Day 2: Travelers Rest or Bust

Needless to say, our second day got off to a much better start. Everything that we did wrong yesterday (except for the toiletries bag), we did right today.

A quick note about Traveler's Rest. Just judging by the name, I thought it was like a smaller version of South of the Border. Just a little tourist destination with a Stuckey's and a collection of gift shops at the end of the trail. Boy was I wrong.

We rode down to the park, took the ramps down (mostly), and and ventured off in the correct direction. Which included going past the amazing falls and taking them in once again. Perfect way to start a long bike ride.

It's a great ride and much better than the other end. There's lots of shade as the trail heads off through plenty of wooded areas. I really like how they maintained the railroad theme. There are still some working tracks along the way, so you still see plenty of trains. Plus, there's a few cars that they've set up along the way for visual appeal. There's a few rest stops, called Depots, with water, tools for bike repair, and air pumps. It's the most biker friendly trail we've done so far.

We finally made it to Furman this time (and found out that we were really close yesterday) and took a brief detour to check out the campus. It is absolutely beautiful! There's a big lake with ducks and swans, and the bell tower sits out on a little peninsula. There's even a bench swing and a gazebo where you can sit and relax.

It actually wasn't long after we left Furman that we reached Traveler's Rest. Much to my surprise, it's the name of the actual town. And very quaint, too. Lots of little shops and cafes. Pure Americana.

We immediately spotted where we wanted to stop for lunch. Right on the trail is the Whistle Stop Cafe. The first thing we noticed was the end of the building that looked like a caboose.

We kept going to the very end of the trail, which takes you past a graveyard (hope that isn't prophetic) before it dead ends in the woods. We heard a rooster crow (second one on our ride) as stopped to grab a picture by the sign.

We were definitely ready for lunch when we made it back to the Whistle Stop. Lots of train memorabilia inside, complete with a model train that runs over your heads. We opted to eat on the rooftop patio, since there was no wait up there and a good breeze.

While we were were ordering, we read about the history of the place. It first opened in the 40s and was called the American Cafe. But after the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) was filmed there (the original Whistle Stop is in Alabama), they changed the name. And yes, they do serve fried green tomatoes.

Since the trail to Traveler's Rest is mostly on a very, very slight uphill grade, we made amazing time coming back. Easily cut off a good half hour. Makes for a great return trip.

Once we made it back to the hotel, it was time to load the bikes back up and head back home. Despite the rocky start, this has easily become one of our favorite trails. We will definitely be back!

Update 5/28: We did already! This time we took our friend, Debi, and felt like old pros!

Day 1: Trail of the Swamp Rabbit

Over the past year, Marsha and I have really gotten into biking for exercise. Not to the point where we wear all the getup, but where we like to do it whenever we can. Technically, it's been building for a while, but now we've finally invested in a bike rack and aren't just tooling around the neighborhood. So of course we're mixing biking with travel.

One of the places a friend recommended is the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, SC. Like the Virginia Creeper, it's a former railway (named the Swamp Rabbit because it used to "hop through the swamp") that's been converted into a 20 mile biking/running trail. Unlike the Creeper, it's reasonably flat, which was a pleasant surprise considering how hilly the rest of Greenville is.

We drove down on Saturday morning and immediately got off to a rocky start. As we checked into our hotel, I realized that I had forgotten our toiletries bag. So, we had no toothbrushes, toothpaste, or any of that stuff. I reasoned that it was better than leaving our clothes. And since we were going to spend the whole weekend riding, we didn't really need to get all that spiffed up. We could just pop by a CVS and pick up a few items.

Then we had trouble finding the actual trail. This setback was rather surprising and much more daunting than the missing toiletries bag. The map that the hotel provided was one those illustrated tourist maps that don't actually have much detail. We thought we'd spot it easily, but had to ask for directions. It's actually in a park (Falls Park) and not easily spotted from the road.

The park itself is beautiful: lots of green grass, multi-levels with stairs going down, a river with falls (hence the name, more on that later), and lots of people hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. There were families, college students, couples, and even a group a group of Hare Krishnas who chanted and played the drums.

Even after finding the trail (which involved carrying our bikes down several flights of steps -- we didn't see the ramps until later) into the park below, we still had a hard time figuring out which direction we wanted to go.

We knew we were in the middle. One direction went to the top of the trail at Travelers Rest (which is what we wanted) and the other to the bottom, which includes a nearly two-mile gap through town before you get back on the trail again. There was a big sign, but it didn't point us towards anything we recognized. Finally, we just made our best guess and finally got started.

After a while, we realized we were on the bottom portion and not headed to Traveler's Rest after all. This section took us through neighborhoods and businesses, and eventually along a major road. It was pretty hilly and not very scenic. Mostly, it did not look like a former railway.

Eventually, we made it to the sort-of-end, where there's a two mile gap between where the trail picks up again. Marsha the completionist wanted to find the rest of the trail and ride to the end, but after we went a good distance, which was alongside a major highway, we realized that was stupid and turned back. Eventually, we made it back to the park and attempted to head in the other direction.

Which should have been easy, right? We just followed the trail in the opposite direction and... hit a dead end. Frustration ensued. Again. Back to the park, we discovered that the reverse side of the first sign we had seen listed all of the places we'd been looking for. But it still wasn't obvious on which way to go. Call us stupid.

So, we downloaded a trail map and eventually figured it out. There was a tiny sign (that we'd obviously missed) which pointed out the other direction of the trail. It kind of went back in the same direction, but on the other side of the river. Furthermore, it was really more of a sidewalk that goes past hotels, restaurants, and other businesses, so it doesn't look like a trail at all until you get past the sidewalk portion.

This path also takes you past the actual falls, which are amazing! There's all sorts of levels, you have the river rushing by, a circular bridge that goes over the river. We were spellbound just taking it all in. Certainly made up for all the frustrations we'd experienced over.

From that point on, we were happy bikers! Tired, but happy. This portion of the trail was easy to follow, and a section of it was even padded (with that soft, rubbery stuff they use in playgrounds) for joggers. It was much more scenic and more of what we were expecting. In retrospect, I'm glad we did the other section first, because it would've been more of a letdown if we'd done that last.

It was starting to get late, but we thought we could make it to Furman University (the trail runs alongside it) before turning back. We didn't realize that this portion of the trail is slightly uphill (more on that tomorrow), so after several miles, we were getting tired (our original leg was a good 12 miles) and worried about getting back before dark.

We made it back to Main Street and parked our bikes for a great dinner at The Green Room (frankly, we were just glad to sit down). And the best part was knowing that tomorrow, we'll know exactly how to find the trail and which way to go before we get started.