May 28, 2025 • 18 mins
Tucked away in the northwest corner of South Carolina, Oconee County reveals itself as an undiscovered treasure where natural beauty intertwines with captivating history. As I wandered through this Blue Ridge Mountain paradise, I uncovered the poignant legend of Issaquena, a brave Choctaw maiden who risked everything for love, leaving her name on what is now a magnificent 200-foot waterfall – just one of over 300 cascades dotting the county's landscape.
My journey took me to Patriots Hall in Walhalla, where the sobering story of Staff Sergeant Lewis "Slim" Watkins unfolded. This local hero posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor after sacrificing his life to shield fellow Marines from a grenade during the Korean War. His medal rests there today, a testament to extraordinary courage in the face of certain death.
Perhaps nothing captures Oconee's quirky character better than Stumphouse Tunnel – an ambitious 1850s railroad project abandoned after consuming over a million dollars, only to find new purpose a century later as Clemson University's unexpected blue cheese aging facility. This "tunnel to nowhere" now welcomes visitors curious about its unusual history.
The county's spirit runs deep – quite literally – at Chattooga Bell Farm Distillery, where passionate master distiller Ben Wesley crafts exceptional rums and whiskeys from fruit grown steps away from the stills. Similarly, Two Horse Distillery, founded by former rodeo champions, honors their western legacy through carefully crafted spirits using mountain spring water.
With four stunning lakes spanning thousands of acres, miles of hiking trails through ancient forests, and Class 3 and 4 rapids on the Chattooga River (yes, from the movie "Deliverance"), outdoor enthusiasts find endless adventure possibilities. Yet what struck me most was how every corner of Oconee County tells a story – Cherokee names etched on roadways, German churches standing since the 1850s, and prohibition-era moonshine caves hidden among the hills.
Experience this remarkable destination where, as I discovered, "the US has stories everywhere – you just have to look where the tour buses don't bother going." Share your own Oconee adventures or discoveries from your travels by visiting thetravelingfool.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where
we explore the most intriguingaspects of travel, culture and
history.
I'm your host, bob Bales, andtoday I'm taking you to a place
where we uncover the legends andmyths behind a Choctaw maiden
Medal of Honor, valor and atunnel to nowhere.
(00:20):
So stay tuned and we'll beright back.
Hi and welcome back to theTraveling Fool.
Issaquena, whose name likelycomes from the Choctaw wordi
(00:44):
Okhina, which means Deer Creek,was a young Native American
woman living in what is nowPickens County, south Carolina.
You know, most versions of thelegend say that Isi Quina fell
in love with a white settler butlearned that her tribe was
planning a surprise attack onthe white encampment.
In an attempt to warn thesettlers, issaquena set out on
(01:07):
horseback, naming the landmarkshe passed for the distance she
had traveled.
Issaquena successfully warnedthe settlers, but when the tribe
learned of her betrayal, theyswore to hunt her down.
So they chased her to what isnow Issaquena Falls, where she
pretended to plunge to her deathand actually hit on a ledge
(01:29):
under the fall.
Assuming she had died, hertribe gave up the hunt and
Issaquena lived out the rest ofher days.
Well, today, that 200-footfalls is one of over 300
recorded waterfalls in OconeeCounty, south Carolina.
The county also has four largelakes, four state parks and
(01:53):
80,000 acres of Sumter NationalForest.
Oconee County is definitely anoutdoor paradise, with fishing,
boating, hiking and more.
It's located in the foothillsof the Blue Ridge Mountains in
South Carolina.
It's got the towns of Seneca,walhalla, westminster, salem,
(02:14):
long Creek, mountain, rest,tomasi, fair Play and a few
others.
None of them are very big townsand the whole total population
of the county is only about80,000.
And I had the opportunity ofvisiting there a few months back
when I went to the SouthernTravelers Explorer Conference.
I actually took a couple ofdays ahead of time just to
wander around on my own andexplore the place.
