday so traffic isn't too bad. The first is a D5/T5 challenge cache called "The Lower 48 States" (GC5EQQT). Located a couple blocks from the state capital, it is an easy cache to find yet a very difficult cache to claim. It requires you to find at least one cache in each of the lower 48 states. I've managed to find one in 49 states, only missing Hawaii.

Then I take a drive over to the historic Oakland Cemetery. It was established in 1850 as the Atlanta Cemetery on 6 acres of land southeast of the city. It was expanded to 48 acres by 1867 and renamed in 1872 to reflect all the oak and magnolia trees. The magnificent entry gate pictured below was constructed in 1896. From 1936 to 1976, the cemetery is neglected and fall into disrepair. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and a restoration began. Eventually the Historic Oakland Foundation was created and maintains the grounds. An average of 105,000 visitors tour this cemetery every year. Today it is my turn.

There are two virtual geocaches there. The first one I found is for "The Master" (GCD42A). The geocache is dedicated to one of golfs greatest players, Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones, who won multiple Masters Championships in the 1920's. You'll find his headstone at the coordinates.

The other virtual geocache is called "The Lyin' Cache" (GC64DF). Oakland’s most centrally located character area is the final resting place of approximately 7,000 Confederate soldiers, many of whom are unknown. Following Oakland’s acquisition of additional land, this four-acre portion of the cemetery began its transformation in 1866 by the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association (ALMA). Several hundred of these graves were originally marked by simple painted wooden headboards, then replaced by marble markers with rounded tops in 1890.

Near the center of the Confederate Burial Grounds, Oakland’s tallest monument is a sixty-foot granite obelisk memorial to the Confederate Dead. Erected by the ALMA, the foundation of Stone Mountain granite was laid in 1870, on the day of the funeral of Robert. E. Lee. The monument wasn’t completed and dedicated until Confederate Memorial Day, on April 26, 1874.

Flanking the obelisk to the northeast, the Lion of Atlanta monument commemorates unknown Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Atlanta. The large sculpture carved in marble from Tate, Georgia was commissioned by ALMA and unveiled in 1894. With the famous Lion of Lucerne as his model, T.M. Brady depicted a weeping lion, representing courage, dying on a Confederate flag.

(Jumping ahead to 2020... Sadly, political and civil unrest has led to vandalism of this nearly 130 year old memorial. On the nights of May 28, May 31, June 5, and June 6, 2020, members of BLM and Antifa went into Oakland Cemetery and vandalized the Lion statue, the Obelisk, some of the headstones, and one of the historical markers within the Confederate Burial Grounds. The geocache has been archived.)

The monument at the Neal family plot is one of the most beautiful in Oakland Cemetery. Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie) Neal was the daughter of Thomas Neal and Mary (Mollie) Cash. Before moving to Georgia from Louisiana three years earlier, she lost six siblings. She suffered from rheumatism for several months before her death. Her sister, Emma, cancelled a trip to the Arctic to care for her Lizzie in the last days of her life. Created by her father after her and her mother's deaths, Lizzie is thought to be represented by the woman on the right of the monument.

Three more interments here worth mentioning. Joseph Jacobs (1859-1929) was a businessman and pharmacist. While it was John Pemberton who invented Coca-Cola in 1885, it was Joseph Jacobs that introduced it to the public on May 8, 1886.

Also, there's Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949), author of the book "Gone With the Wind." On August 11, 1949, she was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the road at Peachtree and 13th with her husband on the way to see a movie. She died eight days later.

Finally, and jumping again forward to 2020, singer, songwriter, and actor Kenny Rogers was laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery on March 20, 2020.

All in all there are estimated to be about 70,000 interments here. I spent almost two hours exploring this cemetery and didn't get see it all. But I do need to get back on the road. It's late in the afternoon and I still have ground to cover. So let's get moving.

The next six geocaching stops were quick roadside or parking lot caches to get six new counties in Rockdale County (GC5GT56), Newton County (GC84173), Walton County (GC2X92M), Greene County (GC1AFQN), Taliaferro County (GC19WT6), and Warren County (GC1DZ99). Along the way traveling down these backroads, you often see houses or buildings that have long been abandoned and nature is consuming them. If you're anything like me you begin to wonder what they once were and what happened that allowed them to get to this condition.

Continuing over into McDuffie County we stop for some history. "The Rock House" (GC21JD6) is an 18th Century stone dwelling and is the only surviving house associated with the Colonial Wrightsboro Settlement (1768). Its builder, Thomas Ansley, used weathered granite, quarried in its natural form from the nearby geographic fall line, as building material. The granite, along with pine timbers and cypress shingles, gave the house a distinctive Georgia character. The architectural style of the Rock House is similar to stone houses in the Delaware Valley of New Jersey from which Ansley migrated. It is the earliest dwelling in Georgia with its original architectural form intact.

The home is now owned by the Wrightsboro Quaker Foundation and has been rumored to be haunted. The Augusta Paranormal Society visits this location from time to time.

Across the street is a large monument erected in 2002 among many small crosses. "The great tornado (Type 5) entered McDuffie County at RR Mile Post 42. At 12:45 PM, March 20, 1875 the Rock House lost windows, a cook house, corncrib and gin. In the center of the cemetery a giant oak was blown down. This marker was in the center of the tornados path." There are 18 names with dates listed of those who are believed to be buried there. The dates range from 1809 through 1848.

