Author: Easin' Along

After a wonderful trip to Edisto Beach, SC, Helen (adorable wife) and I drove back to Tennessee with plans to spend two days at home then hook up Gracey once again and go north to Louisville, Kentucky for a week full of fun. Those plans looked to be in serious jeopardy when we were within 30 miles of home. Bert (truck) suffered a broken wheel bearing causing us to limp down the interstate at 30 miles an hour with our caution lights flashing and an unbearable crunching sound coming from the left front wheel.

The next morning we had Bert towed to the repair shop while Helen canceled our reservation at Camp Carlson on Fort Knox and obtained a room at the IHG Holiday Inn Express on the same military base. We were fortunate because we got the last room available.  Suddenly, our trip was back on, and things were looking up.

The original purpose of our trip was to attend Antiques Roadshow, the very popular television show broadcast on NPR.  The race track at Churchill Downs was the site of the production. We have attended Antiques Roadshow twice previously, once in Knoxville, and once in Myrtle Beach and although we don’t have antiques of great value, the trips are always fun, and the people you meet are delightful.

Tickets to Antiques Roadshow are not obtained easily. Anyone wishing to attend must apply well in advance and be fortunate enough to have their name drawn in a lottery.  Our names were not selected, but our daughter-in-law also submitted an application, and it was her lucky day. We attended on her tickets. Our appointed time slot was 1:00 pm.

We took four things with us to have appraised. Helen had an old bowl of unknown origin and a commemorative hand-blown bottle produced when the Tennessee Valley Authority completed the first hydroelectric dam in the system.  The bottle featured an etching of Franklin Roosevelt and was believed to be the only glass etching of the former President.

I took two maps. One, printed in 1812 showing the states and territories in North America as they existed at the time, and another map of the State of Tennessee. The only thing I knew about the Tennessee map was that it appeared old. I also took a Rolex watch that I purchased in the mid-70’s and still had the original purchase receipt and certifications. 

Most of the early morning attendees had departed by the time we arrived which made it easy to move around. We watched as the cameras rolled on some lucky attendees who had brought treasures along for appraisal.  I saw one of the lucky ones scream “Oh Wow”! as the host let her know that her item was worth well beyond anything she imagined.

Just as we suspected, our items did not make the cut for show segments.  Helen’s bottle surprisingly was valued at around $500, but her bowl received only the comment of “interesting.” My map of North America came in at $100, but my Tennessee map was only a reproduction of the original. The value of the Rolex was in line with my estimate.

As we passed the appraising booths, we notice Lark Mason sitting in one of them.  Lark is one of the regular appraisers on the Roadshow and is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee.  We stopped to say hello and spent a few minutes chatting with him.  Lark was very generous with his time and agreed to have his picture taken with us.

Like the past Roadshows we attended, we didn’t leave rich, but we did leave with some great memories, and that was treasure enough.

Kentucky is well known for a lot of things, and Bourbon is one of them.  Helen and I thought it would be both fun and interesting to take a tour of a Bourbon distillery while in the area and, for me, it had to be Maker’s Mark about an hour away in Loretto, Kentucky. It was a beautiful day for a drive.

 

 

Maker’s Mark Distillery sits on Star Hill Farm, a lush, green and manicured setting which is also the site of two previous distilleries before Maker’s Mark, founded in the early 1950’s. The distillery offers several tours a day, and we had about twelve to fifteen people accompany us on our tour, led by a very energetic tour guide named Courtney. Courtney loved her job and entertained us with a great sense of humor. We learned a lot about the manufacturing process. I was very impressed with the attention to detail required to produce a consistent product and learned that the water found in the area is the key ingredient. Some of those along on tour seemed eager for the tasting that came at the end. I had to agree that this was the best part.

Included in our original plans for the last night in Louisville was to take our newfound riches from the Antiques Roadshow and then double our fortune on race night at Churchill Downs. Since that plan did not work out as we intended, we decided that we would stick to the two dollar window and carefully scrutinize our choice for each race. That plan also went awry when Helen decided that she would bet on Number Four in each race. So much for plans.