(02:36):
I found some great places, oneof them Patriots Hall in
Walhalla, formerly known as theOld Rock Building.
It was built in 1933 from blackgranite rock and was removed
from the Stumpp House mountaintunnel, which I'll tell you
about in a minute.
Now that site is the OconeeMilitary Museum.
(02:58):
Louis Watkins, whose name wasSlim, dropped out of high school
to join the Navy during WorldWar II.
Now he survived the war, buthis brother, Frank, did not.
Frank Watkins died oftuberculosis after coming home
from a POW camp in Germany.
After Lewis returned home,there weren't many jobs
available to him, so he decidedto get a GED.
(03:18):
However, in September of 1950,shortly after the Korean War
broke out, he took a leave ofabsence to join the Marine Corps
.
Watkins told his family hewanted to do his part as a staff
sergeant assigned to Company I,3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st
Marine Division, at the Battleof the Hook in action against
(03:41):
enemy aggressor forces duringthe hours of darkness on the
morning of 7 October 1952.
His platoon was assigned themission of retaking an outpost
which had been overrun by theenemy earlier in the night.
Staff Sergeant Watkinsskillfully led his unit in the
assault up the designated hill,although painfully wounded.
(04:03):
When a well-entrenched hostileforce at the crest of the hill
engaged the platoon with intensesmall arms fire and grenade
fire.
He continued to lead his men,obtaining an automatic rifle
from one of the wounded men.
He assisted in pinning down anenemy machine gun, holding up
the assault.
When an enemy grenade landedamong Sergeant Watkins and
(04:26):
several other Marines, heimmediately pushed his
companions aside and placedhimself in a position to shield
them, picked up the deadlygrenade and, in an attempt to
throw it, mortally wounded whenthe grenade exploded in his hand
.
Staff Sergeant Watkins, by hisgreat personal valor in the face
(04:46):
of almost certain death, savedthe lives of several of his
comrades and contributedmaterially to the success of the
mission.
For this he was awarded theCongressional Medal of Honor.
Now, that actual medal waspresented to his parents, but it
is on display at the museum andhis brother, frank, is also
(05:11):
honored at the museum.
And it's a great little museum.
It's a two-story museum.
It tells not only about theheroics of Staff Sergeant
Watkins, but other militarymembers of the Navy is there as
well.
If you ever get a chance, takesome time and visit it.
You won't be disappointed.
There's also a couple othermuseums on that same street,
(05:34):
right nearby the Oconee CountyHistory Museum, which tells the
entire history of Oconee County,and the Museum of the Cherokee.
They're all located right theretogether in Walhalla.
Now we were talking about StumppHouse Tunnel a second ago.
Well, construction on StumppHouse Tunnel began in the 1850s.
(05:56):
It was intended to be arailroad tunnel that would serve
as a connector betweenCharleston, south Carolina and
the Midwest.
By 1859, the state of SouthCarolina had spent over a
million dollars on the tunneland they just flat refused to
spend any more on the projectand the tunnel was abandoned.
(06:17):
And, of course, about that timethe Civil War happened.
Nothing was going on with thedigging of the tunnel.
After the war there wereseveral efforts to restart the
1,600-foot tunnel, but they allfailed and the tunnel was just
abandoned.
Beginning in the 1950s,stumppel's tunnel was used by
(06:41):
Clemson University, which isvery nearby, to grow blue cheese
.
They found the tunnel to be theperfect temperature, so they
would grow it, store it in thetunnel, and they did that until
the 1970s.
In the 1970s the blue cheeseoperation was relocated to an
air-conditioned cheese ripeningroom on the grounds of Clemson
University, so the tunnel wasabandoned again.
(07:03):
Well, today it's operated by thenearby town of Walhalla and
it's a tourist attraction.
You can wander around insidethe tunnel, the tunnel that was
built and went nowhere.
