Day 23, 24 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Let's play catch up while we have a few minutes! On Friday May 29th, we left Sumter with Tim and Debbie on our way to Fayetteville RV Resort. We are taking full advantage of the two lane adventures and are taking US 401 all the way to Fayetteville. Tim had shown us the St Charles Gin Mill located in Mayesville, South Carolina while we were out one day driving around. We passed it again today and I had to do the deep dive! Despite the name sounding like a spirits distillery, the St Charles Gin Company is an agricultural cotton ginning operation, not a beverage distiller. Although everything I could find about it says it is an "active" operation. The look of the building tells a different story.

Ever heard of Lamar, SC? Well it's a thriving little town, looking to the future. The town is now anchored by a wide and straight Main Street bisected by cross streets that extend in a grid pattern of streets and sidewalks East and West.  Main Street is easily accessible to the entire community making the Town of Lamar a very pedestrian friendly community. Most residents can easily walk to pick up staples at Main Street’s grocery store, visit several retail merchants for necessities, mail a letter at the post office, pop in the local bank and dine with friends at the locally owned restaurants. But did you know that at least six NFL players have hailed from this small town. A notable feat for a town with a population of fewer than 1,000 residents. I won't give you all the info... you will have to look that one up!

We skirted the edge of Darlington, not close to the raceway or anything else of interest! I found the next town much more interesting! Society Hill, South Carolina, is a historic town in Darlington County, known as the oldest community in the county and a former intellectual center for the Pee Dee region, founded by Welsh settlers in 1736. Named for the St. David's Society, it grew around St. David's Academy and Welsh Neck Baptist Church, becoming a significant cultural and educational hub that produced many state leaders. Today, it's a small, historic town with a rich past, featuring historic homes and sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

When we hit the top of the hill in Society Hill, we were chasing wind, we saw all kinds of spinning scrap metal that really caught my eye! Les Baker is the creator of all of this moving artwork! His outdoor art work started all by chance. 

He started his business, Piece of Work, in the old fire house very close to his old homestead! He builds his yard from old scraps and discarded items. He is a young man, with a big imagination. He said "build it and they will come... and boy, do they!"

Palmetto Furniture Company is located in historic Society Hill, South Carolina. The company was founded in 1937 by the late Fred Auman. The business was originally a chair factory. After a devastating fire in 1954, the company was re-established as a wholesale distributor of fine furniture for local stores throughout the Carolinas.  

Tatum is the last town in South Carolina, before the border of North Carolina. Tatum, named for Richard J. Tatum, a North Carolinian who moved to this area of Marlboro County and became a successful farmer, was home to Marlboro County's first high school. Tatum was little more than a rural crossroads until the railroad came in 1884. By 1900, Tatum was a thriving and prosperous town. But, by the looks of it now, that is not true. 

Here we come, North Carolina! The state is the 28th-largest and ninth-most populous of the US. North Carolina was inhabited by Carolina Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan speaking tribes of Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. King Charles II granted eight lord proprietors a colony they named Carolina after the king and which was established in 1670 with the first permanent settlement at Charles Town (now Charleston, South Carolina).

We took Tim and Debbie and their 5th wheel through part of downtown Fayetteville! We even hit the Historic Market House, it serves as the centerpiece of a major traffic roundabout at the intersection of Hay, Person, Green, and Gillespie streets. This National Historic Landmark features a distinct clock tower. It was built in 1832 on the site of the old state house and Town Hall which burned down in 1831. It served both as a town hall and general market until the early 20th century, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973. 

As we came around the historic Market House, I spotted this Fayetteville mural. Andaluz The Artist created this mural in honor of hip-hop star J. Cole in downtown Fayetteville, which is Cole's hometown. The mural is on the side of a building for Back Around Records and Bails For Tails, near the Market House traffic circle. Letters in the postcard include Fayetteville cultural touchstones, including images of Lafayette, the city's namesake; the 82nd Airborne patch; and Putt-Putt, which was founded in the city.

We arrived at Fayetteville RV Resort in Wade, NC. This is our 2nd time at this park in less than a month. We stayed here for a night, on our way to Bob & Tammy wedding and were lucky enough to see our friends, Milt & Gabby, from Texas! We will be here for 4-nights this time!

On Saturday May 30th, we used the day to get our route recons done and we did a test to gain access to Ft Bragg for non-military personnel. We are taking the caravanners there on Monday! We also told all the caravanners that are arriving early they should visit the The United States Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum, as it is closed on Mondays. It is part of the U.S. Army Museum Enterprise dedicated to preserving and teaching a public history of the Special Operations and Airborne community. 

