RonnieAdventure #0600 - G-Webb, Earl Scruggs, Flag Museum, Pearson's Falls, NC

Just before Thanksgiving we spent part of 10 days visiting granddaughter Ashley at Gardner-Webb (G-Wegg) University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It was a great trip and while we were there we also had the opportunity to visit a number of places on my bucket list. 

Ashley is a junior at G-Webb and has a scholarship to play basketball on their Division 1 team. We toured the campus and were able to see one home game in Boiling Springs, and away games at NCU in Charlotte and College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Shelby (population 21,918) is just a short distance from Boiling Springs and is named after Colonel Shelby, a hero of the American Revolution Battle of Kings Mountain (1780). The historic courthouse located in downtown Shelby has now been converted to the Earl Scruggs Center. 

Scruggs was originally from the Shelby area and is known as the person that started the three-finger style of banjo playing. He and Lester Flatt together recorded over 50 albums and 75 singles. Their popular song "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" was used at the theme song for the television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. 

Located by the Scruggs Museum is a war memorial, some unusual tree decorations, several murals, and some nice restaurants. 

The House of Flags Museum in Columbus (population 1,060) is the only one of its type in America. There are more than 300 United States, military, state, international, and miscellaneous flags in the museum. It is the only museum in the United States with all 27 U.S. flags on display. The museum is divided into five sections - "Defenders of Freedom," "Birth of a Nation," "The Price of Liberty," "Liberty Cap Flags," and "United States of America." We had a very knowledgeable docent that toured us through the museum. 

Stearns Park is located across the street from the House of Flags Museum and contains a gazebo, walking/jogging trail, and several monuments. 

The 20-foot tall Howard Monument obelisk commemorates the 1776 Battle of Round Mountain, which was just northwest of town. In 2007, the monument was disassembled at the battlefield and relocated to Sterns Park to protect it from vandalism. 

Pearson's Falls and Glen is located along Colt Creek, just west of Tryon. The falls and 268-acres of land are owned by the Tryon Garden Club in order to preserve the unique mountain glen. 

In addition to the plants, the glen is a wildlife and bird sanctuary. College and university students frequently hold field trips to this area to study the botany and biology of the plants, animals, and birds found in the canyon. A brochure states that the glen contains over 200 species of rare flowers and plants, along with various types of ferns, mosses, lichens, shrubs, and trees.  

From the trailhead, it is an easy hike to the falls along a beautiful trail that generally parallels the creek. Pearson's Falls is 90-foot tall. 

On May 21, 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrived in the Cherokee Indian village of Xuala, where he was able to trade for supplies. Centuries later, the village of Xuala became what is now known as the community of Tryon (population 1,562). Tyron is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains escarpment, an area known for its outdoor pursuits, equestrian activity, and fine arts.

In the early 1900's, Tryon became a resort for wealthy northerners that came here in the winter months to ride horses and play golf. The Tryon Riding and Hunt Club was formed in 1925 and the club started a Horse Show and Steeplechase in 1929 and 1934, respectively. At its heyday, in 2010, the Horse Show was so popular that schools closed and many businesses closed in the afternoons. 

In 2014, the $100 million Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) opened on 1400-acres of land just outside of town and features 10 riding arenas with a 6,000-seat stadium, 1,000 permanent stalls, elevated viewing decks, hotel, sports complex with health club, tennis courts, mountain bike park, climbing walls, basketball courts, and swimming pools. In 2016, TIEC hosted the World Equestrian Games.

"Morris," the town symbol, is a large version of toys made by Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers. Since 1928, Morris (rebuilt and replaced several times) has served as a billboard during the annual Tryon Horse Show and Block House Steeplechase Races. 

There is a statue of Nina Simone just south of Morris. Nina was a world-famous musician that was born in Tryon in 1933 and had a lengthy list of accomplishments.  

Located in the same park is one of the original boundary markers used in the 1767 Cherokee Boundary Treaty to divide the Native American lands from the European settlements.

 

I liked the movie theater billboard!