Picks and Pans – Lakes and Eccentricities in the Carolinas

Something that you may not know about South Carolina is that they have a large network of state parks that, although not always dramatically beautiful, will satisfy the needs of most campers with clean bathrooms, hot showers, water and electricity and, best of all, they usually cost between $13-16 per night! Santee State Park had one of these campgrounds and we even managed to find the bike trail for a morning bike ride.

Now you may not understand how a topiary garden could be exhilarating and maybe even a little life changing, but then you probably haven’t been to see Mr. Pearl Fryar’s garden in Bishopville, SC. We happened upon a mention of him in our “Eccentric America” book and, since we were close, decided to check it out. Mr. Fryar gave us a complete tour of the garden, shared with us some of his life philosophy  and generally made us feel right at home in his fantastic garden world. Mr. Fryar is able to do things with trees, shrubs and flowers that I thought were only possible in the pages of a Dr. Seuss book and his modular sculptures/fountains were incredible. Check out his website for more pictures and you can also find info there about the documentary that was recently made about him. Also check out http://www.narrowlarry.com/ for more tips and especially his map of visionary art.

It was here in Little Pee Dee that we nearly had our first experience with theft. As is common in campgrounds, we left our propane tank and stove out while we left the site for a couple of hours. When we drove back up later that night, everything was gone! Feeling slightly distraught, we checked with our nearest neighbors, who hadn’t seen anything, but suggested we visit the campground host for some help. Little did we know just how helpful he would be. Our host called the rangers who immediately drove down to the campground (even though it was after 9pm) and they all proceeded to check with every camper for the whereabouts of our portable kitchen. Miraculously, the rangers found our stuff!!! We still don’t know the who, how or why of the whole incident, but we sure are happy that we can still eat hot food when we want. Rescue Rangers, indeed!

Mr. Vollis Simpson has created a veritable farm of whirligigs, pinwheels and other colorful wind-powered metal sculptures that crop up all over his property along the road in Lucama. We were lucky enough to get to meet Mr. Simpson, but due to an unfortunate ear problem couldn’t talk to him much, as he had a hard time hearing us. We did, however, get a small glimpse of his personality from the whimsy of his work.

Although there was no actual mountain in Medoc Mountain State Park, there was an immaculately clean and well-appointed bath house along with well-maintained campsites. It didn’t have the most dramatic of landscapes, but we had a nice relaxing walk along the creekside trail before we settled in for dinner.

Mr. Brown has lived in Littleton all his life. His day-to-day work includes creating most of the floral casket arrangements for the deceased members of his community, assisting the undertaker at the funeral home and driving one of the two hearses in town. And although this would be more than enough to keep most people busy, Mr. Brown has also managed to make a whole other universe in the back room of his floral shop. He calls his vast collection of planes, ships and buildings (made out of wire, styrofoam, hot glue, paint and glitter) “The Future Past”. I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by the name, but the miniature world that Mr. Brown has fabricated seems to be only a small bit of the “Future Past” that exists in his mind.

Our fourth “visionary artist” in less than a week, Clyde Jones happily invited us to look around his Critter Crossing when we pulled up. He observed us from the seat of his riding mower as we explored the yard around his small Bynum home. Mr. Jones carves large wooden creatures with his chain saw and then paints them any number of bright colors before dousing them in glitter and anointing them with saddles, shoes and/or silk flower eyes. He said they all have their own personal sense of humor, but none could rival Mr. Jones in that department. I have really come to value the fact that each of the artists we visited this week have added in a significant way to the visual landscape of their community. They take what would otherwise be a pretty mundane rural town and transform it using their imagination and whatever supplies are at hand. It’s hard not to wonder what the rest of the world would be like if people used their creativity and independent spirit as inspiration rather than their neighbors’ yards.

You all know about this kind of place and why, after miles of seeing roadside billboards for it, you just can’t resist it’s draw….think Wall Drug. Sean and I were hoping to get in a game of mini-golf and maybe some arcade games, but were sorely disappointed when the arcade was closed for renovation, it was too late for mini-golf and the ice cream wasn’t worth the effort it took to lick it. And even though we got a picture of me atop an enormous sombrero, we don’t recommend a stop here unless you want to shop for trinkets, get your kids sugared up and see some large concrete wildlife.

I’ll be honest, Sean nearly had his first major breakdown of the trip while we were on our way to this campground. It had been a long day of driving and, as we followed our GPS’ instructions, we found ourselves on an unmarked backroad that forked off the Blue Ridge Parkway. As this dirt road wound farther and farther up the side of a mountain (with no places to turn around, mind you) Sean’s irritation escalated to the point that Trudy’s voice (we call our GPS Trudy) was akin to fingernails on a blackboard. Eventually (after over an hour more of driving and some help from our friend the internet) we found the campground way out in the boonies of the Cherokee reservation. It was nice enough, but so far out of the way that I wouldn’t recommend a visit.