Right outside the tunnelthere's a park located on the
stream there, great forpicnicking and all kinds of good
stuff.
You know Oconee is rich inhistory.
(07:25):
Oconee Station was built in1792 as one in a series of
militia blockhouses along theSouth Carolina frontier.
The town named Oconee Stationat the time was along the
Cherokee trading path, so it'sone of the oldest locations in
(07:47):
Oconee County.
Now Oconee Station stays ahistoric site.
Like I said, it was establishedas a military compound in 1792
during tensions between whitesettlers and Creek Indians.
It served as a small frontierpost until about 1799.
The William Richards House wasbuilt nearby in 1805.
(08:08):
The house was a privateresidence and trading post for
many years.
Now.
Those two buildings are theonly ones that are still
standing.
But if you visit OconeeStation's state historic site,
it's possible to tour inside thebuildings on Saturdays and
Sundays.
It's possible to tour insidethe buildings on Saturdays and
Sundays and there are hikingtrails and waterfalls and all
kinds of stuff there at thestate historic site.
(08:29):
I toured it.
Well, I didn't tour it.
I went there right as it openedearly in the morning.
There was nobody around, so Ijust walked around and took some
photos and looked at the place.
Unfortunately, they weren'topen to go inside the buildings
when I was there.
Another place I visited while Iwas in Oconee Chattuga Bell
Farms and Distillery.
(08:51):
You heard that distillery.
You know I was interested.
Well, chattuga Bell Farm is a200-acre working farm distillery
and event barn located in LongCreek, south Carolina.
Bell's Bistro is located thereand you can have a drink at the
(09:14):
distillery there, you can shopat a general store that they
have, play disc golf and evenpick your own fruit.
During the 1960s, long Creekwas the largest apple-producing
area east of the MississippiRiver.
Long Creek is also home to theChattooga River, the first river
in the southwest to bedesignated wild and scenic by
Congress.
Now the farm grows the fruit.
(09:35):
They also ferment it, distillit, bottle it, label it and sell
it all right there at ChattoogaBell Farm Distillery, and the
distillery's open for tours andtastings.
The Chattooga Bell FarmDistillery is, or was, I guess,
the first legal distillery inOconee County, south Carolina.
(09:55):
When I went there I met themaster distiller, ben Wesley,
who got his start by learningthe craft working there and he
worked his way up.
He's now the master distiller.
That man is passionate aboutproducing some great spirits,
rums, brandies and whiskeys allgrown from the fruit right there
on the farm.
They use all and he's alwaysexperimenting, coming up with
(10:18):
stuff.
I tasted quite a bit the day Iwas there.
He was like try this one out.
Yeah, sure, and it was allreally good.
I brought a couple of bottleshome with me.
Another distillery you mightwant to visit is located in
Seneca, called Two HorseDistillery.
It was founded by Brian andTony Massey, two former rodeo
(10:43):
stars on the rodeo circuit Now.
Brian Massey spent over adecade competing on the rodeo
circuit and he's won all kindsof world championships, earning
a reputation as one of thetoughest competitors in the
sport.
Now Tony was successful in herown right.
She was a barrel racer andearned multiple awards and
titles across the region.
Well, after retiring from therodeo circuit, brian had various
(11:05):
successful ventures and wantedto create something you know,
kind of honor their legacy inthe rugged spirit of the West.
So he decided to establish TwoHorse Distillery.
Now Two Horse Distillery, like Isaid, is in Seneca.
The location is a restaurant,bar and distillery all under one
roof.
They have a real large bar andseating, with additional seating
(11:29):
on the second level, and thedistillery is located in the
back room behind the bar.
They use locally sourced grainsand pure mountain spring water,
ensuring that every bottlereflects a unique character of
those Blue Ridge Mountains.
The distillery's name Two Horseis a nod to their rodeo days
and the spirit of the West, andhe's got a few of his rodeo belt
(11:51):
buckles there on display aswell, with their whiskey,
bourbon, vodka and gin.
