Edisto Mystery Tree

Edisto Mystery Tree, Edisto, S.C.

I've featured the Edisto Mystery Tree before but it's hard to resist pulling over for a shot of the colorful curiosity. My friend Rebecca pointed out that there wasn't really a tree there at all but you can see some driftwood limbs beneath the hanging decorations. That appears to be a pink volkswagon on the top and the sign reads "Live Slow Die Old". Not bad advice. As always I appreciate people who contribute to my joy in the world.

SCIway has a map to the location in case you are heading that way. 

Atlasobscura: Almost more of a natural coatrack than a tree, the Edisto Mystery Tree has nonetheless become a festive magnet for zany decorations in a tradition that has no clear origin.
The tree stands a stone’s throw away from where Highway 174 intersects with Botany Bay Road. It’s nothing more than a scraggly little thing, but for generations it’s been decorated by locals and vacationers all throughout the year. During the peak summer months, it is commonplace to see beach chairs, sand pails, flip flops, Independence Day decorations, and a host of other items hanging from the tree. Like the seasons, the tree changes along with them. While the tree is ever-changing, the real mystery behind the tree is that nobody knows just who started the whole thing to begin with. In fact at one point some rebellious youths uprooted the tree and hauled it away, but lo and behold, some mysterious benefactor planted another similar tree in its place. Whether it was the same person who planted the original tree and started the decorative tradition or just a local who couldn't stand to see the festive plant disappear, it appears that the Edisto Mystery Tree is not going away any time soon.

 

Bell Tower

Bull St., Charleston, S.C.

This is the view from Bull St. The bell tower looks like a vintage part of old Charleston but it was built in 2004 and presented to the College of Charleston by a Fraternity. Fooled ya.

Eddie Sweat

Eddie Sweat tomb, Holly Hill, S.C.

I've been letting the Orangeburg Times and Democrat 100 Objects in 100 Days series lead me on some quirky road trip destinations. I recently roamed around a rural cemetery in Holly Hill, trying to find the tomb of Eddie Sweat. According to their photo the tomb was marked by a plastic horse noting that Eddie Sweat was groom for thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat and that is how I finally spotted it.

Here is a web site with great period photos and video.

Eddie Sweat got his first glimpses of thoroughbred racehorses in his hometown of Holly Hill, S.C., where he was born in 1938. There were horse farms nearby and Sweat grew up mesmerized by the grace and beauty of the swift horses he saw bounding across pastures and honing their speed over training tracks. As a teenager he picked up work where he could, and finally landed a good job digging post holes and mending fences at Laurin’s thoroughbred training farm in Holly Hill. Laurin noticed the hard-working teenager, and soon offered Sweat a chance to come inside the fences of the racing game to work with the horses. The trainer noticed the lad had a natural feel for the high-strung and sensitive animals – the “touch” top trainers are always seeking.
When Laurin’s stable headed north to New York, Sweat went with it, and within a few years Sweat was “rubbing” some of the top horses in America, including the champion filly Quill, and Belmont Stakes winner Amberoid. When Laurin took on the Meadow Stable string in 1971, Sweat was assigned to the most talented colts, including 1972 Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge, and then the 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Later, when Laurin retired, Sweat went to work with Laurin’s son, Roger Laurin, also a top conditioner on the New York circuit. There Sweat rubbed more fine horses, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile sensation Chief’s Crown.

Swamp Color

Audubon Swamp Garden, Charleston, S.C.

There is always something blooming in the swamp. I hit the Audubon Swamp walk this morning, circled the lake and was heading into the woods when the skies opened and it started to pour. My thought is always, "protect the camera, protect the camera!" It has been a rolling thunder and spotty storm day but at least I got outside and stretched my legs.

Aren't these Little Guy Teardrop Campers the cutest things?! 
End your week with a smith: Be Happy
I've been watching the old Scottish series Monarch of the Glen. It ran from 2000 to 2005 so I have some fun ahead. There is such trash on regular tv it is nice to find a show to enjoy.
Cure a cold with a hot, roasted onion eaten at bedtime according to Dr. Chase's Receipt Book.

Cannon Park

Cannon Park, Charleston, S.C.

We have had dramatic sky and cloud patterns lately. I was ready to head out on my morning walk when the skies opened and poured rain which lasted until midday foiling that plan. Instead I cleaned out a closet, gathered a pile of items that hadn't been used recently and took them to Consign Charleston. I had dropped off some items a couple of years ago when I moved and honestly forgot about them. I admitted to being an inactive customer when they signed me in and they announced that I had a nice balance of cash that they owed me. Haha! Things looked brighter already.