It is a self-guided walk through military history starting with the 1940 Parachute Test Platoon, continuing through WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, and current global operations. The dioramas include life-size mock-ups that place you on the streets of war-torn Normandy, inside a helicopter exiting into Vietnam, and alongside special ops during urban rescue missions. Some of the bigger items in the museum include a World War II-era cargo glider, a C-47 aircraft, and a rotor blade assembly from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

Debbie created a decal for us and Tim helped us install it on the back of our RV. We love it!!

We ended the evening, relaxing around the fire with a few early arrivals.

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!

Day 22 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Our last full day in Sumter was Thursday May 28th. We did a bit more exploring. We have driven by Shaw Air Force Base many times this week. Shaw AFB is named in honor of Sumter native and World War I flying ace First Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw. It is primarily known for hosting the 20th Fighter Wing, the largest combat F-16 wing in the US Air Force. It is also highly distinguished as the only SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) wing in the continental US.

Operational since 1941, it trained thousands of Allied pilots during World War II and has deployed forces in support of major global conflicts, including the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 20th Fighter Wing's F-16CM Fighting Falcons specialize in neutralizing enemy ground-based air defenses. 

Shaw is a major hub for military operations, serving as the headquarters for the Ninth Air Force (AFCENT), Fifteenth Air Force, and U.S. Army Central (ARCENT).

Sumter Original Brewery (SOB) is the first brewery in Sumter. It is located in the downtown area in an old store that has been totally renovated! It features a 15-barrel brewing system, a tasting room, dining area, and a rooftop terrace. It offers a diverse selection of craft beers, hosts events like live music and trivia, and provides a family-friendly atmosphere with games like pool, ping pong, and cornhole. The brewery is a key part of downtown revitalization. 

We enjoyed our beers and meals!

See this mural in downtown Sumter? Ever wonder more about it? What's the name of the mural? It is called "Beneath Swan Lake." Beneath Swan Lake that is situated on the Imports Limited building in downtown Sumter. McClellan Douglas finished the mural in June of 2021. He is a self taught professional artist that specializes in large scale interactive art works.

The Lincoln Museum & Heritage Center in Sumter, SC, celebrates the legacy of the historic Lincoln High School and African American education in the region. Located on the site of the former school. In 2009 the Lincoln High School building was sold to the Lincoln High School Preservation Alumni Association. 

By 2015 the school had been given a state historical marker and was listed with the National Register of Historic Places. In 2016 a museum dedicated to African American education, civil rights history was opened and the facility began to operate as a center for arts, humanities and cultural programming. Ongoing preservation efforts, supported by a Civil Rights grant from the National Park Service and private donors, continue the Preservation Alumni Association's efforts to restore the historic structure.

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures! We are traveling on Friday!

Day 20 & 21 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Tuesday May 26th, we finally got our haircuts! When we are on the road, we use Great Clips. We have had pretty good luck with them. They have notes in the computer that follow you. Charlie had Jen and I had Adeline at the Great Clips on Broad Street in Sumter.

We spent the rest of the day working on some Yankee work that we needed to get done before our trip starts on Friday. Our caravanners will start to arrive shortly after we arrive in Fayetteville. The actual caravan begins on Sunday.

We took a drive to see the area on Wednesday May 27th. Camden South Carolina, was the first major town we went through. Camden is the oldest inland town in the state. It dates to 1732, when the colonial township of Fredericksburg was surveyed by order of King George II. The settlement grew in the 1750s around the Pine Tree Hill trading post, and in 1768 the name was changed to Camden in honor of the Lord Camden, the British Parliamentary champion of colonial rights.  

Camden was a major center of Revolutionary War activity and preserves three sites of national significance. Since 2005, Camden has been a leading partner in the preservation and restoration of the Battle of Camden National Historic Landmark. Activities include restoring the natural setting back to 1780 conditions, building hiking and bike trails, and interpreting the battle to the public. The project was kicked off with 225th anniversary reenactments of the battle, attracting thousands of visitors. The city also supports the Historic Camden Revolutionary War Park, a 98-acre outdoor museum complex, which includes the town site of colonial and Revolutionary Camden, and several restored and refurnished period houses. The park also includes reconstructions of military fortifications and patriot Joseph Kershaw’s mansion, which was used as British headquarters.  