They offer up some really goodcraft cocktails along with some
really good food.
Brian gave me a tour of theplace, told me how they got
started and what they were doingwith it.
They had just opened, not toolong before I got there, and
(12:11):
they were moving the distilleryactually to that location.
Up until then he had somebodydistilling the spirits for him
at a different location usinghis recipe, but they were moving
all the product and everythingthere so they were going to
start actually doing thedistilling on site and bottling
(12:32):
it right there.
I can tell you they're off to agreat start and the whiskey it
was really good.
You know I said earlier OconeeCounty is an outdoor lover's
dream.
Well, they have Lake Jocassee.
That thing spans 7,500 acresand it was made when Duke Power
damned up the valley forhydropower.
It swallowed up farms, homesand the whole town of Jocassee
(12:53):
Valley Under 300 feet of water.
In fact, divers have saidthere's a church steeple and old
bridge piling still down therefrom when the town was there.
There's a church steeple andold bridge piling still down
there from when the town wasthere.
They have Lake Keowee, 18,000acres and 300 miles of shoreline
, which is popular for fishing,water, skiing, swimming, camping
, picnicking, you name it.
(13:14):
They also have Lake Hartwell,which is in Fairplay.
The lake borders Georgia andSouth Carolina.
It covers 56,000 acres and over950 miles of shoreline.
And there's also Lake Togalo inLong Creek or Tugalo, I don't
know how you pronounce it.
It's in Long Creek and it'spopular for fishing and boating,
(13:37):
all kinds of outdoor stuffthere.
As far as dining goes, man, theyhad some good food there and I
tried out a lot of differentplaces.
I like to go to these locallyowned places instead of chain
restaurants and stuff when Itravel, and places like the
Lighthouse on Lake Kiowee orTraditions on the Lake.
(13:59):
Those are two really goodplaces to eat there.
Two Rivers Public House inSeneca is another good one,
vangelis Bistro, strickland's,demas Brothers All really good
places to eat, along with somereally cool coffee shops and
just a whole lot of other places.
You know they have hiking allover the place in Oconee County
(14:22):
as well.
Chow Ram County Park nearWestminster's got a 40-foot
waterfall, a two-mile trail withsuspension bridges and a
campground by the Chowga River.
Oconee State Park is where the77-mile Foothills Trail starts.
You can try the two-mile laketrail to a swimming hole, the
(14:44):
four-mile Hidden Falls hike orthe six-mile Raven Rock Loop.
Chattooga River offers Class 3and 4 whitewater rafting.
You can book with Wild WaterRafting out of Long Creek, south
Carolina or SoutheasternExpeditions.
They call it the DeliveranceStretch because that's where
(15:05):
they filmed that part of themovie.
They have top-notch fishingthere as well.
Keowee's got largemouth andspotted bass, hartwell's loaded
with crappie and catfish.
Devil's Fork State Park rentsall kinds of fishing gear.
And don't forget you got SumterNational Forest there that you
can explore those 80,000 acres.
You know one thing I didn'texpect going into South Carolina
(15:28):
.
I had never been that part ofthe country, I'd never been up
in the northern part of SouthCarolina and this is in the far
northwest corner of the state.
But it was just how much thepast just kept showing up
everywhere I looked.
You know Cherokee names onroadsides, german churches from
the 1850s got moonshine cavesfrom the 20s dotting up in the
(15:52):
hills and the mountains.
There they have a tunnel thatdoesn't go anywhere.
I mean it's like every piece oftime left a footprint and it
makes you realize that the UShas stories everywhere.
You just have to look where thetour buses don't bother going,
and Oconee is proof of that.
They have a lot of great placesto visit, a lot of great
(16:13):
stories, and it's not really offthe beaten path but it's pretty
close.
