Nap Time

Ethan falls asleep during lunch.

Testing the Led Zeppelin

Late yesterday afternoon they were testing the new Led Zeppelin roller coaster at the Hard Rock Park scheduled to open this spring.

Sugar Cane Syrup - Video

Making the sugar cane syrup at Freewoods Farm
like they did over 100 years ago.

Sugar Cane Syrup - 3

Visiting the cooking shed.




Ten gallons of juice yields about a gallon of syrup.

Sugar Cane Syrup - 2

An old cane mill manufactured by the Chattanooga Plow Co. in the late 1800s is used to crush the juice from the cane.

A mule named Pete turns the cane mill.

Sugar Cane Syrup - 1

They are making sugar cane syrup this week at Freewoods Farm. This is a living farm museum which duplicates African American farm life from 1865 to 1900.

The process begins with the harvesting and shucking of the sugar cane.





Tomorrow we will meet Pete and see how they process the cane.

Last Butterfly ??

Yesterday a sulphur passed through the backyard quickly, but this gulf fritillary lingered long enough for a few photos. The rosemary bush is one of the few plants in the backyard with blooms. Butterfly season can't last much longer due to the colder nights and diminishing food source.

Christmas Train

Georgetown, SC

German Baden Band Organ

The organ was built by A. Ruth & Sohn in Waldkirch Baden, Germany and was first exhibited at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris. After the exposition, it was moved from town to town in Europe on a wagon pulled by a team of six horses. The Myrtle Beach Pavilion amusement park acquired the organ in 1957. When the park closed in 2006, the organ was moved a couple of miles to Broadway at the Beach.

The two-ton pipe organ features 98 keys and 400 pipes. The elaborately carved machine is adorned with 18 lifelike figures with 12 of them spinning and dancing to each tune.

It still runs on what it did more than 100 years ago ... hand-fed cardboard sheet music.

Boats at Anchor

Harbor at Georgetown, SC