South Carolina - Old Sheldon Church

The South Carolina coast is simply one of my most favorite places. I've had the privilege of visiting Beaufort several times, and I find myself never wanting to leave the dreamy Spanish moss filled trees, the sprawling plantation homes, and the quaint down town. It's funny how some of the places that feel like home to me are not the places that house my belongings.

Our first visit to the area was in 2013. I had done some research, and knew before we left, that one of the places I wanted to visit was Old Sheldon Church. This visit, being our first, was a little busy but Josh and I still managed to sneak away the morning before we left, and drove to Yemassee. When we pulled up, I was in complete awe. In a break in the trees was a path marked by two brick pillars that lead directly to the church ruins. The light was early afternoon dreamy, and we were the only two people there. It was so surreal. To see Old Sheldon in pictures simply does not do justice to this beautiful and rather large piece of history. Josh and I took pictures of each other standing by the columns to show perspective. We walked the grounds for a little while, taking in the beautiful scenery and checking out the tombs and gravestones on the property and I felt like it was only appropriate to speak in whispers- like a library.

In the mid 1700's Old Sheldon was built, and the first service held there was in 1757. Just a little over twenty years later it was set on fire by British Troops during the Revolutionary War. It was rebuilt, using some existing walls in the 1820's, but burned down a second time in 1865 during the Civil War. The fire may have done damage, but it's been said that the inside was gutted for materials to help rebuild homes also set on fire at that time.

How amazing is it that it was set on fire not once, but twice! And the original walls are still standing! That's some incredible masonry work. I also find it amazing that even in ruins, it's a beautiful piece of history.

This place is a must-see in my opinion. I'd suggest going early to mid-morning before it gets to hot, and for the chance to enjoy it all to yourself. :)

Valentine's Day 2016

Ok. For Valentine's Day, Josh took me ghost town road tripping. We followed the advice from this list and went everywhere but LeHunt. http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kansas/kansas-ghost-towns/

Let me just say....

While we did see some really cool stuff, on a whole I was a tad disappointed. Most of these locations still had residents. Some still had quite a few residents. To me, when I hear the word ghost town I think completely empty; totally abandoned. I wasn't upset that we took the time to do this road trip, but if I'd known more, I may have just waited until we'd been up in the general area, anyway. There was an awful lot of dirt roads with not much to see in between.

Lost Springs

Like I was saying previously, this town was not really a "ghost town" although I'd seen it posted on some sites here and there. People still live there, but I don't believe they even had a gas station. I did capture a few photos, and got accompanied by a neighborhood dog for a moment. There was this amazing church there...

Burdick

Burdick was in between Lost Springs and Diamond Springs, and wasn't on the list, but we decided to check it out anyway. The schoolhouse there was AMAZING. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that these buildings aren't being restored.

Diamond Valley High School in Burdick

Diamond Valley High School

Close up of Diamond Valley High School

Diamond Springs

The beautiful photo on the link I shared above got me really excited for Diamond Springs. When we arrived, we saw this pretty awesome sign. This sign is probably the ONLY way we would have ever known there was an actually "town" there. The house with the rock walls was surrounded by cattle fencing, and hay bales which made getting a clear shot rather difficult. I was pretty bummed!

Elmdale

This was one of my favorite stops on this trip. Elmdale was established some time in the late 1800's and the ATSF (Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) Railroad built a line right through the town in 1871. The Great Flood of 1951 damaged homes, and I would go so far as to say it was the official cause of the decline of this town. The high school closed in 1967, and before we arrived there, I was expecting to find things in worse shape. It appears that the school gym may still serve a purpose for the people that live here, unlike the school in Burdick. The actual school building may have been converted into a residence. As seen in my photos, there is a sign that points to the school basement that declares it the community storm shelter. Like the school, the other empty buildings in this town seem to have stood the test of time, pretty well. There are still residents, in Elmdale. 

School Auditorium in Elmdale.

Community Storm Shelter Elmdale, KS

Elmdale City Hall 1936

United States Tires

Elmdale Bank 1898 

Santa Fe All the Way!

Elmdale Trading Post.

Bushong

The school in Bushong was a treat, and unexpected. Bushong was established in 1886, but at that time the town had a different name, Weeks. Weeks was birthed and thrived as well as it could, because of the railroad. The name change came after the success of the St. Louis Browns, in the 1886 World Series. Albert J Bushong was a catcher for the Browns. He was up to bat, when the runner on third stole home to clinch the World Series. There are a few limestone buildings that still appear to be in decent shape, and the town still has residents. 

In closing. seeing these historic towns was cool, but I still feel like I was a little misinformed. All of that aside, I loved the fact that my husband agreed to go road tripping with me for Valentine's Day. To me that was better than any chocolates, flowers, or jewelry.

Have any of you been to a ghost town? Where was it? Tell me about it!