Robin and Mary, two Louisvillians and great friends, were our hosts for the evening, accompanied by two of their sons and daughters-in-law. Robin had arranged entry to the Turf Club through the generosity of a friend which meant we had box seats near the finish line as well as a bar and scrumptious buffet to our rear. This Tennessee country couple was living large.

Before I placed a bet, I combed through the Racing Form searching for clues that would lead me to the victorious horse in each of the six races. I started out with a modest degree of luck, but in the end, I stood fifty cents ahead—still better than losing. Helen, on the other hand, giggled away at the rest of us while continuing to bet on Number Four in each race…and walked away with $75. Go figure!

Honestly speaking, we both hit the jackpot in Louisville.  Livin’ large and lovin’ life while havin’ fun with friends is delightful time spent…Easin’ Along.

No first-time visitor to Edisto Beach, SC should get away without a visit to Botany Bay. We enjoyed a wonderful week of vacation in Edisto Beach State Park and the only obstacle keeping us from Botany Bay was some iffy weather. By Thursday, all of that changed and we drove the four miles to see the place that had been recommended by everyone who visited before us.

The proper name for this scenic and tranquil area is Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area. It is an area that once held two plantations dating back to the 1780’s with a combined area of 4,687 acres. Long Staple Sea Island Cotton was the primary crop for the plantations from 1820 – 1860, but timber came from there as well. Presently, Botany Bay serves as a managed wildlife habitat and crops such as corn, sunflowers, millet, among others are planted there.

Helen (adorable wife) and I planned to take the driving tour of the plantation, but, when greeted by a volunteer at the entry we were told that there was an archaeological dig in progress on a shell ring within walking distance from the parking area. A television crew was filming the dig for an upcoming documentary on public television. We decided if it was good enough for television, it had to be good enough for two curious retirees.  We drove under a canopy of live oaks to the parking area.

After parking Bert (our truck) in the lot, we walked to the dig site with Kay and Bucky, a couple from Suffolk, VA who arrived at the same time. We enjoyed their company as we crossed a wooden bridge and walked along the scenic trail adjacent to the marsh. Up ahead we could see a lot of activity in progress as well as television cameras shooting away.

A “dig” accurately describes what was going on.  Young researchers were on hands and knees in a narrow trench of varying depths, carefully skimming the surface of the soil with specialized trowels. The soil and any contents were handed to another person and sifted through a screen then examined. Although the task was painstakingly slow, everyone involved was thoroughly engrossed in the activity and seemed to be having a lot of fun. I wanted to know more about the project.

Standing to the side of the trench was a young man engaged in the task of soil sifting. I introduced myself and asked him to tell me about his duties.  In the course of our conversation, I learned that he was a Ph.D. candidate from (where else) the University of Tennessee and had written a Master’s thesis on Shell Rings. I can only give readers the Cliff Note version. 

Shell rings are composed of oyster shells, fish bones, turtle shells, and other discarded food waste left by Native Americans as far back as 4,500 B.C. Our Ph.D. candidate believes that the inhabitants were drawn to the area because the food was plentiful and readily available. They eventually congregated in this spot and set up tents with the intent to remain. Over time, the accumulated shells and bones grew into huge piles. Several theories attempt to explain what the shell rings represent. One is that the inhabitants perhaps assembled the shells into an art form that eventually identified the tribe—something akin to a totem pole. Another thought is that the ring had a ceremonial purpose.  Hopefully, the dig will uncover clues to the reason for gatherings of waste in rings as large as 20 feet high.  One of the supervisors told me that they found no weapons or stone implements inside the ring and no human bones either.  Only shells and fish bones so far and this was considered surprising. We left them digging away, but the activity was truly fascinating.

One reason for some urgency with this dig is that recent hurricanes had severely eroded the area around the shell ring, and had reduced the ring to one-tenth its original size.  We walked on the two-mile beach that stretched from Edisto Island to Sea Brook Island and saw evidence of the storms in the many trees on the shore. Shells, including conch shells, were everywhere.  Visitors had assembled them on the trees to share with visitors.

After walking the beach, we took the driving tour around Botany Bay, following the map provided by the volunteer at the entry. We saw no animal life other than a slow-moving groundhog but did see lots of songbirds including scarlet tanagers, and several herons, egrets, pelicans, and ospreys around the ponds and lakes created by dikes in the creeks.