I mean, there's a lot of peoplefiguring out that Oconee County
is the place to go visit foroutdoor activities, but it's not
overcrowded yet.
I don't know how long that willlast, but hopefully it lasts
for quite a while, becauseeverybody was friendly,
everybody was helpful.
(16:34):
I never met anybody there thatwhen I asked them a question
they just weren't.
Oh yes, sir, let me tell youwhat to do here.
Whether I was asking fordirections somewhere or asking
for something to do or a goodplace to eat or whatever, they
were all just friendly as allget out, and it was just a lot
of things to see and do there.
I had an absolute blast.
(16:55):
I wish I could have stayedthere longer, but that's Oconee
County, South Carolina, for you.
Now, if this got you thinkingabout a trip of your own, well,
head to thetravelingfoolcom andcheck out some of the places
I've been and some of thereviews I've done.
Leave a review on this podcastor tell me about a place I
missed in Oconee County.
(17:15):
That's your favorite.
I might use it next time orbring it up in a future podcast.
Until then, I wish you safetravels.
Thank you, you.
Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where
we explore the most intriguingaspects of travel, culture and
history.
I'm your host, bob Bales, andtoday I'm taking you to a place
where we uncover the legends andmyths behind a Choctaw maiden
Medal of Honor, valor and atunnel to nowhere.
(00:20):
So stay tuned and we'll beright back.
Hi and welcome back to theTraveling Fool.
Issaquena, whose name likelycomes from the Choctaw wordi
(00:44):
Okhina, which means Deer Creek,was a young Native American
woman living in what is nowPickens County, south Carolina.
You know, most versions of thelegend say that Isi Quina fell
in love with a white settler butlearned that her tribe was
planning a surprise attack onthe white encampment.
In an attempt to warn thesettlers, issaquena set out on
(01:07):
horseback, naming the landmarkshe passed for the distance she
had traveled.
Issaquena successfully warnedthe settlers, but when the tribe
learned of her betrayal, theyswore to hunt her down.
So they chased her to what isnow Issaquena Falls, where she
pretended to plunge to her deathand actually hit on a ledge
(01:29):
under the fall.
Assuming she had died, hertribe gave up the hunt and
Issaquena lived out the rest ofher days.
Well, today, that 200-footfalls is one of over 300
recorded waterfalls in OconeeCounty, south Carolina.
The county also has four largelakes, four state parks and
(01:53):
80,000 acres of Sumter NationalForest.
Oconee County is definitely anoutdoor paradise, with fishing,
boating, hiking and more.
It's located in the foothillsof the Blue Ridge Mountains in
South Carolina.
It's got the towns of Seneca,walhalla, westminster, salem,
(02:14):
long Creek, mountain, rest,tomasi, fair Play and a few
others.
None of them are very big townsand the whole total population
of the county is only about80,000.
And I had the opportunity ofvisiting there a few months back
when I went to the SouthernTravelers Explorer Conference.
I actually took a couple ofdays ahead of time just to
wander around on my own andexplore the place.
(02:36):
I found some great places, oneof them Patriots Hall in
Walhalla, formerly known as theOld Rock Building.
It was built in 1933 from blackgranite rock and was removed
from the Stumpp House mountaintunnel, which I'll tell you
about in a minute.
Now that site is the OconeeMilitary Museum.
(02:58):
Louis Watkins, whose name wasSlim, dropped out of high school
to join the Navy during WorldWar II.
Now he survived the war, buthis brother, Frank, did not.
Frank Watkins died oftuberculosis after coming home
from a POW camp in Germany.
After Lewis returned home,there weren't many jobs
available to him, so he decidedto get a GED.
(03:18):
However, in September of 1950,shortly after the Korean War
broke out, he took a leave ofabsence to join the Marine Corps
.
Watkins told his family hewanted to do his part as a staff
sergeant assigned to Company I,3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st
Marine Division, at the Battleof the Hook in action against
(03:41):
enemy aggressor forces duringthe hours of darkness on the
morning of 7 October 1952.