I would not call it a big town by any stretch of the imagination. It has 2 basic buildings that are still in use... the post office built around 1900 and the Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1890. That is Liberty Hill, South Carolina. The area is steeped in history, originally serving as a high-ground retreat for antebellum planters in the early 1800s. It was established circa 1813 near merchant Peter Garlick’s store. It is believed that the community was named by patriotic settlers celebrating their newfound freedom after the Revolutionary War. In the following years, grand plantation homes were built, and antebellum Liberty Hill was among the wealthiest communities in South Carolina. After the Civil War, the area fell into economic ruin. Nevertheless, the town did eventually reassert itself and appears to have changed very little since the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Great Falls of the Catawba River mark the point at which the river encounters a series of rapids while coursing across the Piedmont Plateau on the border of Lancaster County, South Carolina, and Chester County, South Carolina, near the town of Great Falls. Prior to the creation of the Fishing Creek Reservoir and other artificial lakes by Duke Power, the falls were a major landmark on the river. The rapids could be heard from long distances away, while a major pre-Columbian trading path ran near the left bank.

The creation of the Fishing Creek Lake Dam at Great Falls, has resulted in the top two miles of it being completely dry except during times of very high flow. In 2023, the town of Great Falls saw the grand opening of the Southeast’s newest whitewater paddling destination. This was a 20+ year project that transformed a 100+ year old dry riverbed into a whitewater recreation area with two distinct channels for different levels of paddling enthusiasts. During Duke Energy’s recreational flow periods, the long-bypass channel features up to Class IV rapids while the short-bypass channel features numerous Class IV and V rapids.

The bottom portion of historical Great Falls is drowned by Cedar Creek dam, another hydroelectric project. 

Below the Great Falls, the river flows into Lake Wateree where it becomes the Wateree River.

On the wall of the York County Library in Rock Hill is the mural called "The Whimsical World of Vernon Grant." This mural celebrates the life of beloved artist Vernon Grant, and serves as the largest mural in York County. The beautiful piece of art was designed by illustrator Jill Pratzon and brought to life by muralist Osiris Rain. Vernon Grant lived in Rock Hill for over 30 years and much of his work can be seen on magazine covers and advertising campaigns. He is the creator of the SNAP! CRACKLE! AND POP! characters used by Kellogg’s. Grant also co-founded the beloved Come-See-Me festival which happens every spring in Rock Hill. The piece helps pay tribute to this city’s most influential artist. 

 

We enjoyed lunch at Victoria's Diner. We missed breakfast by six minutes! But the "cook's choice" for lunch was chicken & dumplings. Charlie, Tim and Debbie all had that. I went for the cold plate!

Founded in 1876, Clover, South Carolina, originated as a railroad depot named after a serendipitous patch of clover growing near a steam-engine water tower. Officially incorporated in 1887, this York County town grew into a booming textile hub. There is a beautiful train mural near Main Street. It was "refreshed" by Imre, who is an artist who loves to make your ideas come to life. He can do murals, canvas or work with different mediums and materials. He helped to modernize the historic Train Mural in 2024! 

Clover, South Carolina, is best known as "The Town with Love in the Middle" (a playful nod to the letters in its name) and for its rich Scots-Irish heritage. The town leans heavily into its heritage by hosting the popular Clover Highland Games and Scots-Irish Festival each fall, featuring bagpipes, traditional heavy athletics, and clan gatherings. They also throw a large-scale St. Patrick's Day celebration.

We stopped at Kings Mountain National Military Park on the way back to Sumter. At 4,000 acres, it's one of the largest national military parks in the United States and one of just two Revolutionary War national military parks. 

Thomas Jefferson called it "The turn of the tide of success." On October 7, 1780, the Battle of Kings Mountain was fought during the American Revolutionary War. It was a decisive Patriot victory where a volunteer militia (the "Overmountain Men") surrounded and defeated a force of British Loyalists commanded by Major Patrick Ferguson on a rugged, wooded hilltop just south of the North Carolina border in South Carolina. The park preserves the site of this important battle.

The battle was primarily fought between Americans. The Patriots were frontier frontiersmen and local militiamen from the Carolinas, Virginia, and present-day Tennessee. The opposing forces were Loyalists, commanded by the only British regular on the field, Major Patrick Ferguson.  After Major Ferguson threatened the Appalachian settlements, the Patriots gathered to hunt him down. 