I arrived in Charleston long after the old museum had burned down and all that was left were these striking white pillars that have become a landmark. I admit I get jealous when I hear folks who grew up in Charleston talking about exploring the museum. They seem to have such fond childhood memories of the place. As is often the case I learned some new things as I searched for information to go with my photo. Thanks Wikipedia!

Cannon Park: The property on which the park is located was given to the City of Charleston in the early 1800s for a public park. The land had previously been a sawmill pond. In anticipation of a Confederate reunion, Charleston's City Council decided to spend $30,000 to build a convention hall. Fifteen plans were submitted for the new facility, and those of Charlotte, North Carolina architect Frank Pierce Milburn were selected. The hall, with seating for 7000, was completed and handed over to the City Council on April 27, 1899. After the Confederate reunion, the hall was infrequently used, and never to capacity. In October 1901, the City Parks Commission leased the auditorium to William P. Dowling, Jr. for a term of three years for use as a theater. City Council, in December 1904, chose to use the building as a temporary location for the City Hospital. In January 1907, City Council agreed to lease the hall to the College of Charleston to house its museum, thereafter known as the Charleston Museum, for a nominal rent. In October 1981, a fire destroyed the hall about one year after the museum moved to Meeting Street, leaving only its four grand columns.

Have a good weekend, kids! I just walked down to Earthfare and enjoyed their buffet for dinner so I did get my walk in after all. 

Market St.

Meeting & Beaufain St., Charleston, S.C.

Check out the neato new web site welcoming visitors to the market area. This view is of the entrance. You can walk right in and continue on through to East Bay St. through the different market buildings. The upstairs in this building is actually the Confederate Museum. I have walked by for years but recently finally paid my $5 and went through and was happily surprised. Do it. They have some very cool stuff.

Unfortunately it is a Friday evening after a really tough week and the two mojitos I earned have made me forget how to spell and I need to move along. Have a good weekend kids! I know I've earned it.

The boys are back in town

College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.

To be more accurate, the girls are back in town but I happened to catch a shot of the gentlemen. Considering the ratio of males to females I am surprised the word doesn't get out and attract more men.

Student Life

College of Charleston has a total undergraduate enrollment of 10,506, with a gender distribution of 37.5 percent male students and 62.5 percent female students.

I have had to try to control comments again folks, sorry about that. For awhile I took off most controls but I was loaded up with spam comments to handle and I simply don't have time to control them all. I hate the little word to enter as much as everyone else but can't think of another way to take care of it. Feel free to join me on Facebook if you prefer.

Thanks from One80Place

Staff at One80place with donated linen goods, Charleston, S.C.

A month or so ago I shared a request from Brad at Crisis Ministries. They were ready to move into their new and expanded quarters and hoped for new sheets for the twin beds in the shelter. I passed the request on to my online friends and the response was incredible.  Brad sent this photo with some of the linen loot they received. Thank you all so much!

Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 5:03 PM
To: Perry Joan
Subject: Linen Drive Thank You

Joan,

I’m sorry for just now getting this to you.  Our staff took a few photos to thank everyone for helping us with our linen drive.  We ended up with an overwhelming response and couldn’t have done this without your support.

Thank you so much for getting this out to your contacts.

Crisis Ministries is now

One80 Place!

Brad Cashman

Director of Community Engagement

P.O. Box 20038

Charleston, SC 29413

www.One80place.org

George St. bike pump

George St., Charleston, S.C.

Caught downtown and need a little air in your tires? Stop by the catchy window free air pump on George St. As a bonus I'll toss in a link to the map of Charleston Bike racks.

The best of Gothic Ice Houses

Gothic Ice House, Botany Bay Plantation, Edisto, S.C.

There aren't many buildings left on the Botany Bay Plantation site but how adorable is this one left standing? This was the old ice house.

It is estimated that the Ice House was built in the 1840s. There was a garden that surrounded the ice and smoke houses which was designed by an Asian Botanist named Oqui who John Townsend brought from Washington, DC to create his garden. It is believed that the white poppies surrounding the building today are remnants of the once elaborate garden. The Smoke House is the only other extant building from the plantation and it is a tabby Greek Revival building.The Ice House is a small building with distinctive Gothic Revival trim, a steeply pitched dormer and Gothic arched shuttered windows.

The other little building is the tabby gardener's shed. I found a sweet water color of the shed found here by Gary Nemcosky.

