There is nothing better than a good road trip: driving down the open road, eating at tiny roadside diners, going 150 miles out of the way to take a selfie in front of … the Peachoid water tower! Oh Say, can you see … me with the world’s largest frying pan?
This geotrail honors those unique, odd, bizarre, fun, historic, campy, weird, and just downright interesting roadside attractions in North and South Carolina. The caches aren’t meant to be hard, it is a power-trail after all. None of the caches are hidden at the posted locations - but answer the question correctly and you will have a working set of coordinates. All of the hides are preform bottles.
Fort Moultrie was still under construction - using mostly slave labor - when it repelled the June 28, 1776 attack by Clinton’s British fleet during the Revolutionary War. The citadel was built from an abundant South Carolina material, palmetto trees. The fibrous material that comprises the palmetto’s long, trunk-like stem allows the trees to survive the conditions on maritime sand, to bend without breaking, or being uprooted. This same trait allowed the fort to absorb British canon fire. When the British moved in closer to continue firing at the fort, their ships ran aground on sandbars, rendering them vulnerable and securing a victory for the Patriots.
Following this decisive defeat of the British, the garrison was renamed Fort Moultrie for the battle’s hero. Moultrie honored the battle by placing a crescent gorget (taken from an emblem on his troops caps) on a field of blue (dyed the color of his troops uniforms) on the state flag he designed. The palmetto tree was added in 1860 to commemorate the role the tree played in the fort’s construction.
Fort Moultrie was rebuilt in 1798 and again in 1809. Well-known Americans stationed at the fort during the first half of the nineteenth century include Edgar Allan Poe, who’s story The Gold Bug was inspired by the Fort. Poe was stationed at Moultrie from November 1827 through December 1828. William Tecumseh Sherman, worked at the Fort from 1842 through 1843 and again from 1844 to 1845.
In 1860, Major Robert Anderson was headquartered at the fort, but forced to evacuate to Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War. Confederate forces moved into the Fort Moultrie and Major Anderson and his men surrendered Fort Sumter. The US Army used the fort as a costal defense through 1947. Today it is maintained by the National Park Service in conjunction with Fort Sumter.
N 34 27.ABC W 79 13.926
Where is this historic South Carolina and American treasure?
A. Greenville, SC - 196
B. Spartanburg, SC - 838
C. Myrtle Beach, SC - 529
D. Sullivan's Island, SC - 957