Poinsett Bridge

Today I had a treat - it was the second sunshiny day in a row and we went out for a ride, taking the dogs with us. It has been months since I had left the house for something other than a doctor's appointment or a hair trim. We picked up lattes, mine was decaf, and started down the road. We ended up at Poinsett bridge, a familiar place to us and our dogs. I hadn't been able to visit there since the summer of 2013. 

 Poinsett Bridge, named for Joel Roberts Poinsett (of Poinsettia fame), was built of local stone in 1820 as part of a road from Columbia, SC to Asheville NC. The bridge includes a 14-foot Gothic arch, is wide enough for a carriage, and stretches 130 feet over Little Gap Creek. Though no longer in use, the stone bridge remains largely intact. The bridge is part of the 120-acre Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve . Poinsett bridge is off U.S. Highway 25 north of Greenville, SC. and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is a lovely area and attracts local visitors especially in the summer to escape the heat. 

It's in a very narrow place between two mountains, which I guess was why it was chosen as a place to build a bridge. It was part of a road to connect Charleston SC with Asheville NC,  and especially used in the summer when wealthy homeowners could escape the dreadful heat in Charleston, with its yearly dangers of Yellow Fever and Cholera.

Today I focused on the arch, topped with a lovely keystone. I imagined workmen's hands place each stone carefully to support the bridge. As you can tell from the width of the arch, the bridge was just the size for a worse and wagon, stage or carriage to cross over it in comfort. Each stone could tell a story.

The photograph may need a boost in contrast, so I may do some tinkering with it tomorrow.I like the angle of the bank and the creek, I just think the overall image needs to be richer. 

On another note, I noticed that Blogger has lost all of my pictures and I need to look into that. I'm not happy about it and I have been thinking I will change my web address for my blog. Perhaps this has pushed me in that direction!

PS, here I changed the contrast, which creates more interest-I really like this much better!

Peaceful Places

When I have an afternoon of just a bit of energy, and have had my fill of cabin fever, these are usually the two places we go near us. Sometimes it may be to Jones Gap, which is a state park kept in the wild, and the Saluda River runs through it. But I love these two bridges, Campbells Covered bridge and Poinsett Bridge, and we take the dogs with us, because they enjoy it every bit as much as we do!

CAMPBELL'S COVERED BRIDGE

Campbells Covered Bridge official address is Gowansville SC, but it is out in the country of northeastern Greenville County. Built in 1909, it crosses Beaverdam Creek

and is the only covered bridge left in SC. Behind it on the left are the remains of the grist mill which operated here for many years. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a wonderful place to enjoy nature and man made beauty together.

 POINSETT BRIDGE

Poinsett Bridge, named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, was built of local stone in 1820 as part of a road from Columbia, SC to Asheville NC. The bridge includes a 14-foot Gothic arch, is wide enough for a carriage, and stretches 130 feet over Little Gap Creek and is in the tip most section of Greenville County, not far from the NC state line. Though no longer in use, the stone bridge remains largely intact. The bridge is part of the 120-acre Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve. Poinsett bridge is off U.S. Highway 25 north of Greenville, SC. and was also named to the National Register of Historic Places. It is a lovely area and attracts local visitors especially in the summer to escape the heat. The Poinsettia Christmas flower was also named after Joel Poinsett.

Both of these photos are available at Bellesouth Studio and would make special gifts for those who live in the area, or who have moved away and would like a special reminder of their time here. Or, if you are a bridge lover, these would be for you! The photo of Campbells Bridge is had a painterly effect added to it, the Poinsett Bridge has had no effects added. Check them out!

Where do you like to go for a short get away?

Click on any photo you would like to see closer!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Our Sunday

At 8:20 this morning I was awakened out of a sound sleep by the Lowe's delivery guy calling, stating that they would like to make the delivery of our new refrigerator this morning rather than this afternoon. As the old refrigerator had rapidly lost its cooling ability during the day yesterday, I agreed and went downstairs to tell John. We rounded up coolers, and started emptying the old refrigerator and got ready for them with John staying home from church. When they arrived, the dogs were of course very excited and eventually I had to shut them up in John's office so that they would stop trying to "help" the men do their job.  They had to take off the back door to be able to get the old one out and the new one in. All in all it took them a bit over an hour to get everything done. Then we had to put all of the foodstuff back in the new one.

Later today I received a phone call from an old friend whom I haven't seen for several years and we had a great conversation for about an hour. We have been friends on Facebook, so we kind of knew what was more or less going on in each other's lives, but it was so good to talk! Being on the phone that long is usually exhausting for me, but it I was very glad we had the chance to catch up.

After resting for a while, my dear husband thought I needed to get out of the house for a drive, so we loaded the dogs in the car and off we went. As we were going down the road, I realized that I did need to get out and was so thankful for such a thoughtful husband! We stopped by Dunkin Doughnuts for a decaf latte (no doughnuts!) and then drove on down Highway 25, trying to decide what we should head toward. We hadn't been to Poinsett Bridge in awhile so that's where we went.

Poinsett Bridge was built in 1820, and has a beautiful 14 foot Gothic arch over Little Gap Creek, which probably runs on into the Saluda Reservoir nearby. It's wide enough for a carriage to cross, and was part of the original toll road that ran from Charleston SC to Asheville NC. It's named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, of Poinsettia fame. The bridge is part of the Poinsett Heritage Preserve and is now part of a hiking trail; the area is pristine and beautiful!

We all enjoyed it immensely! I could not do much walking but they have recently made public access easier and there were benches, so I could sit for a while. If you are not familiar with the bridge, I encourage you to Google it and see the wonderful pictures taken by many other people. The image above is from a postcard.

Now I am quite fatigued, but it was a good day. And I am thankful for it! My hope is that I can do some art work this week, I have not been able to in a while. So perhaps I will have something to share later!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!