His platoon was assigned themission of retaking an outpost
which had been overrun by theenemy earlier in the night.
Staff Sergeant Watkinsskillfully led his unit in the
assault up the designated hill,although painfully wounded.
(04:03):
When a well-entrenched hostileforce at the crest of the hill
engaged the platoon with intensesmall arms fire and grenade
fire.
He continued to lead his men,obtaining an automatic rifle
from one of the wounded men.
He assisted in pinning down anenemy machine gun, holding up
the assault.
When an enemy grenade landedamong Sergeant Watkins and
(04:26):
several other Marines, heimmediately pushed his
companions aside and placedhimself in a position to shield
them, picked up the deadlygrenade and, in an attempt to
throw it, mortally wounded whenthe grenade exploded in his hand
.
Staff Sergeant Watkins, by hisgreat personal valor in the face
(04:46):
of almost certain death, savedthe lives of several of his
comrades and contributedmaterially to the success of the
mission.
For this he was awarded theCongressional Medal of Honor.
Now, that actual medal waspresented to his parents, but it
is on display at the museum andhis brother, frank, is also
(05:11):
honored at the museum.
And it's a great little museum.
It's a two-story museum.
It tells not only about theheroics of Staff Sergeant
Watkins, but other militarymembers of the Navy is there as
well.
If you ever get a chance, takesome time and visit it.
You won't be disappointed.
There's also a couple othermuseums on that same street,
(05:34):
right nearby the Oconee CountyHistory Museum, which tells the
entire history of Oconee County,and the Museum of the Cherokee.
They're all located right theretogether in Walhalla.
Now we were talking about StumppHouse Tunnel a second ago.
Well, construction on StumppHouse Tunnel began in the 1850s.
(05:56):
It was intended to be arailroad tunnel that would serve
as a connector betweenCharleston, south Carolina and
the Midwest.
By 1859, the state of SouthCarolina had spent over a
million dollars on the tunneland they just flat refused to
spend any more on the projectand the tunnel was abandoned.
(06:17):
And, of course, about that timethe Civil War happened.
Nothing was going on with thedigging of the tunnel.
After the war there wereseveral efforts to restart the
1,600-foot tunnel, but they allfailed and the tunnel was just
abandoned.
Beginning in the 1950s,stumppel's tunnel was used by
(06:41):
Clemson University, which isvery nearby, to grow blue cheese
.
They found the tunnel to be theperfect temperature, so they
would grow it, store it in thetunnel, and they did that until
the 1970s.
In the 1970s the blue cheeseoperation was relocated to an
air-conditioned cheese ripeningroom on the grounds of Clemson
University, so the tunnel wasabandoned again.
(07:03):
Well, today it's operated by thenearby town of Walhalla and
it's a tourist attraction.
You can wander around insidethe tunnel, the tunnel that was
built and went nowhere.
Right outside the tunnelthere's a park located on the
stream there, great forpicnicking and all kinds of good
stuff.
You know Oconee is rich inhistory.
(07:25):
Oconee Station was built in1792 as one in a series of
militia blockhouses along theSouth Carolina frontier.
The town named Oconee Stationat the time was along the
Cherokee trading path, so it'sone of the oldest locations in
(07:47):
Oconee County.
Now Oconee Station stays ahistoric site.
Like I said, it was establishedas a military compound in 1792
during tensions between whitesettlers and Creek Indians.
It served as a small frontierpost until about 1799.
The William Richards House wasbuilt nearby in 1805.
(08:08):
The house was a privateresidence and trading post for
many years.
Now.
Those two buildings are theonly ones that are still
standing.
But if you visit OconeeStation's state historic site,
it's possible to tour inside thebuildings on Saturdays and
Sundays.
It's possible to tour insidethe buildings on Saturdays and
Sundays and there are hikingtrails and waterfalls and all
kinds of stuff there at thestate historic site.