There was a garden that surrounded the ice and smoke houses which was designed by an Asian Botanist named Oqui who John Townsend brought from Washington, DC to create his garden. It is believed that the white poppies surrounding the building today are remnants of the once elaborate garden. The Smoke House is the only other extant building from the plantation and it is a tabby Greek Revival building.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Trinity Episcopal, Edisto

Trinity Episcopal Church, Edisto Island, S.C

We have some of the most beautiful country churches in South Carolina and I love being a passenger in a car when the driver says, "let me know if you want me to pull over for a picture". You can imagine we had some screeching brakes and quick turn-arounds driving to Edisto Beach yesterday.

I knew this would be today's Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance. This is the Trinity Episcopal Church on Edisto Island.

I hope everyone is having a good long Labor Day weekend. Thanks to the volunteers staffing the desks at the hospital so I can enjoy my day off. Picture me blowing kisses to you all!

Seashell decorations

Seashell decorations at Botany Beach, Edisto, S.C.

Since you are asked not to take seashells from Botany Bay beach, people have been decorating with them for years. They are laid in designs in the sand, hanging from palmetto tree bark and hanging from the tips of smooth driftwood like holiday ornaments. Between the dangling shells, swooping flocks of pelicans and driftwood branches, there is something about it that delights me so much I don't know why I leave it so long between visits.

There are no t-shirt or ice cream vendors, no restaurants or bathroom facilities so this incredible beach is usually a peaceful treat. We took a snack and sat on giant driftwood logs for our picnic, counted off the loggerhead turtle nests and had a wonderful time before heading on to Edisto Beach for lunch. Day one of my three day weekend was a grand success. I hope yours was as well!

Window boxes on State St.

State St., Charleston, S.C.

Let's hear it for three day weekends! Hurrah!

I found a reddit.com question asking "What is the most beautiful piece of music?" and have been reading the suggestions, clicking on the recording and enjoying music I have never heard before. What a treat! I want to listen to them all and download a bunch. That could keep me occupied for awhile since there are over 7,000 comments.

I admit to being a reddit lurker. The only time I participated was when a young pregnant gal described what sounded like a seizure and was wondering what everyone on the internet thought she should do about it. I checked back every five minutes until she reported back to let me know that she was in the Emergency Room. Whew.

Have a good weekend, kids!

Charleston Gates

Charleston Gates, Charleston, S.C.

Think you like this picture? Hold on to your horses and check out Vanessa K's photographs of the gates of St. Michael's Episcopal church. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Here is something funny. I knew there was a contest with the "X Marks the Spot"  theme offering the chance to wine free Charleston Wine & Food Festival tickets. Free wine, free food you say? Sign me up!  I played with these dueling okras at our hospital Farmer's Market booth yesterday. Yep. You guessed it - as far as I can tell the contest may have ended with the big party at the powerhouse the other night - I can't tell for sure. Tickets are now for sale.#‎CHSWFX

House guests

Charleston, S.C.

Poor thing. He is in here somewhere but I don't know where. I tried to catch him in a dishtowel to help him escape but he didn't understand my intentions.

Move the darn car out of my picture

Pink House, Chalmers St., Charleston, S.C.

Okay, I'll say it out loud - we all want to take pictures of the little pink house on Chalmers St. and we want YOU to quit parking your car in front of it. The last thing I'd like Mayor Riley to rule on before and if he leaves the Mayor's office after his record breaking forty year term would be to put up a "No Parking" sign in front of the quaint cottage. I wouldn't even mind a sign restricting parking to vintage or cute car parking that would be an asset to a photo.

The distinctive little pink building at 17 Chalmers Street is said to be the oldest standing tavern building in the South. Built within the walled city of Charles Towne in the mid 1690s by John Breton, this oldest stone house in the city was constructed of 'Bermuda stone'. The West Indian coral stone had a natural pink cast, so the building was known as the Pink House from the beginning. Tradition holds that the Bermuda stone was brought in ships as ballast, as the cobblestones on Chalmers Street were, but it is more likely that it was cut in Bermuda and imported as a building material. The stone is soft enough to be cut into blocks and then when exposed to weather, it gradually hardens and becomes stronger. Its elasticity was proved in the great earthquake on 1886 when nearby brick structures suffered damage. The tiled roof is original terra cotta tile of an ancient vintage. The curved shape of the tiles was said to be formed over the workmen's thighs. The Pink House also was one of the few buildings in Charleston to survive 1989's Hurricane Hugo virutally unscathed.

