Our "rocky" weekend

Our weekend trip to Aiken State Park didn’t happen, but it’s still on our to-do list.  Weekends were shifted due to kids’ activities and we haven’t scheduled a makeup yet.  This past weekend we went to Poinsett State Park for a 3-day getaway.  Saturday morning we left home and drove for an hour to get there.  Poinsett SP is nicknamed “The Mountains of the Midlands” and we fully agree!  We were just so surprised to see the rolling hills and twisty, curvy steep “mountain” roads.  (Well, steep to us flatlanders!)  The park opened in 1934 and was built by the CCC.  Thank you to all of the workers – it’s gorgeous!  There is a 10 acre mill pond and ruins of a pre-Revolutionary mill. 

Ranger Station/Office



Across the mill pond

When we got to the park, we went to the office/Ranger station to get the keys to the cabin we’d rented.  The building was open and it was nice to sit in the air conditioned lobby to wait for the Ranger to return.  We waited.  And waited.  Walked around, read the scrapbook, examined all of the art on the walls. Read a few magazines. And waited.  People came and went that wanted to rent a rowboat/kayak/pedal boat/paddleboard.  Bill finally called the office phone number and found out that the Ranger hours are 11:00-12:00 and 4:00-5:00!  Since we had some a lot of time to kill, we decided to walk the 1.7 mile “loop” around the mill pond, called the Coquina trail. 

Mill ruins

Note: this is not a “walk”… this is a “hike”!  I’d rate this as moderate to tough.  We started out pleasantly enough, leisurely walking along the levee until we hit the woodline.  Then we started going up.  And up and up and up!  This was a case of “Are we THERE yet?”  Us 2 older folks kept stopping for water and breathers, um, photography breaks.  After climbing forever, we finally reached the apex and were relieved to finally start going downhill again.  Yep it’s mountainous all right. 

the only picture the girls let me take!

 We made it back to the Ranger station at 3:30 or so and yippee!  Ranger Russ, a cheerful guy, was there to help us check in.  He gave us the key to cabin 4 and off we went.  The cabin loop contains 4 cabins, two that sleep 2 and two that sleep 5.  The common area has a horseshoe area, picnic tables and a fire pit. 
Cabin 4 was built by the CCC ... it’s a cute little place. 

You enter through the furnished kitchen.  There are place settings for 6, pots and pans, utensils, stove, fridge, microwave, and coffee pot. 

Then you enter the main room, where you see a lovely fireplace, sofa, oversized chairs with ottomans, a large dining table, and Murphy bed (double). 

The bedroom has a twin bunk over a double bed (although the room is super tiny), and there is a full bath. 

The back screened porch has rockers and a picnic table, and in front of the house is a swing, chairs, and a grill.

The back screened porch has rockers and a picnic table, and in front of the house is a swing, chairs, and a grill.  They have wifi but it is extremely slow, and we didn’t have phone reception anyway.  But they did provide us with board games! 
It was great – everyone just did their own thing for a couple of hours. 

A toast to the weekend.  Green Mason jars!

Connect Four

I loved the swing out front and was able to read a book for quite a while.  Just peaceful calm, with no noise at all other than nature. 

We cooked dinner, played some games, and went to bed.  Ahhhhh.  At $99 for weekends and $91 for weeknights, it’s not bad at all. 

Then.  The girls woke us up at 0100 – we were on the Murphy bed – they said there were bedbugs in the bedroom!  EEK!  Poor Brandi got bitten several times.  They removed all of their belongings from the bedroom and closed the door.  They pushed the ottomans up to the chairs and made themselves a little bed (the setup was as wide as a twin bed, but a little shorter.) 

Well, after our picnic breakfast, Bill and the girls headed down to talk to Ranger Russ about the issue while I packed up the cabin.  Half an hour later, they returned with another key.  Cabin 5?  There is a fifth cabin?  Bill said that it was not reserved and that Ranger Russ said that bedbugs “happen once in a while” and that we would be “pleasantly surprised” by our “much larger upgrade.”  Okay…. Let’s go.  The cabin loop is a mile from the ranger station and swimming area – but cabin 5 is located very close to the ranger station – but down a long gravel, twisty uphill driveway.  You can’t see anything but woods from cabin 5!  Okay we can do this.  It looked a little small as we drove up.