(08:29):
I toured it.
Well, I didn't tour it.
I went there right as it openedearly in the morning.
There was nobody around, so Ijust walked around and took some
photos and looked at the place.
Unfortunately, they weren'topen to go inside the buildings
when I was there.
Another place I visited while Iwas in Oconee Chattuga Bell
Farms and Distillery.
(08:51):
You heard that distillery.
You know I was interested.
Well, chattuga Bell Farm is a200-acre working farm distillery
and event barn located in LongCreek, south Carolina.
Bell's Bistro is located thereand you can have a drink at the
(09:14):
distillery there, you can shopat a general store that they
have, play disc golf and evenpick your own fruit.
During the 1960s, long Creekwas the largest apple-producing
area east of the MississippiRiver.
Long Creek is also home to theChattooga River, the first river
in the southwest to bedesignated wild and scenic by
Congress.
Now the farm grows the fruit.
(09:35):
They also ferment it, distillit, bottle it, label it and sell
it all right there at ChattoogaBell Farm Distillery, and the
distillery's open for tours andtastings.
The Chattooga Bell FarmDistillery is, or was, I guess,
the first legal distillery inOconee County, south Carolina.
(09:55):
When I went there I met themaster distiller, ben Wesley,
who got his start by learningthe craft working there and he
worked his way up.
He's now the master distiller.
That man is passionate aboutproducing some great spirits,
rums, brandies and whiskeys allgrown from the fruit right there
on the farm.
They use all and he's alwaysexperimenting, coming up with
(10:18):
stuff.
I tasted quite a bit the day Iwas there.
He was like try this one out.
Yeah, sure, and it was allreally good.
I brought a couple of bottleshome with me.
Another distillery you mightwant to visit is located in
Seneca, called Two HorseDistillery.
It was founded by Brian andTony Massey, two former rodeo
(10:43):
stars on the rodeo circuit Now.
Brian Massey spent over adecade competing on the rodeo
circuit and he's won all kindsof world championships, earning
a reputation as one of thetoughest competitors in the
sport.
Now Tony was successful in herown right.
She was a barrel racer andearned multiple awards and
titles across the region.
Well, after retiring from therodeo circuit, brian had various
(11:05):
successful ventures and wantedto create something you know,
kind of honor their legacy inthe rugged spirit of the West.
So he decided to establish TwoHorse Distillery.
Now Two Horse Distillery, like Isaid, is in Seneca.
The location is a restaurant,bar and distillery all under one
roof.
They have a real large bar andseating, with additional seating
(11:29):
on the second level, and thedistillery is located in the
back room behind the bar.
They use locally sourced grainsand pure mountain spring water,
ensuring that every bottlereflects a unique character of
those Blue Ridge Mountains.
The distillery's name Two Horseis a nod to their rodeo days
and the spirit of the West, andhe's got a few of his rodeo belt
(11:51):
buckles there on display aswell, with their whiskey,
bourbon, vodka and gin.
They offer up some really goodcraft cocktails along with some
really good food.
Brian gave me a tour of theplace, told me how they got
started and what they were doingwith it.
They had just opened, not toolong before I got there, and
(12:11):
they were moving the distilleryactually to that location.
Up until then he had somebodydistilling the spirits for him
at a different location usinghis recipe, but they were moving
all the product and everythingthere so they were going to
start actually doing thedistilling on site and bottling
(12:32):
it right there.
I can tell you they're off to agreat start and the whiskey it
was really good.
You know I said earlier OconeeCounty is an outdoor lover's
dream.
Well, they have Lake Jocassee.
That thing spans 7,500 acresand it was made when Duke Power
damned up the valley forhydropower.
It swallowed up farms, homesand the whole town of Jocassee
(12:53):
Valley Under 300 feet of water.
In fact, divers have saidthere's a church steeple and old
bridge piling still down therefrom when the town was there.
