Summer Activities: Part 1 (June 2025)
Swimming
Did I mention my granddaughter loves to swim. I try to invite her over to our community pool at least once a week to swim. She is a fantastic swimmer and loves to jump, dive, and get tossed around in the pool. We have also been known to stop at Pink Mama’s for ice cream after swimming.
Lansford Canal State Park/Spider Lilies
In 2023 we became Ultimate Outsiders. That is the program for the South Carolina State Park system that rewards visitors who go to all 47 South Carolina state parks and historic sites. One of our favorite state parks was Lansford Canal. Lansford Canal is a state park located on the shores of the Catawba River. It is also a historical site of a former canal that operated between 1820-1835. But what makes this park really special are the spider lilies that bloom by the thousands from mid-May to late June in the rocky shoals of the Catawba River. When we got there in mid-June there were only a few spider lilies blooming. So, this year we decided to kayak on the Catawba River to see the spider lilies in bloom. We signed up with NCOA for an up-close view of the spider lilies. Paddling around all the rocky shoals was hard work yet a lot of fun.
One of our grandsons injured his neck the last day of school and had to wear a brace for six weeks. That put a damper on some of our summer plans for him. We decided to do some sightseeing and activities in downtown Greenville since we were limited in some of the activities he could participate in. We took a stroll downtown and walked to Falls Park and crossed the famous Liberty Bridge. At 345 feet long, 12 feet wide and 8 inches thick, the concrete reinforced bridge is supported by a single suspension cable. The deck's distinctive curve has a radius of 214 feet, and it is cantilevered toward the waterfall from supporting cables on the outside. The bridge overlooks the 28-foot Reedy River Falls where Greenville's first European settler, Richard Pearis, established his trading post in 1768. Later he built grist and sawmills at this same location, which was the hub of early industry in Greenville until the 1920s.
We then walked down to the falls and took a few pictures next to the Medusa Tree. At one time this area was an arboretum. The Medusa Tree is one of the leftover beech trees that were planted in the arboretum. Eventually, soil eroded and exposed the very artistic roots of the tree. We then walked over to the Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar and had some very expensive milkshakes. But they sure were pretty and tasty.
Another afternoon we returned to downtown Greenville to experience an escape room with our grandsons and daughter. We went to Escape Artist and selected the scary Starlight Motel activity. An interesting aspect of this escape room is that you interact with two actors throughout the process. It is slightly scary mostly based on the mood set in the three separate rooms and some of the interactions with the actors. We had fun and solved the mystery before running out of time.
While the grandsons were with us that week, we also had lots of game nights. We played Monopoly, Rook, Chicken Foot, and Five Crowns.
Our final Greenville activity was attending a Greenville Drive baseball game with our grandsons. The Drive is a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. They play in downtown Greenville in Fluor Field. Fluor Field has its own version of the Green Monster at Fenway Park. We got tickets to sit on the Fluor Field Green Monster. They were great seats, and we had a great time. However, very nasty rain clouds formed at the end of the 3rd inning, and we decided that discretion is the better part of valor and took off for our car. 30 seconds after getting to our car the storm hit, and it was wet and wild. We were glad we left when we did.
Pickleball and Topgolf
We had the opportunity to play pickleball with two other couples and with our daughter during June. We try to play pickleball at least once a week.
We are trying to get the most benefit of our summer pass at Topgolf so we are going once or twice a week. My wife is getting really good and has a nice swing.
Michigan Trip
We ended the month of June with a quick trip to Michigan to visit with Don’s mom. Interstate 40 had a landslide, so we were unable to take our normal route up Interstate 75. Instead, we went up Interstate 26 then took Highway 23 through North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. From there we merged back onto Interstate 75 to Michigan. We saw parts of the country that we had not been through before. One interesting place was when we crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky into Ohio. There are twin cantilever bridges that connect Ashland, KY to Coal Grove, OH. These bridges are informally called the blue bridge and the green bridge for obvious reasons. We also found an interesting rest stop somewhere in Ohio.