Nomadic - Bucket List

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have parents that not only moved us around to a few different places, but understood the benefit of and appreciated traveling. I cannot say how thankful I am for that, today. From NASA Space Centers, to Hemingway's house, we had some really awesome experiences. My brother Adam and I were the youngest of 8 kids, and got to go on quite a few trips where it was just the two of us with our parents (sorry other 6 siblings). One thing I loved is that if the city we were in had a Ripley's Believe It or Not, we went! I think we'd been to at least four or so. I remember when we went to Key West, Florida and all I wanted to do was go on one of the ghost tours. I remember thinking Key West was amazing, and unlike any other place I'd been at that time. I also remember going to several different restaurants- my mom on a mission to find the perfect piece of key lime pie. We stayed on beautiful Marco Island and I remember marveling at the white sand and perfectly blue waters. We took that trip when I was in third grade, I believe. I came back with a shirt that had a smiley face with dreadlocks, and it said "Smile, Mon". :)

Anyway...

This year while recounting all the states I've been to, and with the thought of how cool it'd be to see all fifty states by the time I'm fifty, I realized that if I started now (at 28) and go to one state a year that I haven't been to, I CAN SEE ALL FIFTY BY THE TIME I'M FIFTY! It works perfectly! So, I have about three months to see a new state because I'll be 29 in June but you better bet it's going to happen!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

We stumbled upon these bodies, half submerged in dirt, and my first thought was, "What a way to decorate the fence line." We parked the truck, stepped out into the December air, and jumped the ditch to get closer to these modes of transportation that have seen better days. The click, click of my camera made me think of the thump, thump of heartbeats that may have belonged to two people sharing their first kiss in the front seat- the thump, thump of a driver's excitement, while leaving burnout marks on the street. It could have been someone's first car, last car; it could have been someone's give it all their blood, sweat, and tears car. 

The possibilities seem endless, when there's no one left to tell the tale. 

Mysteries exist on old dirt roads, some that don't even have a name anymore. When we travel them they are kept alive, though the dust covers any sign of our footsteps.

I love finding unexpected treasures as we drive the dirt roads surrounding our town, as we drift between Kansas and Oklahoma. The picture below was taken in Ashton, Kansas.

New Mexico Part Two - Ghost Towns

After visiting the cliff dwellings, we began our long drive home. The already long drive was made even longer by all the stops we made, but who's complaining?  Most of the time I was the only one getting out of the car and I would end up jogging at times to get the shots I wanted. Josh and the girls would trail me in the car. 

The first stop on our trip home was Clines Corner. What has been deemed New Mexico's largest gift shop really is something to see! It's huge! We all picked out some mementos, which was no easy task, and grabbed some snacks. Then on the road again! Next stop, Cuervo.

Cuervo, New Mexico was established in 1901. With the railroad, and later cattle business, the town did well until the interstate literally cut it in half. The roads were rough here, so I went on foot and I might have felt like tomb raider a little bit as I was looking for snakes among the brush.

I adore this little, yellow house.

Catholic Church in Cuervo. 

Interesting decorations in Cuervo.

A house in Cuervo.

Tucumcari - What an awesome place to drive through. One of my favorite things about the Route 66 trip is how these towns have embraced this part of their history. Well, the towns that are still actually "towns". Rolling through Tucumcari was heaven to me- I love the roadside motels and all the brightly colored signs. I wish we could have spent a whole day there but when you're doing it in a weekend, and live about half a days drive away, you don't have too many choices. ;) We may just have to plan a trip back. Someday I hope to be able to do the Route 66 trip, in it's entirety. Tucumcari was also formed in 1901, though it didn't get the name Tucumcari until 1908. I read that the name Tucumcari came from a nearby mountain, with the same name. The story behind how the mountain got it's name is not entirely clear.

My favorite image captured in Tucumcari.

In Glenrio, we met a German couple, who had been traveling the ENTIRE Route 66 road trip. It was the husband's second time. It was awesome visiting with them for a little bit and they gave us some ideas of places to stop and eat sometime. Glenrio is on the border of New Mexico and Texas and was founded a few years after the railroad was established in the area.

Of course we couldn't make this trip without stopping at the Cadillac Ranch, just outside of Amarillo. Let me tell you- these cars have so many layers of spray paint on them, they seem like they are solid rubber. We didn't have any spray paint, but some people handed us their can as they were leaving and we were arriving. We left our mark, which probably lasted MAYBE an hour before they were undoubtedly covered up. They were quite a few people there when we stopped, and it was a BRIGHT and HOT day.

My terrible attempt at a paisley design. I am not talented with the medium of spray paint....

Conway, Texas- Our next stop after we left Amarillo was Conway. The treasures we found there were totally unexpected. There was a Cadillac Ranch type display with VW BUGS! I loved it. I later found out that it's been dubbed Slug Bug Ranch.

Texola, Oklahoma- Also formed in the early 1900's. On the border of Texas and Oklahoma.

This was one of my FAVORITE trips, recently, and I can't wait to go back. I'm sure we will at some point, but there is A LOT out there to see.