Spring Things - Summerville YMCA Flowertown Festival and the Spring Showdown

Finally, a really spring like Spring Thing!


While the northeast United States tries to make up it's mind - is it spring? is it winter? is it spring? South Carolina has made up its mind.

Meanwhile this upstate New Yorker, sick of the indecision, decided she would take a road trip to find spring, and drag it back, using force if necessary, to upstate New York.

By Sunday afternoon, your intrepid blogger and her long suffering mate had reached Summerville, South Carolina.

Summerville, South Carolina is about a 30 minute drive from Charleston.  It is a city just a tad smaller population-wise than Binghamton, New York, where I work.

In the heart of Summerville is Azalea Park. We had been there once before, several yearsago before the azaleas were in bloom.  I've wanted to go back. When I heard that, on the first weekend of April, the YMCA held a festival fundraiser in the park that attracted thousands of visitors, I decided that would be the place where Spring and I would have our showdown.

We arrived at the park.  So far, so good .

In the crowds of people, I thought, Spring would never notice me.

But then, I lost my focus. I saw homemade chips and dips - I had to buy some.  And then there was the booth with the homemade flavored pork skins.  My son loves pork skins, and I have to pay him back for watching my home while we were gone.  (In case you were wondering, the vendors really were dressed up like hillbillies.)  When we bought three bags of skins, they rang a large cowbell and gave out cheers.

My cover was blown.

So I decided to just enjoy the scenery.

Azaleas and wisteria (and a little of my thumb)

And enjoy the scenery some more. It will be weeks until we see azaleas in upstate New York.

We will see camellias never.  They can not survive our climate.

There were even a couple of Civil War exhibits, including a replica of the CSS Hunley, the Confederate sub sunk in Charleston Harbor a little over 150 years ago.  I've blogged about the Hunley before.  I've just never seen it from the back. (There was a small crowd around the exhibit so I couldn't get close enough for a better photo.)

So, Spring, you win.  For now, you will stay in South Carolina, and bathe everyone here in wonderful heat.  But I am still going to find a way to bring you back to upstate New York.  Right now, I'm in an undisclosed location, and you won't know where until I jump out to have a very overdue talk with you.

Spring - be prepared!