Carl Sandburg Home

Greenville County Schools are on Spring Break this week. Cal's school follows the district calendar, so he is off as well. Since most people head to the zoo, local parks, Children's Museum, and other local attractions for the break, I thought we would get out of town for the day and go hiking. A friend of mine told me about the Carl Sandburg Home about a year ago. She mentioned there are goats located behind the house that you can go to see and pet. I was thinking it was a small area with a few goats wandering around and then you head into Flat Rock to enjoy a nice lunch. I was surprised to learn that the home is part of the National Park Service as a National Historic Site.

You are able to tour the home for $5/adult over age 15 and free for 15 and under. There are over 5 miles of hiking trails located on site. The goats and hiking are what Cal and I planned for, so I opted not to take the 30 minute tour with a 2 year old, but instead begin by hiking about 1/2 mile to the goat barn located behind the main house. The barn is named Connemara and used to be a goat dairy farm run by Mrs. Sandburg, where milk was distributed to local dairies and sold in stores. Now the park service raises the goats. On our visit, we learned that 6 of the females are pregnant, with one of kids due this Thursday. The goats were out in the field, so we headed out there to get a closer look at them. Callen was a little nervous about going up to the goats at first, but after watching several other kids petting and running around with the goats, he worked up the courage to pet two of them. He was so pleased with himself and was very proud to tell people he petted 2 goats!!

Goats with the barn in the distance

Finally worked up the courage to pet one!

After leaving the goat barn, we headed out on the hiking trails. The Orchard Trail began across the road from the barn, so we hiked down that over to the Spring Trail. We caught the Memminger Trail Loop and followed it to the viewing spot on a bridge. Cal and I stopped there for a small lunch and to allow Cal to rest his legs. With an expanding mid section, I am not able to carry him in the backpack as easily, so he was forced to hike the entire time! And when I say Cal hiked, I really mean he ran most of the way but had to stop about every 50 feet to pick up sticks, throw rocks, and climb on tree stumps!!! We continued on the Memminger Trail until it hooked into the Front Lake Trail that took us back to the parking area. The trails we chose were very easy and flat, but long enough to wear out the legs of a 2 year old! 

Playing with his hiking stick

Running down the trail

Jumping off rocks

Climbing on bridges

View of Front Lake through the trees

Cal and I had a great day. It took us no more than 45 minutes to get up there (the house is located right behind the Flat Rock Playhouse and about 2-2.5 miles past Sky Top Orchard). This is definitely somewhere I would go back (maybe even in the next 2 weeks to see the baby goats) on my own and with Doug for a family hike. There were several other trails that were a little more strenuous than the ones we opted to take, so I would like to try those out with Doug. For a Monday morning, there were quite a few people visiting the area, but it was nice to be away from big crowds of kids enjoying Spring Break! I like the peacefulness and ability to have one on one time with Cal without distractions from kids running all around us.

IPRA Rodeo

 

Several weeks ago we went to the IPRA Rodeo held at the T. Ed Garrison Arena in Pendleton. Doug had two coworkers visiting from France. One of the girls is here on a long term assignment and wants to see as much as she can, including a rodeo and a NASCAR race (this girl wants true southern culture!!). When we heard that the rodeo was coming to Clemson, we knew we had to take advantage of it and take her. The second girl was in from France for a week and decided to tag along. 

We had planned to go for BBQ and then head to the rodeo when it started. Well, that plan went up in smoke when we drove by Brushy Creek BBQ to see that they have closed their doors for good. We then headed to The Smokin' Pig in Pendleton only to find an hour wait. That wasn't going to work either. So, we headed into downtown Clemson and ate dinner at the Palmetto Smokehouse and Oyster Bar. (sidenote: We would not recommend this place! The food was barely edible and the service was so slow). By the time we found a spot for dinner, ate, and made it to the arena, it was 9:00. The rodeo started at 8:00, and we had planned to leave around 9:30 to get Callen home for bed. Oh well! 

Cal borrowed some cowboy boots from a buddy, put on a plaid shirt and jeans, and was ready to be a cowboy! We kept telling him he was going to see cowboys and cowgirls along with horses and cows. He was excited!

We made it in time to see several events including tie-down roping, steer wrestling, and cowgirl barrel racing. The bull riding was one of the last events but we were wanting to beat the crowds out of the parking lot, so we left a few minutes early and didn't get to see any of it. Between each event, there was a small 'intermission' that included entertainment. During one of the intermissions, a cowgirl stood between two horses and had two others harnessed in front of those horses. She ran around the ring multiple times and even did a jump over a horizontal pole once. This made quite the impression on Cal! He likes to talk about the cowgirl standing on the horses!

Cal absolutely loved the rodeo! He watched almost every minute of it while we there (over an hour and a half) and never seemed to lose interest. This was a fun adventure with Cal...one that we will have to go to again and hopefully get there a little earlier next time!