They trapped Ferguson's forces on the rocky slopes of Kings Mountain, launching assaults from all directions and effectively using the trees for cover against Loyalist bayonet charges. The battle lasted just over an hour. Major Ferguson was shot and killed, and the vastly outnumbered Loyalists were entirely routed. They suffered roughly 225 killed and over 700 captured, while the Patriots suffered only 28 killed and 62 wounded. The battle was the first major patriot victory to occur after the British invasion of Charleston. 

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!

Day 19 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

It is Monday May 25th, it is the last Monday in May. Happy Memorial Day. 

Memorial Day isn’t a barbecue or a three-day weekend for us. It’s a roll call of faces, voices, and shared laughter that cut through the dust and heat of Iraq.

To us, Memorial Day is not about the start of summer, or the BBQ, or a 3-day weekend. It is a roll call of names, of faces, voices, and shared moments that cut through the dust and heat of Iraq.

This and every Memorial Day, our hearts are with the brothers and sisters who never made it off that field of battle. And just as deeply with the soldiers who brought the war home in their heads and hearts and lost their battles, at home.

Our wounds of war don't stop bleeding when we leave the sandbox, and those we have lost to the invisible weight of it since... you are not forgotten. We carry your memories,  we share your stories, we live for your honor, and we miss you every single day.

Rainbow, Never Forget!

Here is a little known fact about Sumter, South Carolina. It is home to the world's largest commercial Ginkgo biloba plantation. 

Ginkgo biloba is often called a living fossil because the ginkgo has existed for hundreds of millions of years. This resilient tree tolerates heat, pollution, salt, confined spaces, drought, insects and fungal pathogens. In 1945, the ginkgo even famously survived the fallout of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

This massive agricultural operation produces millions of trees to harvest leaves used for medical and herbal extracts. With almost a million trees planted in tight rows, the plantation spans over 1,000 acres. Unlike traditional ornamental landscaping, these are densely planted in a hedge-like manner and mechanically harvested for their foliage rather than grown as mature, towering shade trees.

There was a great deal of community uproar when the ginkgo plantation wanted to come to Sumter. The local residents were concerned about the smell! The trees smell? Well, not the tree, but... Female ginkgo trees produce fleshy, apricot-like seeds commonly referred to as "fruit". Because ginkgo is a gymnosperm, it doesn't produce true fruit. While the inner nut is an edible delicacy, the fleshy outer coating contains an acid that smells strongly of vomit and contains skin-irritating toxins.

When ripe fruit drops and decays, it releases butyric acid—the same chemical compound found in rancid butter and vomit. The fleshy exterior contains ginkgolic acid and urushiol, the exact same oily skin irritant found in poison ivy.

The plantation grows the trees for the leaves. So, they keep the trees very short and they never produce fruit. Here in South Carolina, they harvest the leaves, dry them and ship them overseas for processing into their final forms.

We enjoyed a grill night and birthday cupcakes. Yes, my birthday fell on Memorial Day in 2026! 

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures.

Day 18 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Sunday May 24th, we left Lumberton NC and headed to Sumter SC. We came by South of the Border, again. The signs for this Mexican-kitsch rest stop turned semi-amusement park straddling the Carolinas are not as vast heading south as they are heading north.

Personally I believe that South of the Border is not what it used to be. Minigolf and the carousel are shuttered. Security cars patrol through the empty parking lots. Like Wall Drug or any number of quirky roadside attractions, South of the Border is an emblem of a bygone era of American road travel, before air travel became popular. How it got here and how it survives is a recurring question by many.

South of the Border started with a simple business idea. In 1949, North Carolina’s Robeson County passed a law prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Alan Schafer, a South Carolina beer distributor, had the idea to set up a beer stand just across the border in Dillon County. The stand quickly transformed into a groundbreaking business venture. Local legend had it that Schafer used his influence to ensure that I-95 had an offramp leading right to South of the Border; Schafer told The Washington Post in the 1970s that the exit was planned there anyway, but he acknowledged that he pressured Dillon County officials to keep the exit there after they proposed moving it to North Carolina.

Schafer’s depot became the kind of kitschy fever dream that characterized the heyday of the American road trip: A fireworks shop. Minigolf. A geodesic domed hotel with flamingo statues guarding the entrance. That 200-foot sombrero-topped tower. Teens from the area worked their first summer jobs there. As the 20th century wound down and the road trip’s importance waned in pop culture, so did South of the Border. Even back in the 1990s, it was already a little shabby. 

Dillon, South Carolina, is best known as the home of South of the Border. It is also celebrated for its rich agricultural history, historic downtown district, and its past reputation as the "Wedding Capital of the East."