 

 

Near the end of the tour, we drove alongside several areas once cleared for cotton planting. Trees had returned, but ferns now covered the forest floor. I thought the contrast made a nice picture. An indigo bunting flew by while I snapped away, but he was moving too fast to pose for me. Some wildflowers grew on the edge of the field which we cannot identify.  If any reader can provide a clue, please leave us a comment in the section below.

We had a very interesting day in Botany Bay and left the area thankful that, even in retirement, the learning never stops.  It’s time to be Easin’ Along.

Two words come to mind in describing time away from home. First, there is travel and second, there is the vacation.  Most of our adventures, especially those involving Gracey, our RV, are best described as travel because we tend to move into a new location every three or four days on average. Our trip to Edisto Beach, however, is a pure vacation.  Helen (adorable wife) is recuperating from knee replacement surgery and wanted some downtime in the sun and surf. Her right knee gets the same treatment in about a month and she wanted to straighten out a few kinks before the next surgery. I’m always up for some time on the road less traveled, so I readily agreed that a vacation was a good idea. In addition, our route would take us near enough to Charleston to pick up our granddaughters and take them along for their first camping trip. As I wrote last week, we loaded them and their stuff quickly and we were off. Edisto, here we come!

My first impression of Edisto Beach, SC is that it is very low-key.  There is very little commercialization other than a medium size supermarket and a few small shops and restaurants but, other than that, it is primarily beach and beach homes. The second impression is that the area is beautiful.  Our home for the week is the Live Oak Campground within Edisto Beach State Park. We were assigned campsite 111 which sits under some large Live Oaks and across an unpaved road from a very scenic marsh.  The beach is about a two-minute drive away, but we can hear the surf pounding the shore while seated at our picnic table—very relaxing.

The girls were all a-twitter at the camping experience and scampered about the campsite looking for sharks teeth under the picnic table.  They found three…don’t ask me how they got there. Later, and after much resistance, BeBe (Helen) relented and allowed the girls a few minutes on her iPad to play a few games.  Soon, three little girls walked up and were hit immediately by iPad stun gun rays and got sucked in.  This picture describes the scene but, in all honesty, their activity was a lot of fun. The next afternoon, their parents arrived to pick them up. While there, we prepared one of the best shrimp boils I have ever enjoyed.  Regretfully, I have no pictures to share but, trust me, it was delicious.

On the second day, Helen and I walked through the Environmental Learning Center adjacent to the campground.  The center features displays of the plant, animal, and aquatic life found around Edisto and does a fantastic job of it. We spent about an hour viewing the displays that were extremely informative.

I loved the wildlife displays and the turtle aquarium. Finally, we pulled ourselves away from the Center and walked along a trail to the estuary that surrounds Edisto Island. During our walk, a deer startled us and ran away before I could get the camera in position. We were the only humans on the trail at the time. When we arrived at the estuary we were welcomed by a lively pod of dolphins chasing a school of fish.  I was able to get a picture of the dorsal fin but these fellows were moving fast.

One of the displays in the center gave information about the shell rings found in the area and the trail we took led to one of them. Briefly, shell rings are composed of shells and bones left by the ancient Native Americans when they occupied the area several thousands of years ago. A larger shell ring is located at nearby Botany Bay and is currently being studied by archeologists.  Helen and I also visited that site and will feature it in next weeks Easin’ Along so come back. Shell rings are fascinating.

The rest of the week moved all too quickly, but isn’t that usually the case with vacations? We devoted much time to beach sitting and beach walking.  We determined that Helen’s knee is mending well and that salt water must be good for it.  I am nursing an ailing hip and spent a lot of time people watching.  A couple of teenage boys held my attention with their skill on a skimming board.

The threat of rain was present every day, but Edisto was spared and we enjoyed near-perfect skies the entire time.  Unfortunately, the rains came as we packed up to leave but, by then, we were sun-filled, relaxed, and refreshed. We love to travel, but vacations ain’t bad. This one left us ready to continue…Easin’ Along.