On The Road Again...

Hi,
Everyone! I hope your holidays were wonderful whatever and however you celebrate. Mine was so full I am just getting back to MJ! She is all packed up and will be leaving in the morning (Friday). The hosts don't know until the last minute when she will arrive and that is just in case she gets held up in the mail or customs. I am the last visit in the United States. This was all put together and started in 2012! I can't believe how time is flying! She has been to 11 hosts in several different countries already. Each host decides where she will send her next. Twenty four people around the world were chosen with a two year window of travel.

 We all will miss her; my family, my wonderful true friends,  my dolls and those people she and I met together. We had such fun! This is an experience we will never forget! My grandchildren are still learning about the places she has been.

 I  have a few more pictures and videos that I will share in a few more posts even though she will be on her way to her next host/auntie. Oh, by the way, I call her hosts "aunties" because that is what R/L MJ calls us. :-) There were so many other places to take her but time would not allow.

There are two things I wanted to add about South Carolina.    

                                    
1. You are never more than a few miles from a train track. The South Carolina coast is an open waterway for cargo from all over the world. That cargo can end up anywhere in the US!

                                                    

2. The other thing is the statewide rivalry between Clemson University and The University of South Carolina. It goes back a couple of centuries. You will see signs of one or the other or both all over the state.

                                                    This is a Wal-Mart display     



This is a common site in any Wal-Mart.
Sorry for the blurry picture. Taken with a cellphone

Last, not in any way least, I was so excited to receive my gifts from the other hosts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I didn't know whether to show them or not. I don't want to spoil the surprise for the future hosts.  I hope they all love what I sent them also.



Click on picture for a larger view

Getting Down with Downtown Greenville

The city of Greenville, South Carolina has been the home of history makers through out the years. Several years ago, the downtown area was renovated to attract not just the locals, but visitors and the vast amount of relocated Northerners and others. The bistro lined Main Street has an eclectic feel of an artistic, cobblestoned, quaint village and uptown entertainment. It is the scene for so many things from various festivals to national bike races. MJ and friends had the time of their lives! I spent several hours just on a few blocks of Main Street.

 I apologize for the pictures taken when the sun started to go down.

This name might be familiar to baseball fans. Shoeless is from a small town on the outskirts of Greenville. Can you find MJ? Look over the "J" in Jackson




MJ had to see if he was really shoeless lol

Falls Park On The Reedy is a beautiful 26-acre city park located in the middle of downtown Greenville, South Carolina. It has a waterfall from the Reedy River.

 The Reedy River is a tributary of the Saluda River, about 65 miles (105 km) long, in northwestern South Carolina in the United States. Via the Saluda and Congaree Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.





The girls are on their way to get a closer view







They let their hair blow in the wind as they drove across the bridge

MJ just had to get out and look. The sun was beginning to set.

The cool winter air made the waves rush over the falls

 



Off to the next adventure!

This is across the street from the Falls. You can see a mix of old and new. Both Falls Park and this area are set under a bridge on Main Street 

The man-made dam lies in front of a series of art galleries

This is the Peace Center Concert Hall. It sets on the opposite side of the street of Falls Park near the end of Main Street. It is where every thing from The Lion King to a Fragle Rock children's concert has been seen (Goggled picture)

This is something pretty new in Greenville. An outdoor Ice skating rink! 

 

 

 Are these little cuties future Olympians?

I actually thought most of the people had walking disabilities, until I was told the blue things were to assist and protect unskilled skaters. hmmm I was looking to see if they had grown-up sizes! lol

The Poinsett Hotel was one of the first "skyscrapers" to be constructed in Greenville. Named after Joel R. Poinsett, the Secretary of War under President Fillmore, the hotel was built on the site of the Mansion House, an 1824 resort hotel. Built in 1925 at a cost of 1.5 million dollars.

Bet you didn't know where the name of the Poinsettia flower came from!
Joel Roberts Poinsett, born in 1779 in Charleston, South Carolina to a wealthy physician, Dr. Elisha Poinsett, and his wife Katherine Ann Roberts, was educated in Connecticut and Europe, gaining expertise in languages, the law and military affairs.
 

There is at least one street named after him in Greenville.

A copy of the famous Italian fountain statue  "II Porcellino" 
 

MJ stands tall in a very popular popcorn store on Main Street.

This is not for the popcorn shy. Their bold flavors make them a big seller and the beautiful wrappings are very festive.
It is also probably the most expensive gourmet popcorn you will ever love!

During segregation the Sterling School was a school for "colored-people"
It has produced many successful and influential people.

"The record of Sterling High School is that of struggle and triumph. It covers a period of nearly seventy-five years.  Reverend D.M. Minus was appointed to John Wesley Church in Greenville, South Carolina in the early 1890's, the beginning of a great work.  Rev. Minus was born in Colleton County, South Carolina, on June 15, 1848, of slave parents; his father was Elijah and his mother was Sarah Minus.  He was the oldest of thirteen children.  Minus was brought to Greenville to accomplish two things: John Wesley Church needed a new brick building and the children needed a high school in Greenville so they could prepare for life's duties without leaving their hometown."




The statues are set in the middle of downtown Main Street Greenville. The bricks hold a significance in the structure of the school. 

You never know what you might see on Main Street!

Horse and buggies are a regular site along Main Street. This one is decked out for the holidays



Downtown Greenville at night

Christmas is all over



Walking down Main Street is like enjoying an outdoor art museum



This is the collective name of the three  below sculptures . Each one is individually named

EMERGE
Front view
MJ felt right at home in her arms!



Back view...or is it the other way around?

CONNECT

TRANSCEND
MJ is enjoying being close-up and personal. Right in front of his face! lol



It was becoming dusk when I took these pictures. You can see them much better here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/24638974@N06/4654562967/

 

Only in South Carolina! Ride 'em MJ!

 

This is one of nine tiny friends who mark points of interest. They serve as guides in a scavenger hunt along Main Street. Each one is different! This one was near an historical war figure, hence the hat. (I was illegally parked so didn't have time to get a picture of statue. lol) There was a book written about them too!

http://miceonmain.com/historyofmiceonmain.html

Hope you enjoyed downtown Greenville! More MJ in South Carolina to come!

Click on pictures for a larger view