Road Trip ~ Part IV ~ Final Resting

I stumbled upon a very old cemetary while  in South Carolina last month.  I like old cemetaries…..they whisper to me ~ especially when they are in the woods.  It actually was a glimpse of a headstone as I drove down an old road that caught my eye.  This road was off the beaten path so I knew it must be an old cemetary, but what I didn’t know was how old. 

My oldest daughter joined me on this sunny afternoon for our visit to the cemetary.  There is a small pull off for vehicles and a sign warning visitors there is a state law which prohibits visitors from tampering with or removing any items from a cemetary in South Carolina.   Click on all the photos to get a larger view. 

The cemetary is surrounded by a rock wall……

You can tell at first glimpse the cemetary is maintained, but is not manicured.  The caretakers have let nature take its course but not overly so.

This is the glimpse I caught from the road.  My daughter and I ventured in and discovered history……this is the headstone you can see at first glimpse…..

A Civil War sharpshooter…..and his wife……

Once inside, I discovered just how large this cemetary was, so we went exploring…..

Many of the headstones were illegible…..

I do plan on returning with lots of paper and charcoal for rubbings.  Take a walk with us…..

Did they whisper to you too?  I was surprised to see this bit of red mixed in with the gray and green….

I didn’t venture to the very back of the cemetary…I will when I return with better footwear.  I was a little leery of walking to the back with only sandals on.  But I did go about halfway back, and what I discovered was amazing.

The Kenmores received the red roses……click the image to see the dates on the headstone…

Scared memories……another very old stone…….

And, the Pattons……..a Revolutionary Soldier and Patriot and his wife…….

But this one…….I have no idea of the age.  I wanted to put a larger sized image so when it was enlarged you could see more detail, but I was limited by image size regulations.  The carving itself leads me to believe it is quite old.  And the term……..Here Lyeth The Body Of ……..

Yes, this one definitely whispered to me.  I took many different photos of this stone, concentrating on different areas.  I will be putting all the photos I took that day on Flickr one day soon.  I will let you know when I do, but I hope you enjoyed the tour today.  This is one place I plan on returning to when I visit South Carolina again.