Hartsville

If  you notice poor quality in my photos blame Verizon...I reduced the pixels so I wouldn't eat up all my data when I upload photos!  Today we went for another Townies Tour...this time it's HARTSVILLE, SC.....near the same  area geographical we went to on our last Town visit.  Back in the Pee Dee region, crossing the Lynches River  we traveled into Darlington County (from Kershaw County) where we live.  Back in Cotton Country!!

Mom and I were so ready to be out and about we've had lots of rain, been hard to get anything done outside so I took advantage and did lots of little inside things to get my house in order--- literally.  To get there its a quiet drive through farmland  and lots of roadside stops for photos...so we don't get in a hurry!

the burbs around us are not exactly upscale...

Fritillary 

We stopped near the river to help a turtle across the road, then not far from there we came upon a field of wild flowers... full of butterflies...

Buckeye

We made a stop at Kalimara Gardens part of the Coker College Campus...there is an awesome boardwalk there and lots of birds,,,but Mom really can't do the steps to get down to the boardwalk anymore so we hung around the garden to see what was in bloom And we saw all sorts of nice things!!  I always feel so wonderful when I stand under a Live Oak, especially one with a Northern Parula singing his heart out in it...

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Kalimara

Northern Parula 

The big bloomers of the day were def the Hydrangeas all colors...

and more butterflies--an American Painted Lady Butterfly

Here's something you don't see everyday can you guess what it is?

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A pomegranate!

When I was a kid our bus used to stop and let us pick pears and pomegranates, we would go home with that red stain all over our hands, face, and clothes! "Not too funny when our mom's saw us"!! I don't think I've attempted to eat one since becoming an adult only a kid would be enthralled with one. 

This five lined skink scared us when he jumped out of the bushes!! They make a lot of noise as they slither around and it sounds like a snake... this one is about 8 inches in length!

Then Mom started to wimp out and we hadn't even seen the Town yet!! Soooo  

... there was only one thing to do --take her out for lunch!! :o)

This helped! ...we scarfed down a salad and some of the crunchiest onion rings we've ever eaten --->good stuff <---but neither of us liked the sauce they served with the rings...

...as we left the restaurant the waitress came rushing out waving her hands at us...
Holy Hysterics

She was holding my camera and Mom's pocketbook!! OKAY a couple of country bumpkins come to town...JEEZE we needed a little wake up call I reckon!

Once we recovered our possessions we headed one more block to "down town" proper...

Mom  waited in the shade while I took some photos of the town square...and a few other sights in Hartsville...named after the Hart's who were sort of the founding family of the town as far back as 1818

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and the Coker family also had a lot to do with the economy of this town...and the College as I mention in my last town post is a center for education in this area...

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hope you can read this...

here is the store it's an entire city block it has now been segmented  into various businesses...

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est 1865

It sure was nice to see the Blue Sky!!  More rain is expected by Friday so gotta enjoy it while it's here...like so many other aspects of life!

another wonderful experience with MOM in our Townies Tour! 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

National Park Hounds!

I returned from the mountains on Monday evening, Tuesday I was mowing grass all day...and picking up sticks, and trying to catch up on chores....but Wednesday I threw my bag of tools in the shed and said,

" I'm not working today"! Instead I put some food in the van, my camera, binoculars, and headed for the National Park that is near me! YES we have a National Park...Congaree National Park, it was named Congaree Swamp prior to becoming a NP. I used to bring my Cub Scout Troop here back in the 90's to introduce them to "birdwatching"--aka birding!  So with a light-hearted and free bird feeling - I took off.

Passed many open fields of wild flowers...

I took the same route I always take going over there and it passes through some really wide open spaces..

A lot of hay is grown here and grain crops...the clover is in bloom...

Made my turn onto Bluff road as usual...and Bang!! ROAD CLOSED!  I completely forgot about the major flood back in Oct of last year,,,the bridge had been washed out and was under re-construction so I tried a detour...and wouldn't you know BANG-

Ziegler road all washed out and NOT being repaired! At least not yet...

what a mess....

so third time's a charm right...but now I'm actually arriving an hour and 15 mins later than planned! Oh well..I'm in no hurry!

Right off the bat on the entry road I spotted this black fox squirrel, sporting a white face!

Once parked I went straight to the boardwalk.  There is an extensive boardwalk, part of which was closed for flood damage repairs! There's hiking trails too and so I decided I would take the boardwalk then the Weston Lake trail...altogether it would be about 5 miles of swamp hopping!  Right away a pileated wood pecker landed near me..

He busily dug away at this tree bark...check out the tongue...

this is the low side of the boardwalk it was under water for a few weeks after the flood...

I could hear barred owls calling and hoped I'd see owls as they are very common here but just hearing them would have to do for today...

The base of this bald cypress had so many flutes really a beauty!

some reminders of recent winds too..

Lots of little creeks pass through the park; the Congaree River passes alongside the park, and there are other trails to take you to it...but not this one..

other woodpeckers in the park are the Downy, the Hairy, Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers, Red Headed and the Red Bellied Woodpecker.

at first the trail off the boardwalk was muddy but soon it got better, A large tree on the ground me for scale...

The sunny areas were sporting wildflowers

On the drier areas the trees change to oaks, maples and pines.  I spooked what I thought was a wood thrush up off the forest floor and up on the branch I was able to see it was a Veery !

Been a few years since I saw a Veery!  Also on the drier areas was more fungi, to help break down the deadwood..

It was right around here I saw a Hooded Warbler with no photo as he showed himself and then quickly went deep into the leaf cover.  The trees are so tall its impossible to see the tops.  But on the lower branches A Northern Parula came down to take a look at me. 

this is the area I met a really nice couple from Winnipeg, Canada.  We compared notes of our travels they have seen more of the US than I.  They loved the swamp and said the trees looked so exotic to them.  I wish I had taken more time to ask about what is a must see in Winnipeg! They especially like the Cypress "knees".  

 

On the back side of the trail I ran into a young guy from California.  We stopped to compare our map points as I expected my turn back towards the boardwalk to be right around the corner he confirmed it was.  He asked me was I a  "National Park Hound"?  He said he is one and he figured I was too as I was wearing my Mt Rainier National Park vest and here we are in a National Park...so I replied "I guess I am come to think of it," then we began to compare our bucket lists! He lives closer to most of the places on my wish list..and his memory was way better as he didn't even have to think to recite his wish list. I just LOVE meeting people who love nature the way I do!! 

Back at the Visitors Center they had closed up and gone home! I have my passport stamp from this park already so I didn't need to go inside anyway...and back at the van I was starving ---so I dug out a few things to eat on my drive home...some nice seedless grapes, mixed nuts, and cold coffee from this morning! Yum.  Wilma figured us a route where all roads were present and I was home 1 hr and 15 mins later!

Time...well spent!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.