We drove through Lynchburg, SC on US 301. The city's name comes from its founder John Lynch, a Quaker abolitionist and businessman who established a ferry across the James River in 1757. Before Emancipation in 1865 thousands of enslaved laborers brought great wealth and fame to Lynchburg through its tobacco manufacturing industry.

Arrived at Tim & Debbie Carroll's, our home for the next 5 nights. We enjoyed our afternoon together and then we had dinner at Willie Sue's.

We were so busy talking, I took no pictures! Ricky McLeod's grandmother, Willie Sue Pierson McLeod (Nanny, to him) was born in the rural southern part of Sumter County. His grandparents made their living in the industries of timber and cotton and were severely affected by the Great Depression. After financial devastation, they relocated the city of Sumter where my great grandmother found herself working in the kitchens of local boarding houses. 

When his grandmother was growing up, she inherited her mother's talents in the kitchen. Fortunately for him, before her death, she was able to pass her knowledge of work ethic down to him. She taught him so much, and he has a great amount of respect and affection for her, more than any woman he has ever known. Serving guests at his restaurant, he hopes to honor her and show how much she really meant to him. She has been his inspiration behind Willie Sue's, and that her memory will live on through this homage to a wonderful woman.

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!

Day 17 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Saturday May 23rd we took it easy. It was a raining off and on kind of day. We just did a bit of shopping and found a few unique places near Lumberton NC.

North Carolina is home to eight federally or state-recognized tribes: Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony and Waccamaw Siouan. Southeastern North Carolina, along the Lumbee River, is the homeland of the Lumbee People.  The ancestors of the Lumbee came together in the shelter of this land hundreds of years ago - survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language families. 

The ancestors of the Lumbee were recognized as Indian in 1885 by the State of North Carolina. In 1956, Congress recognized the Lumbee as an Indian tribe while denying the People any federal benefits that are associated with such recognition. Eventually, on December 18, 2025, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which included the Lumbee Fairness Act in the amendment. This will allow for federal benefits and services to the Lumbee people. With over 55,000 members, they are the largest tribe in North Carolina and the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River.

Lumbee tribal headquarters are located in the small town of Pembroke, NC. The tribal territory and service area comprises four adjoining counties: Robeson, Scotland, Hoke, and Cumberland. The tribal housing complex, also known as ‘The Turtle’, houses most tribal services. We found a unique housing development, Warriors' Way Veterans Village. The village is located in the Rowland Community. This neighborhood houses ten veterans. We found it refreshing that the homes were set parallel with the road, giving the homes much more yard and space from their neighbors. When the Lumbee Tribe of NC officially opened the village on May 26, 2022, the event was extra special for 5 veterans who received keys to a home in the community. The ceremony featured a Flag Ceremony as well as a Memorial Day Service as part of this special occasion. An all-Veteran Parachute team, All Veteran Group, opened the event with a parachute drop-in. 

We also found the Southern Spirit Boys & Girls Club. The Lumbee Tribe owns and operates seven Boys & Girls Clubs. Southern Spirit is one of these clubs. The tribal Boys and Girls Clubs provide a positive place where their youth can go to celebrate their culture and community, to enjoy healthy fun with their peers, and to learn new skills and self confidence under the guidance of responsible adults. The Boys & Girls Club of the Lumbee Tribe is a youth guidance organization dedicated to promoting the educational, vocational, social and character development of girls and boys ages 6 to 18. The Boys and Girls Club offers programs that build self-esteem and develop values and skills during the critical period of growth. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence. 

Next to the Boys & Girls Club is the Southern Spirit Nature Trail. The dedication of the Southern Spirit Nature Trail was on December 19, 2023. The Southern Spirit Nature Trail is a community walking path, designed to promote healthy living. Built by the Lumbee Tribe, the 0.5-mile loop trail features a covered pavilion, walking loops, and an outdoor gathering area.

Just past the Nature Trail is Lumbee Tribe's Hilly Branch Veterans' Duplex Camp Henry. It is still under construction, but the first duplex is completed and it had its ribbon cutting on May 14, 2026. This housing serves to provide safe, stable, and permanent housing solutions for those who have served the country. They are not yet inhabited, but they will be soon!

A bit further on 301 South, there was a large burned out section on pines. It was not there when we headed north on 301 North for the wedding. When you opened the window on the car, you could still smell the burnt fragrance. 

It certainly did not look like any controlled burn we have seen. In a controlled burn, they only burn the underbrush, not the complete trees!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!