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!