Genealogy Research and Brake Job on the Vue

We left the campground this morning about 9:30 and drove down to the Columbia County Library in Evans. Mike dropped me off at the library and then drove down to the Goodyear Tire in Martinez to have the tires balanced and rotated.

I was really in for a surprise when I got to the Local History and Genealogy books in the library. There was just 1 row of shelves - quite a big difference from the library at the Edgefield Historical Society where there was so much information it was almost overwhelming.

I did find a little information on my Youngblood ancestors - actually it was not so much information as new leads for doing research. I did find a brochure for the Augusta Genealogical Society and I went their website and they have a huge library. But their library isn't open again until Saturday - I'll have to decide if I want to go there on Saturday.

Mike called me every so often to update me on the progress with the tires and it turned out

Trip to Edgefield, SC

We left the campground at 10:15 and headed east to Edgefield, South Carolina. We drove over the J. Strom Thurmond Dam and entered South Carolina.

From Edgefield, SC

We arrived at Edgefield a little after 11:00 and drove around taking a few photos including this one of Magnolia Dale built in 1843 which now houses the Edgefield County Historical Society headquarters and museum.

From Edgefield, SC

We stopped to have lunch at the Old Edgefield Grill that is in the 1906 house built by H. H. Sanders.

From Edgefield, SC

We were shown to our table by Marie and after looking over the menu and giving her our order, Mike walked around taking photos of the interior.

From Edgefield, SC

Mike ordered the Chef's Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich with fries ($9)

From Edgefield, SC

and I ordered the Grilled Salmon with cheese grits and pico de gallo ($9)

From Edgefield, SC

and we both had sweet tea. The desserts sounded great, but we declined. We both enjoyed

Change of plans - thanks to Tropical Depression Beryl

We had planned on doing some sightseeing this morning and then going to the Columbia County Library in Evans this afternoon to do some genealogy research. After checking the local weather radar this morning and seeing the rain headed our way from Tropical Depression Beryl, we decided to postpone our plans for today.

We had a band of rain in mid-morning and then a break in the weather. Mike called the post office in Appling and our mail we had forwarded to General Delivery was there. We took Tinker with us for the 12 mile drive down to Appling.

After picking up our mail, we took a different route back to Pointes West Resort and stopped at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ridge Road Campground. We stopped at the Entrance Station and talked with Dick one of the work campers. Dick gave us a map of the campground and gave us the site numbers of some of the best campsites. We drove around the campground checking out the different campsites.

After leaving the Ridge Road Campground, we went back to the motor home for a late lunch and to go through our mail.

We've had more rain off and on this afternoon and had a really heavy rain not too long after dinner. We've had a little wind with the storm, but nothing serious. Beryl is supposed to make a turn back to the east tonight and head back to the coast.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be partly cloudy and no rain - a good day for sightseeing and visiting a library.

Quiet Memorial Day weekend

Mike called North Carolina's State Parks on Friday and made a reservation at Rolling View Campground in Falls Lake State Recreation Area for 4 nights starting on June 13. Rolling View Campground is about 24 miles north of Raleigh where I want to do genealogy research at the North Carolina State Archives.

We also called Mike's cousin Jean in Wilmington, NC to her know that we would be visiting Wilmington on June 10 for a few days. Jean and her husband Joe invited us to stay with them and they are going to check to see if we can park the motor home on a vacant lot near their home.

Saturday morning we drove into Augusta to go shopping at Costco and we also got gas in the Vue there ($3.119 a gal). We had passed a Five Guys Burgers near Costco, so we stopped there for lunch after leaving Costco.

 We stopped at CSRA Camperland to get a new propane hose for our grill. They didn't have one in stock and we ordered a hose that will be in on Wednesday. Our last stop was at a Publix about 12 miles from the campground.

We stopped to take a couple of photos of the Lodge here where the office, store and laundry are located.

From Pointes West Army Resort

It's been hot here in the daytime (low 90's), so Sunday we didn't do much - just relaxed and

Kinards to Fort Gordon Recreation Area

I didn't post anything for yesterday - we just stayed at the campground and took it easy.

We got up this morning at 8:00 and by 10:00 had broken camp and were leaving Magnolia RV Park. We waited to hitch up the car until we got up to the closed gas station on SR-66. We headed north on I-26 to exit 56 and then west through Clinton on SR-72.

From Kinards, SC to Ft Gordon Rec Area

From Kinards, SC to Ft Gordon Rec Area

We were pleased to see that SR-72 was 4-lane once we got through Clinton.

We crossed Lake Greenwood and saw these houses on the built near the lake.

From Kinards, SC to Ft Gordon Rec Area

At Greenwood we took US-221 Bypass around Greenwood and then south on US-221 which became a 2-lane highway once we left Greenwood.

By now it was getting close to lunch time and we started to look for a place to stop. Just

Genealogy Research & Exploring Newberry, SC

We left the campground this morning around 10:30 to drive the 16 miles south to Newberry to do genealogy research in the library and court house.

We stopped at the Wells Japanese Garden to walk in the garden and take photos. The Wells Japanese Garden was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

From Sightseeing in Newberry, SC

After leaving the Japanese Garden, we drove around taking photos some of the homes and churches in Newberry. We were really impressed with the architectural details on the turn-of-the-century homes in Newberry.

From Sightseeing in Newberry, SC

We parked the car by the Memorial Park which is across the street from the Newberry Opera House. In the 1920's the Opera House was converted to a movie theater, but was

Sightseeing in Laurens, SC

This morning we drove the 18 miles north to Laurens to do some genealogy research at the library there. We stopped at the post office to mail a couple of bill payments and then drove over to the town square to take photos of the the Laurens County Courthouse.

From Sightseeing in Laurens, SC

We then drove down West Main Street and saw several large churches ahead of us.

From Sightseeing in Laurens, SC

As we continued further west on Main Street we passed by these wonderful historic homes.

From Sightseeing in Laurens, SC

We had to turn around several times to go back to take a photo of a house we had passed by when we were looking on the opposite of the street at another great house. It turned out