A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
After posting my Requiem for a Flea Market Musicians Circle I got some additional news, and have some updates. Ivan got a call from Ralph saying that the flea market owners had tripled his monthly rental rate, and he wasn’t going to pay that. That meant that the musicians shed was once again available. After … Read More “An Update about the Pickens Flea Market” »
EDIT: For some reason Podbean is returning an error when I try to embed the episode. Here’s a direct link: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ukqt8-1ae3ced
This is a hard post to write. A 40+ year tradition has come to an end. The Pickens County Flea Market Musicians Circle is no more. I got this news as I was in a plane on the taxiway, just having arrived in Seattle. I’ve been dealing with it for the entire time we were … Read More “Requiem for a Flea Market Musicians Circle” »
(And I’m using “diva” in the best possible sense.) Last Wednesday I pulled up to the Pickens County Flea Market to find a large sprinter van parked in my usual spot. I was a bit perturbed, but pulled around to the other side of the shed and started setting up my gear for the morning’s … Read More “The Diva at the Pickens Flea Market” »
It’s one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it communities. There are signs for Jalapa on I-26, but unless you know where it is you’ll drive right through and never know you’ve been there. I’ve known about Jalapa for most of my life. My family has a long history both in Newberry and in Laurens, so we’ve passed through … Read More “Seeking Jalapa” »
I love grits. I like them in just about any form. And it’s not just the flavor and Southern breakfast tradition, it’s how versatile they are. Grits is a blank slate. (And “grits is” is proper grammar.) In the past I’ve written about my Zen of Grits™, but my philosophy has changed just a bit … Read More “Breakfast of Champions – A Personal Evolution in Grits” »
NOTE: This is a transcript from the Carolina Ghost Towns Podcast episode “How to Find a Ghost Town”. I figured this would be the best way to share the links I mentioned in the episode. So, how does one go about finding a ghost town? I get this question quite a bit, so I thought … Read More “How to Find a Ghost Town” »