We flew into Raleigh, North Carolina and got a rental car before heading for our timeshare week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, We then spent some time eyeballing the sights in the area. There were lots of places of interest to see and enjoy. We drove around and spent time at many of the usual places for tourists, but we were most impressed with Brookgreen Gardens and all of the statues that are there. I will show only a few as there were a plethora (or overabundance) of figures to take in.

Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach
Fighting Stallions

 

 

 

 

 

Statues in the Brookgreen Gardens
Statues in the Brookgreen Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statues in the Brookgreen Gardens
Carroll sitting with a newspaper reader

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statue in Brookgreen Gardens
Statues in the Brookgreen Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statues in the Brookgreen Gardens

We also visited the Plantation houses that were there and felt the pain that the slaves must have experienced in living in the confined areas that were built for them.

Plantation House

Barbara in the Slave quarters

They were expected to work with the minimum of benefits and provide a maximum of effort in raising the sugar and other crops from where they gained no profit.

 

After we left Myrtle Beach, we drove North to Spartanburg to spend the night with Bobby and Oliver. Bobby is a first cousin of Barbara and it was pleasant to see them. They had visited us many years ago when we were living in El Paso.

After our time with them, we left to go to Asheville, North Carolina and spent a little time in playing the role of tourists.

Barbara and Carroll in front of the Thomas Wolf home
Carl Sandberg’s home

We visited the homes of Thomas Wolf and Carl Sandburg and a few other sights

Marion and Ross in Rutherfordton

 

 

We then drove to Rutherfordton, North Carolina to spend the night with Ross and Marian and was treated like VIP guests.

 

 

 

 

 

St. Francis Episcopal Church in Rutherfordton, North Carolina

 

They showed us the Church where they attended and which had beautiful stained glass windows which were brilliant in color and design.

Stained Glass Window in Church
Where Ross and Mariam previously lived before redoing her family home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also showed us the cabin in which they had lived when they first moved from California to Rutherfordton.

 

 

Painting on Tombstone in Cemetery

We saw the cemetery they thought to be unusual in that it had an artist paint her tombstone with a beautiful scene, even before she passed.

After this, we drove back to the Airport in Raleigh and flew home