In the building's early days, as a 'groggerie' and coffee house for sailors visiting the port from all over the world, this area was a red light district called Mulatto Alley and the street was lined with many small houses, most of which were bordellos. The Pink House was not a fashionable bistro for Charleston gentry, but rather a simple tavern, where the seamen found their 'three Ws'......whiskey, wenches, and wittles. Around 1800 the area was cleaned up after many citizens petitioned the City Council. Thomas Elfe, the famous furniture maker, wrote a letter complaining about the noisy parties at night.

Raising Cane

Richard Neapolitan with his hand carved cane, Charleston, S.C.

There is nothing I love more than a sturdy walking stick on a hike. I got so close to my $3 bamboo poles after climbing into Machu Picchu that I wanted to bring them home on the plane and I got sentimental tucking them behind a bush waiting for the next sucker climber. 

Lately I have admired people who have turned their cane into a fashion accessory. I've spotted painted, carved and fancy tipped canes but this one takes the cake. I was at a friend's wedding when I noticed  Richard Neapolitan's cane with his own portrait hand carved into it.The cane was carved by his brother's friend, a retired Army Officer in Murphy, NC.

I did have to ask Richard to explain the inscription. Richard is a long term volunteer at Roper Hospital and met his wife Deb who was an employee there. See - you can volunteer and meet people! The initials stand for "Your Secret Admirer" and "My Only Girl".

Altogether now, "Awwwwww!" That is almost too sweet.

Thanks for letting me share, Richard!

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - St. Philip's Church

St. Philip's Church, Charleston, S.C.

By the look of the long line of parked cars, everyone but me was in church this morning. Well done kids!

I used to feature a picture of a church almost every Sunday. You can find the series under the: Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance tag. The history of St. Philip's Church goes back to the 1680's and you can even listen to a recording of the church bells.

Here is your bonus joke:

A Fine Sermon: A man went to church one day and afterward he stopped to shake the preacher's hand. He said, "Preacher, I'll tell you, that was a damned fine sermon. Damned good!"

The preacher said, "Thank you sir, but I'd rather you didn't use profanity."

The man said, "I was so damned impressed with that sermon I put five thousand dollars in the offering plate!"

The preacher said, "No sh*t!" 

How hot is it?

Old Country Store, Hwy 176, S.C.

How hot is it?

It's so hot in South Carolina that...

* A seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
* When the temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
* It's so hot outside it will make you return things you never stole.
* It's hotter than a steel playground at noon.
* You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
* The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
* Hot water now comes out of both taps.
* You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
* You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• It's so hot that it makes me want to take off my skin and sit in my bones.
• It's so hot the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
• It's so hot I saw two trees fighting over a dog.
* It is so hot even the sea breeze feels like a hair dryer...
• It was so hot today I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.
• It's hotter than a June bride in a feather bed.
• It's so hot that the trees are creeping around looking for shade.
• It's stupid hot!
• It is hot enough to cure tobacco.
• It's hotter than the devil's underwear.
• It's another one of those aluminum foil sweater days.
* Hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night.
• It's hotter than a ginger mill in Hades.
* It's so hot you could spit fire. But, please don't.

Compilation of previous hot summer posts plus a few facebook additions. These are always fun. Stay cool kids.

On the road - Washington, D.C.

Korean War Memorial, Washington, D.C.

My welcome home wake up call is 105 degree heat index expected for today. I anticipate indoor activities and hope my ancient air conditioner hangs in there.

I am going to post one more travel blog before hitting the lowcountry scenes again. I finally had a chance to visit the Korean War Veteran's Memorial in Washington, DC on Thursday evening. I'd seen pictures of this scene and it is even more impressive in real life. Time for me to hit the books and learn more about the actual war.

Designed by Frank Gaylord and dedicated on July 27, 1995 by American President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young Sam, this memorial depicts 19 American soldiers making their way through the rough terrain of Korea.

Almost surreal in appearance, especially in the shadows of dusk, the lifelike statues stand about 7 feet tall (2m) and represent various branches of the armed forces including 14 Army personnel, 3 Marines, 1 member of the Navy, and 1 member of the Air Force. These detailed sculptures also represent an ethnic cross section of the American melting pot. Visitors will count 14 Caucasians, 3 African-Americas, 2 Hispanics, 1 Oriental, and 1 Native American soldier.

From certain angles, it's nearly impossible to see all 19 statues as 3 of them are in the trees, giving the appearance of troops emerging from Korea's vast wooded areas. Strategically planted juniper bushes represent the country's sometimes unforgiving terrain. The statues, made of stainless steel, wear authentic Korean War-era gear and the sculptor has given them motion by designing them to appear as if they're walking into the wind. They also seem to be talking with one another as they march into battle.