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Published: February 8th 2023
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Brunswick GA – Columbia SC
Sesquicentennial State Park
Day 44-45
We were very sad to leave Brunswick GA, as once again we had to say good bye to Mark & Karen.
Who knew that at our first stop on the Great Loop when, Karen asked us to join them and a bunch of other loopers for lunch, we would become such great friends. Over 2000 miles, a month of travel, countless laughs and smiles it is time to part ways, it is not goodbye, but till we meet again.
As Mark and Karen head south we are making our way north. Sesquicentennial State Park is in Columbia SC. This is one of two stops on our way to Raleigh NC to spend a weekend with Zach & Rebecca. It is another beautiful state park, with large wooded camp sites. The park is very popular with mountain bikers, with miles of trails with several of them running from top to bottom of the mountain.
One of the things listed to do in the area was to visit the Army Basic Combat Training Museum at Fort Jackson. Fort Jackson
is 15 minutes from the park. I called Fort Jackson to confirm that we were allowed on base to visit the museum, and we headed there.
To get on the base, we had to stop at the Visitor Control Center where we had to provide our driver’s license and SS#. We also had to consent to a criminal background check through NCIC. Part of the process was to tell them why we wanted to get on the base. The whole process took about 20 minutes.
We (mainly me) were extremely disappointed when we arrived at the museum. On the front door was a notice that the museum was closed until further notice due to a water leak. Looking in the door it looked like it has been closed for some time. What bothered me most was that we had spoken to three people explaining that we wanted to go to the museum. You would think if you are entering a secure base to visit a museum, that the people doing the security checks would know that it was closed.
One thing that surprised me was the overall condition
of the base. My memories of Fort Knox, where I did basic training was the entire base was spotless, as is Annapolis Naval Academy. Fort Jackson looked more like any other city you would see.
After leaving Fort Jackson we headed back to the campground to go bike riding. As soon as I got my bike out, I saw there was a problem; my rear tire was flat, not just low on air but totally flat. If you remember we had a rear tire go flat on one of our E-bikes on the loop, and they are not so easy to fix.
I was able to inflate the tire and it held air long enough for us to do a 4 mile trail ride. At one point we were on a downhill trail that started to get very steep and very bumpy. While it looked like it would be a fun and crazy ride down the rest of it, neither one of us wanted to try it. If we had I am sure it would have ended up with an ambulance ride for one or both of use. We turned around and headed back up the mountain. One of the big advantages of electric bikes, it turn what would have been an extremely challenging ride up the hill, into a moderately difficult ride. It was a great ride, and I can see why people come here to ride. You could spend days exploring all of the trails.
Our next stop is Carowinds Camp Wilderness in Charlotte to visit friends.
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