August 14, 2015, Greenville, SC

This day we spent picking up sticks and cutting out trumpet vines from Stephen's back yard.  He has 11 tall oaks on his property and numerous bushes along the fences.  We spent a total of four hours each cleaning up and it really doesn't look like much got cleaned except the pile at the back was bigger.

After this we went into Greenville to have dinner with Henry's cousin Wes.  Along the way I saw this building:

  The name of the place was Saskatoon which features wild game meats.  It was interesting to say the least.  One feature for the evening was alligator and kangaroo meat, which none of us tried.  It's open only for dinner.  The waitress asked each of our name as she took our order, something most restaurants do not do.  She called us each by name when asking if we need drink refills or whatever.  That is a nice touch.

Henry drinking coffee, Wes, Stephen and Sara. 

The menu.

 We ordered a sample appetizer plate with buffalo meat and a spinach pesto on chips.

I had the Grill special which included roasted quail, lamb and teriyaki steak.  The quail was really, really small and I thought of the Israelites when they begged God for meat in the wilderness.  Somehow, I don't think it was roasted.  

Sara had a sirloin steak.

Henry had buffalo meat and mashed potatoes. 

Wes also had the NY sirloin steak with cheese dinner.  It was really too much to eat.  He took some home. 

Stephen had a stag chops from New Zealand. 

There were many big game animal heads in the lobby.  If in Greenville, check it out.  http://www.saskatoonrestaurant.com

August 13, 2015, Cowpens and Kings Mountain Battlefields

 First we visited the Quilting Sew Easy shop in Gaffney, SC.
for two patterns and a license plate.  Beautiful shop, big selection.    http://www.quiltingseweasy.com

Next stop was the Cowpens Battlefield site.  http://www.nps.gov/cowp/index.htm
A major battle was fought here during the Revolutionary War. 

 

We walked around the mile-long battlefield site and tried to stand like militia men.  You could get the wooden rifle from the gift shop. 

I photograph most of the info stations so I can read them later and have a reference point. 

            We ate lunch at Arby's with coupons.  Yummy.

Next stop was the Kings Mountain battlefield site.  Also another turning point in the war for independence.  The local militia played a very important part in defeating the much larger British army.  http://www.nps.gov/kimo/index.htm

Commander Ferguson' rifle, from the British side.  He's buried on King's Mountain. 

August 12, 2015, Spartanburg, Greenville, SC

This is a restaurant painted like a train. 

This plaque is at the old train depot in Spartansburg, which is now a Railroad Museum. 

I learned to type on a similar manual typewriter way back in 1968. These are some of the artifacts in this small museum. 

This train had maybe 70 carloads of ethanol each weighing about 60,000 pounds or so, if I read the markings correctly. 

In the rebuilt caboose at this Museum, was a model train set up.  Below is looking out the back door toward the main building.   This place is staffed by volunteers. 

We went to the Longarm Network Shop in Greenville, SC, and got a RxR license plate and pattern.  This shop sells mainly longarm quilting machines.  This swan quilt was done completely on the longarm and is just gorgeous.
http://thelongarmnetwork.com

Stephen took us to The Lazy Goat restaurant in downtown Greenville.
 http://thelazygoat.com     It's connected to the Hyatt Hotel in the refurbished warehouse section of the city.  The Reedy River runs through it and was at one time heavily polluted, but is cleaner than it was, although the water is still brown.  The ducks seemed to find something to eat, though. 

Just the right amount of dressing on this scrumpteous salad. 

The youngest and oldest of the Ward clan. 

A statue of baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson. 

This Pepsi display was inside the Upcountry History Museum.  The TV showed a series of commercials which were really funny sometimes. 

Textiles industry was a big part in Greenville's history.  Sadly most textiles  are now made overseas, so the city has had to renovate/reinvent the downtown area.   

We ate lunch at Zamby's, a fast-food place with good food. 

This cemetery had beautiful flowers on the graves. 

I loved this picture at the Gideon Baptist Church in Easley, SC, where we went for Wednesday evening service.

This train was keeping pace with us on our drive to McDonald's after church. 

That's my blue arm there, enjoying a dessert at McDonald's with some of the people from Gideon BC.