There’s a fire pit with chairs and a hammock stand, and on the rear porch we can see a swing. 

This is a handicapped accessible cabin with ramps to both doors – immediately, I figured the bathroom would be larger.  We entered what I guess is the “back” door and the first room has a twin over double with a chair/ottoman. 

Entering the cabin via the "back" door.

the other side of the bedroom

Exit that room and there’s a nook with twin bunks and the very large bathroom. 

Another bedroom has a queen bed.

 And then there’s the main room.  A very large table, open kitchen, and the living room with a tv!  It only picks up 3 channels but that’s okay with us. 

From both sides of main room

The “front” door on the rear of the cabin leads out to a screened porch.  The hammock is stored here, ready to be hooked up to the stand. 

It's narrow but long!

Ranger Russ, you were right.  We were pleasantly surprised at the upgraded cabin.  I looked up Cabin 5’s cost online (the wifi was excellent) and was really surprised to see that it’s only $106 for weeknights and $129 on Fridays and Saturdays.  We’re definitely coming back!  Probably going to find a fall weekend so we can take one of the longer hikes.  And there’s no bedbugs, LOL.  We had a nice swim in the pond – there were only 2 other families there, so we had plenty of space to relax and cool off.

A few weeks ago on facebook, I started seeing posts about painted rocks.  One side of the rock has something painted on it, and the rear is hashtagged with the hometown/location of the person who painted it.  For example, #StGeorgeRocks!, #GooseCreekRocks! Etc.  You just snap a picture of it and post it to facebook with that hashtag.  Then you keep it if you want or put it back, or rehide it somewhere else.   I saw one post that a lady and her kids found a #StGeorgeRocks! rock outside of the St. George Pizza Hut and she was going to take it with her to Florida and rehide it there. 

Well, I wanted to join in on the fun!  I’ve been gathering some small rocks and I brought them with us as well as some paint and brushes and Sharpies (since it was supposed to rain all weekend.)  After our swim, the girls jumped right into it!  They had a ball painting their rocks!  We even found two that said #SumterRocks! right there at Poinsett State Park. We left one where it was and Bridget rehid the second one. 

Green/black painted rock, just sitting in the old mill stone.

They aren’t really hidden, just placed somewhere in public, like on a log, a railing, a windowsill, next to a sign – Bridget stuck the one she found on an old railroad tie along a path. 

I painted the watermelon and alien as well as the first square of a “quilt”.  On the back I wrote, “paint a square and rehide”.   Brandi painted a poptart and a pizza – which she wants to hide at Folly beach somewhere and the next pizza restaurant she goes to, respectively.  Bridget painted a starry night, a mountain scene, and a “flying kitty rainbow poptart” scene. 

She doesn’t know exactly where she will hide hers yet, but she said she may wait until next week when her mother takes the family to Virginia and hide them somewhere there.  Or maybe at Folly Beach like Brandi.

Bye Cabin 5!  Everyone's waving!

After we checked out of our awesome Cabin 5 on Monday, we drove over to Sumter and visited the Swan Lake Iris Gardens for a few hours.  What a gorgeous place!  There were a few flowers in bloom but I want to go back in the spring when all of the thousands of irises are in bloom!

 

Nope, I got a picture of them the day before. No pictures!

Pedestrian crosswalk

Shortly after we got to the gardens, Bridget found a pretty painted stone that said “faith” and #SumterRocks!

The rest of us searched and searched.  We saw other kids with rocks they’d found, too.  Poor Brandi just couldn’t find one.  She was determined, though.  As we were leaving, Bill went ahead of us to start the car while the girls and I went to the visitor’s center.  Lo and behold, sitting there in an empty parking spot, was a rock for Brandi! This one had a beach scene on the front but no hashtag on the back.  She gets to hashtag it herself and hide it.  She was a happy girl.  J But I forgot to get a picture of it.

I picked up some brochures on the area and one day we’ll drive the Civil War loop, tracing the paths of the marches and visiting the battlefield locations (that are on public lands and visitable.)  One day we’ll go to Camden to the Revolutionary War battlefield.   It turned out to be a good weekend and even though our destination was only an hour away, it felt like a mini vacation.  We’ve got lots of state parks and small towns to visit.