There's a church steeple andold bridge piling still down
there from when the town wasthere.
They have Lake Keowee, 18,000acres and 300 miles of shoreline
, which is popular for fishing,water, skiing, swimming, camping
, picnicking, you name it.
(13:14):
They also have Lake Hartwell,which is in Fairplay.
The lake borders Georgia andSouth Carolina.
It covers 56,000 acres and over950 miles of shoreline.
And there's also Lake Togalo inLong Creek or Tugalo, I don't
know how you pronounce it.
It's in Long Creek and it'spopular for fishing and boating,
(13:37):
all kinds of outdoor stuffthere.
As far as dining goes, man, theyhad some good food there and I
tried out a lot of differentplaces.
I like to go to these locallyowned places instead of chain
restaurants and stuff when Itravel, and places like the
Lighthouse on Lake Kiowee orTraditions on the Lake.
(13:59):
Those are two really goodplaces to eat there.
Two Rivers Public House inSeneca is another good one,
vangelis Bistro, strickland's,demas Brothers All really good
places to eat, along with somereally cool coffee shops and
just a whole lot of other places.
You know they have hiking allover the place in Oconee County
(14:22):
as well.
Chow Ram County Park nearWestminster's got a 40-foot
waterfall, a two-mile trail withsuspension bridges and a
campground by the Chowga River.
Oconee State Park is where the77-mile Foothills Trail starts.
You can try the two-mile laketrail to a swimming hole, the
(14:44):
four-mile Hidden Falls hike orthe six-mile Raven Rock Loop.
Chattooga River offers Class 3and 4 whitewater rafting.
You can book with Wild WaterRafting out of Long Creek, south
Carolina or SoutheasternExpeditions.
They call it the DeliveranceStretch because that's where
(15:05):
they filmed that part of themovie.
They have top-notch fishingthere as well.
Keowee's got largemouth andspotted bass, hartwell's loaded
with crappie and catfish.
Devil's Fork State Park rentsall kinds of fishing gear.
And don't forget you got SumterNational Forest there that you
can explore those 80,000 acres.
You know one thing I didn'texpect going into South Carolina
(15:28):
.
I had never been that part ofthe country, I'd never been up
in the northern part of SouthCarolina and this is in the far
northwest corner of the state.
But it was just how much thepast just kept showing up
everywhere I looked.
You know Cherokee names onroadsides, german churches from
the 1850s got moonshine cavesfrom the 20s dotting up in the
(15:52):
hills and the mountains.
There they have a tunnel thatdoesn't go anywhere.
I mean it's like every piece oftime left a footprint and it
makes you realize that the UShas stories everywhere.
You just have to look where thetour buses don't bother going,
and Oconee is proof of that.
They have a lot of great placesto visit, a lot of great
(16:13):
stories, and it's not really offthe beaten path but it's pretty
close.
I mean, there's a lot of peoplefiguring out that Oconee County
is the place to go visit foroutdoor activities, but it's not
overcrowded yet.
I don't know how long that willlast, but hopefully it lasts
for quite a while, becauseeverybody was friendly,
everybody was helpful.
(16:34):
I never met anybody there thatwhen I asked them a question
they just weren't.
Oh yes, sir, let me tell youwhat to do here.
Whether I was asking fordirections somewhere or asking
for something to do or a goodplace to eat or whatever, they
were all just friendly as allget out, and it was just a lot
of things to see and do there.
I had an absolute blast.
(16:55):
I wish I could have stayedthere longer, but that's Oconee
County, South Carolina, for you.
Now, if this got you thinkingabout a trip of your own, well,
head to thetravelingfoolcom andcheck out some of the places
I've been and some of thereviews I've done.
Leave a review on this podcastor tell me about a place I
missed in Oconee County.
(17:15):
That's your favorite.
I might use it next time orbring it up in a future podcast.
Until then, I wish you safetravels.
Thank you, you.
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