Tuesday, September 27, 2011

One of Two

Saturday was a good day for a picnic.  That was my opinion anyway.  Just the girls and I were at home and not much was going on.  I called them into the kitchen and we packed up a lunch for a picnic.

As I described my plans to them, I realized that not everyone felt like it was a great day for a picnic.  One of my lovely daughters reminded me that we have a picnic table in the backyard.  I persisted on my plans and we soon arrived at the Hagood Mill historical site for a short hike and picnic.

One of the girls complained during much of the hike and my other young hiker was having a great time.  After the hike, we found a soft patch of grass to have lunch in the shade.
I haven't been to the mill site in a while, and a lot of work has happened there in the past year.  There is now a steel bridge over a creek.  The bridge was previously used for traffic, but was replaced over time for wider, concrete bridges.  There is also a large building being constructed to house the petroglyphs that have been found carved into rocks on the property.  The petroglyphs are thought to be carved roughly 1,000 years ago by native americans.  The building will protect the carvings and also have a display teaching about them.
Finally, there is another building on site that has a cotton gin demonstration setup and a blacksmith shop.

This soapstone boulder is thought to have been carved nearly 5,000 years ago.  Two partially formed bowls are attached to the boulder.  Carved with flint, after being roughly shaped, they would be broken off for final shaping and detail.
While we sat in the grass eating our lunch we could see all these new items and we discussed the history of some of these artifacts.  After lunch, we examined some of the buildings a little closer before heading back home.

Until we left, I was only able to please one of my two daughters with our hike and history lesson.  Guess which one was loving it. . .

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