Continuing to research the history of the Ansley Family, the last name was Anne Ansley (born 1801 - died 1848) was the daughter of Abel and Lydia Ansley. Before she died, she married Willey Carter and they had eleven children. One of those eleven children was Littleberry Walker Carter, who eventually became the Great-Grandfather of President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.

Crossing the Savanah River over into South Carolina, I stop at the Welcome Center for a quick geocache for Aiken County (GC1048M). Then take the first exit and drive north a couple miles for another quick roadside geocache to pick off Edgefield County (GC81EPX).

For Lexington County (GC4N3FV) it was "The Duck Inn Travel Bug Motel." A creative geocache container large enough to hold plenty of travel bugs and coins to move up and down the Interstate. And finally the last geocache of the day was in Richland County (GC4GX30).

Another long day of driving and geocaching. I continued to the town of Lugoff, SC where the next geocache is located. But instead of finding the cache, I check into a hotel. It's after 9 PM and I'm tired! Not a bad day though, picking up a lot of new counties and finding some historical places. I appreciate you riding shotgun and hope you enjoyed the roadtrip. We got one more day tomorrow to get to North Carolina. Until then, it's sleep time.

2015-06-14: Another Weekend Road Trip to South Carolina

This weekend was another road trip up to South Carolina to pickup Candy's grandson at "South of the Border", to spend the summer with us. But we also had a couple of other activities yesterday to attend to before leaving which made for a busy weekend.

Heading out early yesterday morning over to Melbourne Beach, FL, Candy had an appointment there. While she was at her appointment, I decided to go Geocaching (of course) down this trail a few blocks south. Maritime Hammock was about a three mile loop trail and I managed to find two caches there.

After the hike, it was back to pickup Candy and quickly drive back to Orlando. There was the Geocaching event at the Greek Flame Taverna of which I was the host to attend to. However with this last minute trip up to South Carolina, we weren't going to able to stay long. I also made arrangements with cacher friends QQnonrev to be there for the start just in case we were late getting over from Melbourne Beach. Which was the case. We arrived late, greeted everyone, a quick lunch, and we were out the door early too heading northbound.

I knew it was going to be tight on time, however when making these trips you just have to make an occasional stop to break up the time. Plus now that we're trying to complete our Geocaching counties map, there were several along the way to get.

Our first stop was at the same exit for both Liberty and Mcintosh Counties. One stop, two caches and two counties! One more county stop in Georgia and another in South Carolina, we continued up to Dillion, SC and checked into the hotel for the night.

This morning Candy and I drove up to the next exit, at the famous "South of the Border" Mexican themed tourist trap on the border of North and South Carolina's. We managed to find two geocaches there before her grandson showed up with his father at the rendezvous location.

Heading south now back to Orlando, we stopped two more times in South Carolina to find ordinary caches in two new counties. The next stop however was a bit more interesting! A virtual Geocache called Area 51-SC, located in Bowman, SC. Not sure of the story behind this place, but it on the side of this house and I think the owner just went crazy with his utility shed building a UFO Welcome Center! The things you find while Geocaching!

On the way to another cache to pickup a new county, we were driving down this rural road and passed by this house with some really cool metal fabricated yard art. We just had to stop and take some pictures!

Another weekend and another road trip behind us. I guess this was a practice run for our summer vacation which begins next week. I hope you'll join us.

2014-06-07: Road Trip Day #1 Florida to Virginia

YIPPEE! Vacation time! Which means a Road Trip is in store! We have only 4 things to accomplish while on vacation. Drop Candy's grandkids off at their fathers house in Maryland, get at least one Geocache each in Vermont and New Hampshire, and get a really cool Geocache at this old train bridge in Pennsylvania. The rest is purely spontaneous.

Our first stop after spending the first few hours driving north on I-95 out of Florida, is the Smallest Church in America. Located in Townsend, GA off I-95 at exit 67. this Smallest Church in America was built in 1949 by Agnes Harper and deeded to Jesus Christ.

Our next stop up the road just off I-95 near Savannah, GA is a very popular Geocaching Travel Bug Hotel. This one is more than just a larger Tupperware able to hold some trackables. This one took some creativity and imagination to assemble. It's even got a front desk, clerk, and rooms to check in to!

Next stop and not far away, is a virtual cache located at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Getting our picture with the F4-C Phantom gives us credit for finding the Geocache. This was one of 3 planes on the grounds and free to view.

Just across the border into South Carolina, rests the next virtual Geocache on our route. This 1910 wood burning locomotive was on display and a bit rusty!

Continuing our drive up I-95, we detoured again for a little piece of American History. The Sheldon Church Ruins was originally built between 1745-55. Then during the Revolutionary War, burnt down by the British Army. After the war it was rebuilt. However, only to be burnt down again by the Union Army during the Civil War! So they just left it as it was. Although it is still used today for special events and services. It must see place to visit the next time you're traveling up I-95 through South Carolina.

Next stop further up in Manning, SC was this mural painted on the side of one of the building in town. There are several murals around town that depict Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and his battles against the British Army in and around Clarendon County.

Continuing northbound to I-95 exit 181 in South Carolina, we stopped to view this old cotton press built in 1798. Again another piece of history learned thanks to Geocaching.

Finally in an effort to make up some time from all the stops, we continued straight on through North Carolina and just into Virginia to find a hotel for the night. Time for some rest.

Until tomorrow...