Category: Thomas Jones

State Parks

By: Thomas Jones

Over this weekend I was able to visit two state parks, Dreher and Poinsett state park. Dreher is supposedly the most beautiful state park in South Carolina; it is on an island on lake Murray. Since it is an island it is a smaller park only being two miles long, this makes it very limited to the hiking and biking trails which is what I enjoy about the parks. It only has three trails which we could only find one and it was less than half a mile long. I do think this park is more camping focused because it has two different areas where you can camp, one in the front and one in the back with about thirty plots each. Even though it is a beautiful state park it is not for me unless I get into camping. If I was to stay there I think the villas for a nice getaway or hammock camping would be fun. Poinsett the State Park right in our back yard is my favorite so far, as it offers so many trail to bike and hike with various distance and difficulty, there is also a pond that offers beautiful views; that is one thing I like about Dreher State Park more as it has cleaner and more beautiful waters. I would prefer to camp at Poinsett state park because the plots are more open and give you more space, at Dreher it is so landlocked and most plots are on a big drop off straight into the lake which would put some on edge. I like State Parks especially since we have so many in our state to choose from that offer various different experiences. I’m so glad our country and state do such a good job in maintaining the parks while preserving the natural beauty of each state across the country.

Labor Day Weekend

By: Thomas Jones

My Labor Day consisted of eleven plus hours on the roads, traveling through 4 states South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and finally Virginia. We first arrived in North Carolina and stayed at a Marriott hotel in the small town of Boone, NC. While in Boone, we walked down town, but the culture there has shifted since my childhood days of visiting. It is sad to see such a nice town be overrun with drug addicts and homeless people, it is a huge problem that no one else there seemed to notice. During my childhood visits there I remember a nice community of older locals and young tourists which brought a good balance to the town. Our next stop in the Appalachians was Bristol, Virginia, where my Cousins live Katherin twelve and Willam six. Their we watched the Carolina game and hung out with them. We were excited to see them as we do not get many opportunities to. Bristol is a nice little town which starred in the iconic GEICO commercial “Geico Journey”, where the Geico Lizard jumps between state lines of Bristol, Tennessee and Virginia. That night we arrived and went to eat at a very good Mexican restaurant called Mas Tequila right off State Street, the main street of downtown Bristol. That concludes our night in Virginia. The next morning we quickly got up and went to eat at a breakfast place called The Girl and The Raven, which was very good. There I ate a biscuit with eggs, sausage, and grits. It is one of their most popular dishes and I see why. The only downside of The Girl and The Raven was that they had a few dead fish floating in the fish tanks, which was kind of disgusting to see while you’re trying to eat. After that we drove home all five hours and that concludes our labor day with the homeless drug addicts of Boone to the fun times we had in Bristol.