Marks Photo Travels - now at marksphototravels.blogspot.com!

I've long wanted to visit Lake Jocassee and its many waterfalls for quite a while now. I've been reading my outdoor adventure seeking friend Tom Taylor's visits to Lake Jocassee  with considerable interest and a smidge of envy. With my recent purchase of a recreational kayak, the Intex Challenger K1, I now have a means to begin visiting these waterfalls I've been reading about for so long. I had intended to visit Lake Jocassee back in July, but my trip to Lake Oolenoy convinced me that I still can't and won't handle the heat, and to wait for cooler weather. Now that the cooler weather has arrived, I'm ready for a visit. Lake Jocassee is located in the northern part of South Carolina in the mountainous part of Pickens and Oconee counties. The lake is impounded by a hydroelectric dam, in the southeast corner of the lake, built in 1973 by Duke Power . Four rivers flow into the lake: Whitewater River, Thompson River, Horsepasture River, and Toxaway River. A nu...

Uniquely Union is a festival in Union, SC I've been attending  the past several years now. The main draw for me is the Taster's Choice where you sample pork BBQ from a number of BBQ vendors then vote for your favorite sample. I also take the opportunity to visit some historical sites of interest to me, and this year is no exception. This year I settled on visiting Lockhart , a small incorporated town in South Carolina on the Union County side of the Broad River. But my first stop would be an abandoned country store off S.C. 49 on the other side of the Broad River in Chester County, next to the Broad River Mart convenience store . ...then a backtrack over the river and the county line back into Union County and Lockhart. My first stop was Lockhart Town Square off Mill Street . I didn't know anything about the bell at the time, but I guessed it was either from a school or the mill across the canal. My mill guess was the right one. I found a 1998 article in the Spartanburg H...